Street Smarts info

[adamjk]

Well, it's either that, or they are doing this out of desparation, so that it won't be cancelled after this season. But one other reason I think it's to be the end, is because they are only doing 130 shows this season.

[SplitSecond]

This is a brilliant way to add a $100,000 tournament with minimal impact on the overall budget.  I wager that 50 to 75 of the regular season winners will give up their winnings.  Factor in 10 or 15 tournament shows where the contestants will likely be playing for points only, plus the savings associated with the episodes they won't be doing this season, and voila! - instant sweeps stunt.

But one other reason I think it's to be the end, is because they are only doing 130 shows this season.

The only sure sign of the end would be if they were doing 0 shows this season.

[mmb5]

The rumor I heard is that it will be a 32-player tournament, single eliminiation over 15 shows.  If more than 32 players take the option, the top 32 money winners will play in the tournament and the remainder will get their prize money.

So, 31 players winning an average of $2,000 would be $62,000.  This format will cost them a little more.


--Mike

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'mmb5\' date=\'Aug 20 2004, 07:21 AM\'] The rumor I heard is that it will be a 32-player tournament, single eliminiation over 15 shows. [/quote]
 Last I saw, SS was a two-player game. No reason it couldn't BE more, I don't suppose, but in order to knock 32 players down to 1 in 15 shows, you would need to do something like playing groups of 4 for the first round, advancing a single winner out of each group, which would then knock 32 down to 8 in 8 shows, leaving you seven more to knock out the rest.

(And honestly, I can't believe I'm having this conversation. Being a grand champion of Jeopardy says something about you. This is the Grand Championship Of Looking At Stupid People And Deciding If They Can Answer Even Stupider Questions. With apologies to Brandon Brooks and any other big winners in our midst, this is up there with being named Champion Of Looking At Celebrities And Deciding Whether They Are Lying Or Telling The Truth.)

[SplitSecond]

[quote name=\'mmb5\' date=\'Aug 20 2004, 07:21 AM\'] The rumor I heard is that it will be a 32-player tournament, single eliminiation over 15 shows.  If more than 32 players take the option, the top 32 money winners will play in the tournament and the remainder will get their prize money.

So, 31 players winning an average of $2,000 would be $62,000.  This format will cost them a little more. [/quote]
 One would have to assume that the 15 shows of the tournament would be played for points only, aside from the grand prize, so using your $2,000 assumption would add another $30,000.  The other assumption would be that the ultimate winner does not get his/her stake back - winning a flat $100,000 - so we bump the kitty up to $94,000.  Factor in similar savings from prize budget alone for the episodes they're not doing this season, and we're well over $100,000, certainly with room for even a $5,000 or $10,000 consolation for the runner-up.

It may cost them more on a per-episode basis, but the overall effect is that they're getting a slightly shorter season with a big (some argue TOO big) sweeps stunt with the same prize budget, if not a lower one, and lower production costs associated with shooting (and shooting material for) fewer episodes.