The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: DjohnsonCB on March 06, 2012, 02:53:51 AM
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Since April 1 is on Sunday this year, is TPIR going to skip doing an April Fool show or will they do it on April 2? I haven't seen enough of them to know what they do in cases like this.
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Hopefully they'll skip it. IMO, the last few years of April Fools shows were terrible.
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Hopefully they'll skip it. IMO, the last few years of April Fools shows were terrible.
I know you say the last few years of April Fools were terrible, but let me ask you this, since I'm probably too young to remember: What did April Fool's look like on TPIR when it was done right, in your opinion?
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From the ones I remember, the gags were somewhat subtle, and they didn't beat you over the head with the fact that it's April Fools Day. There was the one showcase with the booby prizes and everything going wrong before revealing two Camaros (1983). There was another from '99 with more booby prizes in the showcase (I believe the contestant was offered three toy cars, only for Bob to eventually reveal three real Geo Metros). I believe there's one from the early-80s where Bob is introduced, but the door opens to reveal an "April Fools!" sign, and he then enters from the audience. Just a few to remind the audience and the viewers what the day is.
Drew's version has used some funny gags (i.e. the turntable that wouldn't stop rotating, the car on blocks), but they run the joke into the ground by the time you reach the midway point of the show. I get that he loves the April Fools gags, dating all the way back to his sitcom, but sometimes less is more IMO. A gag here and there is cool...after awhile I'm thinking "I get it."
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(I believe the contestant was offered three toy cars, only for Bob to eventually reveal three real Geo Metros).
But you repeat yourself.
/Geo Metro owner, 1991-1996
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Drew's 10,000th thing.....never again.....
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Hopefully they'll skip it. IMO, the last few years of April Fools shows were terrible.
I know you say the last few years of April Fools were terrible, but let me ask you this, since I'm probably too young to remember: What did April Fool's look like on TPIR when it was done right, in your opinion?
Exactly what Brandon said. A gag showcase is enough. Maybe super-subtle things throughout the show like they did on the WoF April Fools show a couple years ago. None of this "OMG THE SET'S ON FIRE. OMG THE ANNOUNCER'S KO'D".
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Hopefully they'll skip it. IMO, the last few years of April Fools shows were terrible.
I know you say the last few years of April Fools were terrible, but let me ask you this, since I'm probably too young to remember: What did April Fool's look like on TPIR when it was done right, in your opinion?
Exactly what Brandon said. A gag showcase is enough. Maybe super-subtle things throughout the show like they did on the WoF April Fools show a couple years ago. None of this "OMG THE SET'S ON FIRE. OMG THE ANNOUNCER'S KO'D".
So, you're saying play it low-key, and you're golden, right?
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So, you're saying play it low-key, and you're golden, right?
Exactly. Like Brandon said, less is more.
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(I believe the contestant was offered three toy cars, only for Bob to eventually reveal three real Geo Metros).
But you repeat yourself.
/Geo Metro owner, 1991-1996
Speaking as somebody whose Geo Metro threw a piston rod through the entire engine - yup, both hamsters - you have my sympathy.
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So, you're saying play it low-key, and you're golden, right?
I think that depends on what you're going for, since humor is different for different people. I've done the no-sell version of the Aristocrats joke for lots of people. Some really dig it and others frown. I think a terrific AFD gag would be to build up this enormous deal and then have Drew forget to do whatever it was.
The problem with Internet Christmas is that everyone thinks that they're way funnier than they actually are, and that people are now conditioned to see it coming.
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I think that depends on what you're going for, since humor is different for different people. I've done the no-sell version of the Aristocrats joke for lots of people. Some really dig it and others frown.
The thing about The Aristocrats (and I think the reason I love the movie so much) is that the *idea* of the joke is really funnier than the joke itself. Standing alone, meh. Told straight, meh. Told in a strange way (like Billy The Mime does) or used as a reference? Comic GOLD.
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Some really dig it and others frown. I think a terrific AFD gag would be to build up this enormous deal and then have Drew forget to do whatever it was.
Sounds a lot like the 10,000 gag last year, which I seemed to love more than most.
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So, you're saying play it low-key, and you're golden, right?
I think that depends on what you're going for, since humor is different for different people. I've done the no-sell version of the Aristocrats joke for lots of people. Some really dig it and others frown. I think a terrific AFD gag would be to build up this enormous deal and then have Drew forget to do whatever it was.
The problem with Internet Christmas is that everyone thinks that they're way funnier than they actually are, and that people are now conditioned to see it coming.
