"I'm Telling" Pick-A-Prize Arcade

[Adam Nedeff]

Socializing tonight and met a guy who was a contestant on "I'm Telling" when he was 7 years old. For those who are interested in how these things worked....

The contestants didn't actually get any of the prizes in the Pick-a-Prize Arcade. They were told in the contestant briefing that they'd be getting a toy store gift certificate for the cash equivalent of whatever prizes they won. In fact, the contestant coordinator even said, "Don't even think about the prizes you want or the prizes you think your brother would want. Just pick what you think are the most expensive prizes because we can give you a bigger gift certificate that way."


Side note, from the same conversation:

Him: "Also, a few years earlier, my parents were contestants on a show called '3's a Crowd."
Me: "Are they still married?"
Him: (Laughs) "Oh, god, no."

[Dbacksfan12]

The contestants didn't actually get any of the prizes in the Pick-a-Prize Arcade.

Well, that certainly explains the lack of fee plugs, which I was always curious about.  Interesting antidotes; thanks.

[Matt Ottinger]

The contestants didn't actually get any of the prizes in the Pick-a-Prize Arcade. They were told in the contestant briefing that they'd be getting a toy store gift certificate for the cash equivalent of whatever prizes they won. In fact, the contestant coordinator even said, "Don't even think about the prizes you want or the prizes you think your brother would want. Just pick what you think are the most expensive prizes because we can give you a bigger gift certificate that way."

I have to think that at the age of seven, I'd be better off guessing what my sister wanted than I would guessing which ones were more expensive.  I don't think the cost of things figures into a kid's mind much at that age.  But man, how wonderful that after all these years, we still end up with backstage stories like this.

[Chief-O]

The contestants didn't actually get any of the prizes in the Pick-a-Prize Arcade. They were told in the contestant briefing that they'd be getting a toy store gift certificate for the cash equivalent of whatever prizes they won. In fact, the contestant coordinator even said, "Don't even think about the prizes you want or the prizes you think your brother would want. Just pick what you think are the most expensive prizes because we can give you a bigger gift certificate that way."

I could actually see this being a good scenario in some instances; some contestants might not have liked what they saw for prizes. The gift certificate would have allowed them to splurge on *exactly* what they wanted.

[whewfan]

Quote from host Jim Peck about 3's a Crowd. I asked him over the phone at a GSC years ago...

Me: How many couples stayed together after the show was over?
Jim: I think a more accurate question is 'how many were still together DURING the show?"

Going back to I'm Telling, I always thought it was an interesting that if any of the siblings felt the question was too personal, or if they were later uncomfortable about how they responded to a question, they could ask for an alternative question. There was a disclaimer of sorts in the credits that some of the material was edited out or a question replaced.

[Adam Nedeff]

Going back to I'm Telling, I always thought it was an interesting that if any of the siblings felt the question was too personal, or if they were later uncomfortable about how they responded to a question, they could ask for an alternative question. There was a disclaimer of sorts in the credits that some of the material was edited out or a question replaced.

And you're presuming that disclaimer didn't mean a technical difficulty because...

[whewfan]

Adam, it could be, but my point was that the kids were allowed to not answer questions if they felt it was too personal, and also, if they said something on the air that they later felt shouldn't have been said on the air (For example "My brother likes to play with dolls") they could request that be taken out too.

[Adam Nedeff]

Adam, it could be, but my point was that the kids were allowed to not answer questions if they felt it was too personal, and also, if they said something on the air that they later felt shouldn't have been said on the air (For example "My brother likes to play with dolls") they could request that be taken out too.

According to...

[TLEberle]

I could actually see this being a good scenario in some instances; some contestants might not have liked what they saw for prizes. The gift certificate would have allowed them to splurge on *exactly* what they wanted.

Or they could be like every other game show contestant in the history of ever and be thankful for what they won. It's decent of the show to make that swap, but I can imagine some of the kids wanting the actual prizes on offer more than a pile of toys as well.

Playing off of Matt's point I grabbed an episode at random and there were lots of different kinds of prizes--horseback riding, theme park passes, a Nintendo set, a roll-top desk, a stereo and there were various other things rotated in and out, and I don't think the winners were savvy enough to pick up on the idea of choosing the most expensive items to put it towards a toy store gift card, or what would be just as easy--pick the things that came first alphabetically. I agree with Matt that when you're that age you see this gauntlet of stuff that just about every normal kid would dream of owning, and they get to pick some items out and strategy and cunning fly out the window.

It's interesting that both the parents and kids both went on variations on the Newlywed Game theme, and thank you Adam for the anecdote and inside baseball.