Page O'Clips Pyramid

[byrd62]

So I saw this 1983 clip of the Pyramid and the matter before the officials was whether the contestant guessed "Things that are flannel" at the buzzer or not.

She won $10,000 after they reviewed the tape, but I'm not sure.

[TalkingHeadsFan]

I don't think she should have won...She tried to rush in the word "Flannel", but it clearly came in after the buzzer.

[CarShark]

[quote name=\'TalkingHeadsFan\' date=\'Mar 20 2005, 07:58 PM\']I don't think she should have won...She tried to rush in the word "Flannel", but it clearly came in after the buzzer.

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I disagree. I listened to it again and again, and I think she got the whole thing in before the buzzer.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'TalkingHeadsFan\' date=\'Mar 20 2005, 07:58 PM\']I don't think she should have won...She tried to rush in the word "Flannel", but it clearly came in after the buzzer.

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Do you really think Bob Stewart would pay out $10K to a contestant who got the answer a nanosecond after the buzzer, knowing what we know about him

[Blanquepage]

To satisfy my curiosity, I took advantage of my handy .WAV creator, something obviously not at their disposal back in '83.
Having zoomed into the portion where both the word "flannel" and the buzzer met, I have made the following conclusion:

The buzzer started right after she said "of" and started approximately 9 hundredths of a second before the keyword "flannel."
She should not have won.

A published report of my findings will be available next week after the press conference. That is all.

--Jamie

[JasonA1]

Listening and watching, the clock went to 0, but the buzzer didn't sound until somewhere in the middle of "things made of flannel." Obviously, as Jamie has shown us, the difference was much too close for the ear to really discern. So they did the best thing. It wasn't like those bonafide losses on "Super Password" that won $20,000 and upwards.

-Jason

[BrandonFG]

I replayed the last 4 seconds about 10 times...and my vote is with Jamie's. Dick clearly explained that if it were "Things Made of....(BUZZ!) Flannel" then she wouldn't win, which it looks like happened in this case.

[whammy5000]

She shouldn't have won it.  I paused it the very second that the buzzer sounded, and all she said before I paused it was "Things made of..." then I hit pause again and she said "...flannel" while the buzzer was sounding.

[tyshaun1]

[quote name=\'whammy5000\' date=\'Mar 21 2005, 02:10 AM\']She shouldn't have won it.  I paused it the very second that the buzzer sounded, and all she said before I paused it was "Things made of..." then I hit pause again and she said "...flannel" while the buzzer was sounding.

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Now I'm not sure how Pyramid judged it, but on most shows, since she "started" her answer before the buzzer, they usually would award her the prize. Ergo, she's a winnah!

Tyshaun

[Chief-O]

I didn't slow down the clip, check the waveform on Goldwave, or anything, but I can say that the buzzer beat her.

[jmangin]

[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Mar 21 2005, 10:44 AM\']Now I'm not sure how Pyramid judged it, but on most shows, since she "started" her answer before the buzzer, they usually would award her the prize. Ergo, she's a winnah!

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True, but in the case of this clip, Dick explains that you have to say the operative word (i.e. "flannel") before the buzzer starts, which this contestant did not.

In all fairness to contestants, sound effects (since they are most often controlled by hand) should not be used to determine if an answer was given in time; they should use the clock display, whether they use the on-stage clock or the on-screen version (I don't know how closely-synchronized these two are or if the buzzer is part of the audio clock loop).

Assuming that both clocks are synchronized, they should have cued the tape to the instant the clock hit zero; if "flannel" came after that, then she should not have been given $10,000.

[Mike Tennant]

[quote name=\'jmangin\' date=\'Mar 21 2005, 11:04 AM\'][quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Mar 21 2005, 10:44 AM\']Now I'm not sure how Pyramid judged it, but on most shows, since she "started" her answer before the buzzer, they usually would award her the prize. Ergo, she's a winnah!

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True, but in the case of this clip, Dick explains that you have to say the operative word (i.e. "flannel") before the buzzer starts, which this contestant did not.

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This sort of makes sense for this particular show.  Otherwise, a contestant could stall for time by starting to say, for example, "Things That Are . . ." before the buzzer and then coming up with a way to finish it afterward.  I know it's a stretch, but I can see why Bob Stewart might have come up with such a rule.

[PYLdude]

The answer is obvious...she didn't get the word "flannel" in before the buzzer.

However, in my opinion, since the answer was mostly out of her mouth (she had started with her answer before the buzzer rang, I thought), it should have counted and the money should have been hers. They did the right thing in this case.

[TLEberle]

Something worth considering is that Pyramid has the two people competing over two halves; not like "Super Password," where the bonus round stands by itself.  If she wins the $10,000, it means the other contestant has to get there and win the $10k to stay on the show.  Similarly, the situation reverses if it's the second game of the day.

So there's more than just one person's winning at stake, which is not normally the case.

[Kevin Prather]

This is why it's a good idea for Pyramid contestants to get into the habit of phrasing your answers essence-first. I.E. "Flannel things" rather than "Things that are flannel."