Millionaire Returns To Escalating Money Tree, Revives 50:50 For New Season

[chad1m]

Starting this fall, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has eliminated the randomized dollar figures, returned to an escalating money tree and replaced Jump the Question with 50:50. More details have been posted in an article on my blog:

http://chadmosher.com/wordpress/millionaire-roots/

Does placing the show closer to its original form make you more likely to watch?

[The Pyramids]

Yes, it does.

[brianhenke]

  Let's face it...I never liked the randomized question values...it was not the Millionaire that we all knew and loved...
 
  So if 50-50 is coming back, what should be the third lifeline? Phone a Friend is a longshot to return, so how about bringing back Ask the Expert?

  Brian

[PYLdude]

Not really, because it just smacks of desperation at this point.

The Plus One was a terrible idea in practice, I found, and shouldn't have made it out of this season.

I'll still watch, but I'm disappointed. I thought the shuffle format added life to the show that adding the clock failed to do.

[PYLdude]

  Let's face it...I never liked the randomized question values...it was not the Millionaire that we all knew and loved...
 
  So if 50-50 is coming back, what should be the third lifeline? Phone a Friend is a longshot to return, so how about bringing back Ask the Expert?

  Brian

Why do you need to add a third lifeline to the three you already had?

[Kevin Prather]

  Let's face it...I never liked the randomized question values...it was not the Millionaire that we all knew and loved...
 
  So if 50-50 is coming back, what should be the third lifeline? Phone a Friend is a longshot to return, so how about bringing back Ask the Expert?

  Brian

Considering the Plus One is basically Phone a Friend Minus the Phone, I'd say the set of lifelines is pretty good.

[WarioBarker]

Not really, because it just smacks of desperation at this point.

This, pretty much. Say what you will about the Shuffle format, but IIRC it was devised by Jay Wolpert.

Going back to the money tree and reinstating 50:50 is pretty much saying "Hey look we've got a host who isn't a loudmouth, we've brought back the money tree with safe spots, and we're bringing back 50:50 so you can snark about it supposedly being a guy in the back screwing players over! PLEASE WATCH US WE NEED THE RATINGS SO BAD."

I'll still watch, but I'm disappointed. I thought the shuffle format added life to the show that adding the clock failed to do.

I don't think adding the Clock was supposed to do anything except keep the budget tight (didn't really work) and studio time down (did work). Agreed on the Shuffle format, though.

[clemon79]

Say what you will about the Shuffle format, but IIRC it was devised by Jay Wolpert.

Um, what's this mean?

[PYLdude]

Say what you will about the Shuffle format, but IIRC it was devised by Jay Wolpert.

Um, what's this mean?

Or have to do with anything?

Don't really get how it ties into your overall point.

[TLEberle]

so how about bringing back Ask the Expert?

Yuck; Ask the Expert was piles of bad when it was someone who was more celebrity partner than expert.

[Kevin Prather]

so how about bringing back Ask the Expert?

Yuck; Ask the Expert was piles of bad when it was someone who was more celebrity partner than expert.

But when it was someone legit like Ken Jennings or John Carpenter, it was great.

Your point stands though. You know which way they're gonna lean.

[weaklink75]

The $50K milestone for question 10 is good though - it might make more people decide to go for the 250K/500K/1M questions with the higher fallback amount in play.

[tvmitch]

The $50K milestone for question 10 is good though - it might make more people decide to go for the 250K/500K/1M questions with the higher fallback amount in play.

Pure idle speculation, but I sense that getting to $50K is going to be a tough road...tougher than average.

I'm excited for the format to return to its roots, I was never a huge fan of the current mix format. I didn't mind the clock a couple years back though.

[TLEberle]

The Plus One was a terrible idea in practice, I found, and shouldn't have made it out of this season.

I liked it. With Phone a Friend after the friend rings off the player is left to make the decisions of "was she right?" and "do I go for it/bail out/use another lifeline?" and that's it. With Plus One you can have a longer discussion about the question at hand and then whether to take the money. The one thing that Phone a Friend has over Plus One is the sense of urgency imposed by the time limit.

The $1,000 prize for everyone is annoying, and I think $50,000 is a little too high, but I like the direction they're going.

[Kevin Prather]

The $50,000 milestone is interesting. On one hand, players are currently only GUARANTEED $25,000 by answering 10 questions, but at the same time, answering those 10 questions usually entitles the player to around $50-60,000 which they are free to leave with. The only hit on the budget will be the fact that the free guess is reintroduced, this time for $100,000.

Is it high? Maybe. Will Q11 be harder to reach as a result? Perhaps. But once Q11 is attained, will Q12 and Q13 be easier to reach? I think it might.