Ever misunderstand certain rules/practices?

[Bob Zager]

Happy New Year to all!  I started 2022 testing positive for COVID-19, despite having gotten my shots this past spring.  Fortunately, the symptoms were mild and short-term.

While quarantined, I found my original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the cartridges to just about all the game show related software released over 30 years ago!  Apparently, GameTek/Softie did not quite understand some of the rules to certain games, and it got me thinking about some personal misunderstandings watching certain shows over the years. 

First, Gametek/Softie apparently knew when it came to Daily Doubles in their Jeopardy! game; players could wager up to his/her earnings at that point, but did not program the game correctly for situations involving less than $500 in round one ($1,000 in DJ).  If, for example, the player has $300 at that point, they could only wager up to $300.  If the player had no money (or a minus amount), they could wager up to $500 ($1000 in DJ), but you had to choose from the list of money values shown on the board.  In other words, the choice of $100, $200, $300, $400, or $500 (twice those amounts in DJ).  The original version was programmed to allow players (including computer opponents), to ring in anytime, like the original rules of the show.  Everything was corrected by the time Gametek released their version of Super Jeopardy.  On a funny note, the game featured animated contestants showing off to their opponents looks of "i'm smarter than you!" which never happens on the show!

Now onto actual misunderstandings I/somebody I know experienced with actual show rules:

During the shopping days on WOF, my aunt thought that when buying prizes, the contestants did NOT have to pay taxes.  She misunderstood the familiar closing words of: "Gift certificates do not include sales tax!"

Being a fan of Truth or Consequences during the Barker years, I recall the occasional times when Barker would go into the audience, chat a bit with a pre-selected audience member, with one volume of the World Book (two volume) Dictionary.  After first giving the promo for the  WBD, Barker would read the definition of a word, tell the contestant how many letters are in the word, and if the contestant guessed the word correctly, he/she would win a nice prize.  If incorrect, Barker would hand the contestant the first volume, and say, "there's the first volume, the second volume is down there (pointing to the stage), as a consolation prize.  I thought they only got the second version for many years, realizing later that the player got both of them.

On the original Hollywood Squares, Peter Marshall would always at some point in each broadcast say:  "If a contestant wins five matches and $2,000," he/she would win a car!  I thought he meant if the contestant won a game with five matching symbols.

[BrandonFG]

For years I thought that Wheel contestants won both the cash total and any prizes they purchased. In other words, if you won $6,000 and bought $700 in furniture and a $5,000 car, I thought you went home with $11,700 in cash and prizes.

As a child, I remember watching an episode of Wink's High Rollers where the credits mentioned something about two missed questions being edited out of the show. For some reason, I watched every episode after waiting on contestants to miss questions to see what happened next.

[SuperMatch93]

For years, I thought that Lose a Turn on Wheel meant that you also lost your next turn, since that was how it was described in the Pressman games.

[chrisholland03]

For years I thought that Wheel contestants won both the cash total and any prizes they purchased. In other words, if you won $6,000 and bought $700 in furniture and a $5,000 car, I thought you went home with $11,700 in cash and prizes.

Up until relatively recently, I thought that when you decided to shop on Wheel you were committed to spend all of your available funds before putting anything on account.

[Adam Nedeff]

I was never home to watch the final episodes of cancelled game shows when I was a little kid. Game shows had a rule that the returning champion had to retire after five days, which I interpreted to mean that a champion was also entitled to play up to five days. So I was under the impression that if a network cancelled a game show, production could not shut down on that game show until a champion won a fifth game and retired. How could you end a series with a champion who's only won two games? Obviously you have to tape more episodes, your rules say so.

I know better now, but as an adult, I love the mental image of network executives looking at the ratings data, for, like, Double Talk, and yelling "CRAP! They crowned a new champion on the fourth episode! We have to tape more episodes!"

[wdm1219inpenna]

On Jack Barry's "The Joker's Wild", when a player spun 3 jokers and answers and won the game automatically, I used to think that $500 was added to their current total, rather than the current total being augmented to $500.  I do believe however if a player had more than $500 and spun three jokers and won the game, they kept the higher total...e.g. a tie-breaker game where the first player had $700 and the 2nd player had $650 and player 2 got 3 jokers and answered correctly, they'd win $650 instead of just $500.

[Kevin Prather]

I mistakenly thought winning both Winner's Circles got you $35,000. I remembered Dick telling a player "You've got the ten, this will bring you to $35,000," but as it turns out, that $10,000 was from two 21-21 tiebreakers.

And before I fully understood the augmentation rule, I assumed a returning champion with exactly $25,000 must have skunked out on their first WC.

[BrandonFG]

I mistakenly thought winning both Winner's Circles got you $35,000.

This one confused me too as a child. I remember seeing a woman win 10 and 25K and thought the same exact thing.

[clemon79]

To be fair, it's only because Bob Stewart was goddamn cheap.

[Bob Zager]

When it came to Pyramid misunderstandings, during the Bill Cullen series run, I thought, at first, you had to win the $10,000 in your first trip to the winner's circle, as well as win both games to qualify for the potential "grand total of $25,000."

My late grandmother liked the show, and often asked me how much of the money won, went to the celebrity.  She also sometimes brought up things about the hosts.  While watching the Cullen hosted series, she'd say, "I thought Dick Clark hosts this show."  Or when watching the first season of Tom Kennedy's Name That Tune, she'd say, "I thought Dennis James hosts this."  And of course for many years watching TNPIR/TPIR, "doesn't Bill Cullen host this anymore?" or "Isn't Bob Barker still hosting T or C?"

[That Don Guy]

On Jack Barry's "The Joker's Wild", when a player spun 3 jokers and answers and won the game automatically, I used to think that $500 was added to their current total, rather than the current total being augmented to $500.  I do believe however if a player had more than $500 and spun three jokers and won the game, they kept the higher total...e.g. a tie-breaker game where the first player had $700 and the 2nd player had $650 and player 2 got 3 jokers and answered correctly, they'd win $650 instead of just $500.

OTOH, I did see an episode where someone was playing the bonus round and spun three matching amounts, and even though that would have put their total above $1000, Jack only paid the $1000 they normally get for a natural triple automatic win.

[calliaume]

To be fair, it's only because Bob Stewart was goddamn cheap.

He was, but until sometime in the 1980s, CBS had a $25,000 winnings cap. That would have applied at least on the Cullen syndicated version, which ran on the CBS O&Os.

[Jimmy Owen]

On WOF, I didn't know you couldn't pause between words in the bonus round

[WilliamPorygon]

Speaking of Wheel, back in the day Pat would always tell the contestants that didn't win anything they would receive "lovely parting gifts".  When I was little I thought he was saying "partying gifts" and thought they were literally getting stuff like balloons, streamers, etc.

[Neumms]

I spent decades waiting to see what would happen if in the Match Game sudden death tie-breaker, the contestants had the same answer.