Happy 20th to Hot Potato!

[GSWitch]

20 years ago, NBC had a game show which would be Bill Cullen's (along with Barry-Enright) last network game show, Hot Potato!  

The gameplay was fine, but the only gripe I had about it was...NO!  NOT THAT!  It was whenever new champions were crowned, the bonus round was reset to $5,000!  They should've structured it to have it grow until it was won ala Super Password or Now You See It (Henry).

Got any favorite memories?  

Mine was when the clowns acted silly over a $5,000 win!

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Jan 23 2004, 07:11 AM\'] Got any favorite memories? 

Mine was when the clowns acted silly over a $5,000 win! [/quote]
The best one that I remember, which sent me collapsing into giggles (mind you, I was 9), was after the show went to Celebrity Hot (ssssssss......) Potato. As the stars on the teams introduced themselves, Arte Johnson, instead of saying his name, just said something like "Hi, I don't know who I am!".

That is the best memory I have of Hot Potato.

[JMFabiano]

[quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Jan 23 2004, 07:11 AM\'] The gameplay was fine, but the only gripe I had about it was...NO!  NOT THAT! [/quote]
 Not what?  That it inspired thousands of trolls to ask about Bill Cullen tossing a hot potato at the contestants? (Dat wuld b funi)  ;-)

As for my favorite HP memory...easily, being introduced to the 411 Operators (and especially Judy) :-) :-)

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'JMFabiano\' date=\'Jan 23 2004, 11:18 AM\'] Not what?  That it inspired thousands of trolls to ask about Bill Cullen tossing a hot potato at the contestants? (Dat wuld b funi)  ;-) [/quote]
[throws potatoes at James, then drags him to the TTD90 room]

As for my favorite HP memory...easily, being introduced to the 411 Operators (and especially Judy) :-) :-)

I call dibs on Alison (captain of the Accountants team).  [rowr]

Besides Ali, my memory of HP is the Beekeepers, the Buffalo Bills of HP (five bonus rounds, zero wins).

[gameshowguy2000]

The Accountants won $40,000; the most money ever won by a team.

The Waitresses won half that much, winning $20,000.

My favorite moment was during the Celebrity shows, when at the Bonus Game, the team was asked what Ceviche was. A younger-looking Brad Garrett said in a very funny accent, "Ceviche EES (IS) FISH!"

[MikeK]

[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Jan 23 2004, 11:51 AM\'] My favorite moment was during the Celebrity shows, when at the Bonus Game, the team was asked what Ceviche was. A younger-looking Brad Garrett said in a very funny accent, "Ceviche EES (IS) FISH!" [/quote]
 I guess you had to be there to understand why it was funny.

I gotta agree with Aaron.  The final week, with Arte Johnson and Jan Murray, was my best Hot Potato memory from its original airings.

[AH3RD]

[quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Jan 23 2004, 07:11 AM\'] 20 years ago, NBC had a game show which would be Bill Cullen's (along with Barry-Enright) last network game show, Hot Potato! [/quote]
 And it was William Lawrence Cullen's next-to-last game show overall. His truly last game, as we all know, was The Joker's Wild, where he replaced original host---the late Jack Barry--for its last 2 seasons in syndication.

[chris319]

The gameplay was fine, but the only gripe I had about it was...

... that it was a blatant rip off of Family Feud.

Why Jake bought that piece of s**t I'll never know.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jan 23 2004, 02:36 PM\']

The gameplay was fine, but the only gripe I had about it was...

... that it was a blatant rip off of Family Feud.

Why Jake bought that piece of s**t I'll never know. [/quote]
I brought up a similar point in another post, about how Barry-Enright weren't very big in the creativity department (i.e. TJW and Bullseye being alike, similar bonus games). Interesting that they waited 8 years to rip off Feud.

[David Lawrence]

I mainly remember Jim J. Bullock introducing himself as Kitty Carlisle in one episode, and Bill's extreme patience put to the test by having to suffer through a week with the obnoxious celebrity teens.

[calliaume]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Jan 23 2004, 02:44 PM\'] I brought up a similar point in another post, about how Barry-Enright weren't very big in the creativity department (i.e. TJW and Bullseye being alike, similar bonus games). Interesting that they waited 8 years to rip off Feud. [/quote]
 Hey, it took them ten years to rip off Hollywood Squares (Break the Bank).

By comparison, Hollywood Connection (Match Game) was rushed through at four years.

[Jimmy Owen]

The devil-may-care attitude of the last week was a high point.  Rene Enriquez and the constant hedging by telling the contestant "it's your money" during the bonus.  The breakdancing demonstration. Contestants wearing job specific clothes even after it went celebrity.  Chyron generated graphics. Soap Opera week was good, as was the athletes and Miss Americas week.  The bench moving into position. Michael Winslow!!! It differed from Feud in the strategy of knocking out your opponents. It's all good!  All in all a great show with great music.

[ilb4ever2000]

Hey, it took them ten years to rip off Hollywood Squares (Break the Bank).

And one could argue HS is a ripoff of Tic Tac Dough. Not that I would...

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Jan 23 2004, 02:43 PM\'] Contestants wearing job specific clothes even after it went celebrity.  Chyron generated graphics. Soap Opera week was good, as was the athletes and Miss Americas week.  The bench moving into position. Michael Winslow!!! [/quote]
 All smoke and mirrors. The gist of the show was attempting to guess the top answers given in a survey.

[Jimmy Owen]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jan 23 2004, 06:14 PM\']
All smoke and mirrors. The gist of the show was attempting to guess the top answers given in a survey. [/quote]
 Well, yeah, but HP used questions from the Davis Research Co. which may not have been limited to 100 people (heck, maybe they just asked seven people).  In addition, HP occassionally used questions of a factual nature, such as "Name a current network game show host."