1994 Aretha Franklin promo + A mystery solved.
May 25, 2021 17:21:27 GMT -5
trisspinner, luky, and 1 more like this
Post by Millioncolorsoflight on May 25, 2021 17:21:27 GMT -5
I honestly didn't know where to file this because it's both a video post and not a video post. First, the video:
The promo aired ahead of and during the 1994-95 season and was shot after the new "spiky" light border was installed. The promo was then aired during late summer '94 reruns including on Saturdays, where it got included on at least one master copy that aired on GSN when they ran 1992-93...but I noticed something during the promo that solved a question for me I've had for over a decade.
Back when GSN ran 1994-95, the first couple weeks of shows were taped on back to back days. In those 10 shows, not only do the spikes blink (something ditched after the second pair of tape weeks), but the bottom of the board has two noticeably off-color sections in the exact shape of the spikes - almost as though there were two extra spikes that got removed last second.
look to the right of the brown spike in the bottom left and the left of the brown spike in the bottom right. Starting week 3, those discolorations are gone. In the exact placement you'd expect one of the "inner" spikes if the pattern continued.
Cue the Aretha promo - Take a look what's right by Vanna (and on the other side). One additional "inner" spike exactly where those discolorations appeared. 
At some point between the promo shoot days (almost every TV show has day periodically where they'll come in, do shoots, maybe work on lights/camera/etc., do rehearsals if there's new stuff, and do any promos they need to film) and the taping of the first episodes, those two spikes (which work in the Aretha ad) got removed. Why? Who knows, would have had to been there. Probably either a tripping risk (notice, the spikes are raised off the surface) or if the lights run hot possibly too hot to be right where Vanna's standing. But that mystery with the discoloration has been nagging at me for 13 years and finding that promo is surrealy vindicating in the dumbest way.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
It's good to be back home... 
