Author Topic: Million Second Quiz Afterthoughts (Read 13963 times)

JakeT · « **Reply #30 on:** September 23, 2013, 09:48:11 AM »

As for Brandon\'s actions/reactions/behavior at that moment he knew it was over for him, try to keep in mind that the kid certainly must have been both physically and mentally exhausted by this point...for him to act the way he did, to me, was not surprising under the circumstances...

Or maybe he is just a big ole baby all the time (JUST KIDDING...JUST KIDDING!)

As for any changes for any future series, I just have two...since such emphasis is placed on the whole time factor, find a way to time the game segments vs. commercial breaks differently so that somehow, each timed bout is played uninterrupted from start to finish...the constant breaks during the bouts was distracting for me and took away a lot of the intensity of the game.

And finally, about the line jumpers being \"surprised\" by the camera crews at their homes (or whatever location they happen to be), can we not all agree that NONE of those people were \"surprised\" at the moment that we home viewers were introduced to them by the local camera crews? I could be wrong but didn\'t it seem odd that all of the line jumpers were reasonably well-dressed at the time of their \"surprise\" (when, in reality, aren\'t most typical working people probably somewhat dressed down by that time of the evening), not to mention that it seemed a bit odd to me that most, if not all, of them seemed to have a whole bunch of people with them at that moment as well...I dunno...it all just seemed more than just a little bit staged to me...

As usual, I could be oh so wrong...

JakeT

clemon79 · « **Reply #31 on:** September 23, 2013, 11:39:19 AM »

not to mention that it seemed a bit odd to me that most, if not all, of them seemed to have a whole bunch of people with them at that moment as well...I dunno...it all just seemed more than just a little bit staged to me...

If I\'m involved with that production at any level, there is no way I am throwing good money into rolling a live truck unless I *know* the people on the other end are going to be home and TV-ready.

Do with that information what you will.

(And yes, it\'s lame and it\'s always lame.)

sshuffield70 · « **Reply #32 on:** September 23, 2013, 11:51:45 AM »

Having seen the primetime show and plenty of the web bouts.....

Allow the doubler for all bouts, but limit it to three per bout. Strategy will come into play here.

Make all bouts the same amount of time. If 400 seconds was a typical Winner\'s Defense bout, then all bouts should be 400 seconds. One thing that didn\'t make sense were all the 500 second daytime bouts, then the first primetime bout was 300 seconds.

I\'m not a fan of the Winner\'s Defense as it was formatted. I like the notion of subtracting the amount of the Winners\' Row money if they lose a bout, but not the whole damn thing.

I could go on and on, but you said three.

colonial · « **Reply #33 on:** September 23, 2013, 11:53:32 AM »

Also, I would presume that the winning \"Line Jumpers\" were vetted to confirm eligibility before their \"TV surprise\".

JD

Robbo · « **Reply #34 on:** September 23, 2013, 12:56:12 PM »

In place of the Line Jumpers, there should have been where they would do an on-line type of competition (either with the prime time or on-line matches) where the top performers would be selected for those spots.

One of the things that I feel made Millionaire such a phenomenon was that if you felt you could do better than the contestants that were on; that you phone in and do that. With this show, the only chance you have of getting on was to live in the New York area.

But then considering the amount of technical troubles they had, maybe it was better that they didn\'t do this.

Joe Mello · « **Reply #35 on:** September 23, 2013, 01:00:28 PM »

This seems far more interesting for viewers than a money clock going up and zeroing out over and over again for ten days without anybody pocketing anything until, when payout time finally comes, it\'s totally overshadowed by an huge yet arbitrary sum.

I found MSQ not much different than a poker tournament in that regard. I have no problem with either, especially when the game show/reality competition genre already has plenty of \"One wins, too bad for the rest\" payout structures.

colonial · « **Reply #36 on:** September 23, 2013, 01:32:40 PM »

One of the frequent complaints about MSQ casting is that the show sought out contestants via open calls in several cities (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, etc.) as well as the website, then dropped the idea a few weeks before the premiere in favor of walk-in casting and Line Jumpers. IIRC, second-place finisher Brandon originally auditioned in Las Vegas, but had to audition again by showing up at the set that first day.

To clarity my idea about casting from an earlier post, let the audience believe they have a legitimate chance at making MSQ. An arbitrary number in a web game doesn\'t mean squat -- you could have a Glass Joe-style record in bouts and still make the show if you hit the 3500 number. Either do \"regional\" tournaments hosted by NBC affiliates nationwide or have an online game where actual W/L determines who advances. And if money is an issue, only offer a spot on the show as the prize -- the winner is responsible for getting there. And you can still do the \"random\" Line Jumper contest, plus walk-ins.

JD

JakeT · « **Reply #37 on:** September 23, 2013, 02:52:53 PM »

not to mention that it seemed a bit odd to me that most, if not all, of them seemed to have a whole bunch of people with them at that moment as well...I dunno...it all just seemed more than just a little bit staged to me...

