Game show false memories

[Otm Shank]

In Hap's case, while it was mildly irritating, he bent the rules because they allowed him to bend the rules. I really don't think he was trying to get away with anything, but Jim Lange kept giving him that opening.

Oddly, Jim would say that they were more lenient in the Golden Medley since it was against the house. Fine, if we are talking about minor words like "of" or "to", but giving extra time for a contestant to formulate an answer is not "against the house" but against the other players in the tournament and to those who missed the tournament. It's inconsistent, and not the contestant's fault. Not surprisingly, Sandy Frank is more strict when it involves a cash round, but not when a contestant adds a fabulous sponsored prize.

I don't think he took advantage of the talk-as-long-as-you-say-the-lyrics rule. It did get to some ridiculous levels for other contestants sometimes, but it is far better than the 2020s rules that eliminate you for saying one more word than the exact title. Or worse, if you don't say pass, you don't get prodded by the host to do so, you get the wet fart buzzer.

[That Don Guy]

A post in another thread reminded me of something that I have been told is a false memory, but I am fairly certain that my memory is correct here.

On NBC's All-American Ultra Quiz, a number of people have said that one of the rounds was in Paris, but I definitely remember the question rounds being:
Dodger Stadium
LAX
a flight from Los Angeles to Little Rock, where all but 12 of the contestants got off
Washington, DC (12 contestants)
London (
Rome (6)
Athens (4)
Los Angeles (2)

It's possible that people remember Paris because the prize for the winners in London might have been to have dinner in Paris en route to Rome. I definitely remember that the four winners in Rome ate at a fancy restaurant with Dan & Dick, while the two losers had to eat in the bowels of the Colosseum.

[Fedya]

I distinctly recall a round in Ultra Quiz in which the losers had their luggage guillotined, which would imply France.

[Matt Ottinger]

Contemporary newspaper accounts of the American "Ultra Quiz" are pretty clear that Paris is one of the stops.

[BrandonFG]

Watching the J! Pluto Channel, I thought the grid set and bongo theme remix came along simultaneously at the start of S8. Jeremy informed me that the bongo theme was actually S9.

[inturnaround]

This week's episode of the podcast Underunderstood (a companion to the podcast Overunderstood) is mostly about Terry Kneiss' perfect bid on TPiR, but they also talk of the many folks who thought that there was another perfect bid in 72 or 73. Drew mentioned it at the end of that episode and some people swear it was on Dennis James' version and that the display showed 0000 on it to reflect the perfect bid. They are still working the story to clarify a few things about the timeline of the Perfect Bid and say they're speaking to Ted Slauson this week. I look forward to their follow-up.

[Steve Gavazzi]

There was definitely no perfect bid on the nighttime show.  If one happened, it was in daytime during one of the first two seasons, before the double showcase rule was introduced.

[BillCullen1]

There was definitely no perfect bid on the nighttime show.  If one happened, it was in daytime during one of the first two seasons, before the double showcase rule was introduced.

IIRC, on one nighttime show, both contestants missed their showcase by the same amount. Dennis explained that they both win. I also recall a contestant missing a showcase by only five dollars. This was when Barker had taken over as the nighttime host. The double showcase rule did not apply on that version.

[That Don Guy]

There was definitely no perfect bid on the nighttime show.  If one happened, it was in daytime during one of the first two seasons, before the double showcase rule was introduced.

I saw the first perfect bid on the daytime version; it was $2200 - and it was before the Double Showcase rule.

[SamJ93]

On a semi-related note, there is an episode currently in rotation on the Pluto channel, I believe from S12, where the ARP of one of the Showcases was exactly $8000. It's hard to believe that the production staff weren't intentionally trying to set up a perfect bid with that...(Sadly, the contestant bid $8200.)

[MSTieScott]

On a semi-related note, there is an episode currently in rotation on the Pluto channel, I believe from S12, where the ARP of one of the Showcases was exactly $8000. It's hard to believe that the production staff weren't intentionally trying to set up a perfect bid with that...(Sadly, the contestant bid $8200.)

I can believe it, especially because one of the prizes was a trip, so the show was at the mercy of whatever airfare happened to be at that time.

Assuming showcase prizes are always selected without regard to how their total will end, the odds say that the total will end in ,000 approximately every 1,000 showcases. Which is about every 500 episodes, or roughly once every three years.

[Kevin Prather]

Drew Carey's closest non-zero difference was $6 a few years ago when someone bid $23,450 on a $23,456 showcase. Another one that seems like it's begging for a perfect bid, especially since the contestant nearly delivered.

[SuperSweeper]

On January 22nd, 1973, both Showcases ended in -00. The winner was $100 off (still over a year before she would've painfully missed winning both).

[JMFabiano]

Here's something I think I remembered seeing...

A Gong Show act that used "Midnight Confessions" by the Grass Roots.  I would have seen this on a USA rerun.

[tvwxman]

On NBC's All-American Ultra Quiz, a number of people have said that one of the rounds was in Paris, but I definitely remember the question rounds being:

It's possible that people remember Paris because the prize for the winners in London might have been to have dinner in Paris en route to Rome. I definitely remember that the four winners in Rome ate at a fancy restaurant with Dan & Dick, while the two losers had to eat in the bowels of the Colosseum.

This remains my holy grail, as a huge Rowan/Martin fan....is this in existence anywhere? any clips? anything? I think one of the game show compilation shows from years ago showed a brief clip but that was it.