Biggest Leaps in Set Technology

[Jeremy Nelson]

Starting a new thread to avoid tangents on another:

It's been pretty well documented that the Press Your Luck board in '83 was the envy of its time for being a visual and technogical marvel. What are some other big technological leaps that you thought were pretty cool or beneficial?

[BrandonFG]

I imagine what TTD did with its Apple II computers was pretty high-tech for 1978, esp. for Beat the Dragon. Same for the setup on Bullseye.

[tyshaun1]

I thought the Scrabble set was pretty amazing for its time, the huge cube with the game board on one side, the Sprint board the other side. That set had to have cost a fortune then.

[TimK2003]

Family Feud ranks up there with the Ferranti boards.  Many game shows after Feud incorporated that technology into their scoreboards and displays.

[MSTieScott]

Nick Arcade was the first to showcase interactive chroma key technology. A few years later, Secrets of the Crypt Keeper's Haunted House took the idea and made it look more three-dimensional. That was followed by shows such as My Generation and Paranoia, which shot entirely in a big green room to facilitate a virtual set.

I'm glad that virtual game show sets were short-lived.

[Neumms]

The Magnificent Marble Machine was the never-again-reached height of technology.

Beside the huge and hugely expensive cube, Scrabble had such clean graphics, with slick motion and fully rendered type. The system on Classic Concentration and Henry Now You See It looked 10 years behind.

[Kniwt]

Even with its flaws, I'd say Paranoia deserves a place on this list.

[Kevin Prather]

That was followed by shows such as My Generation and Paranoia, which shot entirely in a big green room to facilitate a virtual set.

Well I'll be. I learned something today. I assumed the Paranoia set was rear-projection or something.

[Joe Mello]

I'm glad that virtual game show sets were short-lived.

Considering the things you can do with LED's these days, I could see it getting a sort of reboot.

[Kevin Prather]

I imagine what TTD did with its Apple II computers was pretty high-tech for 1978, esp. for Beat the Dragon. Same for the setup on Bullseye.

I was about to submit Wheel of Fortune for the biggest technological upgrade for one show, with the puzzleboard going from trilons to monitors. But then I remembered that the original 50s TTD board was a scrolling piece of paper.

[Chief-O]

I'd have to think the TJW slot machine was quite interesting by 1972 standards. Heck, I doubt computer technology was even able to handle such a task by the time the show went out in 1986.

The 1990 reboot's machine seemed a bit primitive for that time; in contrast, the TTD reboot that same year had a rather nice CGI board.

/probably the only good thing about that show!

[jlgarfield]

When the current Jeopardy! premiered, that electronic game board had everyone talking. All of the sets used on that version, have, for the most part, been built on that foundation (although the JEOPARDY! letters are long gone).

[BrandonFG]

When the current Jeopardy! premiered, that electronic game board had everyone talking. All of the sets used on that version, have, for the most part, been built on that foundation (although the JEOPARDY! letters are long gone).

Jeopardy! came to mind for me after my initial post, esp. when you consider the computer set pilot from '83 still used pull cards.

[bulldog_06]

I think Classic Concentration took a huge leap from a nine-year absence between 1978 and 1987. Having to go from trilons to a computer-generated board. Plus you have to believe that game shows in the 1980s were moving with the times as well.

[aaron sica]

Pyramid comes to mind......$20K and $50K used solari for the score, but by $25K's arrival in 1982, they went LED.