Audience rules

[beatlefreak84]

Hello there,

I was asked a very interesting question by someone today and I had no idea what the answer to it was.  So, I thought I'd throw it to the all-knowing Game Show Forum and see what y'all can come up with:

We all know that, if you are a contestant on a game show, you are not allowed to share the results of your game with anyone outside of immediate family/friends until your show airs at the risk of forfeiting your winnings.  But what's to stop an audience member who viewed the taping of your show, who's got nothing to lose, from going to the media with the results?  I mean, how in the world did "Jeopardy!" keep audience members from taking money from magazines/entertainment news shows and sharing KenJen's results?  Are audience members required to sign something?  Moreover, what would happen if an audience member blabbed the results of your show to national media?

3, 2, 1...Discuss!  

Anthony

[Kevin Prather]

[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Nov 23 2005, 08:45 PM\']I mean, how in the world did "Jeopardy!" keep audience members from taking money from magazines/entertainment news shows and sharing KenJen's results? 

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They didn't. It was all over the media months before it aired.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Nov 23 2005, 07:45 PM\'] But what's to stop an audience member who viewed the taping of your show, who's got nothing to lose, from going to the media with the results?
[/quote]
Nothing.

I mean, how in the world did "Jeopardy!" keep audience members from taking money from magazines/entertainment news shows and sharing KenJen's results?

They didn't.

Are audience members required to sign something?

No.

Moreover, what would happen if an audience member blabbed the results of your show to national media?

Entertainment Tonight would do a story. The show would smile at the increased coverage, and the show's ratings would probably get a nice spike. The contestant would still get paid.

3, 2, 1...Discuss! 

Done. Next issue.

[dzinkin]

I recall attending the J! ToC in Atlanta some years ago (the one in which Eddie Timanus was a competitor) with several other members of this forum.  At those tapings, an audience member specifically asked whether we had to keep the results under wraps; Johnny Gilbert told us flat-out that we didn't have to do so.  I thought he might say something like "it would be better if you didn't" but he didn't even do that.

I doubt that such an admonition would have kept the Atlanta Urinal and Constipation from giving away the results anyway (as it did the day after the final taping), but there you go.

[beatlefreak84]

I recall attending the J! ToC in Atlanta some years ago (the one in which Eddie Timanus was a competitor) with several other members of this forum. At those tapings, an audience member specifically asked whether we had to keep the results under wraps; Johnny Gilbert told us flat-out that we didn't have to do so. I thought he might say something like "it would be better if you didn't" but he didn't even do that.

Interesting...I had figured the audience might not have been under as strict a rule as the contestants were, but I'm surprised it wasn't even suggested to them that they keep things under wraps, especially when the contestants have to do so (I do understand why contestants are required to, though).  Thanks for the info!

Heck, even IF there was a rule set forth, I wouldn't have doubted for a second somebody went to the media (in fact, I can probably guess it was more than one somebody) spilling the beans on when KenJen was going to lose.  If you're wondering why I had no idea, it's not because I'm ignorant (this time, at least!); I chose to stay away from any site I thought might spill the beans because I wanted to watch the show, not knowing when it was going to happen.

Unfortunately, it was all pointless, as I overheard a conversation where somebody had said they knew KenJen was going to lose in November...  I guess you can't completely isolate yourself...

Anthony

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Nov 23 2005, 09:45 PM\']Hello there,

I was asked a very interesting question by someone today and I had no idea what the answer to it was.  So, I thought I'd throw it to the all-knowing Game Show Forum and see what y'all can come up with:

We all know that, if you are a contestant on a game show, you are not allowed to share the results of your game with anyone outside of immediate family/friends until your show airs at the risk of forfeiting your winnings.  But what's to stop an audience member who viewed the taping of your show, who's got nothing to lose, from going to the media with the results?  I mean, how in the world did "Jeopardy!" keep audience members from taking money from magazines/entertainment news shows and sharing KenJen's results?  Are audience members required to sign something?  Moreover, what would happen if an audience member blabbed the results of your show to national media?

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AFAIK, the only television genre that requires you to sign release forms to sit in the studio audience is the daytime talk show of the single-topic variety.  On my one visit each to Oprah and Jenny (Jenny was because a couple of people I knew were on the staff), I had to sign a form that, besides stating the usual you-give-your-permission-to-be-photographed-and-recorded boilerplate that's either on the back of tickets or on a sign outside the studio door, did state that any participation in the program was of my own volition and that I would not hold the producer, syndicator or studio liable for anything I might've been induced to say on the program.  Needless to say, I kept my mouth shut.  There was nothing about blabbing the outcome of the program to the outside world.

