WOF disclaimer question

[Matt Ottinger]

Here's an odd S&P thought that I brought up recently in a Facebook thread.  Watch any old Chuck Woolery episode (or be old enough to remember, like me) and you'll see (or remember) that Chuck clearly makes a deliberate effort to land on the highest value possible when he takes the Final Spin.  More often than not, he hits it.  Why would S&P allow that?  The superficial answer is because it helps all contestants equally, but it's not hard to come up with scenarios where giving the host that much control over the outcome could be a bad thing.  Among the simplest:  What if a player in second rubbed him the wrong way, and he didn't want to see that player catch up?

[Ian Wallis]

The "On Account" option could be used at any time.  I remember at least one episode where a contestant bought one smallish prize then told Chuck "I'd like to put the rest On Account".  They didn't have to wait until they go down to not being able to afford additional prizes.

They couldn’t do the same with the gift certificate option, could they?  ISTR they could only do that when they couldn’t buy anything else.

You are correct.  You could only get the gift certificate when there wasn't enough money left to buy anything else.  A few tried it, but were told something like "you have to buy the ceramic Dalmatian first!"

[cmjb13]

I seem to recall watching the show when Jack Clark was announcing that he would say “The prices of the prizes” and then it would get cut off by some sort of announcement/plug

Don’t know if that was first run or maybe an early GSN rerun

[Kevin Prather]

Here's an odd S&P thought that I brought up recently in a Facebook thread.  Watch any old Chuck Woolery episode (or be old enough to remember, like me) and you'll see (or remember) that Chuck clearly makes a deliberate effort to land on the highest value possible when he takes the Final Spin.  More often than not, he hits it.  Why would S&P allow that?  The superficial answer is because it helps all contestants equally, but it's not hard to come up with scenarios where giving the host that much control over the outcome could be a bad thing.  Among the simplest:  What if a player in second rubbed him the wrong way, and he didn't want to see that player catch up?

I believe Pat Sajak said that's why he stopped doing the final spin in his last couple seasons. At least that's what he claims.

He also claims credit for the wheel no longer spinning on its own during the intro/outro, I believe. He says he didn't want to demonstrate that controlling the wheel was even possible.

[trainman]

I seem to recall watching the show when Jack Clark was announcing that he would say “The prices of the prizes” and then it would get cut off by some sort of announcement/plug

Sounds like par for the course when an affiliate would try to shoehorn in their own local voiceover promo.

[wdm1219inpenna]

Here's an odd S&P thought that I brought up recently in a Facebook thread.  Watch any old Chuck Woolery episode (or be old enough to remember, like me) and you'll see (or remember) that Chuck clearly makes a deliberate effort to land on the highest value possible when he takes the Final Spin.  More often than not, he hits it.  Why would S&P allow that?  The superficial answer is because it helps all contestants equally, but it's not hard to come up with scenarios where giving the host that much control over the outcome could be a bad thing.  Among the simplest:  What if a player in second rubbed him the wrong way, and he didn't want to see that player catch up?

I believe Pat Sajak said that's why he stopped doing the final spin in his last couple seasons. At least that's what he claims.

He also claims credit for the wheel no longer spinning on its own during the intro/outro, I believe. He says he didn't want to demonstrate that controlling the wheel was even possible.

That being said, I noticed that the wheel is spinning at the start of the Ryan Seacrest episodes.  I don't know if they ask one of the players to spin it or if it is somehow automated.  I know it always rubbed me the wrong way seeing the wheel spinning on its own, even back in the 70s on NBC.  It also rubbed me wrong how Pat never tried, or never seemed to try to hit the top dollar value during the final spin whereas Chuck always did seem to try.

[nowhammies10]

That being said, I noticed that the wheel is spinning at the start of the Ryan Seacrest episodes.  I don't know if they ask one of the players to spin it or if it is somehow automated.

According to taping reports, a stagehand comes out and spins the wheel, then runs off camera just before they take the shot of the spinning wheel.

[wdm1219inpenna]

That being said, I noticed that the wheel is spinning at the start of the Ryan Seacrest episodes.  I don't know if they ask one of the players to spin it or if it is somehow automated.

According to taping reports, a stagehand comes out and spins the wheel, then runs off camera just before they take the shot of the spinning wheel.

Thanks for that clarification!

[alexb1186]

Back on topic.  Having talked with and knowing several shopping players, they were handed a copy of the “Prize Monster” when shown the prizes before the show.  Essentially it listed all the platforms for a particular show (Travel Bonanza, Dining Room, Luxury Bath, etc), the prizes on those, and their prices.  The other interesting thing they list off in the margin is a prior show a platform was used or an upcoming one it will be used again

[alexb1186]

It's only a guess on my part, but if I knew that I could buy a car for $5000, or what some of the more expensive trips or other prizes cost ahead of time, I might play the game differently than if I didn't have that information until I solved the puzzle.

The other thing not mentioned in detail is the time savings.  When you know beforehand what you have a chance to buy, you won’t hem and haw eating up valuable game play deciding what you want!

[Clay Zambo]

When you know beforehand what you have a chance to buy, you won’t hem and haw eating up valuable game play deciding what you want!

Or you *will* hem and haw, because you know you've just captured the lead and eating up time deciding whether to buy the basket of towels or the fish-head lamp will reduce the chance somebody can get ahead of you in another round...

[SuperMatch93]

Back on topic.  Having talked with and knowing several shopping players, they were handed a copy of the “Prize Monster” when shown the prizes before the show.  Essentially it listed all the platforms for a particular show (Travel Bonanza, Dining Room, Luxury Bath, etc), the prizes on those, and their prices.  The other interesting thing they list off in the margin is a prior show a platform was used or an upcoming one it will be used again

Do any copies of that exist online? I've always wondered what those prize listings looked like.

[alexb1186]

I did post the first page of show 1499’s monster in the GS Memorabilia Museum FB group about 3 years ago.  Search for “Shelley Stahlman” and it should pop up!