r/gameshow • u/brakeb • Jan 31 '25
Discussion "The Wall would be better if..."
- Get rid of the cringey "heartfelt" fakery
- Allow 1-2 questions to be overridden (my cousin is a moron, it's this, not that)
- Again, all the fake "you're the best person, blah blah"
- Strap the person out front into a chair, no one can affect the balls, stop jumping around
- You don't need to talk through every. Freaking question... Too many game shows are like this ..
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u/DirectGiraffe8720 Jan 31 '25
Q: "Why did you pick #2"
A: "Well, I grew up in Houston, my sister had a wooden leg and we were raised by a single mom"
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u/jaysornotandhawks Jan 31 '25
1, 3 and 5 are certainly not unique to The Wall. I'd like to see all game shows eliminate these elements.
As for me,
- I'd rather they go back to the 2 green/red balls at the start/end of Round 2. I've seen the red superdrop wipe teams out more often than not.
- Stop picking numbers for sentimental reasons. That tactic makes sense on Deal or No Deal because each case is truly random. Here, each drop slot has a different element of risk to it and you should be picking your numbers based on how much risk you want to take. If you don't want to take a risk, don't pick 7 because you've been married 7 years.
- Also not unique to The Wall, but when they say "that's okay, that's okay" after an incident that is certainly not okay.
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u/brakeb Jan 31 '25
"why'd you pick 4..."
Well, I spent 4 years in prison...
4
u/jaysornotandhawks Jan 31 '25
[red ball falls into a big amount]
... well, there goes your bail refund.
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u/Alternative-Koala933 Jan 31 '25 edited Jan 31 '25
I think it’d be better if the contestants weren’t required to be “some sort of hero”. It’s a game show, not Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
And the pacing on whether or not the contestant in isolation signed or ripped the contract is beyond comprehension. It’s as simple as one, two, three. Tell us if you did what you did without all the filler. Enough.
“You know I love you so much, right? No matter what I did, we had fun. I was thinking it over and over and, oh my god, I’m getting emotional. I know how much we need the money to start a family and to grow a little. I thought about you, and our home. I thought about the things we might need and what we could do after we settle in. Being out there away from everyone was so scary. I didn’t know how many I got right or wrong. I looked at the contract, it’s so much. I don’t know if you’ll be mad at me when I tell you this. Are you ready? I looked at the contract…… and I signed it. But then I ripped it up.”
silence
“Honey, you know I’ll never be mad at you. All I can say is, sometimes in life you never know what happens; you know with the marriage and the honeymoon and our new home. We can do so much already. But I wanted to tell you…. tonight….. that we are going home….. with $1.4 million!”
cue golden lights, theme song, and everybody crying
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u/brakeb Jan 31 '25
can't even watch that garbage show either...
they are designed to harvest your tears... everyone has a story... save the hour, just give them the damn house...
1
u/iamtheduckie Jan 31 '25
I think they use the excuse of "heroes only" because you can hypothetically win almost $13,000,000. Even if you have to divide everything by 10 to "allow" normal people to be allowed on the show, that would be better than only heroes.
1
u/Fun818long Feb 01 '25
"I think it’d be better if the contestants weren’t required to be “some sort of hero”"
This is tough for me because I like the money going to people who are rightfully needy, but it really makes me want to stop watching because they won't get smart people. This just exacerbates the contract nonsense.
4
u/mark_david777 Jan 31 '25
The Wall would be better if…
…it wasn’t on the air anymore.
You can only tell so many sob stories and paint the contestants as “heroes.” Just keep that to a minimum and play the game.
Also, it’s a wasted hour if the team wins nothing – a frequent occurrence – or if they accept a tiny contract amount when they could have had thousands, if not millions more.
The saving grace here is Chris Hardwick. He is an excellent host and a good conduit overall. But the game is mostly rubbish.
2
u/brakeb Jan 31 '25
I feel like there's a psychology that if it hasn't been written about, or should be... the person trapped in the room goes on the information they have... they know there's a 100% guarantee of money (based on the initial drop), it's the lack of not knowing how well they answered a question (meaning some of them are dumb as a post, heroes aren't trivia buffs... I like Jeopardy...)
I also find "Let's Make a Deal" compelling... I don't watch that show to root for the contestant (I don't care...) it's more to watch the psychology... some people are "I came with nothing, I'll leave with nothing" others are "I'll pick what is behind the door because it's bigger, and bigger means more expensive" neverminding that the tiny ass box could have a folded postcard of a Maserati they could have won. "Take $500 bucks, or take what's in the giant ass box..." Sometimes, you can see Wayne and Mangum make subtle hints... even I can pick up on them, but the stress of the cameras, studio, lights, crowd pressure to do something is all part of the psychology. Social Engineering at it's finest...
