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Author Topic: '21'  (Read 5629 times)

The Pyramids

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'21'
« on: January 22, 2005, 09:58:23 AM »
Were any other people besided Murray Povich mentioned for the host as '21'?

I liked the set, and models, and watching it before 'The West Wing' during that shows first year on NBC. Was in made in Jay Leno's studio?

Finally from my  work I came into contact with one of the contestants from 1 million dollar winner David K's first show. He had been a d.j. here in the past, thats why I knew the name then and now.  I did not mention it though.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2005, 10:15:27 AM by PaulD »

Chief-O

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'21'
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2005, 10:38:43 AM »
[quote name=\'PaulD\' date=\'Jan 22 2005, 09:58 AM\']Were any other people besided Murray Povich mentioned for the host as '21'?
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I THINK I read that Dick Enberg was mentioned as a candidate.

Quote
Was in made in Jay Leno's studio?
No---it was in Carson's studio [1].
There are three things I've learned never to discuss with people: Religion, politics, and the proper wrapping of microphone cables.

tvrandywest

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'21'
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2005, 10:56:12 AM »
Quote
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Was in made in Jay Leno's studio?
No---it was in Carson's studio [1].
Yep, studio 1, also home to Phil Gurin's primetime and syndie "Weakest Link". The studio was originally built incorporating specifications from Bob Hope who used the room for every single one of his dozens of NBC West Coast specials. The acoustics rock.

The most unique thing about taping "Twenty One" was the armored truck that delivered $2,000,000 in hard cold cash every tape date! The cash arrived in those banded stackes of 100-dollar-bills we've all seen, but each million dollars was then covered in clear plastic shrink wrap that had to be ripped and discarded before the money could be used as a prop. The security was intense.

Random thoughts from the warm-up guy   ;-)


Randy
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« Last Edit: January 22, 2005, 10:58:27 AM by tvrandywest »
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Kevin Prather

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'21'
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2005, 01:59:52 PM »
So Randy, what would happen if a contestant won more than $2 mil?

tvrandywest

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'21'
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2005, 02:24:59 PM »
[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Jan 22 2005, 10:59 AM\']So Randy, what would happen if a contestant won more than $2 mil?
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Prop money was on hand and would have been used at the bottom of the banded stacks of real cash.

The shortest time in the world:
1.  The time between a traffic light turns green and a New York cabbie blows his horn.

2. The time between the winner on "Twenty One" walks out of camera range after being awarded their cash and the money is retreived by the propmaster.


Randy
tvrandywest.com
The story behind the voice you know and love... the voice of a generation of game shows: Johnny Olson!

Celebrate the centennial of the America's favorite announcer with "Johnny Olson: A Voice in Time."

Preview the book free: click "Johnny O Tribute" http://www.tvrandywest.com

BrandonFG

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'21'
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2005, 02:27:24 PM »
[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Jan 22 2005, 02:24 PM\'][quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Jan 22 2005, 10:59 AM\']So Randy, what would happen if a contestant won more than $2 mil?
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Prop money was on hand and would have been used at the bottom of the banded stacks of real cash.
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I remember there being black duffel bags with either the NBC logo or the Twenty-One logo. Were contestants allowed to keep those, or were they props as well?
"They're both Norman Jewison movies, Troy, but we did think of one Jew more famous than Tevye."

Now celebrating his 22nd season on GSF!

tvrandywest

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'21'
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2005, 02:34:30 PM »
Quote
I remember there being black duffel bags with either the NBC logo or the Twenty-One logo. Were contestants allowed to keep those, or were they props as well?
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The cash was placed from a silver try into the black tote bag. The bag was retreived, but may have been given to the contestant later. Members of the staff were given one of those bags with other swag. They're very heavy duty, two-handled tote bags. The "Twenty One" logo on one side; the NBC peacock on the other.

More meaningless minutae!


Randy
tvrandywest.com
The story behind the voice you know and love... the voice of a generation of game shows: Johnny Olson!

Celebrate the centennial of the America's favorite announcer with "Johnny Olson: A Voice in Time."

