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Which contestant's accomplishments, if you saw them, do you think was the most incredible? Was it:
A) Thom McKee's long Tic-Tac Dough run in 1980, lasting 46 episodes and totaling over $312,000, the genre record until the rise of Millionaire
B) John Hatten's two seperate (he was brought back after they extended the number of games a contestant could win) but equally amazing runs on Blockbusters (even after he'd learned his house had burned down midway through the first one), earning a grand total of $120,000
C) Michael Larsen's reign of terror on Press Your Luck in 1984, landing him over $100,000 over the course of two shows (actually a single show that had to be split into two) after he'd managed to memorize the board patterns
quote:Originally posted by Chris the CandyFanMan: Which contestant's accomplishments, if you saw them, do you think was the most incredible? Was it:
A) Thom McKee's long "Tic-Tac Dough" run in 1980, lasting 46 episodes and totaling over $312,000, the genre record until the rise of "Millionaire"...
As I recall, McKee was a U.S. Navy pilot when he appeared on "Tic-Tac Dough". The $312,000 that he won went a lot further in 1980 than it does today! It was a record amount for a game-show until somebody won a $1 million on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"
Ken Jennings broke the record for the most episode appearances in 2004 playing "Jeopardy!" McKee said he was rooting for Jennings to break his record!
(It should be noted that back in the 80's, the rules were a little different on "Jeopardy!" back then. At the time, if you won five games in a row, then you would be "retired" and eligible to play in the Tournament of Champions. And a whole new set of contestants would play the next game.)
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I can add more, that he sold off all but one of the 8 cars he won (Buicks, I believe) to charity.
If anyone still wants to take a crack at the topic, note that I'm taking this opprtunity to add another big 80s winner to the equation:
E) Randy Amasia, who tragically succumbed to leukemia just hours before he would have received the long-lost tape of himself winning the $25,000 grand prize on Whew!
So is it A, B, C, D, or E? Thirty seconds players, good luck.
Posts: 2561 | From: Pennsylvania | Registered: Aug 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
What show was the E) guy on??? I don't remember anything about this guy?
Posts: 5319 | From: KANSAS | Registered: Sep 2003 | Site Updates: 2
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Known in trivia only as "Bob from Wolverhampton", this chap was a contestant on The Golden Shot (back in the days when the contestant played via telephone from home).
The Golden Shot had a series of quiz questions, getting increasingly more difficult, culminating in the final round, where (by voice commands only) the contestant had to aim and fire a crossbow bolt through a wire, thereby releasing the grand prize. The host, legendary comedian Bob Monkhouse, was getting worried about the random commands being called out by "Bob".
Monkhouse: "Can you see your television OK, Bob?" Bob: "No, I don't have a television" Monkhouse: "How can you play if you don't have a television?" Bob: "It's OK. I'm in a phone box, and over the road is an electrical store with a big bank of screens in the window" Monkhouse: "That must be difficult for you" Bob: "You're not wrong. They aren't playing your show on any of the screens" Monkhouse: " You're kidding me. How can you see to fire the bolt then?" Bob: "I'll just have to guess. FIRE!!"
Cue bolt flying from the crossbow, hitting the target dead center, and Bob wins the grand prize......
No game show contestant will ever beat that achievement for me.
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