The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: abba on December 03, 2009, 02:08:34 AM
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Without the Phone a freind.Basically there are only 2 lifelines since Double Dip you must go for it. I think the show is really cheap.Anyone agree?
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[quote name=\'abba\' post=\'231541\' date=\'Dec 3 2009, 01:08 AM\']Without the Phone a freind.Basically there are only 2 lifelines since Double Dip you must go for it. I think the show is really cheap.Anyone agree?[/quote]
"Really cheap" is a relative term. Am I willing to buy Buzzerblog's line that the change was made with budget in mind? Yes. Does that mean the show is cheap? Not by any stretch.
Consider: I go on with my family on Family Feud. We win every game, and every fast money. Then we sell the car.
Expected total winnings ~$125,000.
Winnings per appearance = $25,000.
I go on Millionaire, and answer 10 questions correctly.
Total winnings $25,000.
Winnings per appearance = $25,000 (in less than one show).
Also: we just finished a tournament that was designed to (virtually) guarantee a million dollar win. Call it hackneyed if you want, but it certainly wasn't cheap.
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What really bothers me is that there will be less $25,000 winners, due to the lost lifeline.
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I have to agree. Not cheap, just basically tougher to win. The reasoning for ditching PAF was that, because many of the PAF contacts were Googling the answers, the integrity of the game was being compromised. Players can still win a bundle; they'll just have to work harder to get it.
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[quote name=\'sotcfan2004\' post=\'231568\' date=\'Dec 3 2009, 02:08 PM\']The reasoning for ditching PAF was that, because many of the PAF contacts were Googling the answers, the integrity of the game was being compromised.[/quote]
Which is cowcrap. The ability to quickly and accurately Google an answer in less than 30 seconds is in itself a pretty significant feat.
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Millionaire isn't appointment TV for me, so a couple questions...First, did the non-PAF eps begin w/ this week's Regis hosted shows? And, was there any mention of the lack of PAF?
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[quote name=\'abba\' post=\'231565\' date=\'Dec 3 2009, 02:54 PM\']What really bothers me is that there will be less $25,000 winners, due to the lost lifeline.[/quote]
Well, yeah. But you're ignoring part of the budget issue. Answering question 10 awards you with a free look at question 11.
As to integrity of the game, that shipped sailed as a long time ago. Also, if you're someone who thinks the clock is important to the game, then PaF is damaging in a way, since it slows the game the most, and gives the contestant more time to think.
To that end, my vote for a lifeline would be one that does nothing but extend the clock by one minute. No help, just a bit more time to reason.
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If they have to constantly gut and trim the game due to budgetary concerns, I'm all for just canceling the show.
Hey, it's been a great run. 10 years isn't bad, I'm not complaining.
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[quote name=\'J.R.\' post=\'231583\' date=\'Dec 3 2009, 08:00 PM\']If they have to constantly gut and trim the game due to budgetary concerns, I'm all for just canceling the show.
Hey, it's been a great run. 10 years isn't bad, I'm not complaining.[/quote]
I think Millionaire is still going strong. The spiffed up graphics, music, and the pre-title
contestant introduction bring back some of the energy of the primetime show for me at least.
And as much as I disliked some of the other stunts shows have pulled to give away the big
prize this Million Dollar Tournament did end up generating some serious suspense at the end.
I miss the classic lifelines but I'm still watching.
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[quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231592\' date=\'Dec 3 2009, 10:29 PM\']this Million Dollar Tournament did end up generating some serious suspense at the end.[/quote]
In what WORLD is "I quit. #7 wins." suspenseful AT ALL?
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'231596\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 02:48 AM\'][quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231592\' date=\'Dec 3 2009, 10:29 PM\']this Million Dollar Tournament did end up generating some serious suspense at the end.[/quote]
In what WORLD is "I quit. #7 wins." suspenseful AT ALL?
[/quote]
Did you even see the program? She was hovering over the right answer,
down to the final ten seconds. A simple "C Final Answer" and she wins a
MILLION DOLLARS and another guy loses a MILLION DOLLARS in the same
moment. Maybe they should have cut to a commercial with a "we'll find out
the answer... RIGHT AFTER THIS" and today's audiences would find it
suspenseful.
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[quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231602\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 11:16 AM\'][quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'231596\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 02:48 AM\'][quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231592\' date=\'Dec 3 2009, 10:29 PM\']this Million Dollar Tournament did end up generating some serious suspense at the end.[/quote]
In what WORLD is "I quit. #7 wins." suspenseful AT ALL?
