Wheel of Fortune Shopping Era

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'JRaygor\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 02:46 PM\'] Did anyone ever go "On Account" during the glorious Benirschke era ? I'd like to hear his reactions !

-Joe R.

 [/quote]
 I think I have a general idea.

"Well, folks, I'm not sure what 'on account' means, so while I find out, we'll go to a commercial and then come back to our Wheel of Fortune."

[Jumpondees]

[quote name=\'JRaygor\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 01:46 PM\']
Did anyone ever go "On Account" during the glorious Benirschke era ? I'd like to hear his reactions !

-Joe R. [/quote]
 Gee...I didn't think anyone would admit to knowing that they saw some of the Benirschke eps....I just figured everyone just convieniently ommited those from memory, much like I did.  :-)

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Jumpondees\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 05:38 PM\'] Gee...I didn't think anyone would admit to knowing that they saw some of the Benirschke eps....I just figured everyone just convieniently ommited those from memory, much like I did.  :-) [/quote]
 You don't know Joe very well

He is a big Benirschke fan...Not to mention at GSC12, when we played Card Sharks, the "freeze" point was marked with cardboard pieces containing his picture, in which we dubbed them "Benirschke Bars"...

[Jumpondees]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 04:47 PM\']
You don't know Joe very well

He is a big Benirschke fan...Not to mention at GSC12, when we played Card Sharks, the "freeze" point was marked with cardboard pieces containing his picture, in which we dubbed them "Benirschke Bars"... [/quote]
 LMAO....No I don't....But I think I would pay good money to see a picture of those things.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Jumpondees\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 05:55 PM\'] LMAO....No I don't....But I think I would pay good money to see a picture of those things. [/quote]
 I think that could be arranged by either myself or someone here..

[whewfan]

Didn't they eliminate the "On Account" option by the time Rolf took over?

As for the Benirschke Bars, they were basically taken from pics. on Joe's site devoted to Rolf, so you could make your own, if you like!

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'whewfan\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 05:02 PM\'] Didn't they eliminate the "On Account" option by the time Rolf took over?

 [/quote]
 The On Account option ended when shopping ended on WOF, which was when the show moved over to CBS and Goen took over as daytime host.

[J.R.]

[quote name=\'Jumpondees\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 04:55 PM\'] [quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 04:47 PM\']
You don't know Joe very well

He is a big Benirschke fan...Not to mention at GSC12, when we played Card Sharks, the "freeze" point was marked with cardboard pieces containing his picture, in which we dubbed them "Benirschke Bars"... [/quote]
LMAO....No I don't....But I think I would pay good money to see a picture of those things. [/quote]
 You would !? I could make you some Benirschke Bars for only $10 each !

I'll even throw-in the Brookyln Bridge for $25 also : )
-Joe R.

[acertaingirl]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' date=\'Jul 5 2004, 02:59 PM\'] [quote name=\'Michael Brandenburg\' date=\'Jul 5 2004, 11:11 AM\'] The official rule on the show was that you could put any amount of your winnings from a round "On Account" at any time while you were "shopping" -- in fact, I recall one episode in which a contestant put part of her winnings "On Account" before buying anything else during her "shopping spree."

 [/quote]
Are you sure? I thought if a player started shopping, they had to keep buying stuff until they could no longer afford anything. That's how they were able to move the ceramic dalmations--if a player had, say, $300 left and the dog was $150, they couldn't put it on account until after they'd bought the dog. [/quote]
 I can hear Chuck's voice in my head (along with the others!) saying "on account or a gift certificate"?  My mother and I used to joke that the contestant had to buy a bunch of junk whether they wanted it or not, just to get to the point where they couldn't buy anything else.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' date=\'Jul 5 2004, 12:59 PM\'] Are you sure? I thought if a player started shopping, they had to keep buying stuff until they could no longer afford anything. That's how they were able to move the ceramic dalmations--if a player had, say, $300 left and the dog was $150, they couldn't put it on account until after they'd bought the dog. [/quote]
 It shouldn't surprise you to know that Brandenburg is dead wrong...the option was either to put the whole schmiel On Account, or shop until you could shop no mo', and then put the remainder On Account or on a gift certificate. Many was the day that a player thought they were done shopping, only for Pat to point out that they still had $120 left for that goddamn dog.

[bellbm]

Did the contestant ever have a say in what room they went in?  I know the "prices of the prizes were furnished to the contestants prior to the show, and were rounded off to the nearest dollar", so maybe they told them what room they would go to after each round before the show.

Was the dalmation in every room?

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'bellbm\' date=\'Jul 7 2004, 12:42 PM\']Did the contestant ever have a say in what room they went in?  I know the "prices of the prizes were furnished to the contestants prior to the show, and were rounded off to the nearest dollar", so maybe they told them what room they would go to after each round before the show.

[/quote]
Originally, no--sometimg during the first six months, they were allowed to pick whatever platforms they wanted to shop at first (I assume they had everyone rate the platforms 1-2-3).  This was when the curtain replaced the doors behind Woolery.  By the time we got to Sajak and the turntable, they may've lost the choice completely, or the first round winner's first choice was first and they then went in the order the turntable spun (although if there was a fourth round, they went back to the platform that was the least bought during the game).

And I would still swear that you could put your money On Account at any time during shopping, even if you still had to buy stuff--people went On Account so infrequently (and there was a period of time where I didn't watch "Wheel" frequently) that it's hard to remember.

Was the dalmation in every room?

No--it just seemed like he was.  

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 7 2004, 01:02 PM\'] ...the option was either to put the whole schmiel On Account, or shop until you could shop no mo', and then put the remainder On Account or on a gift certificate. Many was the day that a player thought they were done shopping, only for Pat to point out that they still had $120 left for that goddamn dog. [/quote]
 My memory was that Chuck or Pat would remind them there was still more to buy if they wanted to put the remainder on a gift certificate.  Gift certificates could only be for whatever leftover scraps of money you had left.  But I'll agree with mark, my impression was that you could -- in theory anyway -- put any amount you wanted "on account" even if you had already made some purchases.  But as Mark says, it happened so infrequently that we may be hard pressed to prove it.

The official rules I have may be from the shopping era, I can't remember.  If they are, I'll check them later and tell you what I find out.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jul 7 2004, 11:43 AM\'] My memory was that Chuck or Pat would remind them there was still more to buy if they wanted to put the remainder on a gift certificate.  Gift certificates could only be for whatever leftover scraps of money you had left.  But I'll agree with mark, my impression was that you could -- in theory anyway -- put any amount you wanted "on account" even if you had already made some purchases.  But as Mark says, it happened so infrequently that we may be hard pressed to prove it. [/quote]
 I see. That might be, and I'll happily chow down on some crow if in fact that was the case.

[Steve McClellan]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 7 2004, 12:08 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jul 7 2004, 11:43 AM\'] My memory was that Chuck or Pat would remind them there was still more to buy if they wanted to put the remainder on a gift certificate.  Gift certificates could only be for whatever leftover scraps of money you had left.  But I'll agree with mark, my impression was that you could -- in theory anyway -- put any amount you wanted "on account" even if you had already made some purchases.  But as Mark says, it happened so infrequently that we may be hard pressed to prove it. [/quote]
I see. That might be, and I'll happily chow down on some crow if in fact that was the case.[/quote]
Waiter! One round of boiled crow for Chris L., please!

I distinctly remember seeing an episode on GSN where a guy was down to his last $300 or so. Pat started to tell him to take the Dalmation (or an equally undesirable small prize), but the contestant cut him off and said he wanted to put the rest on account, which was done.