Here's the frustrating thing: When I read the game rules (which didn't include the special questions), I thought, "You know, this could really have legs." But pretty much every review has confirmed two things. One, the now habitual US tradition of turning game shows into reality series (see: US Deal Or No Deal vs UK Deal Or No Deal). Two, this quote from a 2001 episode of "The Simpsons" (set on a Millionaire-tyle game show) continues to be true:
Virgil Sinclair: "All right, Moe Szyslak." Moe: "Yes, Virgil." Virgil: "Yesterday, we asked if you wanted to risk it all for $500,000. And you stalled for 20 minutes." Moe: "Yes. Yes, I did. I was told to." Virgil: "(eyes darting nervously) Hey, that's great! (Refocuses on Moe) But now we must have your answer...in the next 10 or 15 minutes." On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 8:00 AM Jon Delfin <[email protected]> wrote: > In a nutshell: There's a main player, and another contestant who is on > deck and occasionally in action. The main player gets eliminated if he/she > gets three in a row wrong, and the on-deck person steps up (presumably; > last night's tedium did not include this occurrence). The main player is > picking questions from various categories; some of these questions are a > "battle" against the on-decker. The Woodstock question was one of those. > The players had to alternate giving answers, and if the main player failed, > he would get an X for being wrong. No penalty in this situation for the > on-deck player. The only other question variant last night was "triple > play," where three answers were required to proceed. > > If I made this sound in the least interesting, then I apologize. > > On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 8:53 AM, Diner <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> On Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 9:00:20 PM UTC-4, David Bruggeman wrote: >>> >>> It suffers from some of the early Millionaire overproduction, and I >>> can't stand the host (perhaps better know in the U.S. for his coverage of >>> the royals and/or missing planes on CNN). >>> >>> It's arguably more of an endurance test than a trivia contest, since >>> getting your first answer wrong doesn't automatically incur a penalty. >>> >> >> I was at a long dental appointment when it came on - after catching the >> end of Jeopardy and all of Wheel of Fortune. By the time 500 Questions came >> on, the sound on the TV had been turned off, but I did see the first ten >> minutes or so. >> >> Granted, I missed a lot, and I didn't catch all the rules, so I don't >> understand how the players are eliminated. But the fifth question was >> something like "Aside from Jimi Hendrix, name all 30 performers at >> Woodstock" - and just the phrasing made me laugh. How many people could get >> all 30?! Especially the people who attended, who were too stoned to >> remember. >> >> (BTW, one of the other Rock Music category questions - to name the female >> singer that The Eagles backed in 1971 before getting their own recording >> contract - was also a question on the prime time "Millionaire" with Regis. >> But I knew the answer anyway.) >> >> -Tim >> >> -- >> -- >> TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "TV or Not TV" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
