I love how he's worried that he'll get shouted down. Be a nice change of pace, actually.

$4000 isn't ridiculous compared to the $20K top prize. That's only 20% of the top prize, similar to what the show started with ($995 to $5000). What's ridiculous is that it hasn't changed even though the top prize has quadrupled. $995 for 5 people??? Hell, if a contestant does nothing right on Wheel of Fortune, that one person still gets $1000. To me, that does make Feud look cheap, and I wouldn't be surprised if the average viewer has drawn the same comparison. If Feud competes against Wheel in a time slot, that's one less reason to watch.

As for Wheel contestants not being excited, I've been watching since the 25th Anniversary hubbub, and as long they see a dollar sign and a number larger than zero they go nutsy cuckoo. Certainly better reactions than when they were giving away hot air balloon trips and gazebos.

Not really. So it's probably good that I didn't.

To my way of thinking, it's really simple: I don't care if there are two people on a team, three people, five people, twelve people, I don't care. "Consolation" prize money should not see four figures.

I'd be willing to meet in the middle. $10 a point I could live with. Begrudgingly. I wouldn't like it, but I could live with it.

But $20 a point? No. That's ridiculous. That's damn near four grand for a team that just barely lost, but STILL LOST.

Show me where I said I was "worried." Go on. You even quoted me verbatim, so you've got the text right there. I'll be right here waiting.

1) So arbitrary. The whole post. Of course the number of people on a team matter.
2) $4000 is just $800 a head, still below what Wheel offers at minimum. Inflation's a bitch.
3) I'll amend 'worried' to 'predicting', even though I'm sick of the semantics shit you lot play. Talk about the points, not the words. Assuming you can.

Oh come now, I'm not going to be flattered with the respect due me. You should know that by now. :)

You're right. It doesn't surprise me. It is rare to see something on television that surprises me anymore.

What part of "to my way of thinking" don't you understand?

You go right ahead and be sick of it with my full blessing. We'll be back for Round 2 of Words Have Meanings right after this.

But as was brought up earlier, that's absolutely no different than $5/point for a 1976 $5,000 top prize. The cash value of the points were worth 1/10% of the top prize. What cost $5,000 in 1976 would cost almost $19,000 in 2008, so with the current $20,000 prize and, even moreso with a $30,000 top prize, the $20/point suggestion is perfectly acceptable using the 1976 logic.

If we're starting game shows, I'd like to start one called Points without Peevishness. If you can continue your side of the argument without being rude, confrontational or downright cross, you win.

Not to the budget, they don't.

Wheel of Fortune is seen by millions of people every night. I'm guessing that Feud gets hundreds of thousands. If that. Just because Wheel of Fortune can afford to make $1,000 their house minimum or consolation prize doesn't mean that Feud can afford to. Wheel's big winner of the night can win more in the main game than a Feud family can win in the bonus.

You were doing so poorly before, and then managed to dig even deeper. Well done.

Yes, you said that before, and I disagreed then, too. All I can tell you is the gut feeling I get, and that gut feeling is that that is Too Much Money.

Then all I can say is that my brain must not use the 1976 logic.

Boy, you just don't like it when people call you on things, do you?

Just for clarification, in early May, Wheel had about 10 million, while Feud had about 2.2 million.

Then raise the budget. There's a difference between being cheap and being noticeably cheap. Of course, I'm talking to someone who liked the Goen Wheel values and questioned the notion that people go on Feud for money, so there ya go.

So you admit Feud looks cheap in comparison. Congrats. Changing the consolation prize values can help with that somewhat. I believe they can't afford not to, especially in the competitive syndication environment.

Huh? The fact that I think Wheel of Fortune should be played for hundreds of dollars instead of tens of thousands of dollars doesn't mean anything other than I think that Wheel is played for far too much.

I admit nothing. They're different games on different strata.

I am completely puzzled as to what I'm being "called" on.

Considering the big boys in syndie game shows are offering top prizes of $1M, $1M, $Endless, and $500K, how the hell would one make the stakes on Feud "competitive" without quickly veering into "ridiculous"?

That said, I don't see one bit of an issue with the consolation money going to $10/point. I've been thinking those stakes should have been upped since the days of the Feud Challenge - all the stakes were doubled for the second half, so why not the consolation money?

