Are the big doors operated on some sort of "pulley" system? I operated the curtains for a concert when I was in elementary school and they were pretty heavy. Is there one stage hand that pulls on ropes, etc? The "small" open for Barker's entrance is awfully smooth...

How do they open those doors anyway?

Yep, just a manually operated pulley system... here's the proof......

http://www.golden-road.net/modules.php?ful...=view_photo.php

Anyone remember that one ep a few years ago when the doors were closing after Bob made his entrance then some of the sections of the door came apart?

QUOTE (gaubster2 @ Jun 20 2003, 12:23 AM)

The "small" open for Barker's entrance is awfully smooth...

I think they were training new people earlier this season, because the doors kept going a bit past the hexagon backdrop.

The episode in question I believe is from April or May of 2001. I was at that show, but didn't recall it at the time. I saw myself in the audience for that show, so it did happen. They fixed the doors rather fast.

Last month, one of the panels in door #2 had a problem. You should have seen how fast they got that fixed. One guy brings in a rolling ladder and the guy who pulls the cables to open the doors fixes the problem.

I can't imagine the pressure he's under.

QUOTE (whampyl03 @ Jun 20 2003, 01:10 AM)

Yep, just a manually operated pulley system... here's the proof...... http://www.golden-road.net/modules.php?ful...=view_photo.php

Thanks for the "proof"! What a great site, Marc has!

QUOTE

The episode in question I believe is from April or May of 2001.

June, 2001, actually. To be specific, the Season 29 finale.

QUOTE (gaubster2 @ Jun 20 2003, 12:23 AM)

During the Vegas special, the door on IUFB #1 was done with a "wipe" effect, indicating that something had gone wrong - is this the first time that they had corrected it that way, and if so, why did they not stop tape and do it again?

It did have a problem. It's been a long time and I can't remember exactly what the problem is.

But I can tell you that the reason they didn't stop tape was because it was a LONG day for both the audience and crew.

When the doors are first opened, they pull them back well past the edge of the green border at the bottom. But you'll often see that they close it back to the border's edge afterwards. Any particular reason for this?

QUOTE (HYHYBT @ Jun 26 2003, 01:38 AM)

When the doors are first opened, they pull them back well past the edge of the green border at the bottom. But you'll often see that they close it back to the border's edge afterwards. Any particular reason for this?

I always thought that was slack. That is, the doors open that wide because the stagehand is pulling on the cord, but when he lets go, the slats slide back towards the center a bit.

Was just wondering, when did the door operators stop opening the doors just a little bit, to let Bob walk through rather than now, where it just looks like they tug on the ropes and let the doors fly out. Everyone must know what im talking about, and it was done for many years, 70s and 80s, and early 90s, only the first 2 panes or so moved and all the other panes stayed the same, and the door closed very slowly as he walked out. i know that probably took more time consuming stuff, but i certainly liked it.

Did Gene Rayburn's doors work the same way on MG '70s?

I thought perhaps they opened the doors all the way initially in case the cameras need to get a particular shot while Rod is reading the description, that way the doors don't get in the way.