MGPM "oops" episode

[melman1]

On a recently aired MGPM from the 5th (1979-80) season, Marcia Wallace gave an answer that was bleeped out.  Which is to say, they must have decided to censor it during editing - since they didn't stop tape and replay the question which I'm sure also happened from time to time.  This bleep is the only such incident that I can remember in MG's run.

Anyone know anything more about this?  Someone posted on GSN's boards that they "know" and will someday reveal the answer on their (unnamed) web site.  I figure that either it's common knowledge or it's not, so this guy is probably just blowing smoke.

[PeterMarshallFan]

I've seen an incident on the daytime show where Dick Martin was bleeped too, and Vicki Lawrence got the OOPS on an episode of MG90 [albeit not for an answer; it was something said in (mock?) anger towards Ross Shafer] So Marcia wasn't the only one.

I don't know if the guy knows it or not. He does seem legit by his other posts though, so we'll see.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'melman1\' date=\'Mar 20 2004, 03:14 PM\'] Anyone know anything more about this?  Someone posted on GSN's boards that they "know" and will someday reveal the answer on their (unnamed) web site.  I figure that either it's common knowledge or it's not, so this guy is probably just blowing smoke. [/quote]
 I won't say the guy's fulla crap or not; I have no idea. I WILL say that if the guy is claiming to hold the information over everyone's head in order to drive traffic to his website, I'd die curious before giving him the extra hit.

[whewfan]

I can recall three incidents where answers were bleeped on MG 7x.

I forget the question, but it had to do with a part of the body, and Marcia said "genitalia" (you could make out the answer if you played it back in slo motion)
Certainly a classy way to say it,  (as opposed to Nell Carter's more purile "pee pee") but it was bleeped anyway

I recall Dick Martin being bleeped too, on MG 78, but honestly I couldn't make out his answer. Apparently it was a person that they didn't wish to offend.

On MG 76 or 77, Brett was bleeped too. She gave the response "knocked up", which I suppose was unacceptable at that time.

During the first year of MG, there were responses that were just edited out altogether, without any real explanation. I suppose, since they didn't match, it didn't matter what the answer was, but it made for a sloppy edit. GSN also did not re-air any MG 73 eps. that had derogatory references to gay people. The panel pretty much stopped doing that once Charles Nelson Reilly became a regular.

[melman1]

On the MGPM I asked about, the question was "... I lost three inches off my <blank>" and Wallace's answer appeared to be a five-letter word with "e" as the second letter.  "OOPS!" was superimposed over the answer, and all reaction to it was edited out.

An obvious guess of the censored word is... umm... a part of the male... umm... anatomy (Mr. Know-It-All at GSN claims no, that's not it), but if something that blatant came up, wouldn't they have re-taped either the entire question or that single response?  I find it hard to believe that a semi-regular like Wallace would have crossed the line of good taste that badly, unless they had a particularly good "cocktail hour" before taping that show.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'melman1\' date=\'Mar 20 2004, 06:13 PM\'] I find it hard to believe that a semi-regular like Wallace would have crossed the line of good taste that badly, unless they had a particularly good "cocktail hour" before taping that show. [/quote]
 Don't forget that this was the same Marcia Wallace that used the word "t*ts" (you fill in the missing vowel--and the clue is it's not a, e, o or u) to get a contestant to say the word "udder" on SP in 1984 (classic moment--and a little surprising that NBC let it go uncensored; not to mention GSN also letting it go uncensored).  

Doug

[trainman]

[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Mar 20 2004, 05:24 PM\'] Don't forget that this was the same Marcia Wallace that used the word "t*ts" (you fill in the missing vowel--and the clue is it's not a, e, o or u) to get a contestant to say the word "udder" on SP in 1984 (classic moment--and a little surprising that NBC let it go uncensored; not to mention GSN also letting it go uncensored). [/quote]
 GSN seems to only edit their shows by programming the automation system to "cover" entire segments with a commercial break or a web site plug, or not airing them at all, so it's not surprising they didn't bleep the word.

But since the password was "udder," it's fairly reasonable to assume that Marcia was saying "teats"...and guess what my dictionary gives as an alternate pronunciation for that.

[Jay Temple]

Just wanted to say what's been left unsaid:  I think they'd get in deep sOOPS!t with Standards & Practices if they threw out a question for that reason.

[Casey]

The one edit I really remember is in one of the new year's eps.  I think it's the transition from '74 to '75.  I don't remember the question, but most of the celebrities responded with "House of Ill Repute."  Gail Fisher's answer of "Red Light District" was obviously edited in, as the audience reaction changed during the reveal of the answer.  She actually answered "wh**e house", which you can hear Charles say to Bert when Bert asked what she said.  Very funny.

[chris319]

they didn't stop tape and replay the question which I'm sure also happened from time to time

Think again. Questions were never thrown out and played again for reasons which become obvious if you think about it for a while. The first issue is: If a question were replayed, how would you deal with the fact that the score could be radically different after playing the second (left in) question than after the first (edited out) question, and is that fair to the contestant involved? That opens up a whole can of worms whereas blooping a naughty answer from the tape doesn't. The problem would be exponentially more troublesome if there were a game win involved.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'trainman\' date=\'Mar 20 2004, 08:30 PM\'] But since the password was "udder," it's fairly reasonable to assume that Marcia was saying "teats"...and guess what my dictionary gives as an alternate pronunciation for that. [/quote]
 I probably don't have the same dictionary, but the same alternate pronounciation is in mine, too.  I guess it's all in the usage--Andrew Dice Clay uses the word on the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards (along with a expletive) and gets "banned" from the network (five years after Marcia's utterance [resisting the temptation to go for the obvious pun]).

Wallace did explain it away on her own (in other words, no prodding from Convy) after the bonus round was over by calling it a "technical term."  And while it is a technical term, I'm still not sure how much of rural America would have easily accepted that word being used 20 years ago on a network daytime game show--no matter the intent.  But we can agree to disagree.

Doug

[melman1]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 12:00 AM\'] Think again. (snip} [/quote]
 I meant, re-tape a response or two without changing the scoring.  Isn't that what the infrequent message "Contents of this program, not affecting the outcome of the competition, have been edited" (or words to that effect) meant?

[chris319]

[quote name=\'melman1\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 10:21 AM\'][quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 12:00 AM\'] Think again. (snip} [/quote]
I meant, re-tape a response or two without changing the scoring.  Isn't that what the infrequent message "Contents of this program, not affecting the outcome of the competition, have been edited" (or words to that effect) meant?[/quote]
You said "stop tape and replay the question". That's different from doing an audio pickup of the same answer with different words, and no, other than the alleged Gail Fisher incident this was not a regular practice. The audio disclamier to which you refer could mean shortening the writing time as well as blooping dirty words.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Mar 20 2004, 08:24 PM\'] Don't forget that this was the same Marcia Wallace that used the word "t*ts" (you fill in the missing vowel--and the clue is it's not a, e, o or u) [/quote]
 Tyts.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 06:13 PM\'] [quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Mar 20 2004, 08:24 PM\'] Don't forget that this was the same Marcia Wallace that used the word "t*ts" (you fill in the missing vowel--and the clue is it's not a, e, o or u) [/quote]
Tyts. [/quote]
 Dang.  The over-under was eight hours on when someone would do that and I had the under.  

Doug