My thoughts:
Overall it felt like a different game show-it was 'essence of Millionaire' sans clock (good riddance). It felt to me like a bit too radical of a change, and the jumbled values in particular seemed a mess. For some reason I thought the questions would still be matched with their difficulty rating, but only the order would be jumbled-without that there's no feel for how difficult a question is, if you're making it more difficult than need be... perhaps that's part of their plan. But if they're going to randomize the dollar amounts *and* the question positions, why not let the contestant pick the categories in his/her desired order too? It won't affect the outcome any if the value is unknown, other than the climbing the ladder effect won't be maintained-although they could simply switch the chosen category with whatever fell into position one and make it look like a ladder... Hey, if the categories aren't obvious, part of the fun might be in picking when you think it's one thing but it's another topic entirely.
I like that Meredith can be chattier and personable with the contestants, but there seemed to be way too little contestant bio-that any rooting for the guy was lost to all the banter between them. I expected Meredith would mention the stopping with half the bank in advance rather than after the two jumps were used, because then it suggested he wasn't at risk until after both had been used.
Will I watch again? Sure-just to see how things play out after someone gets through the 10 questions. First stack seemed a bit more difficult than usual-the 'gimmes' weren't plentiful. Perhaps another subtle move by the producers, to make getting through all 10 more difficult? Time will tell. But with all the music cues changed, the chair gone, and chaos in the game play, it didn't feel comfortable at all to this viewer. But my 7-year-old son said he liked it... my wife still doesn't like to watch (remember Ryan Howard?)...