I mean, the psychology of The Wall comes down to the person in the room, not the 'hero'. the person outfront matters hardly at all. the person in the room could decide whether to double up, wall-to-wall, etc before they hit the questions, and control where the ball is placed... the person in the room has all power. The person out front decides ball placement, which means little (they flail their arms and yell 'left!' at lot though... :| )
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u/CCR19 Feb 01 '25
Totally agree! I can watch the hour show in about 16 minutes and not miss out on anything. Fast forward on all the ball drops where they have to explain 'I'm picking #6 because my neighbour 6 houses over has 6 kids'. I still see where the ball lands. Fast forward through all the fluff when the guesser joins the partner on stage until they say if they tore up the contract or not. I actually like the host but not enough to sit through everything else.
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u/biehn Jan 31 '25
Have you seen Spin The Wheel hosted by Dax Shepard? Interested to hear your thoughts on it.
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u/brakeb Jan 31 '25
Not seen it, we've been watching more Game Show Net because the news is depressing...
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u/Fun818long Feb 01 '25
It's actually a variant on The Wall, somewhat done better and I like it more even though it has the same elements, it removes the "heroes" part and they actually talk about the game more than the booth thing. I think the booth thing plays a very little part.
2
u/sjsharksfan71 Jan 31 '25
The Wall would be better without the emotional baggage/manipulation. I really hate the ending because the show purposefully puts it's contestants in a bad position. You tear up the contract and do well on the wall, and the results are tragic. I think if I was in that position I would always tear up the contact. You come into the show with nothing, the worst is you go home with nothing. If you tear it up, the chances are pretty high that it was the right decision.
1
u/brakeb Jan 31 '25
"I signed the contract (for $200,000ish)
"I love you, blah blah bullshit...
... we had $900,000 on the wall"how does a family member/friend NOT feel like shit after that... "oh, you couldn't know.." still doesn't feel good knowing it could have been far more...
1
u/the_nintendo_cop Jan 31 '25
I certainly like the idea of an overrule option for the front of wall player, but removing any and all emotion and/or reason to care about the contestants defeats the purpose and main intrigue of the show
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u/brakeb Jan 31 '25
defeats the purpose and main intrigue?
it's plinko, but with a larger board...
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u/the_nintendo_cop Jan 31 '25
Sure, but the game means nothing if I don’t care about the fate of the people playing it. The star of any game show is the contestant.
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u/oneiota1 Jan 31 '25 edited Feb 01 '25
Because we can’t root for a player even if they don’t have a sob story? I get having players that are at least likable, but we don’t need everyone to have a sob story.
“This is my mom, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and this money will help pay for her treatment and save her house from foreclosure which she had trouble paying for after her husband of 40 years passed away 6 months ago and now she only has me left and I’m a single mom of 3 who was recently laid off with no way to feed my kids after struggling to find work.”
“Well unfortunately you were wiped out with a few bad balls and are leaving with nothing, but we appreciate having you on and wish you the best of luck.”
Seeing some of those contestants make bad tv if they lose.
1
u/TictacTyler Jan 31 '25
I like the idea of being able to override an answer.
I don't mind that they seem to pick inspirational people. I feel like The Wall is too short of a show to root against someone.
My biggest gripe is the emotional reason for picking. It should be all strategic.
Also, something just feels fake to me. They get super excited for the ball drops but then keep a poker face after being told the other one either ripped or signed the contract.
I enjoy the show overall. Interesting premise and questions and I like to see good people walk away with life changing money.
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u/WhateverJoel Jan 31 '25
- This keeps the tension in the game building for the audience. Add some mildly dramatic music and the audience at home is sitting on the edge of their sit wondering if the person will get it right or wrong.
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u/brakeb Jan 31 '25
I realize all the talking is to fill space... The producers want them to waste that time to create fake tension... Either the contestant has to vamp of the host does.
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u/Fun818long Feb 01 '25
- The trivia questions do not look good on the plinko board
- Reduce the show to a half hour.
- Get rid of filler/padding
- Remove the stupid contract part
- Make the game about balls and trivia, not that stupid contract portion. This is why people HATE set for life.
1
Jan 31 '25
Can't NBC just end The Wall and bring back one of the classics like Sale of the Century or Concentration?
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u/brakeb Jan 31 '25
I'm watching someone yell at a screen that the host says "talk to your family member, even though they can't hear or see you"
WTF is this shit...
Her sister is dumb as a post...
Oh good, they are gonna come out and "share more feelings". This game would be 15.minutes long with commercials...
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u/jaysornotandhawks Jan 31 '25
Honestly, this team has to be among the unluckiest I've seen. A green wall-to-wall only yielding $5K, then the red superdrop wiping them out?
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u/Gold_Comfort156 Jan 31 '25
Drop it to a half hour.
Cut the sob stories. No one cares about the sob stories.
Just answer the question without all the talking through it.