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Author Topic: Wink's Big Numbers  (Read 4725 times)

ITSBRY

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Wink's Big Numbers
« on: March 12, 2004, 10:51:58 AM »
I'm curious...I happened to love Wink's HR and I was wondering if anyone on the board either worked on the show or ever attended a taping.

I've always wondered how large that set was in "real life".  It sure looked huge on TV.  IMO, that was one of the greatest sets in gs history...one of the last mondo-glitzy sets of the 80s (Especially cool was the moving dice table from the pilot).

Also...does anyone know where the pilot was taped?  I know that the actual series was taped at TV City, but the series set looks much more "cramped" than the pilot set.  Maybe that's why it looked so much bigger.

And finally...does the entire pilot exist on the trading circuit or do we just have the clip montage that John Ricci posted on his site last year?

PS- John, if you're reading this, do any of your clips have a wide shot of the set?

Thanks!

ITSBRY
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tvrandywest

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2004, 01:50:01 PM »
I sent your questions to Wink - he's busy doing his radio show, but promises to respond over the weekend. I'll post his response when he does   ;-)

Randy
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J.R.

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2004, 02:30:47 PM »
[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Mar 12 2004, 01:50 PM\'] I sent your questions to Wink - he's busy doing his radio show, but promises to respond over the weekend. I'll post his response when he does   ;-)

Randy
tvrandywest.com [/quote]
 How cool is this ? Your question is being answered by the host himself !

To me, during the main game, The numbers don't seem so big but when the bonus round comes and they start doing the wide-shot of the board, they look massive.

I think I've seen promotional pictures of Winker standing next to the Big Numbers and his head was just smaller than the digits, but I don't know the distance of that picture so I do look foreward to his answers !

BTW, Randy, do you have any contact with Rolf Benirschke or Bob Goen ? : )

-Joe R.
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ITSBRY

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2004, 04:21:58 PM »
Quote
I sent your questions to Wink - he's busy doing his radio show, but promises to respond over the weekend. I'll post his response when he does ;-)

*GULP*

OMG!  Randy, that's so awesome!  Many thanks and tell the Wink-er thanks for me too.  I shall eagerly wait for his response. :-)

I was so hooked on this show as a teenager...would sure love to see the reruns again.  Sadly, I didn't have the foresight not to tape over most of the episodes that I had from the USA reruns, so I only have 1 1/2 shows left.

The "holy grail" for me is that music package with the full version of the theme though.

ITSBRY
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DrBear

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2004, 09:38:54 PM »
Just remember, the camera adds 10 pounds to a set :)
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SplitSecond

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2004, 04:21:39 AM »
[quote name=\'DrBear\' date=\'Mar 12 2004, 07:38 PM\'] Just remember, the camera adds 10 pounds to a set :) [/quote]
 Whose?
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chris319

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2004, 07:05:08 AM »
Wink's numbers will be dwarfed, DWARFED I say, by the giant statue of Barker they're going to erect by the satellite dishes. My sources tell me they're considering having Barker sitting in repose a la the Lincoln Memorial.

That MIGHT give you some idea of the size of the numbers.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2004, 07:05:46 AM by chris319 »
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tyshaun1

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2004, 09:35:03 AM »
[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Mar 13 2004, 07:05 AM\'] Wink's numbers will be dwarfed, DWARFED I say, by the giant statue of Barker they're going to erect by the satellite dishes. My sources tell me they're considering having Barker sitting in repose a la the Lincoln Memorial.

That MIGHT give you some idea of the size of the numbers. [/quote]
 And where's gameshowguy2000 to take this seriously? ;)

Tyshaun
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aaron sica

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2004, 09:54:12 AM »
[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Mar 13 2004, 09:35 AM\'] [quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Mar 13 2004, 07:05 AM\'] Wink's numbers will be dwarfed, DWARFED I say, by the giant statue of Barker they're going to erect by the satellite dishes. My sources tell me they're considering having Barker sitting in repose a la the Lincoln Memorial.

