Million Second Quiz Afterthoughts

[Kevin Prather]

True--I hadn\'t thought of that. Did the World Series of Poker switch calling them \"dollars\" to \"chips\" at some point?

WSOP calls them \"chips\". WPT still calls them \"dollars\".

[TLEberle]

On Wheel of Fortune the money in your bank isn\'t yours until you solve a puzzle. Ditto the Jeopardy Bucks in front of you. But we still call them dollars as opposed to Itchy and Scratchy Fun Bucks, because most people are S-M-R-T enough to understand that \"only the winner keeps the cash\" means that the losers don\'t get a check for the cash in front of them. It\'s a stylistic choice and not that hard to understand.

[Kevin Prather]

I guess the difference is that MSQ has the whole \"You won the bout! And you won this money! ....but it\'s not yours yet.\" Imagine if WoF had only the top winner keep any money.

[Matt Ottinger]

 Imagine if WoF had only the top winner keep any money.

 

That\'s not so terribly hard to imagine, it just doesn\'t happen to be what we\'re used to.

[clemon79]

That\'s not so terribly hard to imagine, it just doesn\'t happen to be what we\'re used to.

For a lot of people here (not suggesting Kevin is one of them), these statements have zero equivalency.

[Neumms]

I guess the difference is that MSQ has the whole \"You won the bout! And you won this money! ....but it\'s not yours yet.\" Imagine if WoF had only the top winner keep any money.

 

Or if on WWTBAM, Regis only paid out at the end of the two weeks. To Matt\'s point, that IS what we\'re used to. That\'s the expectation. Once Ryan got around to explaining it, MSG wasn\'t hard to understand, it was dissatisfying--despite giving away a ton of money in the end. Maybe if they counted seconds rather than the $10/sec, there wouldn\'t have been the letdown. 

 

A 10-day, 24-hour-a-day game show is such an intriguing idea. If only it could be fixed.

[Brig Bother]

Imagine if WoF had only the top winner keep any money.

 

That\'s not so terribly hard to imagine, it just doesn\'t happen to be what we\'re used to.

In fact internationally it is a thing that happens.

[TLEberle]

He\'s right: The Chase has a prize pot that\'s built up and it turns to vapor money if the team is caught. Of all the complaints that have been leveled at the game (and I suppose there are a few you could make) almost nobody said \"hey! If they don\'t win they don\'t get to keep that money.\"

[chris319]

Here is my cure for Million Second Quiz.

 

Four bon vivants are seated at a desk. A civilian contestant enters and signs his name on a blackboard located upstage center. The contestant\'s occupation is revealed to the audience. The bon vivants attempt to determine the contestant\'s occupation by asking, in turn, a series of yes/no questions. Each \"no\" answer earns the contestant $5. 10 \"no\" answers result in a victory for the contestant who takes home $50.

 

There, that was easy.

[Kevin Prather]

Four bon vivants are seated at a desk. A civilian contestant enters and signs his name on a blackboard located upstage center. The contestant\'s occupation is revealed to the audience. The bon vivants attempt to determine the contestant\'s occupation by asking, in turn, a series of yes/no questions. Each \"no\" answer earns the contestant $5. 10 \"no\" answers result in a victory for the contestant who takes home $50.

Pffft, you kidding? That show wouldn\'t last the first season.

[clemon79]

Each \"no\" answer earns the contestant $5. 10 \"no\" answers result in a victory for the contestant who takes home $50.

Why bother paying them money?

[chris319]

 

Each \"no\" answer earns the contestant $5. 10 \"no\" answers result in a victory for the contestant who takes home $50.

Why bother paying them money?

 

 

Simple. Because you can\'t give away cartons of Winston cigarettes on TV these days.

[Thunder]

...but they\'d be easily to sell for more than $50 in lots of states.