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Studio 46 - Non-TPiR Discussion => Out In Left Field => Topic started by: htmlcc92 on May 17, 2019, 06:32:10 PM
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Not really too surprised, but sad nonetheless to see a game show put out to pasture:
https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-canceled-1203217602/ (https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-canceled-1203217602/)
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Meredith Vieira's version stopped airing in my area in 2009. Never got Cedric, Crews, or Harrison here, but from the clips I've seen on YouTube, it wouldn't be must-see TV for me either way.
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My local NBC station had the show on at 6:30 p.m., but a few years back they took it off their schedule. I think eventually it did end up back on the schedule in the early afternoon.
I haven't watched it much at all since Meredith left, I really enjoyed her as host.
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Hard to believe, but Primetime Millionaire kicked off the whole wave of reality TV. Regis' version raked in viewership in the tens of millions, peaking around 30 million viewers. The show was untouchable, and then a little show called Survivor premiered... It definitely was must see tv, in its day.
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I'm honestly surprised the syndicated version managed to last this long. It's been on life support for at least half its run.
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Problem is like many long running shows like this, due to the way that shows are being taped ahead of time, it just won't get a proper sendoff. I think this season saw a lot of production and budget cuts to the point where we didn't see a lot of huge wins.
But given the fact that the UK version has now returned, maybe the same thing could happen for the US in a rebooted fashion (although that's what the networks now seem to do is revive game shows and everything we grew up with).
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Chris Harrison was a great host and did the job justice. He's not the person I would choose if it were in its prime though. Though for what the show was now, it was definitely a good hosting job.
I hope he gets more game show gigs soon.
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It is a bit sad to see the show go even though it is way past due. Perhaps it will be rebooted in some form down the line, maybe ABC will make a new primetime version for their Fun and Games lineup in the future.
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All good things must come to pass. I've been a fan of the show since I discovered it through classmate word-of-mouth in fifth grade.
I remember when I first saw the original ABC primetime version in 2000, and I witnessed Kevin Olmstead's win in 2001, amazed at his knowledge and how he won big. Several years later, I saw Kevin Smith's win on the syndicated run, during a rerun of the previous season, amazed at his journey to the million.
During a family vacation to Orlando, Florida, in 2005, I attended the old "Play It!" attraction at the Walt Disney World and had a great time. I enthusiastically played the CD-ROM, board games and mobile games over the years, too.
I attended contestant searches in 2013-2014, and I made it into the contestant pool in August 2014, but I never got the call to be on the show. However, I did attend tapings with Terry Crews and Chris Harrison in 2014-2015, which were fun to be in (I still have several souvenir pencils and show t-shirts, and I high-fived Terry when he thanked the audience for attending on one taping).
It's a shame the show is going away, but the lack of big winners the last several years really hurt the show, in my opinion. For a show called Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, it seemed as if they tried really hard to prevent a contestant from clearing a stack of questions to win. You'd see the occasional person win $100,000, but there hasn't been a quarter-millionaire in about a year-and-a-half, to say nothing of any bigger wins (the last $500,000 winner was back in 2013). Also, the show was struggling in ratings against a resurgent Family Feud, while Jeopardy! and Wheel continue to hold their own.
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.
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Who Wants to be a Millionaire more or less initiated the era of the million-dollar giveaway shows. Without WWTBAM we wouldn't have had Greed, Twenty-One, Deal or No Deal, or any of TPIR's Million Dollar Spectacular's. WWTBAM also brought back the dim lights, dark music, and high intensity, some forty years after Twenty-One ended. From a pop-culture standpoint, the phrases used on the show crept into our vocabulary. Phrases like, "Is that your final answer?" and "I'd like to use a lifeline." became much more widespread after WWTBAM hit. In terms of ratings, Millionaire pulled in the biggest audience anybody had seen in years, and it was a national phenomenon - until Survivor hit. Coupled with Big Brother and Amazing Race just two years later, viewers swiveled the dial over to CBS. This, along with ABC's massive overexposure of WWTBAM, toppled the show off its perch. What's my take? I'm surprised it lasted twenty years, seventeen of those in syndication. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seemed that after Meredith Vieira left, Millionaire was just "there". It pulled in good-not-great audiences, and it certainly was past it's glory days. Then there was the rotating door of hosts, first Cedric, then Terry Crews, before finally settling on Chris Harrison in 2015. But it seems that it's time to move on. Who knows? Perhaps we'll see a revival of Millionaire in the future. For now, however, it's certainly tough to say goodbye to a show that, among other things, revolutionized the look and feel of prime-time game shows.
