[quote name=\'Sodboy13\' post=\'189804\' date=\'Jul 5 2008, 01:39 PM\']
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'189797\' date=\'Jul 5 2008, 11:37 AM\']
[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'189780\' date=\'Jul 5 2008, 09:42 AM\']
I would vote strongly (were this a voting matter) for keeping the Showcase Showdown and the big wheel. I think it's a big draw for a lot of people--just notice how many contestants, after they lose their pricing game, say "I still get to spin the wheel!"[/quote]
To whatever degree I'm really concerned about all of this (which isn't nearly as much as most of you), I fear it's exactly this sort of thing that will be lost. One of my favorite things about this show is all the little, subtle, almost elegant ways that the structure of it holds up so well. And when you start messing with the structure, it can fall apart in ways you really hadn't considered. That's what I think is going to start happening here.
[/quote]
This pretty much echoes my sentiments. I don't understand all of the No Dob = End Of Show hyperbole, but maybe that's because the backstage doesn't interest me as much as what I see presented to me on the TV. But when I start hearing things like "Video Wall" and "No Contestant's Row," rumors though they may be at this point, that's where I start feeling a little bit of concern. [/quote]
The short answer is that Fremantle has wanted to monkey with the show to this extent for a few years now, but Roger was the driving force saying "No, that won't work, we'll keep it as is." When Fremantle goes to the extra effort to fire Roger, it looks pretty blatant that it was done just so they can make all the changes 'Market Research' think will raise ratings by X percent.