Talk:Dialing for Dollars

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Greetings, I've re-written and wikified this article, adding more info. about the show's early origins in radio, etc.

One question I have concerns the statement found in this article – and also Oprah Winfrey's article – claiming that "She hosted Dialing for Dollars in Baltimore on WJZ-TV with the theme The Hustle: what is the source for this?

Her own website bio doesn't mention it and according to a Baltimore Sun article dated July 18, 1994, (which I've referenced in the revised article), Stu Kerr hosted Dialing for Dollars on another Baltimore station, WMAR-TV, until it "left the air in 1977".

I've tagged this ^{[citation needed]} here and at Oprah Winfrey before removing it. JGHowes ^talk - 13:08, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

I am not sure who posted that particular bit, but I can verify from personal knowledge it is true, the only issue is finding a verifiable source, Oprah was not especially proud of her years in Baltimore towards the end, and fled People are Talking. dml 13:50, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "The count and the amount"

I've seen a few references in Wikipedia to the typical format of Dialing for Dollars wherein the host called random viewers who were asked to recite the "count and the amount" in order to win the jackpot, but no explanation of what was meant by "count" and "amount". My recollection from my youth was that the "amount" was the jackpot, which increased by a set amount each time a contestant was called until someone won at which point it was reset to whatever the beginning amount was. And the "count" referred to a daily predetermined position from the top or bottom of a list, like 4 from the bottom or 6 from the top. I believe the local phone book was cut up into strips of listed phone numbers, the lists were thrown into a hopper, and a bunch of lists were picked from the hopper at the beginning of each show. If you occupied the "count" position on one of the selected lists, your number was called. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mhurel (talk • contribs) 15:57, 19 February 2008 (UTC)