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I’m quite surprised syndi-Millionaire lasted this long. The format, in all its glory, was made for primetime, not daytime. ‘Fastest Finger’ was stripped from the beginning to better fit the show within a half hour timeframe. The much slimmer budget meant tougher questions and occasionally less-than-super-genius contestants to ensure the top dollar amounts were rarely reached.
Over time, the format underwent changes that robbed the show of its roots, from the timed questions to the complete overhaul that brought about the shuffle format, less-intense music and a much brighter set — without the hot seat — that felt far less intimidating than the show ever did in primetime.
Despite all the flaws, I commend Harrison for the excellent job he has done filling Philbin/Viera’s shoes. With the return of the traditional format a few years back and his hosting, it felt the show was beginning to feel more normal again. It was just too little, too late. If we ever get a primetime revival, I hope Harrison gets the host job. Combine him with the format the UK version has with their revival, and I believe WWTBAM would hold its own just fine in primetime again. Joe Plinko may not even realize the show has been hiding in syndication all these years and be hooked from the beginning!
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I actually started watching Millionaire semi-regularly this year again (via Youtube, the show doesn't air on TV here), and I actually found the difficulty all over the place. Some stacks I found ridiculously easy, others were a lot harder. The show has been better since they reverted to the classic format (albeit a bastardized version of it), but the stench of the Shuffle era was still there.
The show had a lot of issues. The awkward money ladder, the soundtrack, the bipolar difficulty, the way too bright set, the question writing itself. Chris Harrison was not one of them. I actually liked him better as a host more than Meredith. If the show gets revived in primetime, I really hope, if they can't get Regis, Chris gets the gig... he's proof of just how much better game shows are with professional hosts as opposed to comedians as emcees.
I'm not surprised the show finally got cancelled... if anything, it's long overdue. The show had long proved it wasn't suited to be stripped for syndication, especially when it took just one year for the difficulty to massively spike and for the producers to start tinkering with the rules... and nobody legitimately won the game since.
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I forgot the show was still on. The clock format is what turned me off years ago. The shuffle format was worse.
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.
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Cheaper production costs I am guessing.
"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.
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That's too bad.
I'd be lying if I said I watched it with any regularity, but it was comforting to know that as game show fashions come and go, there was still a relatively straightforward quiz around delivering a reliable half hour of trivia.
I’m quite surprised syndi-Millionaire lasted this long. The format, in all its glory, was made for primetime, not daytime. ‘Fastest Finger’ was stripped from the beginning to better fit the show within a half hour timeframe. The much slimmer budget meant tougher questions and occasionally less-than-super-genius contestants to ensure the top dollar amounts were rarely reached.
Over time, the format underwent changes that robbed the show of its roots, from the timed questions to the complete overhaul that brought about the shuffle format, less-intense music and a much brighter set — without the hot seat — that felt far less intimidating than the show ever did in primetime.
National Event Millionaire is the best Millionaire and can never be topped, but IMO syndie Millionaire never dipped too far below passable--and for a show that's endured as many budget issues, miscast contestants, miscast hosts, and rapid format changes as Millionaire has, that's paying it quite the compliment.
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I'm guessing just like the rest: The show's time had come and gone. For some, it was more or less filler.
Brian
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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.
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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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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.
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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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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:
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Actually, Millionaire’s ratings were around 1.5 nationally, while Ask was around 0.5-0.6, so it has to be production costs.
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"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.
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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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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.
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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.
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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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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.
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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.
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...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.
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Interestingly, in the Terry Crews tapings I attended in 2014, whenever a contestant was taking a long time to deliberate, one of the producers or casting coordinators went onstage and seemed to tell them to make a decision quickly (use a lifeline, lock in a final answer, or walk away). Obviously, this was edited out in the final broadcast. But even without the clock, the show must've developed a methodology to hurry contestants along to prevent long deliberations like the one above.
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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.
