Part of the Blinking Lights of Victory display on Tic-Tac-Dough with Wink Martindale, from 1979
YAY, SOMEONE HAS WON A PRIZE!
We can't simply announce that in a dull voice, or just yell it out. In order to signify the win, let's have some blinking, flashing lights. Or if it's the Grand Prize, let's throw a strobe light in for good measure!
Usually included with Confetti Drop or Big Win Sirens, if the prize is large enough.
Sometimes seen in media other than game shows, like video games. Not to be confused with Fireworks of Victory as the two rarely overlap.
Examples
Game Shows
- The Price Is Right
- Whenever a contestant wins a game, the lights making up a number display or parts of the stage props, and even the lights on the stage doors, blink and flash. With a big dollar amount from $10,000 and higher, the amount won often flashes on the screen. If a contestant in the 1970s up to around the end of Barker's tenure won both showcases at the end of the show, the words "DOUBLE SHOWCASE WINNER" would flash on screen. In at least one instance, a glitch caused the ENTIRE screen to flash white (The white was the color for keying in the graphic).
- In a subversion, the short-lived "Professor Price" had moving characters and props on the game structure, so on both of its wins, when a player won, not only would lights surrounding the price of the prize blink, an owl would flap its wings, a cuckoo clock's hands would go crazy, and the Professor would continue nodding.
- On the original Price, the winning contestant's frozen bid in that game would flash. At the show's end, the top score would simply have an asterisk to the left with no flashing.
- Wheel of Fortune: From its inception, any puzzleboard that had lights in them would form a chase pattern when the puzzle was solved. From the start of the modern era in 2007 with the flatscreen displays, the blue lights around the puzzleboard shift colors and flash white.
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
- When a contestant successfully answers the top-prize question, in developed countries (such as the United States, Germany, Russia, or Japan, for example), the studio lights brighten up, sweep around, and strobe, along with the Confetti Drop. Sometimes averted in countries that cannot afford the flashy effects.
- Although, in an inversion, if the contestant gets any of the answers wrong, only the correct answer on the contestant's screen blinks.
- Deal or No Deal: The US version does this any time the contestant accepts the Banker’s offer, or wins the top prize.
- The UK version only does this for the top prize wins. A bright flash is seen when the confetti cannon is shot, and the studio flashes multiple colored lights.
- With Press Your Luck, the spinner indicators around the prizes and whammies, and the winner's score, all flash.
- From a more-obscure gameshow, Whew!, when a contestant won the $25,000 bonus round, all of the lights in the studio would flash and blink, including the cyclorama background which would shift from red to blue.
- On Pyramid:
- Classic Era: If a player won the The Winner's Circle, lights inside the dollar amounts on the pyramid board blink, the trilons holding the categories and dollar amounts move around, and the lights around the board form a chasing pattern.
- Modern Era: If a player won the The Winner's Circle, lights on the walls and arches blink, with a digital Confetti Drop on the category board.
- On Match Game, in the 1970s, the lit prize amount on the Star Wheel would blink, and the lights around the studio would form a chasing pattern.
- When a family wins the Fast Money Round on the Steve Harvey-hosted version of Family Feud, the entire studio quickly shifts and flashes rainbow colors.
- The studio lights sweep around wildly and strobe when a contestant answers the final question correctly on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?.
- The entire studio flashes gold colors on The Wall when a pair of contestants rack up and accept a large sum of money.
- The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime takes this to an extreme, but not overboard, considering the eponymous amount of the grand prize; flashing strobes and fireworks upon the flashing $1,000,000 light display both in the background, flashing keys and lights on the computer stage prop in the foreground, chasing neon lights on the money podium in front, and sweeping studio lights of multiple colors.
- Countdown: The set flashes when one of the contestants gets a nine-letter word.
- A rather tame example in comparison to others, but in Bowling for Dollars (a 70s gameshow syndicated in multiple local markets), when someone hit the jackpot by scoring two consecutive strikes, the backlit Jackpot display would flash on and off, as seen here
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- Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego: When a contestant got 8 markers in their proper spots on the map, the studio lights would swing about wildly, with a newspaper graphic popping up on-screen with the headline "[CONTESTANT] CAPTURES CARMEN!"
- In the short-lived 1997 game show "The Big Moment", successfully completing the one challenge assigned to the contestant results in a wild strobing party.
- In the Nickelodeon run of Family Double Dare, the winning team's background and strobe lights flashed at the end of the game.
- On Tic-Tac-Dough w/Wink Martindale, whenever a game was decided in favor of either X or O, a special victory stinger version of the theme music was played (longer in case of car wins for X; champions got cars for every five wins they achieved), and the chase lights around the oval backdrop of Xs and Os (two sets, one outside, one inside) cascaded from the middle to the top (on the top half of that backdrop), and from the middle to the bottom (on the bottom half). The chase lights on the board also cascaded from right to left (and vice versa), and down to up (and vice versa). The winning pattern on the board for the victorious player also had flowing chase lights around each of the boxes in that pattern, and the three Xs or three Os in the winning line appeared and disappeared rapidly in a cycle; there were also red chase lights in the pot display, and the pot total for the winning player cycled in and out (these chase lights were also in the Tic Tac Dough title display on the floor of the set, and flowed around that as well).
Reality Shows
- America's Got Talent: This is both inverted and played straight: A full-four-count buzzer causes the background to go red, and the lights flash mockingly. HOWEVER, if the act is a particularly amazing or touching act, and a judge presses the Golden Buzzer, the entire stage turns gold with strobing lights.
Video Games
- Dicey Dungeons: Fitting the game show aesthetic, the "combat victory" screen involves a sign surrounded with blinking lights, with more lights in the lettering.
Real Life
- Any electronic or electric casino game machine will do this, when the player has won above a certain prize amount.
- Some pinball machines do this when the player has gained a special score or prize during gameplay.
- Seems to be the norm for modern sports events, especially in newer arenas with more extensive video systems. A newer trend at outdoor stadiums have been LED lighting systems that can also be used for light shows, with some baseball and football stadiums having animation effects on home runs or touchdowns.
