Millionaire

[abba]

I understand the rules of the competition. And that someone will win the million dollars guaranteed. However let's say no one answers their question correctly,or decides to walk away. Will someone sill win the million?

[Dbacksfan12]

Will someone sill win the million?

Yes.
(snarky reply removed)

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'230218\' date=\'Nov 9 2009, 12:08 PM\']Yes.
(snarky reply removed)[/quote]
Good thing, because I'm not sure it's deserved. Abba asked "if everyone either answers wrong or declines to answer, who wins the million?" And unless I understand incorrectly, I believe the answer is "nobody," regardless of what the cited About.com post with no reference to back it up says.

(And if I'm wrong and the answer is "the top seed going in wins it," then that's just about the most idiotic thing I've ever heard.)

[itiparanoid13]

If no one answers correctly or everyone walks away no one wins the million.  They've guaranteed a winner so someone answered correctly, but they've actually done a decent job at hiding it which is nice.  That or I haven't paid enough attention.  

If a low seed answers correctly and a higher seed also does, the lower seed leaves with what they won in their original visit.  They don't drop to $25K or anything else.  You only drop to $25K if you go for it and miss.  That was the other point of confusion really not explained that well.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'230221\' date=\'Nov 9 2009, 12:18 PM\']They've guaranteed a winner so someone answered correctly, but they've actually done a decent job at hiding it[/quote]
Hiding who it is, perhaps, but the very fact that they're guaranteeing a winner is annoying enough of a spoiler on its own.

[itiparanoid13]

Oh definitely.  I just originally had nightmares of some Deal or No Deal or Fifth Grader-type spoiler where they flat out tell you who wins.

It's sad but I think shows have lowered my expectation of a surprise so much that doing anything but saying, "XXXX is going to win!" is going to make me relatively happy.  They haven't even sent out a press release about it, and the release for the first Deal or No Deal millionaire came to me several weeks before the show aired.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'230230\' date=\'Nov 9 2009, 12:51 PM\']It's sad but I think shows have lowered my expectation of a surprise so much that doing anything but saying, "XXXX is going to win!" is going to make me relatively happy.[/quote]
I agree. That's really sad.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'230230\' date=\'Nov 9 2009, 03:51 PM\']They haven't even sent out a press release about it, and the release for the first Deal or No Deal millionaire came to me several weeks before the show aired.[/quote]
When Wheel sent the press release about last year's million dollar winner, I was mildly disappointed, but was okay since it seemed the surprise was spoiled for a relative few, and they didn't go to great lengths to say "Hey watch the million dollar spin this Monday!!!1!"

When D/ND had their win last year, the idiot promotions staff basically told you there was gonna be a win; every time they went to commercial "You are 27 minutes away from finding out if our contestant will win one million dollars!!!1!" If there wasn't gonna be a winner, then why the hell would you keep bringing it up?!

[mcsittel]

If you watched Millionaire and its attendant promos last week, you could clearly tell who was in the Hot Seat being showered with confetti.  So much for a surprise...

I also dislike Millionaire's 'here's a question from tomorrow' segment during the last commercial break.  It's normally accompanied by a dollar value and, if you remember the categories of the current contestant, usually is a spoiler as to at least how far the contestant will climb the ladder (esp. if the dollar value is high).  I just fast forward and avoid looking at the spoiler, but still... are most viewers' habits contingent upon such 'hints'?

[bandit_bobby]

If somebody answers their MDQ question correctly but doesn't win the million in the end, their current winnings will be doubled. I just learned this while watching Alex Ortiz's MDQ today.

[mxc0427]

[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'230250\' date=\'Nov 9 2009, 05:48 PM\']If somebody answers their MDQ question correctly but doesn't win the million in the end, their current winnings will be doubled. I just learned this while watching Alex Ortiz's MDQ today.[/quote]

Watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7mMfiNPSg

Where does Meredith say that? I think you got confused when Meredith said, "$950,000 will be added to that $50,000 you already have." at 3:06.

[bandit_bobby]

If a contestant that isn't the #1 seed answers their MDQ correctly, the cue for getting the tenth question right should sound (like on "Millonaire: Hot Seat" in Australia when somebody goes home with at least $20K).

[Joe Mello]

[quote name=\'mxc0427\' post=\'230252\' date=\'Nov 9 2009, 07:25 PM\']Watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7mMfiNPSg

Where does Meredith say that? I think you got confused when Meredith said, "$950,000 will be added to that $50,000 you already have." at 3:06.[/quote]
Fwiw, I didn't hear the "nine hundred" the first time, either.  It's only a little unfortunate that a right answer to this doesn't bump up the minimum winnings, but since the producers apparently got what they wanted, it really doesn't matter.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'230286\' date=\'Nov 9 2009, 09:01 PM\']If a contestant that isn't the #1 seed answers their MDQ correctly, the cue for getting the tenth question right should sound (like on "Millonaire: Hot Seat" in Australia when somebody goes home with at least $20K).[/quote]Why?


[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'230306\' date=\'Nov 10 2009, 08:12 AM\']Fwiw, I didn't hear the "nine hundred" the first time, either.  It's only a little unfortunate that a right answer to this doesn't bump up the minimum winnings, but since the producers apparently got what they wanted, it really doesn't matter.[/quote]Besides the fact that we got hoodwinked by someone who misheard and raced to the keyboard without vetting the information, the doubling would be nice. The problem is that the players in the lower half have little impetus to have a go if they're unsure. Get it wrong and you're out $25k. Get it right and you're probably going to get ousted by someone later on. And with questions of this obscurity, I can't imagine someone saying "Hey, I totally know this!"

[rugrats1]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'230233\' date=\'Nov 9 2009, 04:02 PM\']When D/ND had their win last year, the idiot promotions staff basically told you there was gonna be a win; every time they went to commercial "You are 27 minutes away from finding out if our contestant will win one million dollars!!!1!" If there wasn't gonna be a winner, then why the hell would you keep bringing it up?![/quote]

This was one of the reasons why I quit watching NBC's DOND -- you can tell they'll take it all home by the promos. Also, there were many times when the last amounts on a board was the million and a lower amount (with the contestant either taking the last "deal" or winning the lower amount), yet you see no promos drilling that predicament into your head a week in advance.