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Has The $1 Million Dollar Game Show Become Irrelevant?

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 8:51 pm
by Brit Canuck
When the original primetime 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' was launched almost 20 years ago, it started a phenomenon that has continued to this day, resulting in numerous imitators, and some memorable moments. But today, the economy is uncertain, the price of living continues to rise, and wages are not being raised fast enough to match. And I don't know about you, but it seems to me that it's become far more difficult to win a million (or in some cases, any money for that matter) on a big money game show. The rules nowadays require the contestants to jump through even more hoops, just to get close to the big prize. British broadcaster ITV even pulled the plug on the original UK 'Millionaire' after host Chris Tarrant retired from the gig. And our own 'SyndieBAM' hasn't awarded the jackpot in regular gameplay in over 15 years now (the 2009 'Tournament of Ten' notwithstanding).
European game shows are arguably doing better than US game shows - 'Miljoenenjacht', the original Dutch version of 'Deal or No Deal', is still going strong as an 'event' program (it doesn't get over-milked like 'HowieFest' was), with a top prize of 5 million Euros, a number of contestants making deals for over a million, and one contestant winning 10 million guilders (just over 4.5 million Euros) back in 2001 before the Euro was introduced. Perhaps it's time that our game shows follow suit and start looking past the bottom line, giving out more winnings and offering higher jackpots, while big money game shows are still on a roll.

Re: Has The $1 Million Dollar Game Show Become Irrelevant?

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 9:57 am
by earendel
Brit Canuck wrote:When the original primetime 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' was launched almost 20 years ago, it started a phenomenon that has continued to this day, resulting in numerous imitators, and some memorable moments. But today, the economy is uncertain, the price of living continues to rise, and wages are not being raised fast enough to match. And I don't know about you, but it seems to me that it's become far more difficult to win a million (or in some cases, any money for that matter) on a big money game show. The rules nowadays require the contestants to jump through even more hoops, just to get close to the big prize. British broadcaster ITV even pulled the plug on the original UK 'Millionaire' after host Chris Tarrant retired from the gig. And our own 'SyndieBAM' hasn't awarded the jackpot in regular gameplay in over 15 years now (the 2009 'Tournament of Ten' notwithstanding).
European game shows are arguably doing better than US game shows - 'Miljoenenjacht', the original Dutch version of 'Deal or No Deal', is still going strong as an 'event' program (it doesn't get over-milked like 'HowieFest' was), with a top prize of 5 million Euros, a number of contestants making deals for over a million, and one contestant winning 10 million guilders (just over 4.5 million Euros) back in 2001 before the Euro was introduced. Perhaps it's time that our game shows follow suit and start looking past the bottom line, giving out more winnings and offering higher jackpots, while big money game shows are still on a roll.
I tried to answer but got an error that the "submitted form was invalid" or something to that effect.

Re: Has The $1 Million Dollar Game Show Become Irrelevant?

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 2:09 pm
by MarleysGh0st
I don't think today's economy has anything to do with it. Rather, it's budget difference between prime time and syndication.

That, and the extinction of that bright, shining moment in Camelot when contestants on a trivia show could qualify by tests of their trivia skills, rather than by their "big personalities".

Re: Has The $1 Million Dollar Game Show Become Irrelevant?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 3:44 pm
by triviawayne
I don't think the game show itself has become irrelevant, but the carrot of $1 million has.

When WWTBAM came on in 1999, it was one of only a handful of shows to ever offer that prize, but now it seems like we aren't watching a big money show unless that is the prize (or something larger).

I don't need to see that number in the title or even have it advertised as the prize to get me to watch, I just need to see a good game with the ability to play along at home. On all the shows offering the $1 million, it is rarely hit because of budget reasons, so why dangle that in front of us when we already know it's just not gonna happen?

The Wall is proving big money can be given away on a regular basis without crushing the bottom line, so I'm hoping we will see more big money shows actually paying out big money, but even Family Feud with its $20,000 top prize does just fine, and that hasn't changed since before WWTBAM ever came on the scene.

You also need to remember, in 1999, game shows were all but dead, so even if WWTBAM only offered $100,000 as a top prize with it being reached more often, it probably would've become almost as popular.

Re: Has The $1 Million Dollar Game Show Become Irrelevant?

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 8:52 pm
by Brit Canuck
Note: this topic was opened last Thursday, four days before Monday's news of the revival of the UK WWTBAM broke.

I think there are still some great game shows out there, but a growing number of them are offering smaller carrots and making it more difficult to actually win anything. 'The Wall' is not bad, but it did suffer from a couple of bad losing streaks (no money left on the Wall, contestants must have pre-signed the contract to win anything). There's a new US game show called 'Child Support' which is almost a complete copy of 'Fifth Grader' and offers a smaller carrot than even the daytime variation of the latter did. I just feel that network TV game shows need to up their game and pay out more dough to remain interesting.

Re: Has The $1 Million Dollar Game Show Become Irrelevant?

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:01 pm
by jarnon
There was a commercial during the Olympics for the new NBC game show Genius Junior.
Neil Patrick Harris hosts the exciting new game show "Genius Junior," which celebrates the brightest children in America. This one-hour competition series is the ultimate test of intelligence and endurance.

Twelve teams of the most incredible children in the country, ages 8 to 12, will take the stage to compete in a series of increasingly complex quizzes with the goal of being crowned Genius Junior.

The average adult relies on Google Maps to get them to their destination, their calculator for simple math problems and autocorrect for spelling errors. What if they had to memorize the entire U.S. highway system, do mind-bending math equations or spell incredibly complex words - backwards - all on their own? What if they had to do this against the clock? The talented "Genius Junior" cast members will tackle these and other challenging scenarios.

Over four rounds, with each round tougher than the last, teams of three will have to work together to beat the competition. Each episode's winning team will then get to take on The Cortex - the toughest test of smarts on the planet - to build up their prize fund. It's not enough to win a spelling bee, be a mathlete or even a memory champion. To win "Genius Junior," you have to be brilliant at everything.

The winning team will take home a "Genius Junior" grant that will set the stage for a big and bright future that lies ahead.
I like that the kids are the contestants (unlike Child Support), that they have to figure out the answers without reaching for an iPhone, and of course, that Doogie's the host.

Re: Has The $1 Million Dollar Game Show Become Irrelevant?

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:00 pm
by Bob Juch
Brit Canuck wrote:Note: this topic was opened last Thursday, four days before Monday's news of the revival of the UK WWTBAM broke.

I think there are still some great game shows out there, but a growing number of them are offering smaller carrots and making it more difficult to actually win anything. 'The Wall' is not bad, but it did suffer from a couple of bad losing streaks (no money left on the Wall, contestants must have pre-signed the contract to win anything). There's a new US game show called 'Child Support' which is almost a complete copy of 'Fifth Grader' and offers a smaller carrot than even the daytime variation of the latter did. I just feel that network TV game shows need to up their game and pay out more dough to remain interesting.
"The Wall" and "Child Support" aren't game shows, they're auditions for hysterical actors. :evil: