Timed Rounds That Get Interrupted

[scully24]

(I made the mistake of introducing this topic near the end of another thread that is mostly played out, but I'm really curious what others think about this, so let me re-introduce it here...)

On shows like "Go" and "Pyramid"--shows that have timed rounds--technical flubs will often happen in the middle of taping that will stop gameplay in the middle of a round. The way I've seen that handled on numerous occasions is that they'll resume taping in the midst of the round--at the precise second where the mistake occurred, giving credit to the contestant for however many answers were gotten right up to the moment of the problem.

This is not an unusual occurrance, it seems to happen on almost every taping I've ever been to of a show of this kind.

Now on the surface, this would seem like a fair way to handle things, since they are giving credit to the interrupted contestant for things they've already gotten correct.

But what I've observed is that this often seems to give an unfair advantage to the contestant who is interrrupted, because that contestant now gets to anticipate that upon resuming, they need, say, one more answer in  4 seconds, or 3 more answers in 10 seconds. I've seen many occasions where a contestant, having time to catch a breath and reflect on the number of answers needed, and sometimes even knowing how many seconds are left, changed their energy entirely, suddenly focused more and pulled out the necessary answers in the remaining time, when, before the interruption, it looked like they were on their way to probably losing.

My team was a victim of this on Go, where the opposing team needed to beat our time of 45 seconds, looked like it was floundering, got interrupted with a technical miscue, and then had a chance to re-group and was told they needed one more answer in five seconds when taping resumed. The pieces of the round got edited together, but you can see between the edits that the team's energy unaccountably picks up to a huge degree and they speed through the last question to get it in under five seconds.

As a recent contestant on Pyramid, I've seen similar things happen when front game rounds get stopped and resumed for technical difficulties. This almost always works to the advantage of the player who is interrupted, and I've always wondered if any contestants ever complain to Standards and Practices about this phenomenon?

I, for one, never complained, because I wanted to stay on the good side of the coordinators so I could get on future shows. But I'm curious if that strikes anyone else as unfair. I've often thought that they should re-examine this method of resuming taping, even though to fix the practice would involve throwing out entire played rounds and taking more studio time and causing more material to have to be written.

I think this is one of the great overlooked issues of game show play.  Opinions, anyone?

[Jimmy Owen]

I would hope the producers would give every opportunity to be fair to the contestants and if it means giving away more money, it might be an incentive to make sure the equipment is running properly.  I don't think Pyramid or Go will be coming back anytime soon, so it may be a moot point.

[scully24]

It's not just isolated to Pyramid and Go; it happens on virtually every show that has contestants competing against a clock.  For example, I wouldn't be surprised if it happens regularly on Fear Factor (to give another current example).

Let's say you're a contestant up on a girder, pulling flags, and in the middle of the round, something happens with the rig that knocks you off through no fault of your own.  They would put you back up there and resume the play from the moment before you got knocked off.  Only now, you get time to catch your breath, maybe for several minutes while they re-set, and suddenly your mission becomes simpler--to get maybe two more flags in 15 seconds.  Suddenly, because of the show's mishap, you get a rest that your opponents didn't get.  I'm sure this happens, and probably more regularly than we like to think.

I just think it's one of those intangibles that affects game play way more than we often realize.

[adamjk]

What about Family Feud? I'm sure they've had problems like this in FM, or even during a main game.

[SplitSecond]

Well, I'd like some ideas as to a viable alternative that would address this perceived advantage.

In the case of Pyramid, starting over with the same material would be out of the question, because the receiver already has advance knowledge of the few answers he or she had already gotten through.  Starting over with a totally new category would not be an option without starting the entire round over, for reasons of continuity and fairness.

On Fear Factor, starting completely over on a stunt would either create a situation of unfair advantage (in cases of stunts of dexterity, where the team's progress before the "crash" basically becomes free practice time) or unfair disadvantage (in stunts of endurance, where the team has already endured the stunt for a portion of time without getting any credit).

Resuming gameplay at the exact moment of the error, while not totally fair, is to me the most fair of all ways in which to handle the situation.

[scully24]

Resuming gameplay at the exact moment of the error, while not totally fair, is to me the most fair of all ways in which to handle the situation.

I think you're probably right about that.  And yet I've seen games where a win seemed to turn on just such an occurrence.  

Which leads me back to one of my original questions.  I wonder if any contestants have ever successfully complained to Standards and Practices about such a thing, and been rewarded with a new opportunity?

[adamjk]

The best way to handle it if you ask me, is to bring back the affected contestants. Like for example, in Pyramid, let's say a person needs 4 answers in 20 seconds to win the game, and it looks like they aren't gonna make it. Then, they have to stop, and when they continue after the contestant has had a chance to regroup, he/she needs to get 2 answers in 10 seconds to win. The person who didn't look like they could do it before, pulls it out. In that case, the losing contestant should be allowed to comeback.

[MSTieScott]

[quote name=\'SplitSecond\' date=\'Feb 10 2004, 07:23 PM\'] Starting over with a totally new category would not be an option without starting the entire round over, for reasons of continuity and fairness. [/quote]
 Isn't that what happened on Osmond Pyramid when Dick Clark was a celebrity? I remember reading a report that there was a problem when Clark gave a clue that was legal on his versions but illegal on the current version, and ultimately they just replaced the category and went from there. And I'm assuming that the incident took place in the middle of the game, rather than the first category selection, resulting in a potential fairness problem. If I was in charge, I'd prefer resuming the same category with the remaining time, but replacing the category doesn't seem like such a terrible option.

What about Family Feud? I'm sure they've had problems like this in FM, or even during a main game.

Since that's being played against the house, fairness isn't as much of an issue. I'd suspect they'd keep the same question, which would give the contestant the chance to think of the best answer during the stopdown, which would only hurt the show's budget.

--
Scott Robinson

[bellbm]

It would be pretty easy to replace the category on pyramid, since the shot of the board is usually alone.  Just re do all of the shots of the categories coming off the pyrmaid, and it would be just fine.

[chris319]

Starting over with a totally new category would not be an option without starting the entire round over, for reasons of continuity and fairness.

Sure it's an option. You load a new category, have Donny explain that due to a technical flub they had to stop and substitute a new category. He then asks the team to pick a category and they start anew. This would be desirable if the flub resulted in there being one fewer subject for that team to play, because the team would otherwise be unable to score on all of the subjects.

[HYHYBT]

Finally, an explanation for the constantly changing shots on the current Pyramid! Hiding a break in the middle of a category would be impossible on older versions.

[SplitSecond]

Not at all.  In fact, on a recent GSN rerun, one such pickup was achieved by starting with a close-up of the giver (the contestant, at the time) giving the clue to the new answer, with no clock or answer supered on the screen, then cutting back to the normal shot roughly two seconds later.

In fact, it looked far less awkward than the constant arbitrary direction on the current version.