Millionaire Fast Shuffle

[gameshowcrazy]

I've noticed the last few days on Millionaire where the money is shuffled and then the questions are shuffled AT THE SAME TIME so that the home viewer doesn't see the order of the questions prior to the shuffle.  Because of the way the show is filmed, I believe the contestant doesn't get to see this anymore either.

Anyone else think this is a lame way to save a few bucks so the contestants can't know which were to be the more difficult questions in the order?  I've always paid attention to the top three prior to the shuffle so I would know if it was really a more difficult question or a "gimmie" as some of those "gimmies" can look like a tough one that really isn't when you know it was intended to be an easy one.

[clemon79]

Anyone else think this is a lame way to save a few bucks so the contestants can't know which were to be the more difficult questions in the order?

No, if anything, I think it's fixing a hack that was never meant to be available to the player in the first place.

[gameshowcrazy]

Interesting, but opposite take of how I see it:

The easy questions are still supposed to be easy, but there has always been ones that nobody would really know except for the single “obvious” answer, something such as (and I did make this question up just for the example since I didn’t feel like searching for a question such as this):

The Shinjuku Nishishinjuku restaurant is located in which of the following cities?

A:  San Francisco      B: Madrid
C:  Paris         D:  Tokyo

Should be easy, unless you don’t know it’s an easy question and you realize that San Francisco has one of the world’s largest Chinatown sections.  Now the contestant has to either take a chance on the answer and hope this was one of the writers easy questions meant for the $100 level, or a red herring question meant for the $25,000 level and burn a jump the question.

[clemon79]

Interesting, but opposite take of how I see it:

Apparently.

Now the contestant has to either take a chance on the answer and hope this was one of the writers easy questions meant for the $100 level, or a red herring question meant for the $25,000 level and burn a jump the question.

Or they could know where the Shinjuku Nishishinjuku restaurant is (you know, the ENTIRE POINT OF THE GAME) and never have to face that dilemma in the first place.

[TLEberle]

Or they could know where the Shinjuku Nishishinjuku restaurant is (you know, the ENTIRE POINT OF THE GAME) and never have to face that dilemma in the first place.

I can see his point, though. On Jeopardy you can use the value of the clue to gauge whether the question should be obscure or easy. You can also do that with a Millionaire question. Whatever the reason for taking it away, that's life.

[clemon79]

On Jeopardy you can use the value of the clue to gauge whether the question should be obscure or easy. You can also do that with a Millionaire question.

I understand that. But my point is, you resort to that Plan B once you have failed at the Plan A of knowing the answer outright. I have a hard time feeling bad that they took away a Plan B.

[TLEberle]

Then we understand each other perfectly. Let's all go out for frosty chocolate milkshakes!

[Hastin]

Also, it's quite possible that the on-screen graphics don't match what's going on in the studio. The contestants clearly saw the mix in the studio, and that could still be the case.

[That Don Guy]

The Shinjuku Nishishinjuku restaurant is located in which of the following cities?

A:  San Francisco      B: Madrid
C:  Paris         D:  Tokyo

Should be easy, unless you don’t know it’s an easy question and you realize that San Francisco has one of the world’s largest Chinatown sections.

...and you don't realize that "Shinjuku Nishishinjuku" is Japanese, not Chinese.

(Actually, San Francisco has a "Japantown" as well - there's a Cherry Blossom Parade there in April - although it's not nearly as large or noteworthy as its Chinatown.)