So This is Goodbye: $ale on it's way out

[TheInquisitiveOne]

Good afternoon everyone!

As of this writing, I am currently watching the last week of episodes of NBC's $ale of the Century, and it led me to wonder:

For those of you who watched it when it happened, did you know about it before the fact in any capacity? Any announcements or indications made?

I thank you in advance for the responses!

The Inquisitive One

(By the way, I may have some more threads about $otC before the day is out, just so you know.)

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'TheInquisitiveOne\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 02:07 PM\'] Good afternoon everyone!

As of this writing, I am currently watching the last week of episodes of NBC's $ale of the Century, and it led me to wonder:

For those of you who watched it when it happened, did you know about it before the fact in any capacity? Any announcements or indications made?

I thank you in advance for the responses!

The Inquisitive One

(By the way, I may have some more threads about $otC before the day is out, just so you know.) [/quote]
 I beg of you, please tell me how the last one ends. I've been wondering for fifteen years.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'TheInquisitiveOne\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 02:07 PM\'] (By the way, I may have some more threads about $otC before the day is out, just so you know.) [/quote]
 Gee, thanks for the warning.

[TheInquisitiveOne]

I'll be glad to tell you!

After the contestant won his $6,000 playing the WBMG and after the last commercial break, the show returns with Jim Perry, his wife June, Summer, the winning contestant, and the rest of the crew. Jim gives a poignant speech talking about how enjoyable his 6 and one quarter years on the show were. He also noted that the show gave away well over $6 million dollars during its run. After his final goodbye, there was one last balloon drop and the credits rolled. During the credit roll, there were shots of the control room.

The last credit said, "$ale of the Century: The End." During the Reg Grundy bumper, there was one last shot of the control room in which the director gave his final countdown and said, "Fade to Black."

And that was the end. Very sad exit for an amazing game show. I hope this helped.

The Inquisitive One

[Jimmy Owen]

Jim made several mentions during the last weeks that the show was coming to an end. Three weeks before the end, the show was preempted for two weeks for "At Rona's" and Jim made sure to let everyone know that the show would return for the final week after the two week preemption. An NBC News report  wiped out the last segment of the last show on the East Coast, so those viewers (including me) never saw the poignant goodbye speech.  I was interested in seeing the last segment, so thanks for letting us know what happened.

[Esoteric Eric]

[quote name=\'TheInquisitiveOne\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 11:07 AM\']
For those of you who watched it when it happened, did you know about it before the fact in any capacity? Any announcements or indications made?
[/quote]
There were probably some NBC daytime promos for $otC's replacement, but I don't recall seeing them.
Going from a 15-year-old memory, I do seem to recall that Jim Perry mentioned "our last week on NBC" right at the beginning of Monday's show. (Didn't he, InqOne?)  
That was plenty enough warning compared to other shows; ABC's Blankety Blanks, for example, where Bill Cullen just stopped the game in progress, awarded a cash prize to the contestant who was ahead, told the audience at home that the series was over, and waved goodbye.  <Rimmer from Red Dwarf> "All the warning most of us get is: 'Mind that bus.'-'What bus?'-splat." </RfRD>

Esoteric Eric, flouting doctor's order's (Have you ever tried to type with one leg elevated?!? (Don't answer that, laptop users)), soon to return to bed (after I find my copy of the 12/31/99 GSN Last Shows Marathon.)

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'TheInquisitiveOne\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 02:17 PM\'] And that was the end. Very sad exit for an amazing game show. I hope this helped.

 [/quote]
 Indeed it did. Thank you.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'TheInquisitiveOne\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 03:07 PM\'] For those of you who watched it when it happened, did you know about it before the fact in any capacity? Any announcements or indications made? [/quote]
 Very few cancellations came as a complete surprise to fans even back then, at least those who paid attention.  At the very least, the new edition of TV Guide would indicate a change in the daytime lineup effective that Monday.  

Still, as has been mentioned, $ale was given ample opportunity to build up to its final shows, a classy move on NBC's part back when networks were in the habit of being classy every once in a while.

Incidentally, when I appeared on the syndicated version of the show, we were taping what would be the last episodes of that season, and at that point they hadn't decided whether they would return.  They informed us that there would be no special announcement made, and if the show didn't return in the fall, the champion would simply receive the prize at the level she had reached.  (This was before they had introduced bonus games.)  As it turned out, the show did return for another season, though I imagine the last contestant of THAT season suffered the same fate.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'Esoteric Eric\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 03:06 PM\'] There were probably some NBC daytime promos for $otC's replacement, but I don't recall seeing them.
 [/quote]
When $otC and SP were both cancelled, one of them was replaced with the sudser GENERATIONS and the other half hour was turned back over to local affiliates (not sure it can officially be determined which one was which).  SCRABBLE took $otC's place in the 10AM ET slot (it would be gone a year later).

