Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Bumper Stumpers

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The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Per article improvements. (non-admin closure) Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 18:21, 9 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Bumper Stumpers[edit]

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Bumper Stumpers (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log | edits since nomination)
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"Bumper Stumpers" + "Al DuBois" returned literally nothing on newspapers.com. The only source I could find besides the TV encyclopedia already cited in the article is the Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows. And two encyclopedia listings whose combined content doesn't take up half a printed page are not WP:SIGCOV. It's a shame too, because I actually remember liking this show as a kid. Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 01:39, 29 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I can probably cobble enough together for a re-write. I'll take a look later today. Oaktree b (talk) 14:27, 29 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep per the significant coverage in multiple independent reliable sources.
    1. Spence, Rick (1988-10-08). "The true-life adventure of a Bumper Stumpers contestant Game shows there's no such thing as easy cash". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2022-05-01.

      The article notes: "My wife and I were touring the Canadian National Exhibition a year ago, when we discovered auditions for a new game called Bumper Stumpers. If you could guess the meaning of puzzles based on imaginary vanity licence plates, you could win $1,000 or more. As an expert at watching for real-life plates like GRADU8 or 2TH MD (dentist) when driving, I suggested we give it a try. Inside, we and 60 other hopefuls learned that Bumper Stumpers was the highest-rated game show on the USA network, and would start soon on Global TV. Then we played a pretend game and took a written test. The audition cost us an hour that might have been spent winning stuffed frogs on the midway, but we marked it down as an investment."

    2. "Bumper Stumpers". Lambda. Vol. 38, no. 17. 2000-02-03. Retrieved 2022-05-01 – via Internet Archive.

      This is an article from a student newspaper at Laurentian University. The article notes: "Bumper Stumpers made its debut on June 29, 1987 over the USA cable network. The show was a joint venture of Barry-Enright Productions & Wink Martindale Enterprises, Inc.; it was the second game show Wink created ... BS was taped at the Global Television Studios in Toronto, Canada, & was hosted by Al DuBois, a popular Toronto TV personality. BS was played by two teams of two contestants (married couples, siblings, friends, co-workers, etc.), who competed by trying to figure out the meanings of personalized licence plates."

    3. Less significant coverage:
      1. Smith, Diane (1990-01-06). "The lure of loot and lucre". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2022-05-01 – via Gale.

        The article provides several sentences of coverage about the subject. The article notes: "Thirty-eight hundred dollars for just a few hours work, most of it sitting and waiting. Two Ryerson students earned that amount recently on a Canadian television game show called Bumper Stumpers. ... On Bumper Stumpers, a maximum cash prize of $10,500 is up for grabs for anyone who can decipher cryptic licence lates (if BBRNTBB looks like 'To be or not to be', give the folks at Global a call. Like all shows, they're clambering for contestants and audiences).

      2. Strachan, Alex (2006-10-24). "Deal or No Deal comes to the country that brought you Supermarket Sweep". National Post. Retrieved 2022-05-01 – via PressReader.

        The article provides one sentence of coverage about the subject. The article notes: "Sixteen years after the cancellation of Bumper Stumpers, true gaming excitement is returning to Canada."

      3. "Updates on 'Sacred Straight'". The Cincinnati Enquirer. 1987-04-26. ProQuest 1895812218.

        The article provides several sentences of coverage about the subject. The article notes: "Veteran game show host Wink Martindale has turned producer with Bumper Stumpers, a new game show for cable's USA Network. ... Canadian TV personality Al Dubois hosts the show, which premieres June 20."

      4. Florak, Hal (1987-09-25). "Games". The Hollywood Reporter. Vol. 299, no. 5. ProQuest 2594677981.

        The article provides several sentences of coverage about the subject. The article notes: "Bumper Stumpers features contestants playing for cash prizes as they attempt to guess the message or meaning on personalized "vanity" license plates. Produced by Barry & Enright Prods. in association with Wink Martindale Enterprises exclusively for the USA Network."

    There is sufficient coverage in reliable sources to allow Bumper Stumpers to pass Wikipedia:Notability#General notability guideline, which requires "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject".

    Cunard (talk) 10:32, 1 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

    Most of those seem to be passing mentions of the show decades after the fact. Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 16:32, 1 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Most? That's not the standard. I'm not sure why you haven't retracted this yet. Nfitz (talk) 18:37, 1 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Source 1 is a local-interest story. Source 2 just name-drops the show in one sentence. Source 3 is also just a name-drop. Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 18:38, 1 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The majority of them are dated during the show's run, and any hit not dated 1987-1990 (which is, again, a minority of them) serves as proof that the show was still remembered and discussed years after its cancellation. Bearcat (talk) 21:36, 4 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The 2006 source says literally nothing about the show other than that it existed. Is that really WP:SIGCOV to you? Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 21:43, 4 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
What has that to do with what I said, which is that your assertion that the majority of Nfitz's sources were dated from the 2000s was incorrect since more than half of them are dated 1987-1990? Bearcat (talk) 13:13, 5 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep. Does it have as much coverage as we would like, no, but it most certainly has enough to pass WP:TVSHOW and WP:GNG, which is all that matters here. Bearcat (talk) 11:42, 6 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Spartaz Humbug! 21:23, 7 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

  • Keep - per Cunard's sources above. Also 3 seasons on a national network - common sense says this shouldn't have been nominated without a lot more research. Nfitz (talk) 00:18, 8 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    I still remain unconvinced that any of that is WP:SIGCOV. Can you explain to me how half a sentence is significant? Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 02:10, 8 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    The first article alone (Toronto Star 1988) is almost entirely about the show, mentioning it eight times. Why would you claim it's half a sentence. With that kind of blatantly false claim, I'm not even going to waste my time checking any more references. It's a well known show that everyone in the country has heard of. This nomination is a disgrace, and making blatant false claims is surely a bannable offence. Nfitz (talk) 22:15, 8 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    Did you not see the part where I said "Source 2 just name-drops the show in one sentence"? That's an article on Deal or No Deal that dedicates less than a sentence to Bumper Stumpers. Don't twist my words. Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 00:40, 9 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    No, I didn't see that - you should have mentioned it in response to my comment. Though surely it's moot given how good the Toronto Star one is. I struggle to understand how the largest circulating English-language paper in the nation is "local interest" on a program aired for years nationally on one of the big-three networks. I'm not sure, User:TenPoundHammer why you haven't withdrawn this. Nfitz (talk) 03:25, 9 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment: Bumper Stumpers received significant coverage in a 1988 article in the Toronto Star and a 2000 article in Lambda so passes Wikipedia:Notability#General notability guideline. I provided the other sources in the "Less significant coverage" section to show the additional less significant coverage Bumper Stumpers had received as they contribute to notability (but do not establish notability as they are not significant coverage) in showing the attention the show has received. I included the sources in the "Less significant coverage" section also so they can be used to verify additional material that can be added to the article. Cunard (talk) 07:43, 9 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    Are student newspapers reliable sources, though? Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 15:29, 9 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    As all the information in that student newspaper matches what other reliable sources have said, then yes. But we don't need that ... I've added five further sources to the article verifying the same facts; all are brief, but the sources include the New York Daily News, Ottawa Citizen, USA Today, and Toronto Star. I focused my search for sources from before the program was first broadcast; presumably there are more during the years it was on the air. One thing I wasn't able to confirm was the number of episodes. Several sources said the initial sale was 130 episodes - but given it aired for 3 years (and then a decade of repeats), was there additional orders? Nfitz (talk) 18:14, 9 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
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