If I\'m involved with that production at any level, there is no way I am throwing good money into rolling a live truck unless I *know* the people on the other end are going to be home and TV-ready.

Do with that information what you will.

(And yes, it\'s lame and it\'s always lame.)

Hey, I agree with you completely...I just wish it didn\'t seem so slimy and deceitful since the vast viewing audience actually does believe that these people were being surprised and the network/production company were solely responsible for devising and carrying out this thoroughly unnecessary deception...instead of the local crews \"sneaking\" up to the line jumpers\' doors, why not just have Ryan throw to the local guy/gal who is sitting with the line jumper so we could take a moment to get to know them, rather than play the \"OH MY!!! I AM SO SHOCKED! ARE YOU SERIOUS??? I AM GOING TO BE ON TV???\" game...

JakeT

clemon79 · « **Reply #38 on:** September 23, 2013, 02:58:07 PM »

the vast viewing audience actually does believe that these people were being surprised

Indeed. Which is why they still do it.

I find TV watching to be much easier once I accept the fact that I\'m not and never will be the target audience, and as such shiat like this is gonna happen from time to time.

jjman920 · « **Reply #39 on:** September 23, 2013, 03:19:13 PM »

I\'ll say this about surprising the Line Jumpers at their front door. That one line jumper (I believe she was the last one and was the won who beat Eric in his Winner\'s Defense bout) who took quite a long time answering the door certainly made it seem not staged for a couple of seconds.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #40 on:** September 23, 2013, 04:03:23 PM »

not to mention that it seemed a bit odd to me that most, if not all, of them seemed to have a whole bunch of people with them at that moment as well...I dunno...it all just seemed more than just a little bit staged to me...

If I\'m involved with that production at any level, there is no way I am throwing good money into rolling a live truck unless I *know* the people on the other end are going to be home and TV-ready.

Do with that information what you will.

(And yes, it\'s lame and it\'s always lame.)

Hey, I agree with you completely...I just wish it didn\'t seem so slimy and deceitful since the vast viewing audience actually does believe that these people were being surprised and the network/production company were solely responsible for devising and carrying out this thoroughly unnecessary deception...instead of the local crews \"sneaking\" up to the line jumpers\' doors, why not just have Ryan throw to the local guy/gal who is sitting with the line jumper so we could take a moment to get to know them, rather than play the \"OH MY!!! I AM SO SHOCKED! ARE YOU SERIOUS??? I AM GOING TO BE ON TV???\" game...

I watched one of the first \"surprise\" appearances, I believe during the first Sunday night football game. The lady they surprised had very little emotion other than \"Oh, cool...\"

If they called it anything but a surprise, I wouldn\'t have an issue. So while I agree with Jake, I\'ve since resigned myself to the idea that I\'m not their target audience. I guess I\'ll just settle for it being a mild annoyance. :-P

Joe Mello · « **Reply #41 on:** September 24, 2013, 12:48:33 PM »

Just watching live, I was given the impression that potential Line Jumpers were aware of their status (wasn\'t there a milestone you had to beat?) but did not yet know they were contestants.

clemon79 · « **Reply #42 on:** September 24, 2013, 01:21:10 PM »

Just watching live, I was given the impression that potential Line Jumpers were aware of their status (wasn\'t there a milestone you had to beat?) but did not yet know they were contestants.

Yes, but anyone with an ounce of a clue in their head is going to say \"woo, I racked up 3500 points, I qualified. But wait, that wasn\'t really difficult to do at all, so there must be a LOT of qualifiers\" It certainly was not significant enough of a status for someone to make sure they were home between 8-9 EDT just in case Local Affiliate Flunky knocks on their door.

Neumms · « **Reply #43 on:** September 24, 2013, 01:35:15 PM »

This seems far more interesting for viewers than a money clock going up and zeroing out over and over again for ten days without anybody pocketing anything until, when payout time finally comes, it\'s totally overshadowed by an huge yet arbitrary sum.

I found MSQ not much different than a poker tournament in that regard. I have no problem with either, especially when the game show/reality competition genre already has plenty of \"One wins, too bad for the rest\" payout structures.

True--I hadn\'t thought of that. Did the World Series of Poker switch calling them \"dollars\" to \"chips\" at some point? At any rate, when a player loses at poker, the chips or dollars don\'t just disappear, we see them go to the winner.

Neumms · « **Reply #44 on:** September 24, 2013, 02:14:49 PM »

the vast viewing audience actually does believe that these people were being surprised

Indeed. Which is why they still do it.

They were really poorly done, though. I suspect (hope?) the vast viewing audience thinks it\'s stupid. They either like the show well enough to keep watching, or the stupid starts to outweigh the enjoyable part and they turn the channel--and a lot of channels were turned from MSQ.

Even if they bought it, did it really make the show more exciting? Why couldn\'t the local sports guy go to the house without the phony surprise? Maybe he asks \"where were you when you got the call?\" and ends up with a genuine laugh and far better TV.

It\'s like the \"show us what\'s in the case...after this commercial\" crap Howie used to pull (and Brooke still did). Don\'t they want the viewer to like them?