Author Topic: Who Wants to be a Millionaire (Read 4174 times)

Ian Wallis · « **on:** April 06, 2005, 08:49:15 AM »

Since "Millionaire" made some changes to a couple of its lifelines this season, I'm wondering if it's time to change the Phone-a-Friend lifeline. I'm thinking they should increase the amount of time. It seems that more than half the time the "friend" doesn't get their answer out in 30 seconds and it's a wasted lifeline. The 30 seconds does go by really quick. I'm thinking maybe they should increase it to 45 seconds.

If they did increase it, should they make any other concessions, such as the decrease from $32,000 to $25,000 with the addition fo the Switch the Question lifeline?

Any opinions?

PYLdude · « **Reply #1 on:** April 06, 2005, 09:05:36 AM »

I doubt that 15 extra seconds would make enough of a difference, because let's face it- a lot of people who are picked as phone-a-friends are morons. Apparently they think that 30 seconds is a lot longer of a time-frame than it is (resulting in so many blank-outs and people who can't get the answer in in time). Sure, it could help matters, but I think that the blame has to rest more on the contestant than their phone-a-friends...after all, he/she is the one who picked them in the first place. 30 seconds, 45 seconds...no difference to me.

Little Big Brother · « **Reply #2 on:** April 06, 2005, 09:34:20 AM »

Just because people do not use their phone-a-friend strategically does not mean it should be changed. The contestant has plenty of time to figure out how to break down the question into a shorter form before opting for the PAF, but so many waste a chunk of their time reading the question verbatim. Also, if you call someone who simply does not know the answer, fifteen extra seconds of "I dunno, maybe C?" isn't going to be particularly helpful.

tomobrien · « **Reply #3 on:** April 06, 2005, 09:53:05 AM »

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Apr 6 2005, 06:49 AM\']The 30 seconds does go by really quick. I'm thinking maybe they should increase it to 45 seconds.

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Disagree. You used to get a very clear pre-show briefing with tips on how to save time when you read the question (such as no "Hi, Joe!" or saying "A," "B," etc.). It's amazing how many people don't do that and thus lose precious seconds. And having people on the other end of the line who can give an answer quickly, or even say they don't know the answer, is incredibly important--and it's obvious that many contestants don't take that into consideration when selecting their PAFs.

mrchips · « **Reply #4 on:** April 06, 2005, 10:49:28 AM »

[quote name=\'Little Big Brother\' date=\'Apr 6 2005, 08:34 AM\']. . . so many waste a chunk of their time reading the question verbatim.

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And when the Phone-A-Friend relays the question verbatim to the rest of the Phone-A-Room . . . grrr.

Provided the player can adequately condense the question, can a Phone-A-Room even be useful? Perhaps for an ATA-friendly question when ATA is unavailable?

As for the OP's question, I side with holding it to 30 seconds.

aaron sica · « **Reply #5 on:** April 06, 2005, 10:59:35 AM »

I agree with the majority on this one.

If you reel off the question, and give the four answers *WITHOUT* A, B, C, and D, you're going to save some time. Waste too much time saying hi to your phone a friend and making very small talk, and you're going to find that you may not have time for your PaF to give an answer.

It's all in the execution....If done properly, you could even have a few seconds left over. 30 seconds is just right.

goongas · « **Reply #6 on:** April 06, 2005, 11:29:41 AM »

[quote name=\'tomobrien\' date=\'Apr 6 2005, 08:53 AM\'][quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Apr 6 2005, 06:49 AM\']The 30 seconds does go by really quick. I'm thinking maybe they should increase it to 45 seconds.

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Disagree. You used to get a very clear pre-show briefing with tips on how to save time when you read the question (such as no "Hi, Joe!" or saying "A," "B," etc.). It's amazing how many people don't do that and thus lose precious seconds. And having people on the other end of the line who can give an answer quickly, or even say they don't know the answer, is incredibly important--and it's obvious that many contestants don't take that into consideration when selecting their PAFs.

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A former contestant told me that the producers tell you not to condense the question during the PAF. I disagree with this since the writers make the questions longer than they need to be just to make the question seem more interesting.

dale_grass · « **Reply #7 on:** April 06, 2005, 11:34:24 AM »

I don't think it's "ask the room" as much as it's "ask the internet." The friend has to pull out key words, then search for the responses, all without the question in front of him. My advice: make sure your PAF is a court stenographer with DSL.

aaron sica · « **Reply #8 on:** April 06, 2005, 11:37:45 AM »

[quote name=\'dale_grass\' date=\'Apr 6 2005, 11:34 AM\'] My advice: make sure your PAF is a court stenographer with DSL.

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I think we have an early nominee for line of the day...

tomobrien · « **Reply #9 on:** April 06, 2005, 08:45:59 PM »

[quote name=\'goongas\' date=\'Apr 6 2005, 09:29 AM\']A former contestant told me that the producers tell you not to condense the question during the PAF. I disagree with this since the writers make the questions longer than they need to be just to make the question seem more interesting.

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If questions seem long, I doubt it's as much for making them interesting as it is to take away any chance of ambiguity and thus make them less "challengeable" in case of a miss.