Really, Chris? Have you not been paying attention to this whole topic?

You say something is not a good idea (meaning was implied, don't bother). People tell you why they don't agree and are showing you legitimate reasons to back up their point. You put on your best Lemon and act like "who cares?" People go even further and show you why your thinking may be a little flawed. You don't care. Said people get frustrated with your apparent ignorance and tell you as much. Again, you condescend.

We've seen it before, Chris. It's really getting old.

You know what's funny? The person whose's opinion I originally thought ludicrous (that would be Mr. Raygor) is the one person who has been willing to discuss said disagreement with any semblance of maturity, and has demonstrated a willingness to listen to responses.

Which is why he got one, where I explained "I have no mathematical reason for why I think this, I just do." Which seems to be good enough for him, even if he doesn't agree, which he is under no obligation to. Because Joe understands that disagreeing with an opinion and respecting someone's right to have one are two different things.

Bye now.

You're right. Joe does understand that. Once you start realizing that the world does not revolve around Chris Lemon, perhaps you will as well.

Now back to the topic at hand.

While I agree that there needs to be some change in the consolation prize, I believe quadrupling it is overdoing it just a little. Doubling, i think, works best. If you want to triple it so you can keep it to multiples of five (even though I don't know why you'd want to do that), maybe. $20 a point? Meh.

You flatter me. :)

I like to think that, even though we get into the occasional heated debate or disagreement, that we are respectful enough to each other that we can argue our points without any petty insults. When one of us steps out of line (nobody's perfect) we, at least, try to call it out without out too much nudging.

PYLDude Chris, with all due respect, I'm getting really tired of your confrontational attitude. Would you PLEASE try to chill out? I consider you a friend and I don't want to see you get boothed or even banned. This angry indignation and thread jacking you insist on having every time Chris L opens his mouth is getting really old. (Others too, but I won't drag them into this)

/On topic: I could "live" with $10 a point too. It really isn't that important to me what Feud does. I won't stage a picket line if they stick with $5 a point, trust me. :)

I'm also someone who prefers the Goen WOF amounts too. The lower stakes gives the game much more of a casual, relaxed mood, which I feel is the best way to play real-money hangman.

Plus, I kinda like it a when someone wins a "quirky" amount like $1375. :)

/I plan on uploading some more Goen WOF eps soon. I'm not fully moved in to my new location yet. Tapes still in boxes.

Y'know, for some reason, I have this theory that it was supposed to go to $10/pt, due to the 4 digit bank scoreboard, but was scrapped before production began. I mean, you can't see the scoreboard during Bullseye, so it couldn't have been for that.

I've quickly learned here that when a thread magically grows multiple pages overnight, to proceed with caution...come on- this started as a fun speculation topic, and now it's turning into a game of definitions. "He said this!" "Well you implied that!" Let's just agree to disgagree and move on.

That's what I thought, too. But I've since been told that the 4 digits were actually for the Bullseye round, since no one playing the game or in the audience could see what was being superimposed onto that board. Plus, when they re-did the set for Feud '94, the 4-digit scoreboard was still around - just for use in the bankroll round.

Bullseye was played off a real live television monitor. Watch the board fly into the rafters, and you'll notice it more. Or just watch for the occasional rolling line. The monitor represented the three innermost circles. Bankroll was played, like everything else on FF94, off the Fast Money display.

-Jason

I've seen where there's an inset in the middle of the Bullseye board...always wondered if it was a TV monitor or a projection. Now I know!

/And knowing is half the battle.

I do, too, which is all the more reason that I wish they still played the main game for dollars instead of points!

I mean, what's an extra $300-$599? Really? Losing families in '76 make more than losing families on '09?

GI Jooooe.....

/come on, it was too easy.

From the Feud's twitter page:

A nice idea in theory, but horrible in practice. How are you gonna divide up the car? (Besides "acetylene torch", I mean.)

Approves.

I have to think that no matter what side of the issues you fall, you'd have to agree that this is the most buzz about the Feud that doesn't involve a host change in a long long time

Ick! FF NEVER offered a car to 5-day champs before & it NEVER should. Unless the captain of the team gets the deeds & the keys, that idea won't fly with me.

