Say When!! (game show)

Infobox_television
show_name = Say When!!


caption =
format = Game Show
runtime = 30 Minutes
creator = Mark Goodson - Bill Todman Productions
starring = Art James
Wayne Howell (Announcer)
country = USA
rating =
network = NBC
first_aired = January 2 1961
last_aired = March 26 1965|

Say When!! was an American game show emceed by Art James which aired on NBC television from January 2, 1961 to March 26, 1965. The show was a Mark Goodson - Bill Todman production and was Art James' only game show for them. Wayne Howell was the announcer and Ruth Halsey was a model. The show was produced in black and white (later in color) in NBC studio 6A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York.

Game Play

"Say When!!" is played by two contestants, one a returning champion. At the beginning of each game, a dollar goal is revealed. Four prizes are then displayed, and the contestants take turns picking one prize at a time (when a prize is picked another prize replaces it). Once picked, the dollar value of the chosen prize is added to the contestant's total. The object of the game is for a player's total to come closer to the goal than their opponent's total, without exceeding the goal amount. Up to three games are played in a best-two-out-of-three match.

The concept of picking prizes without going over was later used in a few of the pricing games in the current version of "The Price Is Right" (1972 to present), as well as a non-Goodson-Todman show from 1975, "Give-n-Take". When a contestant managed to match the goal, they won up to 100 cases of a product. Fact|date=June 2007

Peter Pan Incident

In one memorable episode, Art James was doing a live commercial for Peter Pan peanut butter. James placed a table knife in the glass jar, and the bottom of the jar broke and the knife came out the bottom, as a result of the bottom of the jar having been weakened by many knife drop-ins during rehearsals. He was quoted as saying "It's great peanut butter. The jar is something else." He also said "My mother told me there'd be days like this." after the spot had finished. It is one of the most famous game show bloopers of all time, and has aired on numerous game show blooper specials.

Music

The musical director of "Say When!!" was noted guitarist and NBC staff musician Carmen Mastren. The theme and prize cues were played live utilizing two electric guitars.

* "The Sixth-Finger Tune" by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse, January 2 to May 19, 1961
* "Window Shopping" by Bob Cobert, May 22, 1961 to 1965

Both of these themes were also used on the original version of "The Price is Right". "The Sixth-Finger Tune" was "Price's" original theme and was replaced by Cobert's "Window Shopping" in 1961.

Episode Status

Due to electronic wiping, the premiere show is the only regular episode in existence. Also, among the collector's circuit, the 1960 pilot exists. In the pilot, the format was slightly different: two pairs of contestants competed in a single, separate game; the winner of each previous game going head-to head. The "goal" in each game was $2,000.

The clip of the Peter Pan peanut butter incident exists as well.

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gUEQutAtSc Youtube video of Peanut Butter Blooper]