Seems they should make the money DECREASE as the clock went on. Otherwise he could call immediately and stop the film. Thus, saving money and his reputation.
"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley
FINALLY! Someone agrees with me on this! :)
For years, I've been saying the end of the Blackmail sketch has it backwards. It should start at a high amount and then decrease as the footage goes on. As you say, because, regardless of how guilty you are, you'd ring in right away to keep the clock from increasing and thus increasing your cost. While it makes you look immediately guilty, 1.) it costs you a whole lot less and 2.) you don't get any of the footage being show.
But wouldn't the show make less money if the amount decreased?
I think it's supposed to cost them more the longer it takes them to call. That's the game they're playing...
Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please - Mark Twain
The way to maximize profit is to start the clock at a high value. Because otherwise a person would call the show in less than a minute to keep the value from increasing and also to not reveal the information. By counting down on the money clock, it encourages people to let the video play longer and thus pay less. It's in Blackmail's better interest to start high and count backwards.
As you said, that would maximize the profit for Blackmail if people weren't thinking it through. If they were smart, they'd call right away. That keeps the cost down and reveals no incriminating footage. To do it the other way, it's in the blackmailed person's better interest to let the footage play and reduce the cost they have to pay. That's why instead of starting at 300 Pounds, say, start at 3,000 Pounds.
Of course, for the sake of the joke, it's funnier the way it's broadcast. :) But from a purely logical or financial perspective, it makes sense doing it the other way.
But from a purely logical or financial perspective, it makes sense doing it the other way.
Which is why Blackmail should set the starting price higher. Because anyone, guilty or not, will call in within the first minute to stop the clock rising and thus paying more. If the price increases, the victim will call right away to stop the clock before any footage is revealed AND to minimize the amount he has to pay. So, they can make the 300 Pounds which is all they'd make because anyone would call in right away. Or they can make 3,000 Pounds because a person would still call in right away.
I just recently saw the And Now For Something Completely Different version of this sketch a few weeks ago.
They're banking on the idea that the viewer/victim isn't going to call in right away because he assumes that the footage isn't going to be all that incriminating.
As it becomes more and more revealing, the viewer realizes that the clip has more
evidence than he thought it would, so he finally calls in. The more incriminating
the evidence, the more a blackmailer can extort. The longer the viewer waits, the more tarnished his reputation becomes, so the more he has to pay.
I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!
Hewwo.
It probably explains why the Guys never got super rich though. They have always struggled a bit with anything financial.
The Neutrinos are mutating
but at the beginnign the viewer doesn't know how much film they have got, or how incriminating it is. as the film goes on, more and more is revealed, and the more incriminating the flim, naturally the more money you can demand to suppress it. Charging more for less revealing film makes no sense at all.
shareIf 'Blackmail' is a real TV show in the Monty Python world, of course the viewer knows how it works. They should be charged less as the film goes on. Otherwise call in immediately and save money and embarrassment. The boys made a mistake here.
"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley