"Everyone in this studio has a money stake in one of our famous couples....as we play the game of celebrity gossip...Tattle Tales! And now here's the star of our show, Bert Convy!"I had to search the internet to re-acquaint myself with this game. This was another show that I watched infrequently in the 10:30 am time slot right before Price is Right, and being 11 years old, I never could really wrap my mind around these "celebrities" or the stories they were saying.
There were three pairs of celebrity couples- we'll get to that definition in a bit- that played for real money to be split among members of the audience. The couples were split up to begin, with the men on stage and the women gone to their "isolation" chamber so they couldn't hear the questions. Bert asked the men some questions about their lives, relationships, etc. - very much like the Newlywed Game - and their answers were recorded.
Then - and this was the fascinating part to me back then- a mini TV monitor turned on right below the man on stage....it was the woman of the couple wearing these big, enormous, 8-track-like headphones! She answered the question; if it matched, the team won points.The roles were reversed, the men went backstage, questions were doubled, and the same shtick played out. Finally, the big bonus question was asked - for $300!!!. The overall winning section got an additional $1000........ and that was truly split up among the members of the audience in that section.
I guess I never really understood that growing up - the money for the questions were split up among the audience. How did that exactly work? Some comments about this:
- Let's say the winning section had a pot of $1400 or so. How many people are in each section? Look at the opening picture above. 10 people per row? 15 rows? 150 people? So that's $10 or so each? That's it? I guess fast food meals were $2.59 back then so it's a dinner for your family at Arthur Treacher's or Burger Chef...... (hey Eric, this would be a good theme for the future...bygone 1970's/1980's fast food joints.... -ed).
- What if your section didn't win? You are splitting up $375 among 150 of your closest friends... so you win $2.43? Yeah, thanks a lot, Soupy Sales.
- How did they actually get the money? Simple! Have your own check-printing machine on site!
Cash prizes on game shows are typically awarded to contestants in the form of a check, mailed weeks after a show has been taped. Because of the impracticality (e.g., postal costs) of doing this for an entire studio audience,Tattletales kept a check-cutting machine in the studio and distributed the money to the audience members on their way out immediately after the show.
Fascinating. That had to be a job for a horrible intern at CBS in 1981.
"Hey Mark Goodson, can I work on Price is Right this week?"
"No, Chet, you will be working with Mr. Convy over at Tattletales printing out checks for 400 people. And don't spell Mrs. Krzyzchewski's name wrong!!"
- Bert always called the yellow section as the "banana" section. That's so Bert... and yes, sometimes he played the game himself so he could share stories. So guest hosts were frequently involved.- Who were these "celebrities" that showed up and participated in this game? Usually, these were other game show hosts at the time....Allen Ludden...Orson Bean...Bob Barker and his wife was on....B-list actors were the main stay. Dick Gauthier....Leslie Nielsen .... William Shatner....even Tommy Lasorda was on.
- I bet you are asking yourself - hey, homosexuality was rampant in the 70's and 80's in Hollywood...did they have gay/lesbian couples on stage? Silly reader...of course they did not have the gay couples on stage; however, they did sometimes match up a gay man and a lesbian woman as a partner.... one example I found was Dick Sargent (from Bewitched) and Fannie Flagg was a team. Charles Nelson Reilly was also on this show at one point....
Obviously, I had to use this game show this week to relate it to all the celebrity gossip going on about my beloved Browns right now. TMZ is now involved! Someone in the Browns locker room is a mole for TMZ! Three - 3!! - unnamed players say they are pissed since they want Johnny to be our starter. Um, I'm sure someone said something about Johnny winning vs. Tennessee and they want to see him play some more to see what he can do. That somehow turned into a big spectacle. Why does TMZ think America cares about this? America's fascination with Johnny is very surprising to me.
I think we will see a good effort out of the Browns this week. McCown moved the ball several times vs. Oakland, and we shot ourself in the foot numerous times last week. If our front 7 can play as well today as they did vs. Tennessee, the Chargers decimated O-line may have an issue protecting Rviers....
(prediction: San Diego 41, Cleveland 3).
On to the games:
NYJ 24, Mia 10. Boy, it's hard to "un-see" the Dolphins game last weekend. Have they played any good halves yet this year? I think the Jets defense will force several Dolphins mistakes, and that's all that is needed.
Atl 27, Hou 17. Houston's offense is abysmal, and while Atlanta won't completely shut them out, the Falcons will score enough to win by double digits.
NYG 23, Buf 20. I still believe in Coughlin's coaching ability, and he will bring this game down to his level and try to out-ugly the Bills.
Chi 20, Oak 17. I just can't see the Raiders playing 3 good games in a row. Check out the Bears' schedule so far: GB, Arizona, Sea. What a start. No wonder people are rating them 32nd..let's wait until they play a mediocre team to see if they are really that bad.
Cin 20, KC 17. Should be a defensive affair, with both teams running for 150 yards.
Ind 27, Jax 26. Not sure yet about the status of Luck. However, the Colts' lines are mess. How will they protect Luck? How do they defend passes? I see lots of scoring here no matter who the QB is for Indy.
Car 23, TB 20. Carolina has not impressed me at all on the offensive side of the ball, but their D should be enough to win this game.
Was 23, Phi 20. I'm not convinced the Eagles are legit. Two bad games and a game where the Jets gave them several turnovers. If Cousins can limit the mistakes, the Skins win easily.
Az 26, StL 16. The Cards wil have to run to beat the Rams, and while that's not their best offensive plan, they should be able to stop the Rams' offense.
Den 27, Min 20. Could be an upset - but then I don't know how much faith I have in the Vikes - and Tedddy - in leading a possible 4th quarter comeback against that Denver D.
GB 31, SF 20. All right, all right, I'm scarred. Never again (at least for a while) will I bet against the Packers.
NO 31, Dal 23. This is the last stand for the Saints. 0-3, at home, on Sunday night, against a vulnerable defense to fast teams.....I can't see the Saints losing no matter who is QB.
Sea 20, Det 10. Two teams that are still overrated. Seattle can't move the ball, and neither can Detroit.
Best bets: 13 of them. Last week: 6-8; overall: 23-19.
NYJ -2
NYJ/Mia under 42
Atl -6
NYG +5
Chi +3
KC/Cin under 44
Jax +9
Was +3
Az -7
Min/Den over 42 1/2
GB -7.5
NO -3
Det/Sea under 43
Supercontest: Last week: 2-3; overall: 9-6. I hate these picks.
NYJ -1.5
Atl -6
Jax +9
Was +3
Chi +3
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