Minute To Win It

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Kniwt\' post=\'241390\' date=\'May 24 2010, 07:56 PM\']Funny how Messrs. Goodman and Todman usually (but, granted, not always) were able to identify and resolve such matters in testing, not production.[/quote]
Don't disagree, sir. Not one little bit.

[Lirodon]

[quote name=\'Kniwt\' post=\'241390\' date=\'May 24 2010, 10:56 PM\']Funny how Messrs. Goodman and Todman usually (but, granted, not always) were able to identify and resolve such matters in testing, not production.[/quote]

And when they're not around, we get junk like Card Guppies.

[Unrealtor]

I disagree. I think Goodson and Todman would have caught "nobody in their right mind is going to risk $X for a chance at $Y" long before it got to testing.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'Unrealtor\' post=\'241480\' date=\'May 26 2010, 06:14 PM\']I disagree. I think Goodson and Todman would have caught "nobody in their right mind is going to risk $X for a chance at $Y" long before it got to testing.[/quote]The difference with the risk is the level of knowledge. If you have $14,400 and the Big Bet card is a Queen, you can make an informed decision by looking at the exposed cards/remembering what cards you replaced and assessing your risk tolerance. On Millionaire, you don't have to do anything except for answer after saying "Double Dip, please."

Perhaps one thing we're forgetting about Minute is that the player/collective gets to practice the ten games that will be on the menu for their game. So when the question is stick on $125k or play for $250k, you know that there are three games to pick from. That still means you have to succeed at it or lose $75,000, but the player isn't going in completely blind.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'241482\' date=\'May 26 2010, 06:53 PM\']Perhaps one thing we're forgetting about Minute is that the player/collective gets to practice the ten games that will be on the menu for their game.[/quote]
Wait, whoa, where did we learn this was the case? The entire roster of games is available on the website, but I was not aware a given contestant was told what their actual game list would be well in advance of their appearance.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'241504\' date=\'May 26 2010, 11:10 PM\'][quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'241482\' date=\'May 26 2010, 06:53 PM\']Perhaps one thing we're forgetting about Minute is that the player/collective gets to practice the ten games that will be on the menu for their game.[/quote]Wait, whoa, where did we learn this was the case? The entire roster of games is available on the website, but I was not aware a given contestant was told what their actual game list would be well in advance of their appearance.[/quote]I thought I saw something to that effect in the fine print on one of the episodes. It could very well be that I read way too much into the "practice at home" element, and the contestants really had to play all sixty-ish games before coming.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'241571\' date=\'May 27 2010, 08:02 PM\']I thought I saw something to that effect in the fine print on one of the episodes. It could very well be that I read way too much into the "practice at home" element, and the contestants really had to play all sixty-ish games before coming.[/quote]
I saw nothing of the sort. They made no bones about people practicing the games, but never did I hear about a contestant knowing their stack (even shuffled) in advance. Not saying it's not true, but I'd sure like to see something concrete.

[Jeremy Nelson]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'241571\' date=\'May 27 2010, 10:02 PM\']I thought I saw something to that effect in the fine print on one of the episodes. It could very well be that I read way too much into the "practice at home" element, and the contestants really had to play all sixty-ish games before coming.[/quote]
I did remember seeing this in the credits on the Wedding episode. I'll go back and watch it.

EDIT- It says: "Contestants practiced all potential games prior to taping." So yeah, it's all the games, and not just the ten in their stack. I'm thinking, though, that the statement in the credits is basically simplified from something they signed in the contestant agreement before the show. That's not to say, though, that they didn't practice 20-30 games in front of producers before they got on the show, though.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'241580\' date=\'May 27 2010, 08:56 PM\']Contestants practiced all potential games prior to taping.[/quote]
Hmm. Two schools of thought there: one is "but that doesn't tell you anything, since anyone could do that on the web site." But the rebuttal to that is "then it's farking obvious and why would that merit a disclaimer?"

Honestly, I don't have a huge problem with someone knowing their stack in advance, if for no other reason than it *does* make that "Play on!" decision at the are-you-farking-insane levels a little more interesting if they know it will be one of two or three options. But I wouldn't mind a little more openness about that.

