Lifeline Change on WWTBAM

[GrandMasterGalvatron]

I'd say this is about the equivalent of killing one of the Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy round.  Might work better for production, but you're gonna irk the viewerbase a great deal.

[mcsittel]

[quote name=\'WilliamPorygon\' post=\'227929\' date=\'Oct 6 2009, 10:54 PM\']Also, have they finished taping all the episodes for the "Tournament" That's Not Actually A Tournament of Ten yet, or are they making this change in the middle of that?  Not that they can't make the change before the "tournament" ends, but then the players who appear after the PAF is removed are at a disadvantage there, leaving another bad taste in my mouth.[/quote]

The Tournament episodes taped September 23 and 24.

[TheLastResort]

Who uses phones anymore?  Why not "Text a Friend" or "Tweet a Friend"?

[Jimmy Owen]

I can see why they would cut that from a production standpoint.  I would suggest  "Turn to a Friend" you have in the relationship seat in studio.

[tvmitch]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'227950\' date=\'Oct 7 2009, 08:18 AM\']I can see why they would cut that from a production standpoint.  I would suggest  "Turn to a Friend" you have in the relationship seat in studio.[/quote]
This is actually not a half-bad idea. Would really show the human side of these contestants and their in-studio counterpart. Opens up a dialogue to the friend after questions: "would you have known that?" etc.

[Mr. Armadillo]

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'227939\' date=\'Oct 7 2009, 01:00 AM\']As a n00b to the PAF circuit and as someone who is intrigued by the drama and excitement displayed when the lifeline is executed, I'm very disappointed by this news.[/quote]
Wait...there's a PAF circuit?  I can't imagine that TPTB would be too excited over that sort of thing.

[bandit_bobby]

Personally, I think this is another budget-saving measure for the show.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'GrandMasterGalvatron\' post=\'227941\' date=\'Oct 6 2009, 11:28 PM\']I'd say this is about the equivalent of killing one of the Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy round.  Might work better for production, but you're gonna irk the viewerbase a great deal.[/quote]I suppose, but I think this is worse. At least you still have a Daily Double to work with. Ask the Audience allows you a freebie on the low levels; Double Dip might get you out of trouble, but the only bit of assistance that's truly helpful on the upper levels is Phone-a-Friend/

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'227950\' date=\'Oct 7 2009, 05:18 AM\']I can see why they would cut that from a production standpoint.  I would suggest  "Turn to a Friend" you have in the relationship seat in studio.[/quote]Australia's most recent non-sucky version of Millionaire had the contestant bring friends down to the studio in the same way, but it was still called Phone-a-Friend.

Here's my question, though. It's merely an inconvenience to ask three of your friends to be PAF for a day. But how many people do you know that would fly with you to New York, knowing that two of them won't get to be used, and maybe the third if the contestant flubs.

[TimK2003]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' post=\'227923\' date=\'Oct 6 2009, 11:12 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'227920\' date=\'Oct 6 2009, 07:56 PM\'][quote name=\'Fedya\' post=\'227919\' date=\'Oct 6 2009, 10:55 PM\']I suppose they don't want Phone-a-Google anymore....[/quote]
Somehow, I'm thinking this has less to do with preserving the sacred integrity of their game and more to do with making the TV show easier to produce.
[/quote]
BINGO, Matt.
After the addition of the clock to end the l-o-n-g "thinkings", the phone-a-friend was the only element that required editing in post.
[/quote]


Wouldn't the Ask An Expert also involve some editing as well?  There never seemed to be a time limit on how long a contestant can discuss the possible answers with the "expert".  And wasn't there a recent episode (primetime specials?) in which the expert apologized for taking so long to answer?

If they replace the 4th lifeline with another, I say go with "Switch The Question".

[CarShark]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' post=\'227923\' date=\'Oct 6 2009, 11:12 PM\']After the addition of the clock to end the l-o-n-g "thinkings", the phone-a-friend was the only element that required editing in post.[/quote]Hunh. That's new to me. Alex Davis mentioned the "drama" aspect of it, but I didn't know that factored in, as well. I thought modern producers weren't shy about using the editing booth.

[quote name=\'WilliamPorygon\' post=\'227929\' date=\'Oct 6 2009, 11:54 PM\']Well boo hoo.  What they either aren't realizing or don't care about is that they're making a game that nobody's won and few have come close to winning in seven years even more difficult with changes like the clock and the removal of the PAF.  Of all the current game shows, Millionaire is the one I care least about watching because it's practically a given that nobody's going to get past the quarter million, and it gets boring as heck watching an endless stream of contestants bail or blow it at the $10K-$50K levels.[/quote]I concur.

[colonial]

I've penned an article on the demise of PAF for CNN.com.  Check it out, and please leave comments!

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/07/ph...nger-available/

JD

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'227954\' date=\'Oct 7 2009, 08:31 AM\'][quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'227950\' date=\'Oct 7 2009, 05:18 AM\']I can see why they would cut that from a production standpoint.  I would suggest  "Turn to a Friend" you have in the relationship seat in studio.[/quote]Australia's most recent non-sucky version of Millionaire had the contestant bring friends down to the studio in the same way, but it was still called Phone-a-Friend.

Here's my question, though. It's merely an inconvenience to ask three of your friends to be PAF for a day. But how many people do you know that would fly with you to New York, knowing that two of them won't get to be used, and maybe the third if the contestant flubs.
[/quote]

It worked on Maury's "Twenty-One." At least it's not what did the show in. I can imagine them limiting it to one friend, presumably not your significant other in the audience.

[MSTieScott]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' post=\'227923\' date=\'Oct 6 2009, 11:12 PM\']After the addition of the clock to end the l-o-n-g "thinkings", the phone-a-friend was the only element that required editing in post.[/quote]
Doesn't Ask the Audience still take longer in-studio than it does on the air? Or have they gotten that down to real time?

[vtown7]

As of the taping that I attended last month, it took about 30-45 seconds to tabulate... that music kept playing over and over and over.

Ryan.

[tvrandywest]

[quote name=\'MSTieScott\' post=\'227980\' date=\'Oct 7 2009, 11:04 AM\'][quote name=\'tvrandywest\' post=\'227923\' date=\'Oct 6 2009, 11:12 PM\']After the addition of the clock to end the l-o-n-g "thinkings", the phone-a-friend was the only element that required editing in post.[/quote]
Doesn't Ask the Audience still take longer in-studio than it does on the air? Or have they gotten that down to real time?
[/quote]
Although right now I'm working for that company (Embassy Row), I haven't asked. I know from the voting element on other shows that it CAN be done in real time. I don't know if WWTBAM is doing it "live" - now that you mention it, likely not, with the graphic they use.

I thought modern producers weren't shy about using the editing booth.

Nobody is shy about post anymore. The last live-to-tape game (TPiR) is in the edit suite with every episode. But all producers do watch the number of hours. As they said for a season or two on TPiR: Time is Money

Randy
tvrandywest.com