Due to economical circumstances beyond anyone's control, I have found myself watching a lot of game shows for the last month. I now know more about "Dumb Dora" that Gene Rayburn and Brett Somers combined. But that's not what this post is about.
"I received a poem today, Rayetta. Would you like to touch me?"
An interesting question popped into my mind when I began watching an episode of
Card Sharks (the original Jim Perry NBC version where you lost money on doubles, not the wimpy Eubanks* CBS version where they called it a "push" and gave you a hug). Seems the announcer would begin every show with a poem. Here's an actual example: "
Sevens and Eights may not tickle your palette; but aces and deuces can sure fatten your wallet?, on Card, etc. " (
See for yourself.) So my question is: Who were these socially awkward aspiring poets laureate who wrote ridiculous rhyming couplets to game shows? Is it possible to be that starved for companionship?
*Nothing personal against you, Bob. We still love you.
We've all gone through that phase where we fancied ourselves the next Alexander Pope (except for those of us who called them "song lyrics"). But even those embarrassing love sonnets (or, excuse me, love songs) we wrote to our sophomore English teacher after catching a glimpse of her hair glistening playfully in the sunlight (we've all done that, right?) is not as pathetic as declaring your admiration for a deck of cards. I will just keep telling myself that.
Someone sent a "Whammy Outhouse" to Press Your Luck, and drew a picture of Ray Walston from
My Favorite Martian on it for some reason.
Granted, people also wrote poetry and short stories (or sent crafts - see right) about Whammies to
Press Your Luck, but at least they got an awesome t-shirt for their effort. I don't recall any such reward being offered from
Card Sharks. The only compensation was Jim Perry giving credit to the poet with that unspoken subtext warning others not to invite him or her to gatherings.
In the interest of full and honest disclosure, though, I openly admit that if Card Sharks were to have sent their viewers a deck of those humongous cards in exchange for opening prose, I definitely would have been firing off poetry too. They would be awesome on poker night, especially if I invited my short friends.
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