[Joe Mello]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'241581\' date=\'May 28 2010, 12:01 AM\']Honestly, I don't have a huge problem with someone knowing their stack in advance, if for no other reason than it *does* make that "Play on!" decision at the are-you-farking-insane levels a little more interesting if they know it will be one of two or three options. But I wouldn't mind a little more openness about that.[/quote]
I don't suppose anyone has a copy of the official rules, do they?

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'241602\' date=\'May 28 2010, 01:59 PM\'][quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'241600\' date=\'May 28 2010, 01:21 PM\'][quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'241581\' date=\'May 28 2010, 12:01 AM\']Honestly, I don't have a huge problem with someone knowing their stack in advance, if for no other reason than it *does* make that "Play on!" decision at the are-you-farking-insane levels a little more interesting if they know it will be one of two or three options. But I wouldn't mind a little more openness about that.[/quote]
I don't suppose anyone has a copy of the official rules, do they?
[/quote]
Marie Winn practiced for "Dotto" and it was a big deal.
[/quote]
Marie had the exact questions that were to be used. Can't really compare being fed trivia to practicing the events you might be playing on a stunt-based game show. To me, it kinda ruins the spontaneity, but given the difficulty of some events and the money involved, I kinda understand.

It's not nearly as offensive as Donnymid feeding Winner's Circle categories to the celebrities.

[Jimmy Owen]

I had deleted the original follow-up because maybe it's not comparable.  There was a similar show about 10 years ago or so with Brad Sherwood where practicing was part of the show.  For today's TV audience, it's probably better to "cut to the chase."

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'241606\' date=\'May 28 2010, 03:23 PM\']I had deleted the original follow-up because maybe it's not comparable.  There was a similar show about 10 years ago or so with Brad Sherwood where practicing was part of the show.  For today's TV audience, it's probably better to "cut to the chase."[/quote]
"The Big Moment" - and part of the fun was the family knowing what they had to do to win the prize, watching them practice, and then getting one shot on a stage to do it. All for a measly 25K.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'241608\' date=\'May 28 2010, 03:31 PM\'][quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'241606\' date=\'May 28 2010, 03:23 PM\']I had deleted the original follow-up because maybe it's not comparable.  There was a similar show about 10 years ago or so with Brad Sherwood where practicing was part of the show.  For today's TV audience, it's probably better to "cut to the chase."[/quote]
"The Big Moment" - and part of the fun was the family knowing what they had to do to win the prize, watching them practice, and then getting one shot on a stage to do it. All for a measly 25K.
[/quote]
Early-1999 to be exact. Hard to believe that about six months later, another primetime game show would change the genre in just about every way imaginable, thus making that 25K seem like chicken feed...

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'241606\' date=\'May 28 2010, 12:23 PM\']I had deleted the original follow-up because maybe it's not comparable.  There was a similar show about 10 years ago or so with Brad Sherwood where practicing was part of the show.  For today's TV audience, it's probably better to "cut to the chase."[/quote]
I don't think today's audience has changed all that much from The Big Moment, though; they simply chose to focus on the practicing aspect. (That, and it was unrealistic to expect someone to be able to fart the theme to I Dream Of Jeannie on command. Hell, it took *me* at least a couple years just to get the bridge dow- erm, nevermind.)

(Please consider the rest of this post operating under the conceit that the wholly-untested hypothesis of the contestant being told of their game stack (or even a subset of the full game set) in advance is true.)

But the way MtWI is presenting the show, and burying this in disclaimer text, it feels like it has nothing to do with "today's TV audience," and everything to do with them wanting us to THINK that any game can come up at any time and that "the contestant has no idea what task could be next but hopefully they practiced everything we have up at NBC.com and you should too!", when in fact having a contestant be able to focus their practice to a smaller subset of games (if not their exact stack) makes for better television.

It's not that they don't think today's TV audience cares, it's that they don't want us to know because they are encouraging an illusion. Nothing against S&P (or whatever equates these days) regs, just wholly disingenuous to the viewer. I don't think it's necessary, but I can see a production that is depending on a carefully-homogenized image thinking that it is.