Supermarket Sweep's big sweep

[MSTieScott]

I posed this question in a recent conversation I had, and realized it would be a good one for the board:

Why did I enjoy watching the big sweep portion of "Supermarket Sweep"? By all logic, I should have found it terribly boring -- there was little to no play-along value and it was nearly the same every day (you always knew you'd see at least one person grabbing turkeys, diapers, and those gigantic wedges of cheese). But I'd often watch it... even anticipate it. I can't figure out what appeal it had, yet it had an appeal. Why? Or what? Or maybe how?, I'm not sure.

--
Scott Robinson

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'MSTieScott\' date=\'Nov 8 2004, 04:26 PM\']I posed this question in a recent conversation I had, and realized it would be a good one for the board:

Why did I enjoy watching the big sweep portion of "Supermarket Sweep"? By all logic, I should have found it terribly boring -- there was little to no play-along value and it was nearly the same every day (you always knew you'd see at least one person grabbing turkeys, diapers, and those gigantic wedges of cheese). But I'd often watch it... even anticipate it. I can't figure out what appeal it had, yet it had an appeal. Why? Or what? Or maybe how?, I'm not sure.

[snapback]63315[/snapback]

[/quote]

The same vicarious wish fulfillment as watching those kids on "Finders Keepers" do to that stage set what they would never have the guts to do to their own homes in real life.  Al Howard had the genius to discover that there was this urge in people to want to go through supermarkets and go wild without regard to cost or size of freezer and built a whole show around it.  You can't do what they do on the show, but you can watch it and get your jollies pretending you're in their place.  It may not be all that intellectual, but "Supermarket Sweep" was not intended to be an intellectual show.

[ClockGameJohn]

I always enjoyed the commentary.  Who was that guy anyway?  ;-)

[urbanpreppie05]

Johnny Gilbert? :-)

[mparrish11]

[quote name=\'urbanpreppie05\' date=\'Nov 8 2004, 06:47 PM\']Johnny Gilbert? :-)

[snapback]63331[/snapback]

[/quote]

And don't forget our very own, Randy West! :-)

I liked the music bed played during the "Big Sweep".  The whole package is one of my favorites.  It's one I am hoping will be released soon. (and FK)

[Craig Karlberg]

Though the "Big Sweep" was mostly pick some items to see who'd grab the most dollar ammounts, there was a mini-game where the shoppers had to push a button on one of 3 monitors scattered throughout the store.  Each one was a clue to a mystrery product located somewhere in the store.  Finding that product netted a bonus of $200 IIRC.  Outside of that, there really wasn't nuch to think about during the sweep.

[tvrandywest]

Johnny Gilbert laid a great foundation for the style of that Big Sweep play by play. It's a gig I really enjoyed for the last few years of the show.

I must disagree with our esteemed Scott. IMHO, the playalong was huge. All of us have imagined the fantasy of running wild in the aisles; our playalong at home was about what the contestant could grab, should grab, and the stuff we think they've wasted time grabbing. Much like the internal dialogue inspired from watching TPIR: "That clock radio is more expensive than that contestant's $20 guess".

There's certainly no arguing with Al Howard's success with SWEEP. And it continues with the Supermarket Sweep slot machine which is now coming to fruition. It was interesting to work closely day in and day out with the show's original creator. He always had his clear vision of what was "right" for the show. That included everything from what comments would be most effective during the big sweep to maximize the drama, to a heated debate as to where the Garden Weasel should be placed in the market! The guy hand-crafted every episode, and had tremendous insight and stories about the first generation of TV game show producers. He worked with them all, Mark Goodson included.


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[MyCapableAssistant]

That's an interesting question.

Supermarket Sweep isn't my "usual" type of game show where the playalong is EDUCATIONAL, such as Password, but I found Randy's commentary *awfully entertaining* to listen to! In fact, often I actually looked forward to THAT part of the show!

I can't figure out what appeal it had, yet it had an appeal. Why? Or what? Or maybe how?, I'm not sure.

The appeal "I" found was in its entertainment value.

[vtown7]

Randy, did you ever get to do the big sweep personally?  I have this vision of staffers on that type of show running around after a taping day.

Ryan

[tvrandywest]

[quote name=\'vtown7\' date=\'Nov 9 2004, 05:42 PM\']Randy, did you ever get to do the big sweep personally?  I have this vision of staffers on that type of show running around after a taping day.

Ryan

[snapback]63428[/snapback]

[/quote]


Me? I pay someone to run for me.

Actually, it was a very cool set, and I'm not referring to the frozen food section. Somewhere on my site is a picture of me rolling Ruprecht around in a shopping cart. The closest to an official sweep for me was the final day of last season when I got a chance to "choose huge chunks of cheese to please my choosy palate". For health code reasons the perishables were not part of the charitable donation of canned and packaged goods. Yummy!!


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[Monarx]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Nov 10 2004, 02:20 PM\'][quote name=\'vtown7\' date=\'Nov 9 2004, 05:42 PM\']Randy, did you ever get to do the big sweep personally?  I have this vision of staffers on that type of show running around after a taping day.

Ryan

[snapback]63428[/snapback]

[/quote]

(... stuff ...)
The closest to an official sweep for me was the final day of last season when I got a chance to "choose huge chunks of cheese to please my choosy palate". For health code reasons the perishables were not part of the charitable donation of canned and packaged goods. Yummy!!

[snapback]63475[/snapback]

[/quote]

Did you get your limit of 5?  And was there a giant Bonus-sized box of Kleenex at the last show?

[tvrandywest]

[quote name=\'Monarx\' date=\'Nov 10 2004, 11:26 AM\']
Did you get your limit of 5?  And was there a giant Bonus-sized box of Kleenex at the last show?

[snapback]63478[/snapback]

[/quote]

I could only fit THREE in my fridge. They are that huge!

As to the giant box of Kleenex, the giant Pillsbury Dough Boy grabbed it before I could. He and the Jolly Green Giant seemed awfully happy together!


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[mystery7]

Ho ho ho! Does Sprout know his dad turned over a new leaf?

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Nov 10 2004, 03:05 PM\']As to the giant box of Kleenex, the giant Pillsbury Dough Boy grabbed it before I could. He and the Jolly Green Giant seemed awfully happy together!
[/quote]
I always thought Uncle Ben and Betty Crocker should get together. They could have little baby rice cakes.

[DYosua]

I always thought Uncle Ben and Betty Crocker should get together. They could have little baby rice cakes.

[snapback]63512[/snapback]

I always thought Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima should have been together...