What I meant was, don't be as over-the-top and as in-your-face as Drew's TPIR has been about the gimmick. Make more sense now?
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Speaking as somebody whose Geo Metro threw a piston rod through the entire engine - yup, both hamsters - you have my sympathy.
I thought I was the only one who joked about a Geo running on hamster power. Towards the end of my car's life (1989-1999), I was lucky to live on a hill so I could push-start it by throwing it into first. In a touch of mercy, a neighborhood tree spectacularly took it out.
Back on topic, I remember staying home from school and seeing the everything-goes-wrong showcase. I loved Johnny's "uh, maybe we can edit?"
Unfortunately, the Monty Python principle ("drop the cow and get out," or kill an overly long bit) was missed in some of the latest April Fool's antics where subtlety is wielded with a sledgehammer. It even exceeded the SNL standard for overused humor.
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Some really dig it and others frown. I think a terrific AFD gag would be to build up this enormous deal and then have Drew forget to do whatever it was.
Sounds a lot like the 10,000 gag last year, which I seemed to love more than most.
The whole problem with the "10,000 gag" (as far as I was concerned, anyway) was that they spent the whole show building it up just for it to end with absolutely zero payoff. Both showcases had cars... I was expecting the gag to be saying the winner won the 10,000th car given away on the show, unfurling a banner, dropping balloons and confetti and making it seem like a much bigger deal than it really was. And unless you're a Fremantle employee or Zach Horan, you can only estimate exactly how many cars TPiR has given away in roughly 7,000 shows.
(Granted, it still wouldn't have been funny, mind you, but it still would've been a much better ending for all the buildup than "Well, the 10,000 thing didn't happen, sorry, bye.")
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(Granted, it still wouldn't have been funny, mind you, but it still would've been a much better ending for all the buildup than "Well, the 10,000 thing didn't happen, sorry, bye.")
Except that was the whole point of the 10,000 gag.
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The 1st Drew AFD show was alright. Not subtle, but still not as outlandish. The Mimi Bobeck Memorial Show was way too much. I love Kathy Kinney as much as the next person (or am I alone?), but they went overboard with that. This last one was cute. A bit over the top, but cute. The thing about that show was that while they beat you over the head with the fact that it was April Fools Day, they didn't at the same time. The words "April Fools Day" weren't mentioned until the absolute end. They even referenced Rachel driving into Door 3 (albeit destroying the whole door was...shocking). And seeing the Big Wheel taken down and through Door 2 while Dig We Must played in full on-air was a nice little geek out moment.
As for this year, they'll probably opt to give it a break. April Fools is one of those holidays where it kind of has to be done on the day for it to be effective. Celebrating it before or after and going for that subtlety or outlandishness makes you look weird and crazy.
For an April Fools Day back in the 70s (I want to say 1975), the show had a chaos filled showcase that included an organ and a television flying into each other at breakneck speed. Now that would be something to do on another April Fools Day.
/Okay, maybe "breakneck speed" is an exaggeration.
//They still exploded.
///And April Fools Day on Palm Sunday? Church ought to be fun.
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(I believe the contestant was offered three toy cars, only for Bob to eventually reveal three real Geo Metros).
But you repeat yourself.
/Geo Metro owner, 1991-1996
Speaking as somebody whose Geo Metro threw a piston rod through the entire engine - yup, both hamsters - you have my sympathy.
When I was 5, my parents were at a Geo dealership looking at cars. When my father was looking under the hood of a Metro, I asked where the engine was. When it was pointed out what the engine was, I said I thought it was the air conditioner.
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For an April Fools Day back in the 70s (I want to say 1975), the show had a chaos filled showcase that included an organ and a television flying into each other at breakneck speed.
Indeed it did. Proof:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVSEuB9tvJI
One video comment says the organ (thumbnail, above) is a Mattel Optigan (http://www.optigan.com/info/optigan/faq/), and based on pictures here (http://www.optigan.com/info/optigan/merchandise-catalog/models/) it most closely resembles the 35001 or 35002 model.
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What I meant was, don't be as over-the-top and as in-your-face as Drew's TPIR has been about the gimmick. Make more sense now?
I knew what you meant, I'm saying it doesn't matter. You can't make humor by plugging variables into a spreadsheet, otherwise you'll get "Gilligan and the rabid lawn mower were spelunking and the bartender asked 'Why the long face?'" I'm sure there were plenty of people out there who dug the over-the-topness and hope for more of the same.