Narz Concentration questions

[That Don Guy]

A few questions on Narz Concentration, which I haven't seen since mid-1976 (and even then, it was only once a week):

1. Why did they bother with the "checkmark column" on the prize board if, if somebody won a prize twice (and on the episode Buzzr aired 4/13, somebody won two prizes twice), they would just put the prize on their side of the board twice? For those of you too young to know (and always wondered what those two small columns on the prize board were), back on the NBC version, there would be a checkmark (white, on a black background) placed next to a prize won twice (because it was matched against each Wild Card).

2. Was it always a daily show, or was the first season(s) weekly? I ask because in San Francisco, only the first two seasons aired, and they were weekly; I definitely remember episodes airing twice, which would be strange if it was daily but aired weekly.

3. The only episodes I saw used the original Double Play format ($50 for the first puzzle, a car for the second), so I'm not too familiar with the one currently being shown. If the first four picks are the four prizes, is there a fifth pick, or does the contestant automatically play for all four prizess?

[Jimmy Owen]

It was available from the beginning as a strip or once or twice a week.

[SuperMatch93]

1. Why did they bother with the "checkmark column" on the prize board if, if somebody won a prize twice (and on the episode Buzzr aired 4/13, somebody won two prizes twice), they would just put the prize on their side of the board twice? For those of you too young to know (and always wondered what those two small columns on the prize board were), back on the NBC version, there would be a checkmark (white, on a black background) placed next to a prize won twice (because it was matched against each Wild Card).

They probably just thought it looked better that way.

[MikeK]

A few questions on Narz Concentration, which I haven't seen since mid-1976 (and even then, it was only once a week):

1. Why did they bother with the "checkmark column" on the prize board if, if somebody won a prize twice (and on the episode Buzzr aired 4/13, somebody won two prizes twice), they would just put the prize on their side of the board twice? For those of you too young to know (and always wondered what those two small columns on the prize board were), back on the NBC version, there would be a checkmark (white, on a black background) placed next to a prize won twice (because it was matched against each Wild Card).

There's another one for the "unused set elements" thread.

3. The only episodes I saw used the original Double Play format ($50 for the first puzzle, a car for the second), so I'm not too familiar with the one currently being shown. If the first four picks are the four prizes, is there a fifth pick, or does the contestant automatically play for all four prizes?

There's a 5th pick.  If it's a prize, that prize is what's up for grabs with the second puzzle.  If it's the wild card, the second puzzle is for all four prizes.  A 5th pick has happened several times in the 13 or so shows that have aired in the last 2 1/2 weeks.

[Bryce L.]

1. Why did they bother with the "checkmark column" on the prize board if, if somebody won a prize twice, they would just put the prize on their side of the board twice? For those of you too young to know (and always wondered what those two small columns on the prize board were), back on the NBC version, there would be a checkmark (white, on a black background) placed next to a prize won twice (because it was matched against each Wild Card).

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd heard that the prize board on the Narz series was directly recycled from the NBC set, and they never bothered covering up the checkmark column, simple as that.

[JMFabiano]

What I get out of this...

THERE WAS AN UNUSED SET ELEMENTS THREAD? 

EDIT: I'll be damned, there it is.

[WarioBarker]

Speaking of Double Play, have there been any instances on Buzzr of the Wild Card being picked first?

[beatlefreak84]

Speaking of Double Play, have there been any instances on Buzzr of the Wild Card being picked first?

Yes, though I don't remember when I saw it!  I know it was the first instance I saw of the Wild Card, which is why I remembered it.  If that happened, Jack just said the next pick determines the prize.

[parliboy]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd heard that the prize board on the Narz series was directly recycled from the NBC set, and they never bothered covering up the checkmark column, simple as that.

That was also my understanding: strip the board from the NBC doors, fresh coat of paint, put it on a permanent wall.

[JohnXXVII]

For a show that always wore its limited budget on its sleeve, did the Double Play game allow the show to get even cheaper, to save even more on its budget? It eliminated any third game or round. It made winning the car even harder, and it seemed like many of the other prizes on the Double Play board would have been on the main board in previous seasons.

[MikeK]

For a show that always wore its limited budget on its sleeve, did the Double Play game allow the show to get even cheaper, to save even more on its budget? It eliminated any third game or round. It made winning the car even harder, and it seemed like many of the other prizes on the Double Play board would have been on the main board in previous seasons.

I think the exact opposite has happened not just with up to 4 prizes including the car up for grabs, but also the puzzles from this iteration of the Double Play game seem easier than from previous episodes BUZZR has shown.  Thus far in the final season, I have seen very few puzzles where the answer is "X is a(n) *occupation here*" and I don't call recall seeing any puzzles in the format "Y starred/stars in *movie or TV show title here*."  The puzzles are more the difficulty of the quickie $50 puzzles if the show had 2 minutes to kill.

[JohnXXVII]

While the Double Play puzzles seem to be easier, the producers do sneak in an occasional hard one. Like on the show Buzzr aired 4/4 where the lady had 5 seconds to win the car and the puzzle she got was "Mussolini led Italy." Even Jack called it a hard one. I guess they didn't want to give away a car that day!

Then there was another show where the lady was going for a car with 5 seconds left and the puzzle was super easy.

There just doesn't seem to be any pattern to how hard the Double Play puzzles are other than the producers wanting or not wanting to give the prizes away.

[Bryce L.]

They do, in my opinion, seem to get harder when the car is on the line... but even those are still worlds better than what we were seeing throughout 1976-1977.

[geno57]

Hmmm … I was in San Francisco for three months in the early part of 1978. My (admittedly spotty) memory tells me I watched it late afternoon, weekdays.

2. Was it always a daily show, or was the first season(s) weekly? I ask because in San Francisco, only the first two seasons aired, and they were weekly; I definitely remember episodes airing twice, which would be strange if it was daily but aired weekly.