$ale of the Century discussion

[carlisle96]

This struck me as I read the article that called $ale "NBC's hottest new game show." Were ratings sinking when the winner's board premiered? Did it make them go up? And did a drop in ratings prompt the Winner's Big Money Game? Both changes were brought on by the network, right?

To give you an idea, this list was right around the same time the Winners Board premiered. Notice the not great clearances for any game not named Price, Wheel, or Scrabble.

Wow - I love stuff like this.  I wish there was more of it around.

Interesting notes on this:

It looks as if Press Your Luck was just slightly beating Sale of the Century at this time, but if Sale had the same no. of stations it likely would have been ahead.

Super Password - just a few weeks after its premiere and it really wasn't doing that well.  The noon slot obviously didn't help.

Body Language with only 103 stations.  It's surprising how far the 4 PM slot had fallen by the mid-80s.  In my out-of-town TVGuides from the '70s, Tattletales was still listed at 4 PM in most of those editions for its first couple of years, but by around mid 1976 or so, more and more stations started tape-delaying it at 9:30 the next morning.  I guess that's why Goodson fought for the 10:30 slot for the Card Sharks revival - he knew it wouldn't do that well if it came on at 4.  IIRC, we've read that Press Your Luck had started to drop a fair bit by fall 1985 so CBS was probably more willing to move it by that point.

I guess most of us lamented the expansion of soap operas at the expense of game shows, but I guess when you look at the ratings, there was a good reason why they did it.

I can imagine how frustrated Mark Goodson was to come up with a good show like Body Language and have relatively few people given the chance to sample it just once. Same with Super Password. The only time I saw Body Language was when I sat in the audience. The Baltimore and Washington CBS stations didn't carry it.

[aaron sica]

The only time I saw Body Language was when I sat in the audience. The Baltimore and Washington CBS stations didn't carry it.

Washington didn't carry it, but Baltimore did for some of the run - at that point, WBAL-11 was the CBS affiliate. They carried it at 9:30am from the beginning of the run until September 1985, when they opted for "Break the Bank" instead.

[carlisle96]

Really? I never saw it.

[aaron sica]

Really? I never saw it.

Well, 9:30's kind of an easy-to-miss slot. WCAU-10 (also then CBS) did the same thing. Thought I remembered from old TV Guides, but I verified with old Baltimore Sun TV listings.

[TimK2003]

The only time I saw Body Language was when I sat in the audience. The Baltimore and Washington CBS stations didn't carry it.

Washington didn't carry it, but Baltimore did for some of the run - at that point, WBAL-11 was the CBS affiliate. They carried it at 9:30am from the beginning of the run until September 1985, when they opted for "Break the Bank" instead.

I don't believe it aired in Cleveland at all either, but it did air in Toledo on WTOL in the morning as well (9:30am ?).  IIRC, It replaced Tattletales in the same morning slot.

[Sodboy13]

I'll add that I loved the addition of a bonus round to Temptation, where the contestant had to earn their way towards a large cash pot. It was a fun way of closing out the show, while keeping the basics of the shopping format in place.

I'll second this while noting they completely borked everything else that worked about the shopping endgame dormat.

EDIT: Brain default to US Temptation, not Australian. Eh, it's too hot today.

[TLEberle]

I think that Mitch meant Temptation Australia.

[BrandonFG]

Interesting that Body Language even made it 18 months with such low clearances. I can't imagine the numbers got much better going into 1985, considering its 4:00 competitor The Edge of Night ended in late-1984.

/Between 1982-86, the only CBS game WTKR cleared was TPiR
//They eventually aired Card Sharks in fall '86
///But still no Pyramid

[Ian Wallis]

I can imagine how frustrated Mark Goodson was to come up with a good show like Body Language and have relatively few people given the chance to sample it just once. Same with Super Password. The only time I saw Body Language was when I sat in the audience. The Baltimore and Washington CBS stations didn't carry it.

Body Language wasn't picked up by the Buffalo or Rochester CBS stations either, so I never saw it in its original run.  I think the only thing I recall seeing was a brief plug for the show which slipped thru once on one of those stations, otherwise I had no idea it even existed.

[SuperMatch93]

If you're going to have an actual bonus round for Sale, tying it in to a shopping-related mechanic is the way to go IMO. As much as we rag on US Temptation, playing Wipeout Super Knock-Off at least earned you Temptation Dollars for the major prizes.

A while back on a game show Discord, I had this idea for a bonus round:

Your total at the end of the game is your baseline for shopping, with the same sale prices as the old show. The contestant is asked questions (more difficult than the main game ones) at $50 a pop and given the category before each one. A wrong answer gives them a strike, and three strikes ends the bonus round and forfeits any additional dollars won (essentially giving them the first level prize by default). Once they have two strikes the risk element comes into play: after hearing the category they could cash out at whatever level they were at, or go on.

I had a primetime version in mind sans returning champions for this.

[BrandonFG]

I might be misreading, but let’s say I go into the Knockoff with $75. Lowest-level prize (say a stainless steel kitchen) is $300. I get five right and then get three strikes, so do I end up with $325 to buy the kitchen or do I stay at $75?

[SuperMatch93]

I might be misreading, but let’s say I go into the Knockoff with $75. Lowest-level prize (say a stainless steel kitchen) is $300. I get five right and then get three strikes, so do I end up with $325 to buy the kitchen or do I stay at $75?

You'd end up with $75 in that case. My initial thought was to use the sale prices from the 80s version with the lowest level prize at $85, so someone who struck out would still likely be able to afford it in that case. If they couldn't I suppose you could multiply their score by some amount (say, 50) as a consolation.

[tvmitch]

I think that Mitch meant Temptation Australia.

Yes, I did. Edited

[aaron sica]

Body Language wasn't picked up by the Buffalo or Rochester CBS stations either, so I never saw it in its original run.  I think the only thing I recall seeing was a brief plug for the show which slipped thru once on one of those stations, otherwise I had no idea it even existed.

That area wasn't kind to BL at all! Went to the old newspaper listings and found this curious listing - May 14, 1985, 10 (Rochester's CBS station) carried Hour Magazine at 5pm, who had Tom Kennedy as a guest. The listing mentioned Body Language. I can't help wondering how many Rochester viewers wondered what that show even was!

[carlisle96]

Really? I never saw it.

Well, 9:30's kind of an easy-to-miss slot. WCAU-10 (also then CBS) did the same thing. Thought I remembered from old TV Guides, but I verified with old Baltimore Sun TV listings.

I must have been working or, more likely in those days, looking for work or just sleeping late