Millionaire Changes

[chad1m]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'247586\' date=\'Sep 14 2010, 11:38 PM\']Yes. It's one thing that's always made me appreciate the show so much more. I always expected it to be used no matter what lifeline was chosen, and pleasantly surprised to see they still don't do it.[/quote]I do wish (and this has been a gripe of mine for a while) that they would wait to clap until Meredith confirms if it's right or wrong. They did it a lot during the first episode, including one instance after the contestant locked in an incorrect answer (the one about Napoleon.) I didn't notice it so much during today's episode, so someone must have said something about it.

[Loogaroo]

Watched today's episode. It SCREAMS, "We have a shoestring budget, we desperately need to keep people away from the top prize, so we'll jigger the first 2/3 of the game to get everyone to bail out or crash before they even get close to the six-digit values."

How so? Randomizing the dollar values AND the questions, along with finding contestants that will gladly burn off their lifelines early, makes it so that nobody - and I mean nobody - will win the million. Hell, I'll be shocked if anyone sees the $250,000 question.

Now you see why I was so rabidly against this format as soon as I heard it. Watching it made me feel no less confident that this show is on its way out.

[chad1m]

[quote name=\'Loogaroo\' post=\'247589\' date=\'Sep 15 2010, 12:02 AM\']Now you see why I was so rabidly against this format as soon as I heard it.[/quote]Nope, still don't. It should be hard to see a $250,000 question. I guess people got used to seeing every contestant on Regis's show hop, skip and jump his way to $32,000+ but it really shouldn't be like that. Having the chance to play for $100,000 and beyond on a trivia game show should be hard.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Loogaroo\' post=\'247589\' date=\'Sep 15 2010, 12:02 AM\']Watched today's episode. It SCREAMS, "We have a shoestring budget, we desperately need to keep people away from the top prize, so we'll jigger the first 2/3 of the game to get everyone to bail out or crash before they even get close to the six-digit values."[/quote]
Except the show has had three million dollar winners in eight years. One was from a tournament a year ago, and the last one before that was in 2003. If they had given away the top prize three times in the last season, I could understand, but I disagree here.

I just don't get why so many people are up in arms about it. What is so drastically different that has people crying as if this were a Fremantle production? It's not like Millionaire '99 was a completely original concept either.

[Unrealtor]

[quote name=\'Timsterino\' post=\'247582\' date=\'Sep 14 2010, 10:20 PM\']Has anyone noticed how fast the lifelines are being used up because of the randomizer? That is one big issue I see already.[/quote]

I bet that the number of people using all three lifelines within the first ten questions goes up only slightly, but it will seem like people are burning them a lot faster because they're more likely to come across hard questions early in the stack than they were before, now that they're not going through them in order of difficulty.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Timsterino\' post=\'247581\' date=\'Sep 14 2010, 08:18 PM\']Um, yeah sure, Chris. We should also put Pepsi in Coke cans too.[/quote]
Kill me. Just kill me. Plunge a knife into my temple and END IT.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'247593\' date=\'Sep 14 2010, 09:25 PM\']I just don't get why so many people are up in arms about it. What is so drastically different that has people crying as if this were a Fremantle production? It's not like Millionaire '99 was a completely original concept either?[/quote]
Because change is HARD.

[Loogaroo]

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'247591\' date=\'Sep 14 2010, 09:10 PM\']Nope, still don't. It should be hard to see a $250,000 question.[/quote]

Not so hard that it never happens.


[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'247593\' date=\'Sep 14 2010, 09:25 PM\']I just don't get why so many people are up in arms about it. What is so drastically different that has people crying as if this were a Fremantle production?[/quote]

Because these really feel like changes for their own sake, or for the sake of saving money.


[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'247596\' date=\'Sep 14 2010, 10:21 PM\']Because change is HARD.[/quote]
You keep on beating that drum as if we were ready to storm the castle if the new season featured anything other than the show as we saw it in 1999.

There were ways to change the show, make it interesting, and not turn the game into a mishmash of randomization. Instead, they went with the mishmash of randomization. How they expect the show to survive to see another season is beyond me.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Loogaroo\' post=\'247598\' date=\'Sep 15 2010, 12:32 AM\']Not so hard that it never happens.[/quote]
Apparently you also have advance knowledge of everything that is going to happen this season. Got a Derby pick for me?

You keep on beating that drum as if we were ready to storm the castle

I keep beating that drum because I keep seeing people bitching about change. And not just on this show.

[chad1m]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'247596\' date=\'Sep 15 2010, 01:21 AM\']Because change is HARD.[/quote]Sure is.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Loogaroo\' post=\'247598\' date=\'Sep 15 2010, 03:32 AM\'][quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'247593\' date=\'Sep 14 2010, 09:25 PM\']I just don't get why so many people are up in arms about it. What is so drastically different that has people crying as if this were a Fremantle production?[/quote]

Because these really feel like changes for their own sake, or for the sake of saving money.
[/quote]
This is where we'll likely disagree. It may seem like a random change, but I can't think of too many more ways the producers can dress up a relatively pedestrian concept. I mean, that's why the original 3 lifelines were added to the game. But that could still get old after a while, so at least they're trying something. Same reason Wheel and J! have added things here and there over the last several decades.

As far as saving money, I still must say that if that were the case, I don't think they would've had the guaranteed tournament from two seasons ago. The minimum a contestant can now win is $1,000, and if you clear the first 10 questions without jumping, you win almost $70,000, more than double what you'd get after 10 questions on any of the former money trees. Even if the process is a bit more complicated, it's not impossible.

[Loogaroo]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'247599\' date=\'Sep 15 2010, 12:48 AM\']Apparently you also have advance knowledge of everything that is going to happen this season.[/quote]

I can hazard a guess, based on past seasons. (Remember, kids: no natural millionaires in seven years.)

[J.R.]

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'247600\' date=\'Sep 15 2010, 03:05 AM\']Sure is.[/quote]
That, sir, is awesome.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Loogaroo\' post=\'247598\' date=\'Sep 15 2010, 03:32 AM\'][quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'247591\' date=\'Sep 14 2010, 09:10 PM\']Nope, still don't. It should be hard to see a $250,000 question.[/quote]

Not so hard that it never happens.[/quote]
That's you're opinion of what might be the result of the season after watching two episodes.  As a debate point, that's pretty weak.

[Ian Wallis]

I bet that the number of people using all three lifelines within the first ten questions goes up only slightly, but it will seem like people are burning them a lot faster because they're more likely to come across hard questions early in the stack than they were before, now that they're not going through them in order of difficulty.

That's what I think too.  Quite frequently in previous seasons you saw lifelines gone in the first five questions.  I think you'll see it more this season because of the randomizing of questions.

I agree with others about the clock - I'm glad to see it go.