Double Dare

[mcsittel]

[quote name=\'DjohnsonCB\' post=\'148992\' date=\'Mar 24 2007, 11:03 PM\']
DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!!!!!!!  Here I am, paying a premium price every month to my cable service so I can have the digital tier with GSN...and what happens?  I forget that DD was on tonight, or even to check TV Guide where it was listed right there in the program grid!!!

Shades of the years when they used to run all those great shows but I could only dream of having GSN and missed out on all of them.  Now I wish I had a tape copy of all four of those DDs from tonight (if the premiere was one of them, I already have that one).  But as it stands now, I've already been waiting since last year for another tape collection of old GS's I traded for that hasn't come in months.

Okay, rant over. Sorry, but I just couldn't keep this in me.
[/quote]

Well, if you ask I'm sure you'll find someone who can help you out.  Maybe someone just across the Missouri River even.

This was a "must DVR" for me.  What a joy to see on GSN!  Can a "Pass the Buck" special be far behind?  I won't hold my breath.  Now to find the GSN feedback page to thank them for showing this.

[Chief-O]

It was a fun little show. I found myself playing along a couple of times [at least, when I didn't see the answer]. Complex format, yes, but still. As the OP noted, the SFX were pretty crazy [the Penny Ante sound freaked me out when I was little---imagine what the "door closing" sound could have done!], the set was delightfully tacky, and Alex was his then-loose self. Great work, GSN.

/I never thought I'd almost make a Hooters reference here

[bscripps]

[quote name=\'Chief-O\' post=\'149003\' date=\'Mar 25 2007, 12:02 PM\']
/I never thought I'd almost make a Hooters reference here
[/quote]
Let me continue the trend--while these eps were recording on the trusty DVR, I was actually *at* Hooters watching basketball.  Go figure...
 
Now removing my Hooters cap :-( and putting on my nerd cap...did the players have some sort of display inside the soundproof booth of mystery?  It seemed like they all kept looking down at something, as if they had notes.  My first thought was that they each had some sort of score display they could reference, but given technology of the day, it seems like it would have been a lot easier (and cheaper) for a PA to have off-camera cue cards showing scores.  Anyone know?

But all in all, it's definitely a fun format--just the kind of show GSN could really pick up and remake into something truly hideous.

[TimK2003]

[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' post=\'148975\' date=\'Mar 24 2007, 09:25 PM\']
But, lordy!  Could there have been more sound effects (and more annoying ones?  A less attractive production design?
[/quote]

The set was cool (about how many lightbulbs were used on for that big-ass message screen?), but what gets the cheez-whiz award goes to the backdrops in the isolation booths  -- using a can of green and red spray paint and a couple of stencils just don't cut it!   I'm surprised that Bob Stewart nor Sandy Frank never picked up on that idea!

[Chief-O]

[quote name=\'bscripps\' post=\'149004\' date=\'Mar 25 2007, 11:59 AM\']
did the players have some sort of display inside the soundproof booth of mystery?  It seemed like they all kept looking down at something, as if they had notes.  My first thought was that they each had some sort of score display they could reference, but given technology of the day, it seems like it would have been a lot easier (and cheaper) for a PA to have off-camera cue cards showing scores.
[/quote]

It wouldn't surprise me---after all, these are the CBS scenic and electronic departments we're dealing with.

What I do wonder is this----did they have the booths lit in that way---a la Povich 21----that would prevent the contestants and Spoilers from seeing the audience and everything?? Seeing as the main game answers [when shown on screen] appeared to be on title cards, it seems plausible to me that a contestant could see one inadvertantly while in the booth.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Chief-O\' post=\'149009\' date=\'Mar 25 2007, 12:14 PM\']
it seems plausible to me that a contestant could see one inadvertantly while in the booth.
[/quote]
Do you really think it would be that hard for that card to be shot out of the range of view from the booth?

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'Chief-O\' post=\'149009\' date=\'Mar 25 2007, 02:14 PM\']
It wouldn't surprise me---after all, these are the CBS scenic and electronic departments we're dealing with.
[/quote]
I would expect something like that from Scott Sternberg, but this was Goodson-Todman.