And Jimmy's right in that Perry made mention on a few occasions before the final week.  One classic moment a week or so before the "official" announcement from Perry was Don Morrow doing a contestant plug and Perry looks straight into the camera after Morrow's finished and says, "Call quick."

And I was among the gipped, but thanks to a tape trade I finally got to see the good-bye speech and the extry-long credit roll (nice to see $otC's camera operators finally get some mention).

Doug

[kidsplash]

[quote name=\'TheInquisitiveOne\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 02:17 PM\'] I'll be glad to tell you!

After the contestant won his $6,000 playing the WBMG and after the last commercial break, the show returns with Jim Perry, his wife June, Summer, the winning contestant, and the rest of the crew. Jim gives a poignant speech talking about how enjoyable his 6 and one quarter years on the show were. He also noted that the show gave away well over $6 million dollars during its run. After his final goodbye, there was one last balloon drop and the credits rolled. During the credit roll, there were shots of the control room.

The last credit said, "$ale of the Century: The End." During the Reg Grundy bumper, there was one last shot of the control room in which the director gave his final countdown and said, "Fade to Black."

And that was the end. Very sad exit for an amazing game show. I hope this helped.

The Inquisitive One [/quote]
 Boy, I remember the first time I saw the last episode of $OTC in its orignal broadcast, as well as the final credit and the control room and that's was when it all ended

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 04:07 PM\'] Very few cancellations came as a complete surprise to fans even back then, at least those who paid attention.  At the very least, the new edition of TV Guide would indicate a change in the daytime lineup effective that Monday.  
 [/quote]
 I had found out through a blurb in USA TODAY.  In fact, initially USA TODAY had published that both $otC and SCRABBLE would be cancelled, then they ran the retraction indicating that it would be SP getting the heave-ho (either that, or NBC had a change in heart and spared SCRABBLE--then released that info to USA TODAY).

My recollection indicated above about Perry's "call quick" was well after the fact (after seeing it on a USA rerun).

Doug

[TheInquisitiveOne]

[quote name=\'Esoteric Eric\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 04:06 PM\'] Going from a 15-year-old memory, I do seem to recall that Jim Perry mentioned "our last week on NBC" right at the beginning of Monday's show. (Didn't he, InqOne?)  
 [/quote]
 You are right. On the 3/20/89 episode, Jim started right out and said that "This is the first show of what will be the final week of this incarnation of $ale of the Century" right after his jog through the big doors.

It was really sad to watch that. After the last champion fell short of winning the Jeep Cherokee (in which if he did, he probably would have gone for the $50,000 the next day...a nice way to go), Jim made mention of the $16,000 Instant Ca$h jackpot at the end of the show...that was the only climactic thing that $ale had to fall back on in its last two days.

Again, the show went out in stride, like all good shows should.

The Inquisitive One

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 05:09 PM\']
When $otC and SP were both cancelled, one of them was replaced with the sudser GENERATIONS and the other half hour was turned back over to local affiliates (not sure it can officially be determined which one was which).  SCRABBLE took $otC's place in the 10AM ET slot (it would be gone a year later).
 [/quote]
 As you had stated, $otC was replaced with Scrabble. SP was replaced with nothing, giving the 12:00 slot back to its affiliates (making NBC the second network of the "big three" to do so....CBS was the first, three years earlier, in 1986).

Generations premiered at 12:30 p.m., which was formerly Scrabble's time slot.

[Don Howard]

One big thing I do remember about that last show is that the $1000 Instant Ca$h
prize wasn't won leading Jim to say, "And now the Instant Ca$h is worth....nothing". The finality of it hit right then.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 08:50 PM\'] [quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Mar 21 2004, 05:09 PM\']
When $otC and SP were both cancelled, one of them was replaced with the sudser GENERATIONS and the other half hour was turned back over to local affiliates (not sure it can officially be determined which one was which).  SCRABBLE took $otC's place in the 10AM ET slot (it would be gone a year later).
 [/quote]
As you had stated, $otC was replaced with Scrabble. SP was replaced with nothing, giving the 12:00 slot back to its affiliates (making NBC the second network of the "big three" to do so....CBS was the first, three years earlier, in 1986).

Generations premiered at 12:30 p.m., which was formerly Scrabble's time slot. [/quote]
I guess this does bring up the question, "What constitutes a replacement?"  I'm of the mindset that since SCRABBLE was already on the air that it didn't replace $otC (in other words, $otC wasn't cancelled to make room for SCRABBLE).  

A perfect example would be when Perry CS got cancelled.  P+ was moved to the death slot and BATTLESTARS took P+'s old time slot.  Isn't it more accurate to say that BATTLESTARS replaced CS on NBC's schedule because CS was cancelled to make room for it?  

I realize it's all semantics, but anyone else have any ideas?

Doug