Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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How Quickly will this Bike get Stolen?

New Game Show
 
(+5, -5)
  [vote for,
against]

How-Quickly-will-this-Bike-get-Stolen? Game Show

3 contestants guess what time block (set in 4 quarters :30 each) a randomly placed bicycle is stolen in. The vulnerable bicycle is under continuous hidden video surveillance. The contestants build up cash by guessing the time blocks correctly. Contestants win the bike if the bike thief is apprehended by our fake police.

Each bike is put in a random area in alternating major cities across the US. Each area/city is detailed to the contestants in a short film describing its conditions. Each bike is also described as to its make, model and retail/street value. (this is a marketing opportunity ie: bike manufacturer gives free bikes and possible revenue in exchange). After the short film, the contestants ‘bet’ on which time block (1,2,3 or 4) the bike will be stolen at. The contestants that guess the correct time block win points/money and also the actual bike stolen (*if it is recovered). There is an attempt made by the producers of the show to apprehend the bike thief, confiscate the bike and either release the thief or turn him/her over to the proper authorities. The bike is under constant surveillance by our video cameras and that surveillance is used in the show as the main video of the segment. If and when the bike gets stolen, the producers have a fake police car chase down the assailants (I imagine that trained security guards paid by the show would be best suited for this job). The fake police car has a mobile camera attached to the car to view all aspects of the chase as the contestants (and audience) watch the ensuing mayhem unfold. The *security guards* also have mini-cams attached to their fake police uniforms. Their arrests will be considered ‘citizens arrests’ (once the assailant is handcuffed). At the end of the show the audience votes aloud which one of the bike thieves goes to jail and which ones are set free. One lucky bike thief may win a bike and a cash prize if the audience so votes (working on this idea).

Future shows may alternate the object stolen. Some ideas are: How-Quickly-will-this-virgin-get-Stolen? (beautiful half-naked, virgin-ish woman sits on a lawn chair in high-crime areas) or How-Quickly-will-this-Fake-Kilo-of-Coke-get-Stolen? (big bag of flour resembling a kilo of cocaine is placed in various high-crime areas, fake mobsters hired by the show apprehend the assailants).

Nietzsche, Jul 18 2004

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       If these "games" become common it might act as a deterrant because potential thieves would not know if they were being watched. (so I give it a +) I have to say tho that the bit about awarding one of the "thieves" disturbed me ( so I then gave it a -)
tasman, Jul 18 2004
  

       [admin: renamed to the title without the dashes to make it possible for browsers to wrap the title.]   

       - for the "virgin" bullshit.
jutta, Jul 18 2004
  

       Baked almost exactly like this on British TV last week. (No, I didn't watch it, but I saw the trailers.) The show does many variations on the same theme.
angel, Jul 18 2004
  

       This seems to be a very advanced form of the classic "epoxy a £1 coin to the pavement" gag. Childish, but invariably amusing.
wagster, Jul 18 2004
  

       //One lucky bike thief may win a bike and a cash prize if the audience so votes //   

       Yeah, this is just encouraging thieves to keep stealing. "If I'm lucky enough, my law-breaking behaviour might even win me a prize!!"   

       Fish, sorry.
Pericles, Jul 18 2004
  

       Gee-wilikers folks....I'm not 'married' to the 'virgin' part and the part where thieves possibly get prizes.....   

       These are merely suggestive and capricious ideas that I bounce for your further input. You, as the producers of the show always have the last say. Shall we do lunch at Le Cinimatic on Sunset in West Hollywood?
Nietzsche, Jul 18 2004
  

       And when the friendly "fake cop" walks up to the bicycle thief:   

       "All right chum, lets go downtown! You've been apprehended by the long arm of the law!"   

       (Studio audience laughs, viewing live feed)   

       "Thanks for playing, You've been a good sport"(turns to hidden camera and begins signature tag-line) "Because here on Steal-of-Fortune," (Thief, seeing momentary lapse of attention by "officer", uses opportunity to eviscerate officer with concealed knife)"AAAGGGHH!!!"
GutPunchLullabies, Jul 18 2004
  

       I was thinking the apprehension part would be more like "Cops".... dramatic and violent. That way we could have a sort of "Cops" game show where the criminals are entrappped for our amusmement. Things could potentially get ugly but 'How Quickly Will this X get stolen?' series is an edgy, tough, Springer meets Cops meets Jeopardy. The contestants might even have to guess the correct time block in the form of a question and be paired up and challenged by ex-lover contestants.
Nietzsche, Jul 19 2004
  

       Set it on my University campus and measure the time blocks in seconds, and you may have something.
Tabbyclaw, May 20 2005
  

       I saw this on an episode of Cops once. The cops planted a bike in front of a convience store in some ghetto neighborhood and then waited for someone to steal it just so they could arrest the person. Seemed kinda mean to me.
mlingley, Jul 20 2005
  

       I'm boning this one behalf of my assorted stolen bicycles. Nothing personal.
elhigh, Jul 20 2005
  

       Me, my stolen virgins. Personal.
daseva, Jul 20 2005
  

       [mlingley] as a consolation, many have gotten off the hook for such things as it constitutes entrapment. (This applies in cases where someone who is very unlikely to have previous intent to steal stumbled upon a rare open opportunity.) If the bike was locked, that'd be another story.
sophocles, Jul 20 2005
  

       I'd second the notion that this would likely constitute entrapment. But its an interesting concept.
gjupp, Jul 20 2005
  
      
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