[JasonA1]

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'149012\' date=\'Mar 25 2007, 03:34 PM\']
I would expect something like that from Scott Sternberg, but this was Goodson-Todman.
[/quote]

Huh? Really, I'm not looking for trouble randomly - this just doesn't make any sense to me.

-Jason

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'149013\' date=\'Mar 25 2007, 02:40 PM\']
[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'149012\' date=\'Mar 25 2007, 03:34 PM\']
I would expect something like that from Scott Sternberg, but this was Goodson-Todman.
[/quote]
Huh? Really, I'm not looking for trouble randomly - this just doesn't make any sense to me.
[/quote]
Doesn't make any sense to me either.  I completely misread the posts.  Please disregard.

[uncamark]

At the time, the reasons given for the show's failure were "too many male contestants with moustaches like the host" and "too quiet."  Couldn't do much about the former, considering what kind of show it was, but they tried to fix the latter by having the audience and/or Mother MacKenzie reacting to everything later in the run.

One thing I wanted to see them change was having the contestants always in the booths until the winner came out to play the end game.  You could've just had them come out and stand next to Alex center stage before sending them to the booths--and it would have been five more seconds of that theme music while they crossed over.

If it was revived today, all of the end game topics would probably be pop culture and all of the Spoilers would be 70-year-old PhDs, to make sure the money would not be given away.

[mmb5]

Also remember we are seeing the first set of episodes of a show, and a format where G-T rarely ventured (trivia).  A lot of series look unpolished in their first few sets.  If you watch a later episode, the answers were a little more pop culture oriented and the writing was made to be a bit more humorous.

My only complaint about the show is that it's a little too slow, even by '76 standards.  At least it gave the New Jersey Devils an idea for a color scheme.


--Mike

[Ian Wallis]

At the time, the reasons given for the show's failure were "too many male contestants with moustaches like the host" and "too quiet." Couldn't do much about the former, considering what kind of show it was, but they tried to fix the latter by having the audience and/or Mother MacKenzie reacting to everything later in the run.

Hmmm...haven't heard that before.  Would the gender of contestants really matter that much?

It seems in the '60s it was always man vs woman.  In the '70s, such shows as Password, Match Game and Pyramid always had many more women contestants.  Were they concerned that the housewives watching at home wouldn't be able to root for contestants as much if there were more men?

For the record, I thought this was a neat show - certainly different than anything else that was on the air at the time.  It would have been nice to see it last a bit longer...

[JasonA1]

If you watch a later episode, the answers were a little more pop culture oriented and the writing was made to be a bit more humorous.

And too, the pacing was increased a bit. They streamlined things so there wasn't 5 seconds of Alex talking while they changed the shot after a buzz-in, plus they made a logical change where they had the bell ring once you could turn your attention back to the screen and play along, rather than it sounding when you weren't supposed to look.

-Jason

[Jay Temple]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'149060\' date=\'Mar 26 2007, 03:17 PM\']
Would the gender of contestants really matter that much?

It seems in the '60s it was always man vs woman.  In the '70s, such shows as Password, Match Game and Pyramid always had many more women contestants.  Were they concerned that the housewives watching at home wouldn't be able to root for contestants as much if there were more men?[/quote]
No comment on Match Game, but I always assumed that the reason for the disparity on Password and Pyramid was the same as the reason for the opposite disparity on J!, namely that more women auditioned and that they also played better than men. (I further assume that, on the 25/100KP, that's why they paired the new player with the female celeb in Game 1.)

[ChuckNet]

The set was cool (about how many lightbulbs were used on for that big-ass message screen?), but what gets the cheez-whiz award goes to the backdrops in the isolation booths -- using a can of green and red spray paint and a couple of stencils just don't cut it!

Def agree...as mystery7 put it, "Looked like someone's bathroom wallpaper, c. 1966". :-)

One unintentionally amusing aspect of the show was how some contestants had trouble getting out of their booth @ the end of the game...I know it plagued the show's biggest winner, Alan Lusher, on at least one of his eps.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")