Today’s Password Plus on Buzzr

[PPatters]

On Buzzr today, they aired an episode with the clue “Oriental.” Eventually, the puzzle was Abacus. “Oriental” was the first word, but they cut out the guessing of the puzzle. Does anyone know if the original episode had that cut or if Buzzr cut it for some reason?

For context, my guide says the episode is from 4/11/1979 and has Marcia Wallace and Peter Bonerz as the guests.

[Bob Zager]

I thought I'd post here, even though it's in regards to the episode airing the next day (10/13)!

During one of the games, the Password was fairy.  Marcia Wallace gave as her clue word "Tinkerbell."  The solution to the puzzle was, "Tinker Bell," spelled as two words!  After seeing this, I looked at several different sources saying that "Tinker Bell," IS supposed to be spelled as two words, not hyphenated.  If that is the case, then Marcia gave an illegal clue.

[PPatters]

If that is the case, then Marcia gave an illegal clue.

At the end of the episode, they actually announced that the man that lost that game would be allowed to return because of the illegal clue 

[Bob Zager]

Oh, thanks!  I didn't catch that part!  Sorry!

[PPatters]

No worries! It was easily missed.

[parliboy]

After seeing this, I looked at several different sources saying that "Tinker Bell," IS supposed to be spelled as two words, not hyphenated.  If that is the case, then Marcia gave an illegal clue.

Depends on your sources and what obscure things they know.

Tinkerbell as a single word was also a brand name for cosmetics that had been around since the 50’s.  So despite the way Disney or Barrie spelled it, there was also a legal variant.

obTMI: Danielle Brisebois was a childhood crush for me.  She also was a spokesperson for the brand.

[SRIV94]

It is me, or is the audio on these P+ episodes very murky—almost like it was processed in an underwater lab?

Or is it my station (although I’m not hearing the same “squishing” sounds on other Buzzr programs I DVR, like MG75, TRAP or BB)?

[chrisholland03]

They're very murky, and I've experienced it with other Buzzr airings.  The same episodes did not have those issues when aired on GSN.

[MSTieScott]

On a related note, has there been a step down in the video quality of a couple of the more recent additions to Buzzr? When I was watching Trivia Trap, I was struck by how the entire video seemed to be slightly fuzzy -- almost like it was just a small step above kinescope quality. I chalked that up to everything about Trivia Trap looking kind of slapped-together, but then when I was watching one of the "newest" episodes of Sale of the Century, I noticed the same fuzziness even though I hadn't gotten that impression when I watched episodes earlier in the run.

Is this just an anomaly in the way these mid-'80s shows were preserved, or has Buzzr changed something about the way they transfer their videos?

[JasonA1]

Is this just an anomaly in the way these mid-'80s shows were preserved, or has Buzzr changed something about the way they transfer their videos?

It's gotta be the latter, given how these same shows looked on GSN back in the day, and that's a shame - I've seen YouTube videos look & sound better when blown up on my TV screen. If this is the price paid for having more content more often on Buzzr, I'd rather wait for the better quality. I'm no video or audiophile, but I had to turn off Trivia Trap the other night for the reasons you describe. When many parts of the show rely on text, viewing it all through the proverbial Barbara Walters lens is not pleasant.

-Jason

[Chief-O]

Is this just an anomaly in the way these mid-'80s shows were preserved, or has Buzzr changed something about the way they transfer their videos?

It's gotta be the latter, given how these same shows looked on GSN back in the day, and that's a shame - I've seen YouTube videos look & sound better when blown up on my TV screen. If this is the price paid for having more content more often on Buzzr, I'd rather wait for the better quality. I'm no video or audiophile, but I had to turn off Trivia Trap the other night for the reasons you describe. When many parts of the show rely on text, viewing it all through the proverbial Barbara Walters lens is not pleasant.

I'm not sure if the SOTC eps. in question have also been aired by GSN, but if so, the video and audio is probably about as excellent as anything I'd seen from 1985. I think Jason nailed it.....Buzzr's either slacking off on their transfers, or they may have made some master control changes and they goofed up some setting on their playout server.

[knagl]

On a related note, has there been a step down in the video quality of a couple of the more recent additions to Buzzr?

...

 when I was watching one of the "newest" episodes of Sale of the Century, I noticed the same fuzziness even though I hadn't gotten that impression when I watched episodes earlier in the run.

I noticed it on those Sale episodes as well. Still watchable, but they had a distinct red hue to them and generally seemed to be lower quality than the episodes previously aired by Buzzr, even though they were from the same season.