You know I wonder. Do you think the Millionaire Hot Seat format would work here in the US if they adopted it? It's been on in Australia (where it first initiated after they took the original Millionaire off in 2004) for a decade now and even expanded from a half hour to an hour in recent years. That version also has a clock, however the one key difference is it doesn't start until AFTER the question and answers are read in full. That was I think the biggest flaw in the clock format when done here and I imagine in UK too, it was too reliant on how fast or slow the host read. Eliminate that, and it may not have been so bad.
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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.
That was an especially tricky situation because the contestants are thinking through their answers out loud. Imagine if a contestant is mulling over one particular answer but isn't sure, Regis says, "You need to go ahead and make a decision," and the contestant relents and locks in the choice she'd been discussing. If that answer turns out to be wrong, the contestant could argue that the show was deliberately trying to steer her into a wrong answer. There's no way the producers can call an audible in a situation like that.
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There's no way the producers can call an audible in a situation like that.
If the Producers instigate it by forcing a decision off-camera, then I would call an audible. This stupid rule being part of the reason why we couldn't have any more million dollar winners anymore...if you can't handle waiting for the contestant/editing the excess time out when the original concept wasn't to rush a contestant in the first place, why have a show at all?
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That was an especially tricky situation because the contestants are thinking through their answers out loud. Imagine if a contestant is mulling over one particular answer but isn't sure, Regis says, "You need to go ahead and make a decision," and the contestant relents and locks in the choice she'd been discussing. If that answer turns out to be wrong, the contestant could argue that the show was deliberately trying to steer her into a wrong answer. There's no way the producers can call an audible in a situation like that.
IIRC from hearing from people who have been contestants on the show, the producers are EXTREMELY CLEAR to contestants in the preshow briefing that contestants are 100% responsible for all decisions they make in the Hot Seat. They're perfectly clear that Regis' job is to make great TV, not to be a financial counsel or trivia expert, and he doesn't know the answers anyways until after the contestant locks in. I'm sure there's a clause in the rules that explains that if the contestant chooses to let Regis influence them into doing something they otherwise wouldn't have done, it's the contestant's own fault. Part of the job of being a contestant is learning to deal with that sort of pressure.
You know I wonder. Do you think the Millionaire Hot Seat format would work here in the US if they adopted it? It's been on in Australia (where it first initiated after they took the original Millionaire off in 2004) for a decade now and even expanded from a half hour to an hour in recent years. That version also has a clock, however the one key difference is it doesn't start until AFTER the question and answers are read in full. That was I think the biggest flaw in the clock format when done here and I imagine in UK too, it was too reliant on how fast or slow the host read. Eliminate that, and it may not have been so bad.
I dunno, but not in the immediate future.
- It's already a tough sell to get stations to sign off on a new unproven show, let alone a spinoff of a show that's only pulled in low to mediocre ratings for the past 7 or 8 years
- It doesn't seem significantly different enough from Millionaire to attract people who didn't watch it in the first place
- It's different enough that it might draw unfavorable comparisons from people who did watch Millionaire and don't like the changes
In contrast, regularly scheduled Millionaire in Australia had been off the air for a few years, and apparently was quite successful up 'til the end. According to Wiki it was only cancelled because the original host was promoted to become head of the network. But given 5 years from now who knows, maybe the US tv landscape will have shifted yet again and hard quizzers will be back in fashion.
Also, the Wiki page has this chestnut:
If McGuire [the host] believes that the contestant is taking too long to make a decision, the contestant may be put on a shot clock of 60 seconds. If the shot clock expires, the contestant is forced to walk away with their current winnings. This rule was introduced because the format was live. The previous format was pre-recorded where the producers could edit the contestant's deliberations in case they were longer than the producers preferred. The host has to make the decision, which is unlike the US version, which adopted a fixed 15 second (first five), 30 seconds (second five), 45 seconds (questions 11–14) and total time saved plus 45 seconds (15th question) clock in 2008.
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IIRC from hearing from people who have been contestants on the show, the producers are EXTREMELY CLEAR to contestants in the preshow briefing that contestants are 100% responsible for all decisions they make in the Hot Seat. They're perfectly clear that Regis' job is to make great TV, not to be a financial counsel or trivia expert, and he doesn't know the answers anyways until after the contestant locks in.
