What Movies Have You Seen Lately?

Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much - I caught this documentary on Amazon Prime. It tells the tale of Theodore "Ted" Slauson and how he devoted a large portion of his life to watching and memorizing the prices of items in the rotation on the television game show, "The Price is Right". He maintained thousands of lines on a spreadsheet, and even coded a computer game to help with his training, in hopes of eventually getting picked to be a contestant. Along the way, he also helped strangers win prizes on the show by yelling out the correct prices at various stages of the show.

I thought this little film, with the production values of a college film production class final project, was fascinating. Theodore is portrayed as a regular Joe who just happens to have an aptitude for math and a pretty good memory. However, the director leaves it up to the audience to determine if they also see an obsessive streak, with a bit of bitterness, which makes for a very interesting human drama.

Bob Barker, and a long time producer on the show, Roger Dobkowitz, also share screen time in what seems to be interviews arranged, not necessarily on the specific topic of Theodore's activities, but in what appear to be responses to questions reminiscing about the "good old days" that were cleverly edited to provide color commentary on Theodore's adventures.

Dobkowitz was a favorite with the hardcore fans of the show, as he was the one who greeted and screened them on line, and was involved in picking who was going to be selected as a contestant. He was fired from the show after decades of loyal service shortly after Bob Barker retired to make room for Drew Carey's new crew. Did Theodore use his great power to sock it to the pocketbook of the new show?... It is up the viewers to decide.

9 Showcases out of 10.


Did I mention that Theodore has a bit of an obsessive streak?

I have seriously thought about making a web site devoted to TPIR or American game shows in general. It wouldn't list prices of everything, but have a detailed math analysis and strategy of each game. If the site had any hope of making more than $2 in revenue, I'd probably do it.

Quote: Wizard

I have seriously thought about making a web site devoted to TPIR or American game shows in general. It wouldn't list prices of everything, but have a detailed math analysis and strategy of each game. If the site had any hope of making more than $2 in revenue, I'd probably do it.

If you haven't seen "Perfect Bid", I highly recommend that you watch it first before doing a TPIR website. There is a devoted following to the show, and I would be surprised if fan sites that include tips and strategy analysis are not already out there.

Quote: Wizard

I have seriously thought about making a web site devoted to TPIR or American game shows in general. It wouldn't list prices of everything, but have a detailed math analysis and strategy of each game. If the site had any hope of making more than $2 in revenue, I'd probably do it.

Maybe do a youtube channel on it. I suggest you pay a spokesmodel a small fee to do the videos though. Or offer her exposure on her way to the top. Not just attractive, but well-spoken. Maybe find an English major to read your math explanations.

I watched Perfect Bid on my last plane ride to Vegas. I enjoyed it. If you don’t like TPIR, don’t bother with it though...

Similar Story:
In 1984, there was a part-time ice cream salesman named Michael Larson who became a contestant on a game show called Press Your Luck. At the heart of that game, which also aired on CBS, there was a "Big Board" with eighteen squares on it. Each square lit up for a microsecond; when a contestant pressed a button, the lights stopped flashing and the player "landed" on that square. Behind it might be a prize, usually cash, or a Whammy. The Whammy erased the contestant's earnings to that point — hence, each successive spin meant pressing your luck.

Unless your name was Michael Larson, and you had invested in a newfangled machine called a VCR, and when you weren't selling ice cream, you recorded Press Your Luck and watched for patterns in the lights. And Larson found those patterns. He gave numbers to the squares and he found that, for whatever mechanical hitch or cosmic reason, there was never a Whammy behind what he labeled Square 4 or Square 8. And so Larson pressed his luck without relent, far longer than any other contestant in the history of the game, always landing on 4 or 8, collecting a record $104,950 in cash as well as a sailboat and trips to Kauai and the Bahamas.

Quote: Pacomartin

Similar Story:
In 1984, there was a part-time ice cream salesman named Michael Larson who became a contestant on a game show called Press Your Luck. At the heart of that game, which also aired on CBS, there was a "Big Board" with eighteen squares on it. Each square lit up for a microsecond; when a contestant pressed a button, the lights stopped flashing and the player "landed" on that square. Behind it might be a prize, usually cash, or a Whammy. The Whammy erased the contestant's earnings to that point — hence, each successive spin meant pressing your luck.

Unless your name was Michael Larson, and you had invested in a newfangled machine called a VCR, and when you weren't selling ice cream, you recorded Press Your Luck and watched for patterns in the lights. And Larson found those patterns. He gave numbers to the squares and he found that, for whatever mechanical hitch or cosmic reason, there was never a Whammy behind what he labeled Square 4 or Square 8. And so Larson pressed his luck without relent, far longer than any other contestant in the history of the game, always landing on 4 or 8, collecting a record $104,950 in cash as well as a sailboat and trips to Kauai and the Bahamas.

Is this the guy whose session on the show took so long to resolve that they had to air it over two days? I think he even set up a practice rig at home to work on his timing. He memorized the limited number of patterns to the rotation of the prizes, and location of the lit up square, so that he could anticipate when a non-whammy combo was coming up next. This gave him enough time to press the button to lock it in. The producers were suspicious of him because he would sometimes hit the button right away, and other times let it run. Usually players would wait to hit the button until a big prize lit up. I wonder what became of him? The guy on "Perfect Bid" was banned from attending the show. It's like a card counter who can handle an 8 deck shoe getting barred.

Quote: Ayecarumba

Is this the guy whose session on the show took so long to resolve that they had to air it over two days? I think he even set up a practice rig at home to work on his timing. He memorized the limited number of patterns to the rotation of the prizes, and location of the lit up square, so that he could anticipate when a non-whammy combo was coming up next. This gave him enough time to press the button to lock it in. The producers were suspicious of him because he would sometimes hit the button right away, and other times let it run. Usually players would wait to hit the button until a big prize lit up. I wonder what became of him? The guy on "Perfect Bid" was banned from attending the show. It's like a card counter who can handle an 8 deck shoe getting barred.

I saw a docudrama on the Whammy guy a couple years ago. It didn't end well for him, as I recall. I'll see if I can find it.

Here's the actual 2 part episode :




Here's the documentary hosted by Peter Tomarkin:

Watched "Riddick"(2013) with Vin Diesel as Riddick. Ex-convict. Worth more dead than alive to bounty hunters.

It's pure popcorn movie. I don't know a single one of the other actors in it. I enjoyed it enough not to turn it off until it was over.

Quote: rxwine

Watched "Riddick"(2013) with Vin Diesel as Riddick. Ex-convict. .

I have all three Riddick movies on DVD.
Chronicles of Riddick is the best, I bet
I've seen it 6 times at least.