Funny Money observation

[whewfan]

I just had an idea.
If the \"laugh meter\" is a legitimate meter that registers laughs (a la an applause meter), wouldn't it also register the laughs of the players? If this is so, if I was playing, I'd be laughing like CRAZY, whether the jokes were funny or not. This would increase my chances of winning the game.

I also notice that the \"green area\" of the laugh meter isn't too hard to reach, as it seems the SMALLEST laughs register.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'whewfan\' date=\'Jul 1 2003, 06:07 AM\'] If the "laugh meter" is a legitimate meter that registers laughs (a la an applause meter) [/quote]
 ...and it specifically says in the fine print in the credits that it is NOT, and that \"laugh meter readings have been altered for broadcast\" or some silly crap like that...

wouldn't it also register the laughs of the players?

Probably not. Whatever mic they have hooked up to whatever VU meter they're taking \"readings\" from (and I get the feeling that this isn't NEARLY the scientific process we're making it out to be) would be directional, and could easily be angled to get much more audience and much less stage noise.

If this is so, if I was playing, I'd be laughing like CRAZY, whether the jokes were funny or not. This would increase my chances of winning the game.

It would also make you look unbelievably silly, but hey, that's your call.

[Matt Ottinger]

Even just watching the \"laugh meter\" you can tell that it's pretty arbitrary and not accurately measuring the sound in the room.  I haven't taped a show yet to read exactly what the disclaimer says, but I have no doubt that it's just this side of \"the meter doesn't matter and we'll keep score any way we want, thank you very much.\"

[James Allen]

I don't particularly care for \"Funny Money.\" The odd marriage of stand-up comics and game shows sort of worked on \"Make Me Laugh\" (where the focus was sqarely on breaking up the contestant) but here the gimmicks are way too strained, and the comics barely have enough time to do much of anything.

[DrBear]

I've grown to like the show (the comics are often VERY funny) but as games go, it's pretty forgettable. Forget the meters; they'd do just as well by having one comic come out and tell three jokes, one four and one five. You get a billion bucks for every joke your comic tells. That's what they're doing now, only hiding it with the laugh meter, I BELIEVE (installed to forestall lawsuits).

Here's a different idea for an end game - have the comics, one at a time, read a funny line from a famous movie. You lose $5 billion for every new line that has to be read before you guess the movie; if you lose all your money, no trip for you. (And if the producers get really cheap, they could make the movie a Charlie Chaplin or maybe a Harold Lloyd flick.

[davemackey]

I don't recall if a similar disclaimer was used on \"Can You Top This?\" in the 1970's, but I do remember the only time that the laughs were registered on that show were when after the comedians told their jokes, not during their routines. There was less random noise to deal with and it was a purer measure of audience reaction.