That MIGHT give you some idea of the size of the numbers. [/quote]
And where's gameshowguy2000 to take this seriously? ;)

Tyshaun [/quote]
 He's off somewhere still trying to figure out why the syndicated version of Feud is called the "Evening" version...
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Jay Temple

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #9 on: March 13, 2004, 12:54:59 PM »
[quote name=\'DrBear\' date=\'Mar 12 2004, 08:38 PM\'] Just remember, the camera adds 10 pounds to a set :) [/quote]
 "How many cameras were on you?"--Chandler Bing
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tvrandywest

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #10 on: March 13, 2004, 10:51:31 PM »
[quote name=\'ITSBRY\' date=\'Mar 12 2004, 07:51 AM\'] ... I've always wondered how large that set was in "real life".  It sure looked huge on TV.  IMO, that was one of the greatest sets in gs history...one of the last mondo-glitzy sets of the 80s (Especially cool was the moving dice table from the pilot).

Also...does anyone know where the pilot was taped?  I know that the actual series was taped at TV City, but the series set looks much more "cramped" than the pilot set.  Maybe that's why it looked so much bigger... [/quote]
Wink responds:

>> The "High Rollers" set was HUGE!  It took up one end of a stage at CBS.  If it looked big on TV you can imagine how it looked in person!  The lucky "numbers" were HUGE in size - and by the very nature of the set, with all the lighted numbers, the set was very big on electronics too.
 
I have to agree that the set was one of the best looking in game show history.  Without question it was one of the most expensive to construct.
 
I never could understand why "High Rollers" never fully found its audience.  I always felt it was a solid game.  And yes.  The return of the dice via the moving table was quite neat for its time.
 
The pilot for the show was taped at CBS.  Don't know why the set looked "cramped", for as I recall we taped all "High Rollers" shows, pilot and series, in the same studio at CBS TV City.
 
Thanks Randy for passing these comments along.

Wink <<<<
 

And there you have it... another episode of "You Asked For It"   ;-)

Randy
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« Last Edit: March 13, 2004, 10:52:55 PM by tvrandywest »
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Celebrate the centennial of the America's favorite announcer with "Johnny Olson: A Voice in Time."

Preview the book free: click "Johnny O Tribute" http://www.tvrandywest.com

Dbacksfan12

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #11 on: March 13, 2004, 10:54:49 PM »
[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Mar 13 2004, 10:51 PM\'] I never could understand why "High Rollers" never fully found its audience.  I always felt it was a solid game.  And yes.  The return of the dice via the moving table was quite neat for its time.
 [/quote]
 Although Wink is a professional, and I'm just a mere novice; I found the format to be terribly boring...2 of 3 dragged on; and as we saw with the syndicated version, "Big Numbers" wasn't even played on the premiere!

Those mini games didn't help either...
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zachhoran

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2004, 11:00:52 PM »
[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Mar 13 2004, 10:54 PM\']
Although Wink is a professional, and I'm just a mere novice; I found the format to be terribly boring...2 of 3 dragged on; and as we saw with the syndicated version, "Big Numbers" wasn't even played on the premiere!

Those mini games didn't help either... [/quote]
 Some would argue that what really didn't help Wink's HR's pacing was the fact that the prizes changed each game. Unlike the 1978-80 run, the prizes would change with each game(and the carryover of prizes from game to game was discontinued as well), whether or not they were won.
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beatlefreak84

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #13 on: March 14, 2004, 12:16:20 AM »
Quote
Some would argue that what really didn't help Wink's HR's pacing was the fact that the prizes changed each game. Unlike the 1978-80 run, the prizes would change with each game(and the carryover of prizes from game to game was discontinued as well), whether or not they were won.

I agree there.  In fact, I thought the one thing that would make the game go faster was to simply leave the prizes that weren't won up for the next game of the match and then replace all of them at the beginning of a new match against a new opponent.

Or, if that's too boring, what I used to do when I played the home game (I have the '88 version!) is, if no one even cleared a column in a round, I would simply leave the prizes the way they were and just simply change the numbers for the next one.

Either way, I think it would've made for a faster-moving show.  You could probably mention the mini-games as well, but I thought those were rather fun!

Anthony
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JasonA1

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Wink's Big Numbers
« Reply #14 on: March 14, 2004, 01:45:57 AM »
Quote
Some would argue that what really didn't help Wink's HR's pacing was the fact that the prizes changed each game. Unlike the 1978-80 run, the prizes would change with each game(and the carryover of prizes from game to game was discontinued as well), whether or not they were won.

What you're also forgetting is that is wasn't all that often that Alex's board was filled. There'd need to be 3 plugs either way (for each new prize being introduced to the columns). So this wasn't the thing that dragged it, although I agree the pacing on Wink's edition was slow.

-Jason
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