Sorry, Craig, it's not going to happen. Feud'll be giving away 2010 Honda Insights so each member gets his choice of which seat he takes home. (I would prefer the passenger bucket.) But it's a free-for-all race to pick which parts and options you get! (I'd go for front bumper, left rear tire and catcon to sell for later. Maybe the stereo component, too, if O'Hurley lets me fit in my pocket.)

ADDED DISCLAIMER: I used the Honda for purposes of humor - Feud has not said that they are giving them away.

Good choice. I speak from experience when I say that the stock stereos in the new Hondas are surprisingly listenable. First stock stereo I've ever had that I haven't had an immediate urge to rip out and replace with an aftermarket one.

/granted, my last stock stereo was in 1996

Oh, yeah. My cousin had a Civic a few years ago that had a great system. I think he might've gutted it and used it when he got a different vehicle.

/This thread is more curvaceous than Kim Kardashian.
//ObGameShow: The Kardashians appeared with The Incredible Plastic Man, Bruce Jenner, in 2008's Celebrity Family Feud.

I had a Honda for three months earlier this year (wrecked it). The stereo was indeed one of the best parts of it. For an '05, it was fairly nice, had a jack for MP3 players and what not. I now wish I would have kept the stereo.

Seconded.

/Accord driver
//Love the MP3 jack
///As for Kim Kardashian, I'd hit it so hard she'll be keeping up with ME

They had the MP3 jack as early as '05? I figured that was a newer addition. (That, by the way, is a big reason that I'm content with the stock stereo...I *have* to be able to plug my iPod in.)

Well done. :)

I personally believe that only the team captains should be getting the cars if their families should go the distance.

I feel so left out; my family is in the Toyota camp.

/2nd-gen Prius is very nice
//and amusing to scare passengers with

They did. I was surprised as well; IIRC, Ipods and the like were just coming into play then. (I remember paying $299 for I believe, a 4 MB Ipod)

See Family Fortunes over in the UK. It can be done.

\I'd take the Steering Wheel just the sheer fact that the car won't be usable without it.
\\ and I have a 06 Focus, which runs like a charmer.

That would surprise me. The 1st gen 4GB Nanos were $249, but since then never went for more than $200, and the regular iPods were never smaller than 20GB since 2004. (The first one I bought, a 5G Video in late 2005, was a 30GB model.)

(A 4 MB iPod would hold one song. Two if they were short and you compressed the hell out of them. ;))

Conversely, my wife describes Fords as kick-ass sound systems surrounded by crappy cars.

About the $1 a point: I was referring to the even quirkier winnings totals that resulted.

Another major update , also from Twitter :

Family_FeudSCOOP!!! The Bulls-Eye round is coming back to the Feud in 2009!!! Yep..fun, exciting and a bit retro! Win money right from the start!
2 minutes ago from web

Discuss....

I think it's awesome. The suggestion of starting with $15,000 and doing $1k - $5k works just fine with me, and may work fine with the budget, too.

Well, the show's going into its 11th season, so the producers figure they have to do something to give the game a little spark. I have no problem with the Bullseye Round, but it'll force speedup of the regular game unless they reformat that also. I'm also in favor or the Fast Money going to $10 a point if they don't win. It makes it easy to figure out what a family wins. A family that gets 167 points gets $1.670. Simple.

Awesome in theory, but not in practice, probably. I hope this doesn't end up as 10 pounds of game in a 5 pound bag. Maybe it works if you cut the Bullseye down to three questions, start with a $10K base, and make the questions $5K, $5K, and $10K. Even then, still gonna be tight, and probably still going to result in the Single-Double-Triple format I don't particularly care for.

Maybe, possibly, perhaps:
Segment 1: Bullseye + Single
Segment 2: Single
Segment 3: Double + Triple
Segment 4: Fast Money
And, continuing the unqualified optimism, perhaps the cramped quarters would convince the producers to make a three-round, clean-sweep win mathematically possible again.

Also, even though the point is moot now, another idea on raising the stakes: Main game shutout = higher Fast Money jackpot.

I still don't know why we can't do the current format, S-S-D-T, as long as everything moves briskly along.

Well, this explains why Fast Money is worth "up to" $30,000.

But how are they going to cram in the main game with Bullseye? It was already rushed in 1992, and it will be even more rushed today.

If it plays like the old Bullseye round did, isn't this a little disingenuous?