It isn't that the tickle chair is ineffective.. it's that Howard's working against himself.
First, he keeps the room cool so that girls in tight shirts will 'nip out'. This makes the girls feet a little numb. He needs to understand that fact and either use hair dryers or space heater at their feet. I love women with ticklish feet.
Secondly, His tickle technique leaves a lot to be desired. He needs to stop with the short tickles as punishment for wrong answers in games. He needs to warm the girls up gently .. both physically and mentally.. with a lot of preliminary tickling that builds in intensity. Then, after the girls are sensitized, go for the gusto.
Third, that chair needs to have more straps added to it. It needs straps above the knees and above the elbows. This way he wouldn't need five guys to hold the girl down and he wouldn't need to tie them in so tightly which also cuts off sensation. Ideally, the arms shouldn't even be strapped to the chair arms. They should be strapped above their heads or at least up. He could easily attach a bar to the back of the chair at head level and tie their wrists to that.
Lastly, please get Robin to stop laughing over the procedings. I want to hear the victim laugh not her. Nothing against Robin. The episode with Carmen Electra would have been very hot if not for those few things.
Imagine it, Carmen, who has incredibly ticklish feet, strapped in so that she really couldn't pull her feet away. You could tickle those pretty soles unmercifully and she wouldn't be able to stop it. ..And we would be able to hear just her amazing, unending, tortured laughter.
..And when is he going to have two hot looking chicks tickle each other? For that matter, when is he going to get some chick naked and in the tickle chair?