Thanks, Bob - November 17
Jason Block
Most people wanted to do one of two things when they
found out about the news about Barker's retirement this
coming June. They wanted to a) feel sad about the
American Game Show Icon leaving, or B) try to see who is
going to replace him.
But what I want to do is to do something that a lot of
people are going to do over the next eight months or
so...and that is say two words.
Thank you.
Thank you for making my sick days at home from school
lessons in math, and excitement. I first honed my "game
show craft" as a kid writing the showcases down.
Thank you for being a man for sticking up for the rights
of animals worldwide.
Thank you for allowing almost 13,000 people the chance
to "come on down".
Thank you for introducing us to the talents of Johnny
Olson, Rod Roddy, and Rich Fields.
Thank you for giving us the Barker's Beauties. Many
women have become famous through your show.
Thank you for doing what the best game show hosts
do--make the contestants the star.
Thank you for letting me meet my friends through you.
Without you, I wouldn't have become as much as a
passionate game show fan as I am.
Thank you for beating the hell out of Adam Sandler.
Thank you for serving your country in the Navy during
WWII.
And thank you for 50 years of entertainment. Not many
people in this industry last this long. People throw the
word icon and legend too easily these days. Not with
you. Every accolade you get over the next few months you
will deserve. There is a reason why the Game Show
Congress called going to see your show "The Pilgrimage".
And as for me, I probably will never be on that stage
playing a game with you. But I have seen you do your
thing four times in the audience. And the energy level
in the building of just 350 people can light up Los
Angeles. I watched the show with my grandmother through
her last days of her 103-year life. She loved you, I
love you, and America loves you too.
Bob, you are going out on top. Thank you.
Speaking of The Price is
Right, here are three more strategies to beat the games.
Barker’s Markers - There is a very easy way to win the
game - as long as you don't mind parting with your $500
in order to do so. Find one item that you know is right
and DON'T put a marker on it. When Bob asks you if you
want to spend the $500 to move your marker, say yes,
because it will automatically move the marker with the
one wrong price and put it on a prize that you know is
correct. Voila! Simple win.
Check Game - There is no one magic price to put here,
but usually, the prize is between $2,500 to $3,500,
which means that $2,000 to $2,500 is a fairly safe bet,
It won't happen ALL of the time, but if you are clueless
on an item, that's the range you should be at.
Bonkers - This is another simple game that should be won
more often if people used any sense. First of all,
ignore the audience completely and just focus on this
very simple pattern. There are 16 possible combinations
to win a prize. If you know if the first number is
higher or lower (and you should, because that one is
usually a gimme), then there are only 8 possible
combinations, and you should be able to hit all of them
in 30 seconds if you just go back and forth and ignore
the audience. Here is the pattern you should do it in...
lower, lower, lower
lower, lower, higher (3)
lower, higher, higher (2)
higher, higher, higher (1)
higher, lower, higher (2)
higher, lower, lower (3)
higher, higher, lower (2)
lower, higher, lower (1)
As you can see, by doing it this way, you are only
moving one block at any time to make a change. In
addition, the pattern is fairly easy to memorize (3, 2,
1, 2, 3, 2, 1). By only moving one block (instead of two
or three), you should easily be able to make each change
in less than 3 seconds (it took me 20 seconds to do them
all when I demoed it), and the prize should be yours -
as long as you can get the first number right.
Gordon Pepper says
Thank You to Jason Block for this week's column. E-mail
Jason at jb.regis@verizon.net.
E-mail Gordon at
gordon@gameshownewsnet.com. |
