Picking up from last time –
So, Chris, the supervising producer, comes out to give us all a speech before the show.
At Let’s Make a Deal, they’re huge on this “attitude of gratitude” they talk about. He says if you play for something you know you can’t use, think about someone in your life who can use it, and play the game happily for them.
He also tells us that if you learn you passed on a prize worth more than what you got, that you need to be disappointed about that – even if you picked the option you’d prefer. He says since you technically made the wrong choice, people need to see that you understand that.
He mentions that the audience at home won’t understand why you’re excited that you didn’t win an $8,000 hot tub, if you won something worth much less. He even mentions, “some of you may live in a dorm or apartment.” So he knows! (Of course he knows, everyone must know that not every person can use a hot tub.)
So, if he knows, and we know, and it happens enough that contestants need to be warned about it, then I’m pretty sure the at home audience is indeed going to understand why someone is rejoicing if they learned they passed on a hot tub, but got to keep something sweet (e.g. a MacBook Pro, cash, whatever) that’s technically worth less than said hot tub.
Also, during this speech, you get to get scared. Going back to the attitude of gratitude, Chris talks about how if you don’t appreciate the prize you’re playing for, they will sit you back down. He gives an example, saying once someone was playing for a trip to London. When Wayne asked something along the lines of, “What do you think about that,” the contestant said, “I’d rather be playing for a car.”
Then the producers made that contestant sit down, and they had someone else come up to play instead.
Our audience clapped at this point in the speech, but I didn’t like that. What are the game show rules even? Are you allowed to sit someone down mid-game? Apparently, since Let’s Make a Deal does it. But I’m surprised to hear that.
Also, I don’t begrudge that contestant. (Maybe I would have in the moment, but hearing that he got kicked offstage makes me feel bad for him.) Maybe he’s been to London. Maybe he’s cash poor and would rather have something he could sell. Should we all be thankful for things in our life? Of course.
But does that mean that positivity is the only emotion we can show (or in the case of needing to be disappointed if we’ve made the “wrong choice,” the only emotion we can’t show)? Does it mean we can’t think practically about our life situations and our best/hopeful outcomes on game shows?
And if a contestant says something you don’t like, you can edit it out! Do you really need to make him sit down?
Well, to each her own. I wouldn’t make the same decisions as the LMAD producers. (Of course, who I am? Just some girl in the peanut gallery. The hypothetical of what I’d do doesn’t matter at all. Those producers are the ones with the cool jobs, making the big bucks.) They have a successful show, and you can’t argue with results.
And this is where I’ll pick up next time.