Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Game Show that aired on NBC from 1961-65. It was a variant on their own hit show The Price Is Right.
Two contestants are shown a target value (such as $750 or $2,000), then four prizes. They each select a prize (replacing it with a new prize), and that item's value is displayed on their respective tote screen. They keep selecting prizes with the object of not exceeding the target value. Once a player comes within $250 of the target value, s/he can "freeze" their total, and the opponent must best that frozen total to win. Going over wins the game for the other player. Players keep prizes won in the games played; best two of three determines a returning champion.
This show provides examples of:
- The Announcer: Wayne Howell, an NBC staff announcer.
- Expy: As noted, Say When!! was more of a variant of Price, which aired an hour later on NBC's daytime schedule. It would beget an expy in the form of Give-n-Take (1975), which used a spinning arrow, and Take It All (2012), which used the Prisoner's Dilemma as its endgame.
- Game Show Host: Art James. He departed as announcer on Concentration so he could host this.
- Home Game: One was released by Parker Brothers in 1961.
- Lovely Assistant: Several models showed off the various prizes.
- Obvious Rule Patch: A test episode, recorded on December 20, 1960, only allowed players to "say when" after picking a prize but before its value was revealed. This led to an awkward situation in the Championship Match when a contestant managed to get exactly $2,000 (the goal in that round)...but since he didn't "say when" and his opponent remained under said amount, he was forced to pick again and hence go over the goal; since she remained under $2,000 with her next pick, she won.
- Pilot: The aforementioned test show could count as one. It had a slightly different logo, a slightly different set, a tournament-style format (three games, with the first two having a $750 goal), and the players picked (by number) the next prize to go on the board rather than Art simply revealing each prize himself in numerical order.
- Transatlantic Equivalent: An Australian version ran from 1962-64 on the Nine Network, hosted by Jimmy Hannan and produced by Reg Grundy. It was later revived (with the same network, host, and producer) as Spending Spree, which ran from 1971-76.
