The password is…revival!

[HYHYBT]

"Million Dollar Password" might not sound right, but "THE Million Dollar Password" would. It just needs the article, like "The $25,000 Pyramid" or even "The Coca-Cola Company".

It *could* be another train wreck... but then again, it could come out really, really well. Yes, there were Card Sharks, Match Game, Temptation... but I can only think of two *network* shows they make, and although one of them isn't the kind of television I enjoy, each is done well for what it is.

(of course, for all I know they may have a dozen others on, in which case never mind)

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'166257\' date=\'Oct 10 2007, 09:25 PM\']
Really . . . before today, wouldn't most of our reactions to the phrase "Million Dollar Password" be "punchline"?
[/quote]
I'm with Matt. There's a very good possibility it still will be.

[TwoInchQuad]

"Million Dollar Password"...

The ultimate corruption of a classic game concept.  And if Carol Burnett and Betty White are smart, they'll stay a million miles away from this trainwreck.

Too depressing for words.

-Kevin

[Craig Karlberg]

Here's how I see the Million Dollar Password:

The front game could be a sprint to 50 points for $1,000 or a series of puzzles ala P+ & SP where whoever reaches $5K wins.

Then the bonus round could be split up into 2 parts like the ABC version.  Part 1 is a 60-second lightning round where a maximum of 5 words = $100,000($20K per word).  Part 2 uses the 15 second round except whatever you wagered will be multiplied by 10 on correctly solving just one more password.  Another option would be the standard Alphabetics round where each word is worth $1K up to $100K for all 10 words in 60 seconds.  Then, taking a page out of Body Language, the player then has to solve 3 more passwords in 20 seconds for 10 tines the money, otherwise, whatever money they earned is gone.

[ChuckNet]

I just hope it's better than that late 90s pilot they tried, which consisted of two 5-member teams playing a game more akin to Hot Streak...on the plus side, good to have another NY-based game on deck, and at least they're hiring a veteran instead of leaving this classic game in the hands of a rookie, the way they did w/Temptation.

Chuck Donegan (The Optimistic "Chuckie Baby")

[DoorNumberFour]

[quote name=\'TwoInchQuad\' post=\'166265\' date=\'Oct 11 2007, 02:01 AM\']
"Million Dollar Password"...

The ultimate corruption of a classic game concept. And if Carol Burnett and Betty White are smart, they'll stay a million miles away from this trainwreck.

Too depressing for words.

-Kevin

[/quote]

I think to call it "too depressing for words" is a bit much, considering all we have of the show is a TITLE.

I agree that it's not a good title, but I think all we can hope for is a last-minute title change like we've seen with other shows (Nothing But The Truth, Let's Do Crosswords, etc.).

And if they don't, hopefully the game itself will be good enough that we won't have to worry about the title.

/wondering if people had the same reaction back in the 80s
//OMGZZ $100,000 PYRAMID!!1! RUN FOR TEH HILLZ!!!111!!1

[DrBear]

RTFA, as the Farkers say:

"Million Dollar Password" will combine and modernize elements of three past "Password" skeins: the original, "Password Plus" and "Super Password." Two teams -- made up of one celeb and one contestant -- will compete to uncover secret passwords during the first round of the game. Winning team will then have the option of risking their coin in a million-dollar bonus round.

Which reads - to me - that it could probably be a PP/SP puzzle type game, with some sort of bonus round. Which, if they don't call it either "Alphabetics" or at least the "Lightning Round," ....

ah well.

First clue..."ruin."
"modernize?"
DING DING DING!

[tvmitch]

I'm very optimistic, but to me, it seems like another example of a daytime show (Rich List, Identity) that is being expanded to an hour to run in prime.

We'll see though. The revival is a long time coming. And the host is someone who actually played the game a few times himself under the original ringmaster, so that has to be a Plus.

[Clay Zambo]

[quote name=\'DoorNumberFour\' post=\'166270\' date=\'Oct 11 2007, 06:35 AM\']
/wondering if people had the same reaction back in the 80s
//OMGZZ $100,000 PYRAMID!!1! RUN FOR TEH HILLZ!!!111!!1
[/quote]

I know you're kidding, but it seems doubtful.  After all, that revival had Dick Clark on tap, and a direct connection to the original production team.

This one, so far, we've got Regis--whom I like a lot, and I think he'd be fun hosting some version of Password.  Cantcha just hear him snarking at stars who give stupid clues?

/hoping the producers will find stars with, y'know, vocabularies such that RP wouldn't need to snark.
//'cause the idea of briefing the stars during the commercial break before the bonus round is too depressing for words.  Even words like "skein."
///which, by the way, is a perfectly good clue for the password, "Yarn."
////but this Million Dollar thing doesn't seem to be a joke.  Or even a funny story.

[tpirfan28]

Hmm...donno if this is good news or bad news.  I think Reege could hold fort with Password (probably better than Convy, but not as good as Ludden/Cullen/Kennedy).

I just hope it doesn't fall into this suspenseful theme of recent...I'd want to see the set and game bright and lively.

/love to see one celeb set be Betty White and Tom Kennedy

[Clay Zambo]

[quote name=\'nate80s\' post=\'166260\' date=\'Oct 11 2007, 12:45 AM\']
Finally... something I haven't seen for a long time,  a prime-time game show that features more than 1 contestant.  What took so long?
[/quote]

You mean, aside from "Power of 10," right?

[rigsby]

[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' post=\'166280\' date=\'Oct 11 2007, 07:39 AM\']
This one, so far, we've got Regis--whom I like a lot, and I think he'd be fun hosting some version of Password.  Cantcha just hear him snarking at stars who give stupid clues?[/quote]

I'd love to hear just that, but I fear that somehow the editing on this thing would be such that we have awkward music-filled "suspenseful" moments (as done way too much by pretty much every primetime show since Millionaire) but cut the moments where something stupid happens.

/'Cos y'know eventually Regis'll give away a puzzle

[weaklink75]

I'll hold off on any main judgements until I see the full ruleset...but I would have thought if any gameshow could escape the Mo' Money Syndrome, it'd be Password...

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'DrBear\' post=\'166272\' date=\'Oct 11 2007, 06:14 AM\']
RTFA, as the Farkers say:

"Million Dollar Password" will combine and modernize elements of three past "Password" skeins: the original, "Password Plus" and "Super Password." Two teams -- made up of one celeb and one contestant -- will compete to uncover secret passwords during the first round of the game. Winning team will then have the option of risking their coin in a million-dollar bonus round.

Which reads - to me - that it could probably be a PP/SP puzzle type game, with some sort of bonus round. Which, if they don't call it either "Alphabetics" or at least the "Lightning Round," ....[/quote]

I may be wrong, but I'm interpreting it as classic "Password" front game with a "Plus/Super" puzzle end game.

As I said, I may be wrong.

I would hope that Regis' old buddy Dave would be one of the celeb guests.  And Betty, of course.

[MSTieScott]

This forum is the first place I've heard anything about a revival of Password, so I have no inside information. But because I agree that I can't imagine classic Password being played for an hour straight in prime time in this day and age, I'm going to put five bucks down that at some point during the game, a password will have to be unscrambled.

Edit: I may be reading too much into the fourth paragraph, but the use of the word "uncover" immediately brings Now You See It to mind.

--
Scott Robinson
(or at the very least, the contestants will be given a series of blank spaces for each letter in the password)