All contestants on all game shows also sign a contract saying that all decisions of the judges are final. That doesn't mean the judges (who are usually the producers) can expect to do whatever they feel like irrespective of all the other rules and think they'll get away with it. Even a contract with clear, iron-clad language can be invalidated in court if a judge believes it is "unconscionable."
To reasonably enforce a time limit, the parameters need to be clearly established ahead of time. Not all rules have to be explained on the air. Even the specifics can be a little loose. Richard/Ray got to start the 3-second clock on Family Feud whenever they felt like it, BUT it was always 3 seconds, and they couldn't buzz a non-answer without invoking it. All of this was explained to the contestants before air. Producers who make up whatever limitations they feel like on the spot are asking for trouble.
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All contestants on all game shows also sign a contract saying that all decisions of the judges are final. That doesn't mean the judges (who are usually the producers) can expect to do whatever they feel like irrespective of all the other rules and think they'll get away with it. Even a contract with clear, iron-clad language can be invalidated in court if a judge believes it is "unconscionable."
To reasonably enforce a time limit, the parameters need to be clearly established ahead of time. Not all rules have to be explained on the air. Even the specifics can be a little loose. Richard/Ray got to start the 3-second clock on Family Feud whenever they felt like it, BUT it was always 3 seconds, and they couldn't buzz a non-answer without invoking it. All of this was explained to the contestants before air. Producers who make up whatever limitations they feel like on the spot are asking for trouble.
I get what you're saying about not calling an audible for a specific contestant--I'm just saying the Millionaire producers were more willing to let Regis loose. There were limitations, sure, but they were still willing to give Regis more trust than a host normally would get. (None of the other hosts ever attempted to probe as deeply as he did, although they do get involved to a degree.) The tradeoff was they had to take precautions to keep their host mostly excluded from other production decisions.
But if the showrunners can't secure Regis' privilege to pick a contestant's brain about their thought process--there's no show. Otherwise the viewer has no idea what the contestants are thinking. All you're left with is a nervous contestant staring at a monitor, and that'd be deathly boring.
Or on the opposite extreme--if you have a crazy gambler like Norm Macdonald in the Hot Seat, you need the latitude to poke and prod and let them expose that they actually are are not trivia experts but massive risk takers. Norm's $500K and $1M questions are some of Regis' most memorable moments, precisely because Regis is clearly exasperated by Norm's reckless gambling. He even tries to interject and begs Norm to reconsider when Norm's clearly about to just guess on the $1M. But once Norm says "Final Answer", there's nothing Regis can do. It's Norm's mess, he has to own what happens. And it's obviously driving Regis insane--he's clearly doing all he can do to help out, up to the very limit, but Norm was having none of it. (I friggin' love it, one of my favorite hosting moments)
(start at 21:25)
Now, Millionaire definitely pushed it, probably more than any other show before it would ever be comfortable doing. And not every show has an industry veteran like Regis at the helm, so I wouldn't recommend they try. But it was something magical to see, a far cry from some of today's shows where the host repeats the exact same patter every day, and any "get to know you" questions are just a vehicle to get to the next scripted rule explanation the host has to repeat.
In either case, the host doesn't have a gun to the contestant's head, and as long as the contestant is aware of limits like
1) the host doesn't know the answers
2) the contestant can't ask the host for help
3) the host is aggressively trying not to "help"; the host may not favor or disfavor a particular contestant
4) the host's job is to make good TV by picking the contestant's brain and building drama, not by helping or hindering
5) the contestant can dodge the host's questioning with non-answers if they feel it is in their best interest to do so
then I see no issue with giving the host a little latitude to pick a contestant's brain. Just as long as they give the same amount of latitude to all contestants, of course.
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In either case, the host doesn't have a gun to the contestant's head, and as long as the contestant is aware of limits like
1) the host doesn't know the answers
2) the contestant can't ask the host for help
3) the host is aggressively trying not to "help"; the host may not favor or disfavor a particular contestant
4) the host's job is to make good TV by picking the contestant's brain and building drama, not by helping or hindering
5) the contestant can dodge the host's questioning with non-answers if they feel it is in their best interest to do so
Unless you're in the UK playing Millionaire, then you can lol.
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I would love to see the specific rules the contestants are given in their contracts. Regis or any host could certainly hurry a contestant along, unless it specifically states otherwise.
Again, there is no excuse to let someone spend nearly an hour on one question.
