Author Topic: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?  (Read 16048 times)

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Offline Briguy

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #15 on: May 18, 2019, 08:08:59 PM »
I'm guessing just like the rest: The show's time had come and gone. For some, it was more or less filler.

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Offline ThomHuge

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #16 on: May 18, 2019, 09:41:25 PM »
I'm guessing just like the rest: The show's time had come and gone. For some, it was more or less filler.

This. From my chair it felt like it jumped the shark as soon as they introduced the clock. I know why they did that, since allegedly someone spent 55 minutes in the Hot Seat and did absolutely nothing, but still...that was when I stopped being a viewer.

Later on I tuned into an episode of the shuffle format and barely recognized it. It wasn't until those unmistakeable hexagonal questions and answers came onto the screen that I realized what I was looking at. I turned off my TV and went to go pull up a classic show on YouTube.

Offline whowouldeverhurtawhammy

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #17 on: May 18, 2019, 09:50:28 PM »
Maybe after a hiatus, the show will return.  IIRC, in the 2014 Sony hacks, one information bit I remembered reading was once the syndicated version ends, ABC can license the show for primetime again after a two-year hiatus (someone please correct me if I'm wrong about this).  So maybe we'll see it again early next decade.

As someone who would like to compete on the show, I hope that will be the case...sooner than later, I would hope. That said, however, the hacks mentioned that during the hiatus, Sony (who owns 2waytraffic, the company that produces WWTBAM) would reclaim full rights to the series while ABC would keep whatever rights they have to the tweaks (i.e., shuffle format, clock music, etc.) they made to the show, and the series would be shopped to another network/syndicator. So, the phoenix show rise again please!
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Offline blozier2006

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #18 on: May 18, 2019, 09:51:13 PM »
This. From my chair it felt like it jumped the shark as soon as they introduced the clock. I know why they did that, since allegedly someone spent 55 minutes in the Hot Seat and did absolutely nothing, but still...that was when I stopped being a viewer.

That would most likely be Kati Knudsen.


Offline whowouldeverhurtawhammy

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #19 on: May 18, 2019, 09:56:59 PM »
That would most likely be Kati Knudsen.

Funny how they would let her moment from 2000 dictate the need of a clock (or a producer backstage enforcing an off-camera time limit) in the syndicated show...even I thought it wasn't necessary anyway.
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Offline blozier2006

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #20 on: May 19, 2019, 04:24:17 AM »
Funny how they would let her moment from 2000 dictate the need of a clock (or a producer backstage enforcing an off-camera time limit) in the syndicated show...even I thought it wasn't necessary anyway.
You ever stop and think, maybe, just maybe, that the syndicated show didn't have nearly as high of a budget as the network show did? And that things like studio time certainly aren't free?  :roll:

Offline someguy23475

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #21 on: May 19, 2019, 04:39:22 AM »
Actually, Millionaire’s ratings were around 1.5 nationally, while Ask was around 0.5-0.6, so it has to be production costs.

Offline PatrickRox80

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #22 on: May 19, 2019, 06:35:43 AM »
"Cheaper production costs plus better ratings" more likely. WWTBAM is undoubtedly expensive to produce, and if it's not drawing in viewers that well (not hard to imagine), it's not worth the price. If FYSA is cheaper to produce, it wouldn't have to do nearly as well to break even.

Especially when you consider they only had $10,000 left in the prize budget on the final episode of the clock format. Knowing that, it’s a miracle the show managed to last another nine years.

Offline Flerbert419

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #23 on: May 19, 2019, 08:59:03 AM »
How does this get cancelled yet Funny You Should Ask which seems to draw about 14 viewers stays on? Cheaper production costs I am guessing.

I don't know how much it adds, but there's also an element of Byron Allen's involvement in many facets of the entertainment business that could have executives thinking twice before they cancel any of his shows.
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Offline pricefan18

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #24 on: May 19, 2019, 11:11:30 AM »
You ever stop and think, maybe, just maybe, that the syndicated show didn't have nearly as high of a budget as the network show did? And that things like studio time certainly aren't free?  :roll:

That's fair, but why do it years later? That's kinda odd. Had to be more of a reason than someone years before eating up all that time.

