Techtite's TV Reviews!

Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?

A Review by Techtite

This game is allegedly all the rage in England, and for good reason; after all, who doesn't want to be a millionaire? When you've made it on the show, it's relatively easy to leave the show with a minimum of $32,000 as it is. As we all know, after nearly a decade of America's Funniest Home Videos, there are more than enough people who'd settle for $30,000, let alone 32, or even a full million (before taxes) ;-) .

For those who have yet to see the show, here's a summary of the way the game works. For starters, anyone can call a 24-hour phone number to try to be a contestant, by answering some quick automated trivia questions. Get them right, and you are quizzed again, this time by a live person on the phone. Get those questions right, and off you go to tv...along with a dozen other people. These people compete with you on the air to answer a relatively simple "multiple" question as quickly as possible (for example, listing a two pints, three pints, a quart, and a gallon, from smallest to largest). The contestant with the quickest correct reply plays for the million, via 15 final questions.

 Obviously, the core show is the 15 questions (all multiple choice). For every 5 questions, a safety zone is reached; by that point, the contestant will not leave without that minimum amount. 5 right questions guarantees a thousand; 10 guarantees 32,000. Making things even easier, three safety nets are allowed, to be used at any time; you can call a friend for 30 second advice, ask the audience to vote on the answer, or make the question 50/50, and remove two of the three wrong answers. Lastly, you can quit at any time. You can even quit after you've heard the next question! Pretty fair, if you ask me.

You'd think that with all these safety nets to work with, there'd be dozens who'd make it to the million-dollar question. No such luck. There have been many cynical remarks at why this is so. In honesty, however, I think the true reason is that these are actual contestants, and have a good share of stage fright and pressure-of-the-moment. I mean, how else can you excuse an intelligent-looking U.S. contestant, when she forgets who Bob Dole is? ...or whether popeye ate spinach or celery? ...or the man who was asked who was born in Puerto Rico --Ricki Martin or Cameron Diaz-- and chose Cameron as his answer...? Not to be outdone, some questions are real brain tuggers --like the original, actual name of Pope John Paul I-- and others involve rarely-known trivia. Whether the question is easy or hard, though, it's always good TV.

Understandably, this show is now all the rage; a big hit. With it's colorful stage set, light effects after each right answer, and intriguing background music, this is game show tv at its best. The only problem seems to be how to handle new episodes of the game show, and how regularly. After all, the show promises a possible million each show; there are very few shows that risk that type of budget each week; among them Seinfeld and Friends...and that's for once-a-week shows. Whatever ABC decides, however, the important thing is they decided to keep the game show coming back...often. Great idea; it's the best game show idea in years...

	Final Rating : Large Crater. Not "evolutionary," or original, enough for the Deep Impact rating. However, it is a lot of fun; I tune in every week! Good show!
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Also reviewed : the CD-Rom game!

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