[/quote]
Did you even see the program? She was hovering over the right answer,
down to the final ten seconds. A simple "C Final Answer" and she wins a
MILLION DOLLARS and another guy loses a MILLION DOLLARS in the same
moment. Maybe they should have cut to a commercial with a "we'll find out
the answer... RIGHT AFTER THIS" and today's audiences would find it
suspenseful.
[/quote]
Wasn't it the 8th seeded person who won the million? No pure millionaire winner since 2003 in the syndicated version. The tournament of 10 was cute, but a gimmick, and for the lone person who went for it and got it right, almost wasn't awarded.
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[quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231602\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 11:16 AM\'][quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'231596\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 02:48 AM\'][quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231592\' date=\'Dec 3 2009, 10:29 PM\']this Million Dollar Tournament did end up generating some serious suspense at the end.[/quote]
In what WORLD is "I quit. #7 wins." suspenseful AT ALL?
[/quote]
Did you even see the program?[/quote]
I did. The #1 seed hemming and hawing over whether to play or not, then choosing to walk is not great TV. A contrived $1M winner < > suspenseful or good TV.
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[quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231602\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 11:16 AM\'][quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'231596\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 02:48 AM\'][quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231592\' date=\'Dec 3 2009, 10:29 PM\']this Million Dollar Tournament did end up generating some serious suspense at the end.[/quote]
In what WORLD is "I quit. #7 wins." suspenseful AT ALL?
[/quote]
Did you even see the program?
[/quote]
I saw it, and was not excited at all.
I agree with Chris on this one. Having someone say "I don't know the answer", and then "Okay, Sam wins the Million". Nothing exciting, or suspenseful about any of it.
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[quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231602\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 08:16 AM\']Maybe they should have cut to a commercial with a "we'll find out
the answer... RIGHT AFTER THIS" and today's audiences would find it
suspenseful.[/quote]
No, because the moment I cite (and #7, #8, #42, I could really give a rat's ass who it actually was) is complete garbage TV no matter how many commercial breaks you front-load in front of it in a pathetic attempt to make it interesting.
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[quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231602\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 11:16 AM\'][quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'231596\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 02:48 AM\'][quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231592\' date=\'Dec 3 2009, 10:29 PM\']this Million Dollar Tournament did end up generating some serious suspense at the end.[/quote]
In what WORLD is "I quit. #7 wins." suspenseful AT ALL?
[/quote]
Did you even see the program? She was hovering over the right answer,
down to the final ten seconds. A simple "C Final Answer" and she wins a
MILLION DOLLARS and another guy loses a MILLION DOLLARS in the same
moment. Maybe they should have cut to a commercial with a "we'll find out
the answer... RIGHT AFTER THIS" and today's audiences would find it
suspenseful.
[/quote]
I watched the clip of the win...I found it completely anticlimactic, and extremely confusing. To me, the show wanted to break the losing streak, and took a desperate measure that was one notch higher than what Donnymid did: give the $1 million away to say you did so. That does nothing to excite me, esp. given that it went down exactly as Chris described it. I think I smiled for about half a second, then went on about my life, completely unfazed.
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'231633\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 06:06 PM\']I watched the clip of the win...I found it completely anticlimactic, and extremely confused.[/quote]
Watched it live, and the only thing that was interesting about it was that it went down to the wire. I wasn't sure which would've been worse: the win by concession or for her to get the million and have Mr. Murray left holding the bag.
I'm sure this made money for the show; ratings were up, and they saved probably 3-3.5 regular shows worth of material (and contestants), but this was at the price of reducing the non-tournament game to little more than an afterthought to make room for a stunt that had way too many things going against it and was one man short of falling completely on its face.
I'm on Joe's side. There comes a point where the profits don't justify the product. I don't consider myself a fan of soccer or Charlize Theron, but the World Cup Draw was more interesting than Millionaire, even with Regis.
/Though I don't know why Regis makes it better.
//And I may become a Theron fan.
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I am not defending the stunt. I merely claim that the end was suspenseful.
I agree the aftermath-- celebrating a winner who answered his
question days ago-- was awkward and not exciting. I would rather see a real
million dollar winner who didn't have the benefit of modified rules or dumbed
down question stacks to make it happen.
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'231634\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 06:25 PM\']I wasn't sure which would've been worse: the win by concession or for her to get the million and have Mr. Murray left holding the bag.[/quote]
Or the incredibly awkward possibility that she goes for it, is incorrect and a stumbley "Oh, sorry, you just lost $225,000... hey someone else wins the tournament thanks to your failure!"
I was like Brandon. After the million was won, I barley cracked a smile or showed any real emotion whatsoever. I just sorta went "Ah, congrats to him" and turned the TV off.
The "tournament" idea just plain sucked.
