Back and forth on Take It All

Got into a spirited discussion with another poster on the GSN board about Take It All. Some of the back and forth...

Other poster: Some general info about those aspects of the production are explained by the warm up announcer [on The Price is Right]. That's NOT coaching. That's necessary production housekeeping information that is conveyed to the audience as a whole. AFTER the contestants are selected and have made their way up on stage and completed their game segment, then they are given some general stage instructions, regarding spinning the wheel and then later participating in the showcase round.

Those "instructions" are what's called "coaching." I'm not alleging anything nefarious or that TPiR is rigging anything. Standards and Practices is on the job. But you didn't like that Take It All's contestants are coached. So are TPiR's. So are every game show's contestants. Big deal. The shows aren't rigged, which is what counts.

Other poster: The term "Coached" contestants refers to those who are selected through a lengthy audition process. Price is Right has never employed that aspect of it's production design.

TPiR has done auditions around the country. Who cares? The link shows lots of interesting photos from a Minnesota audition. The process looks pretty "lengthy" to me. Hundreds of folks showed up to be vetted for a second round of auditions. But again, who cares about the length of the audition process? By the way, I like the wannabe contestant with the "Make my Drew come true" t-shirt.

Other poster: I stick to my opinion that the endgame as presented on Friend or Foe was indeed much more heartfelt due to the fact that it was not polluted by the illusion of winning artificially inflated dollar amounts.

I agree that Friend or Foe was dirt cheap. This was GSN, after all. Didn't make the show any more heartfelt. Just the opposite, in fact. Contestants lied to each other's faces for a pitifully few bucks.

Other poster: And Kennedy was a thousand-fold more sincere and believable of a host than Mr. Howie.

Sorry, never was much of a Kennedy fan. To me she usually came off as chilly and sarcastic. That's probably why GSN got her for such a coldhearted show as Friend or Foe.

Other poster: All that said, episode Two of Take It All was much more entertaining than episode One.

Really? I thought the second ep was pretty much the same as the first, except the contestants ended up shafting each other in the prisoner's dilemma round.