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OK, I'll bite
The current version (https://millionairetv.dadt.com/official-rules/) does say that
ii. Time Limit
Contestants who fail to answer a question within a reasonable period of time, as determined in the sole discretion of the Producer, may be disqualified.
But in 2-3 minutes of skimming the Official Rules from 2000, I couldn't find anything like that, so I guess you show me where it is if it's there.
https://web.archive.org/web/20000815074706/http://abc.go.com/primetime/millionaire/mill_legal.html
The closest thing is this
Game Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any player it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest, acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner and/or with intent to annoy, accuse, threaten or harass any other person, or in violation of these Official Rules.
but then they have to prove intent to accuse or harass, and saying "I want more time to think" doesn't nearly meet that standard. After all, it's OK to say that after 5 minutes, so why isn't it OK after 45 minutes?
I maintain the opposite--unless it says "contestants who take too long on a question may be disqualified" in the official rules agreed to all contestants before the game, a contestant like Kati Knudsen is 100% within her rights to tell the host to buzz off. Otherwise it's favoring/disfavoring a particular contestant, and that's super illegal.
Does it make good television? No. Should they have had something like that in their contract in 2000? Absolutely. Since they didn't, was there anything the producers could have done about it? Nope.
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The syndle show lasted way past it's expiration date. I think when Meredith left the show they should of had a nice send off and ended. The show was already looking tired
When you watch the show today its more background noise then anything. I am sorry but Chris Harrison is a boring host. I hope he doesn't host any revivals. I really can't see Regis coming back to host the show.
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A bit late to the party here.
Yes, it's sad to see the show go, but I can definitely understand why it's been cancelled. It got really stale. They haven't given away the million in 10 years (and even that was in a tournament format to force a $1M win), which really doesn't reflect well on a show that has "million" in its title.
I have to give it credit for nearly single-handedly reviving US game shows. No one in 1998 would have thought that a primetime game show would work. Especially since at that time, TPIR was the lone surviving daytime network game and there were only the handful of syndicated shows (WoF, J!).
It'll be interesting to see how the rights play out. My guess is that Sony will end up with them again and just put the format away for now. If the climate is right, it could potentially come back, but I personally wouldn't hold my breath.
The changes they made to the show over the years eventually sped up its demise. I couldn't stand the clock. The shuffle format was irritating and backwards. Cedric and Terry didn't quite fit the program. Chris Harrison, however, has done an excellent job.
TBH this isn't surprising to anyone. It was time.
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The series is going to wrap up with a Second (last?) Chance week next week. Still, with over 3000 episodes, it will still go down as the fourth longest run among all syndicated game shows. For me, it dragged on a lot like what The Simpsons is now, but for me, the golden age of the show ended after the Super Millionaire runs where nobody made it past the 12th question. Yes, there were a couple Million dollar winners, Regis, and an even cooler set and music package, but with the top prize really taken to the limit (and unprecedented to this day), it also was coincidental in that 2004 also produced the last Millionaire in regulation on the syndie series. Even though the Regis run lasted about 300 episodes, it's by far the superior version. Even though modern Million-dollar shows were still cool for a few more years with 1 vs. 100, Don't Forget The Lyrics, and of course Deal or No Deal, that luster that made it must-see TV was fading; the last gasp was the 10th anniversary special in 2009, but by then, the clock format had been introduced, and shortly afterwards, the music package had been changed to something more generic, not to mention that "shuffle" format that seemed better suited for another show. The 2010s portion of the run is best left in the dust, as although the last few seasons remind me of the final months of The Joker's Wild '90, like Wheel of Fortune allegedly, the audience lost its oomph and the contestant pool got worse and worse, although it isn't too surprising; when the ratings where red hot in the Regis era, so many participants tried out, and naturally, this means a better shot at the geniuses being chosen. With that, the show's legacy will live on and perhaps this means that GSN may air these in reruns if Sony does indeed grab the rights to them.
Anybody notice on other game shows was bad ratings how the contestant pool similarly suffers, leading to low payouts?
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The contestants were chosen in a more traditional format ie. personality over smarts. At least that's the interpretation I got by reading the Wikipedia page.
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Norm [Macdonald]'s $500K and $1M questions are some of Regis' most memorable moments, precisely because Regis is clearly exasperated by Norm's reckless gambling. He even tries to interject and begs Norm to reconsider when Norm's clearly about to just guess on the $1M.