Offline ThomHuge

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #25 on: May 19, 2019, 01:59:06 PM »
That's fair, but why do it years later? That's kinda odd. Had to be more of a reason than someone years before eating up all that time.

I think blozier's point was more that WWEHAW's post seemed a little...off. Nor is it the only one of his posts to fit that description.

I didn't realize it was as far back as 2000, I could've sworn it happened farther into the run than that. Even if that specific instance isn't to blame, I'm probably still not far off the mark--contestants in-studio were taking too long to make up their minds, and as we've established, studio time isn't free...couple that with declining ratings, and that means the production was losing money. Answer to both problems? Put a clock on the questions--not only does it limit the ability of contestants so sit there and "uhhh, ummm" forever (reducing time required for tapings, thus saving money), while also introducing an element of drama to the proceedings, which (in theory) might help the ratings improve.

Offline gamesurf

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #26 on: May 19, 2019, 02:10:11 PM »
Yeah, that explanation seems like it makes sense.

1 vs 100 put the main contestant on an unseen time limit—after spending 10 minutes on a question, they would be warned that they had to give an answer within 60 seconds or it would count as an automatic wrong answer. Worked well and was pretty seamless, never affected the on air product.

If studio time were the only concern, you’d think they’d favor an invisible fix like 1 vs 100, but the clock might have been a fig leaf to mask cuts to the prize budget and force a few early walkaways.
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Offline someguy23475

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #27 on: May 19, 2019, 02:37:10 PM »
All the host had to do was hurry the contestant along. There is no reason to tolerate a contestant spending nearly an hour on one question.

Offline gamesurf

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #28 on: May 19, 2019, 03:44:08 PM »
No amount of host urging would have helped Kati Knudsen—her run had a total of 40 minutes of screen time after editing, by far the most of any contestant. She was fixed in her mind with a determined resolution to lock down the status of first female millionaire, and she was going to use every legal means at her disposal to get it. Didn’t matter how much she had to risk, didn’t matter if she had to blow Regis off.

If the producers could have imposed a time limit on her without breaking the rules at the time, goodness knows they would have.
Quote from: Bill Todman
"The sign of a good game, is when you don't have to explain it every day. The key is not simplicity, but apparent simplicity. Password looks like any idiot could have made it up, but we have 14 of our people working on that show. There is a great complexity behind the screen. It requires great work to keep it simple."

Offline ThomHuge

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Re: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
« Reply #29 on: May 19, 2019, 04:16:21 PM »
...and she was going to use every legal means at her disposal to get it.

If the producers could have imposed a time limit on her without breaking the rules at the time, goodness knows they would have.

Key concepts like these are things I think people like someguy23475 overlook in favor of simply complaining because complaining is easier.

As irritating as I'm sure Kati Knudsen's run was to all involved--think about it, would you have wanted to be anywhere in that studio after listening to the same music looping for all that time on a single player?--anything they could've done differently in the moment would've been an instant S&P issue. Here's why--not only would they have failed to act in accordance with the rules they did (and didn't) give the contestants, they would have also been (rightly) called out in legal forums for singling out one contestant and interfering with their deliberative process. It would also be a rather stark example of changing the rules in the middle of the game, which after the whole Quiz Show scandal, I could see coming with substantial legal liabilities.

I'm 100% sure that like any other gameshow host, especially ones with that much money on the line as the top prize, are given strict rules of engagement for what they can and can't do. (Would be interesting to hear from someone like MSTieScott if I'm right about that as far as PiR is concerned.) In Regis' case, I'm betting that because contestants at the time were said to be given an unlimited amount of time to reach their decision, he was told to just be patient and indulge the person in the Hot Seat for however long it took them to make up their minds. It was more or less inevitable that someone would come along and take "unlimited time" to an unintended extreme, which is exactly what Kati Knudsen did.

It's comparable to the Michael Larsen situation--he abided by the rules of the game, and because of that there was nothing they could do, however much I'm sure someone wanted to. Even the idea of not letting him come back for a second day fit with the rules, since there was a winnings cap in place at the time. It was only afterwards that they could make rule patches to prevent it from happening again.
« Last Edit: May 19, 2019, 04:20:25 PM by ThomHuge »