Preview the book free: click "Johnny O Tribute" http://www.tvrandywest.com

MikeK

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'21'
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2005, 02:35:06 PM »
[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Jan 22 2005, 01:59 PM\']So Randy, what would happen if a contestant won more than $2 mil?[/quote]
Maury pulls out his wallet and pays off the balance $20 at a time. :-)

I tried out for Twenty One in Chicago about a month before its debut.  The rules for the game changed frequently.  Contestant coordinator Harv Selsby told us at the tryouts on a Saturday afternoon that there had been rule changes by Fred Silverman right before Selsby and another contestant coordinator named Nancy boarded their flight from LA to Chicago.

The rules we were told were similar to the 1950s game, but with 1 through 5 point questions needing 1 answer, 6-8 point questions requiring 2, 9 and 10 pointers need 3, and 11 point answers required 5 answers.  The winner of each game won $10,000 for each point in the difference between the winner's score and the loser's.  Ties added $10,000 per point to the pot for the next game i.e. if 2 players tied at 21, the pot would start at $210,000.  Each subsequent game was played for $10,000/point, but there was talk about the stakes going up $10,000/point for each tie game.

The bonus round had Maury reading 6 true/false questions.  Getting 5 of 6 right doubled the money won in the previous match.  Under 5 right did nothing to what was earned.

One interesting rule was a champ could not retire undefeated.  Their earnings were always at risk, as any money won by the player who knocks off the champ came directly out of the champ's winnings.

The best line about Twenty One came from Nancy--"This version of Twenty One will NOT be rigged."

GSWitch

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'21'
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2005, 05:13:42 PM »
I miss the Povich Twenty-One & that David Legler paved the way for Dr. Kevin Olmstead & Ken Jennings to reach the game show heights.

When they first started, they had The Tom Scott Orchestra.  Why couldn't they have used the band for musical categories ala Name That Tune?

Casey

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'21'
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2005, 05:45:57 PM »
The live band was an especially nice touch in the early episodes.  I particularly enjoyed the background music.  It's too bad they had to go....

urbanpreppie05

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'21'
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2005, 07:22:36 PM »
[quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Jan 22 2005, 05:13 PM\']I miss the Povich Twenty-One & that David Legler paved the way for Dr. Kevin Olmstead & Ken Jennings to reach the game show heights.

When they first started, they had The Tom Scott Orchestra.  Why couldn't they have used the band for musical categories ala Name That Tune?
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Because then they would have exactly that- name that tune.
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Don Howard

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'21'
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2005, 11:35:19 PM »
[quote name=\'hmtriplecrown\' date=\'Jan 22 2005, 02:35 PM\']The rules we were told were similar to the 1950s game, but with 1 through 5 point questions needing 1 answer, 6-8 point questions requiring 2, 9 and 10 pointers need 3, and 11 point answers required 5 answers.  The winner of each game won $10,000 for each point in the difference between the winner's score and the loser's.  Ties added $10,000 per point to the pot for the next game i.e. if 2 players tied at 21, the pot would start at $210,000.  Each subsequent game was played for $10,000/point, but there was talk about the stakes going up $10,000/point for each tie game.
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Would the questions have been multiple choice, I wonder?
The big bummer about the shows featured in these "At Five" posts is that in a month or so it'll be five years since those same programs began going off the air.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2005, 11:37:16 PM by Don Howard »

passwordplus

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'21'
« Reply #12 on: January 24, 2005, 02:24:34 PM »
It seems like every person that I mention "21" to DOES NOT remember it. I guess Millionaire had 75% of the TV audience for sure.

And when 21 did go to Sundays at 7pm, I guess those same people were watching "60 minutes"

Don Howard

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'21'
« Reply #13 on: January 24, 2005, 02:44:18 PM »
[quote name=\'passwordplus\' date=\'Jan 24 2005, 02:24 PM\']And when 21 did go to Sundays at 7pm, I guess those same people were watching "60 minutes"
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The Sunday at 7:00 telecast for one week only to burn off the final taped show---during Memorial Day weekend. The most recent episode before that ran approximately six weeks before that. But, yes, 60 Minutes probably gobbled up what audience there was.
« Last Edit: January 24, 2005, 02:54:38 PM by Don Howard »