I don't know if Oprah's audience release form now has something in the order of if Oprah gives you a gift, you're going to have to pay taxes on it and that if it's a standard thing just to keep the audience guessing while they're waiting in line to get in.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Nov 23 2005, 10:54 PM\']Interesting...I had figured the audience might not have been under as strict a rule as the contestants were, but I'm surprised it wasn't even suggested to them that they keep things under wraps, especially when the contestants have to do so (I do understand why contestants are required to, though).  Thanks for the info!

Heck, even IF there was a rule set forth, I wouldn't have doubted for a second somebody went to the media (in fact, I can probably guess it was more than one somebody) spilling the beans on when KenJen was going to lose.  If you're wondering why I had no idea, it's not because I'm ignorant (this time, at least!); I chose to stay away from any site I thought might spill the beans because I wanted to watch the show, not knowing when it was going to happen.

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Just because you can say something doesn't mean you should say something.

Of course, since this forum does have a "no in-studio spoiler" policy, it was pretty easy for me to sit on what knowledge I had of a TPiR episode taped in June 2004 that would air that September.  Even so, I didn't even tell my family or co-workers what happened, preferring to share my experiences as the episode rolled--why spoil the fun when you don't have to (and why land in the Isolation Booth, for that matter)?  Hopefully (assuming dates work out copasetically) I'll have the chance to sit on another TPiR episode next summer.

Doug

[TimK2003]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Nov 28 2005, 04:56 PM\']AFAIK, the only television genre that requires you to sign release forms to sit in the studio audience is the daytime talk show of the single-topic variety.  On my one visit each to Oprah and Jenny (Jenny was because a couple of people I knew where on the staff), I had to sign a form that, besides stating the usual you-give-your-permission-to-be-photographed-and-recorded boilerplate that's either on the back of tickets or on a sign outside the studio door, did state that any participation in the program was of my own volition and that I would not hold the producer, syndicator or studio liable for anything I might've been induced to say on the program.  Needless to say, I kept my mouth shut.  There was nothing about blabbing the outcome of the program to the outside world.

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Then again, on the shows like Jenny Jones, Jerry Srpinger, Maury, etc.. If you blabbed the outcome of a specific episode, it probably wouldn't amount to a hill of beans, because most of the episodes kinda sorta look the same after a few episodes.


If you put it into the mind of the average stuido audience participant in advance that they don't care who you tell or when about what they see in studio, more people will be prone not to say anything than if you say "You must not say a word about this episode until it has aired or else...".

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Nov 28 2005, 09:39 PM\']
Then again, on the shows like Jenny Jones, Jerry Srpinger, Maury, etc.. If you blabbed the outcome of a specific episode, it probably wouldn't amount to a hill of beans, because most of the episodes kinda sorta look the same after a few episodes.

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Especially in the case of Maury......Seems like whenever I catch it while flipping channels, it always seems to be results of a paternity test...

[Kevin Prather]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Nov 28 2005, 07:47 PM\']Especially in the case of Maury......Seems like whenever I catch it while flipping channels, it always seems to be results of a paternity test...

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Or the classic "My daughter beats the shit out of me!" shows.

[wheelloon]

[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Nov 29 2005, 12:57 AM\']Or the classic "My daughter beats the shit out of me!" shows.

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Wait! Can't forget the "My daughter is fat and ugly and needs help" or "My daughter looks like a boy and needs to go to Macy's!" or something...

Anyway, at the Philly Wheel taping I was at, Charlie said in his usual audience pep talk that it would be appreciated if the audience would keep the game results to themselves, but that there was no way he could really stop anyone from spoiling the games anyway, so...

[Don Howard]

There was a guy cleaning my office one night while I had Jeopardy! on the telly. I believe he was the custodian.
This was one of the days when Ken of the Jen was still being "a steamroller for your love". And the guy says (not doubt in a desperate and failed attempt to boost his importance level), "You know he loses, don't you?"
It was tempting to inform him of what he is for attempting to spoil information. But since that info had already been blown across the land, I kept silent and wished him well as continued on his way.
But anyone who blabs without thought or consideration to whether or not the other person wants that information imparted in advance (the fact that said info was already revealed online, in the newspaper or elsewhere is moot) of the telecasting of the episodes is an ass of the first water and nothing more or less.