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[quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231637\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 04:57 PM\']I am not defending the stunt. I merely claim that the end was suspenseful.[/quote]
And you are entitled to that claim, and I invite you to defend it. In the meantime everyone else seems to disagree with it.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'231644\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 08:35 PM\'][quote name=\'petek66\' post=\'231637\' date=\'Dec 4 2009, 04:57 PM\']I am not defending the stunt. I merely claim that the end was suspenseful.[/quote]
And you are entitled to that claim, and I invite you to defend it. In the meantime everyone else seems to disagree with it.
[/quote]
So I've wondered how this would have played out if someone had run the board and won the million during the qualifying time. Obviously the odds were highly against a daily million winner, but would they have placed this person at the top of the chain and given them a chance to risk $975,000 for an additional million? Unless they asked what color is an orange, I can't imagine anyone risking this, so day 10 would have had all the excitement of watching paint dry.
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[quote name=\'MizzouRah!\' post=\'231679\' date=\'Dec 5 2009, 03:50 PM\']So I've wondered how this would have played out if someone had run the board and won the million during the qualifying time. Obviously the odds were highly against a daily million winner, but would they have placed this person at the top of the chain and given them a chance to risk $975,000 for an additional million? Unless they asked what color is an orange, I can't imagine anyone risking this, so day 10 would have had all the excitement of watching paint dry.[/quote]It was my understanding that a $1m winner during the tournament period meant that there would be no tournament.
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[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'231680\' date=\'Dec 5 2009, 03:54 PM\']It was my understanding that a $1m winner during the tournament period meant that there would be no tournament.[/quote]
Wow, I bet THAT would have been a fun phone call to make.
"Hi, Phil? Yeah, you know that tournament you qualified to play in? Well, we, erm, we're not doing it anymore. Yeah, someone else won, so we don't need to do the ratings stunt. Kthxbye."
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I'm thinking about this, and I haven't followed the show closely enough to know how everything worked, but to me, this cheapened the thrill mainly because it cut some serious corners for the route to the million.
John Carpenter's win was thrilling, and not just because it was something you hadn't seen before. Doug Van Gundy and Michael Shutterly were also cool to watch because you were watching everyday people sweat out difficult trivia, one step at a time. Even three-and-a-half years later, well after the shelf life expired for big money game shows, when Nancy and Kevin won their money, it was still an exciting process. The one thing I always liked about Millionaire was that they never resorted to blatant gimmicks...I could even forgive that progressive jackpot from 2001.
I understand the show wanted to break a nearly seven-year drought, but they went about it the wrong way. I'm happy for the gentleman who won this tournament, but it still leaves me a bit soured. Even if someone had won by answering the question outright, the effort to win $1 million isn't nearly as exciting of those who won between 1999-2003. Even the guy who went for it during anniversary week and lost had a more exciting run...
Other than making the questions considerably easier, there is no way you can guarantee someone winning a million dollars without making it look contrived. Even if they took a cue from The $50/100K Pyramid, and had tournament contestants compete until someone wins, it would still undercut all the 15-question wins. However, I wouldn't feel as apathetic watching a clip...
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Well it was dropped last week without comment. It was back this week without comment. I don't think it was a rerun, it was not listed as one, and I hope I would remember the two middle players if it was.
Either the episodes are filmed out of order, or they just wanted to keep Regis a secret, until just before it aired, and they were afraid phone a friends were five or six more people that could leak it.
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[quote name=\'Chuck Sutton\' post=\'231852\' date=\'Dec 8 2009, 12:29 PM\']Either the episodes are filmed out of order[/quote]
This. I think it was even the most recently-taped episodes, too.
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[quote name=\'Chuck Sutton\' post=\'231852\' date=\'Dec 8 2009, 12:29 PM\']Well it was dropped last week without comment. It was back this week without comment. I don't think it was a rerun,[/quote]
I saw the tail end of Regis on "Millionaire" on Friday (I assume it was the Friday episode), and didn't it end with a contestant in the middle of a game? I also want to say Regis even mentioned that the contestant would be back with Meredith on Monday.
Am I making up memories, or did the contestant simply not appear on Monday's episode (which would lead me to believe that the episodes were taped out of order)?
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[quote name=\'MSTieScott\' post=\'231940\' date=\'Dec 8 2009, 09:31 PM\'][quote name=\'Chuck Sutton\' post=\'231852\' date=\'Dec 8 2009, 12:29 PM\']Well it was dropped last week without comment. It was back this week without comment. I don't think it was a rerun,[/quote]
I saw the tail end of Regis on "Millionaire" on Friday (I assume it was the Friday episode), and didn't it end with a contestant in the middle of a game? I also want to say Regis even mentioned that the contestant would be back with Meredith on Monday.
[/quote]
You are not imagining things. It all happened.