I was under the impression that the rules were a little looser for the celebrity shows - not in a "game shows are fixed!" or "they're lettin' 'em cheat" sense, but more along the lines of, well, they're celebrities and the money is going to charity. Celebrities not in the Hot Seat were allowed to throw out "hints" during the first five questions, and each celebrity was guaranteed a minimum amount for their charity. ($25,000? $32,000?)
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I was under the impression that the rules were a little looser for the celebrity shows - not in a "game shows are fixed!" or "they're lettin' 'em cheat" sense, but more along the lines of, well, they're celebrities and the money is going to charity. Celebrities not in the Hot Seat were allowed to throw out "hints" during the first five questions, and each celebrity was guaranteed a minimum amount for their charity. ($25,000? $32,000?)
During the ABC primetime era, the celebrities were guaranteed $32,000 for their charities. As a result, the celebrities in the Fastest Finger circle could help out the celebrity in the Hot Seat for the first 10 questions. However, starting with the $64,000 question, the celebrity in the Hot Seat was on their own (with any lifelines they still had, of course).
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Even so, since all the money was going to charity, Regis and the show played things a little more looser than they would with a "real" contestant. For example, Norm, the last person to make it into the Hot Seat, insisted on a Fastest Finger question, so they came up with one specifically for him:
Put the following letters in order to spell a popular man's name.
A) N
B) O
C) R
D) M
I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the episode yet. :-D
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I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the episode yet. :-D
I remember when it aired it was part of ABC's "pop up trivia" thing. I also remember the popups while Norm entered his answer: "This. Made. Norm. Mad."
Good times!
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During the ABC primetime era, the celebrities were guaranteed $32,000 for their charities. As a result, the celebrities in the Fastest Finger circle could help out the celebrity in the Hot Seat for the first 10 questions. However, starting with the $64,000 question, the celebrity in the Hot Seat was on their own (with any lifelines they still had, of course).
I honestly never liked that format. I am okay with a minimum amount even if you bomb out, but I woulda preferred they earn their way up the ladder completely. Other celeb versions did that (see Richard Hatch in Australia). I think woulda made for better TV to see who did well and who didn't.
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I think it would make for bad television to see a celebrity lose money for a charity. With that rationale, it was better for the celebrity to get to a sizable amount, $32,000, with help from the other celebrities, then see how much more they can earn for charity by climbing the upper tier.
At least one celebrity bombed out in the middle tier: Gene Simmons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfnBY5e37U0), who missed his $16,000 question. However, instead of deducting $7,000 and donating $1,000 to his charity, the show donated the guaranteed $32,000.
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Even so, since all the money was going to charity, Regis and the show played things a little more looser than they would with a "real" contestant.
Weren't all of the Fastest Fingers when they got to the last celebrity jokey like that since they were the last contestant to play?
I didn't mind the format on the celebrity shows, some of the banter and antics for the hints were funny and they did have to make sure the contestants got at least the $32,000 for their charities.
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I didn't mind the format on the celebrity shows, some of the banter and antics for the hints were funny and they did have to make sure the contestants got at least the $32,000 for their charities.
Yeah, on their own they were a fun change of pace.
The problem was when they cut it to two nights a week, one civilian and one celebrity. You had to flip flop between celebrity and civilian contestants all the time, it was impossible to steadily follow one narrative or the other unless you ignored half of the episodes.
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The celebrity shows were unwatchable. The fact others could shout out the answers gave it a rigged feeling. I know the money went to charity, but it just isn’t fun watching annoying millionaires goofing around pretending they care. Maybe they actually do, but it didn’t seem like it.
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The celebrity shows were unwatchable. The fact others could shout out the answers gave it a rigged feeling. I know the money went to charity, but it just isn’t fun watching annoying millionaires goofing around pretending they care. Maybe they actually do, but it didn’t seem like it.
Yeah, I wonder if the ratings woulda done better if they treated it a bit more seriously. Millionaire isn't a show that works with comedy like they played it with these back then.
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The contestants were chosen in a more traditional format ie. personality over smarts. At least that's the interpretation I got by reading the Wikipedia page.
Another reason why we had almost no millionaires in the syndicated run. The show's about knowledge, not personalities.