Super Millionaire's New Rules Out

[JTFriends1]

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - The stakes on "Super Millionaire," the $10 million version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" that ABC is reviving later this month, are, obviously, higher -- hence the "Super" in the title.

Contestants will have the chance to win a lot more money than in "Millionaire's" original incarnation. But they might also lose a lot more.

Like the previous "Millionaire," and the syndicated version currently on the air, players are guaranteed to walk away with at least some money if they answer the fifth and 10th questions correctly. The amount of money at each "lock-in" level, however, is significantly higher than in previous incarnations of the game.

 
"Super Millionaire," which debuts at 9 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 22, with host Regis Philbin, will start with a $1,000 question, executive producer Michael Davies says. Each of the next four questions adds $1,000, reaching $5,000 at the first lock-in level. From there, the money jumps to $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, $50,000 and $100,000 for the 10th question.

The final questions get an even bigger bump, rising to $500,000, $1 million, $2.5 million, $5 million and finally $10 million.

"The rewards, if you get a question right, are phenomenal," Davies says. "The risks at that point -- as you're going from $1 million to $2.5 million or back down to $100,000 -- are also phenomenal."

To encourage contestants to keep playing for the biggest bucks, anyone who reaches the $100,000 will be given two new lifelines called Three Wise Men and Double Dip (the traditional 50/50, Ask the Audience and Phone a Friend lifelines will remain part of the game). Three Wise Men allows the player to consult with three trivia experts (men and women, Davies notes) who will be in a different part of the "Millionaire" studio. The experts will include a mix of journalists, academics and past game-show champions.

Double Dip allows a player to take two shots at answering a question. However, in exchange for the extra chance, players must commit to risking the money they've earned and cannot walk away.

"Super Millionaire" will also bring back the "Fastest Finger" preliminary round and a qualify-by-phone game for would-be contestants. The contestant phone line (800-999-7878) will open at 7 p.m. ET Monday, Feb. 16.

[Jimmy Owen]

I wonder if Dr. Ralph Doty is available?

[ezbidder]

summary:

1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000 (lock-in)
10,000
20,000
30,000
50,000
100,000 (lock-in and two more lifelines)
500,000
1 million
2.5 million
5 million
10 million

vs.

100
200
300
500
1,000 (lock-in)
2,000
4,000
8,000
16,000
32,000 (lock-in)
64,000
125,000
250,000
500,000
1 million

[MYosua]

...Interesting.
So if a constestant saves his/her 50:50 for an upper tier question, then using that combined with the "Double Dip" lifeline will automatically guarantee a correct answer.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about these changes until I see them in action.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'JTFriends1\' date=\'Feb 10 2004, 01:14 PM\'] The final questions get an even bigger bump, rising to $500,000, $1 million, $2.5 million, $5 million and finally $10 million.
 [/quote]
 Interesting. The Mo' Money aspect almost sickens me, but I just don't see a player attempting a $5 million (or even a $2.5 million) question unless they or one of the Wise Men know it FOR SURE. Too much to lose, and as far as I'm concerned, anything above a million is an incomprehensible amount of money. When you start moving from one incomprehensible amount of money to another, the game becomes meaningless. At $500K, people UNDERSTOOD the concept of losing $468K. At $1M? $900K is so close to $1M that I think the average person just can't fathom it. $2.4 MILLION? Fuggetaboutit.

[gameshowguy2000]

Wow! That means a total of FIVE Lifelines will be available in the new version! This should sound good!

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'MYosua\' date=\'Feb 10 2004, 01:38 PM\'] ...Interesting.
So if a constestant saves his/her 50:50 for an upper tier question, then using that combined with the "Double Dip" lifeline will automatically guarantee a correct answer.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about these changes until I see them in action. [/quote]
 I don't see them letting that happen. Since there is a stip that says once you decide to Double Dip, you're in for the duration (which I assume means if you pick once and miss you don't get to bail out halfway through), I would wager there is ALSO a stip that states it must be used alone. It's simply too powerful when combined with practically ANY other lifeline, save perhaps Ask The Audience.

[CaseyAbell]

My guess is that contestants won't be allowed to use the Double Dip lifeline with any other lifeline, just to avoid the 50-50 play.

BTW, mo' money never sickens me, especially when it's in my pocket. And I can see contestants risking a lot if they have the Double Dip and can confidently narrow the choices down to two. I'm sure that's the exact reason Davies wanted such an extremely powerful lifeline.

[inturnaround]

It's veddy interesting.I hope the Three Wise Men lifeline lasts longer than the PAF. I'd hope they'd get to confer for at least a minute or two after finding out the question. What's amazing is the leap between $100,000 and half a million. And that's where you get your free guess!

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Feb 10 2004, 03:46 PM\'] Wow! That means a total of FIVE Lifelines will be available in the new version! This should sound good! [/quote]
 Hey!
Woolery left Wheel!

[CarShark]

[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 10 2004, 03:50 PM\'] My guess is that contestants won't be allowed to use the Double Dip lifeline with any other lifeline, just to avoid the 50-50 play.

BTW, mo' money never sickens me, especially when it's in my pocket. And I can see contestants risking a lot if they have the Double Dip and can confidently narrow the choices down to two. I'm sure that's the exact reason Davies wanted that extremely powerful lifeline. [/quote]
 Same here, Casey. It's only Mo' Money to me if it's a crappy game to begin with. All good game shows should raise the stakes eventually, as what used to be considered a ton of money way back when just doesn't register with people anymore (Sorry, Mr. Lemon). Even the million dollar top prize just doesn't awe as many as it used to. I just hope that ABC plays this right, or they'll have to make someone a Billionaire just to climb out of fourth place.

I'm glad they finally decided on a better Cash Mountain than just multiplying everything by ten. That could have bankrupted ABC something fierce. Now, there is a serious consequence to answering every question past Number 10, as it should be.

[JayC]

They couldn't think of a more creative name for Three Wise Men?  How about "Ask the Experts"?

[J.R.]

My proposed prize table:

1: $1,000
2: $2,000
3: $3,000
4: $4,000
5: $5,000
6: $7,000
7: $10,000
8: $15,000
9: $25,000
10: $50,000
11: $100,000
12: $250,000
13: $500,000
14: $1,000,000
15: $10,000,000

(Looks at the actual prize table)

I wonder if anyone at ABC read my post ? : P

Chris, I'm more sickened that I have a really bad gut feeling that an opposing network will try to compete with "Super Millionaire" and have show that'll over a prize of $20,000,000.

-Joe R.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'JayC\' date=\'Feb 10 2004, 04:29 PM\'] They couldn't think of a more creative name for Three Wise Men?  How about "Ask the Experts"? [/quote]
 I kinda like it--as long as they don't make the panel wear robes and hats.

Three Wise Men was probably easier to come up with an icon for (although it would seem to me that it would be similar to ATA).

I wonder if they'll give the Wise Men a library set to work from--or even better, three isolation booths.

Oops--thought Jay Wolpert was working on this show.

[DrJWJustice]

[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Feb 10 2004, 03:46 PM\'] Wow! That means a total of FIVE Lifelines will be available in the new version! This should sound good! [/quote]
 Don't get your hopes up at all about this being 'good'.  I'm not as sickened by the Mo' Money Syndrome as Chris is, but I do agree with him -- I'm going to be very surprised if anyone goes past the $2.5 million question.  I do think we'll see at least one millionaire, though.