Clock: The clock has some pros but more cons. Now the good side is the way that contestants are more nervous, the music is more dramatic & the “banked” time. The downside; it ruins the game. “Millionaire” is a reality/game/part-talk show & the clock also destroys that endless cliffhanger feeling on wating. Plus, the clock makes the game even more impossible to win. Now, should the clock be trashed entirely? No. Instead, turn it into a shot clock (like the Aussie Millionaire did.) Have it be a 90-second shot clock and not seen to the contestant until 30 seconds, where then a warning signal would be given. Sure this clock will only be given when it takes too long for an answer (keeping the talk show part in the game.)

Qualifications: The audition process is mediocrely ok. The only problem; you have to look good for the producers. The “Phone Game” was fantastic then and is now. How about putting them together. You can either do the audition (which can also help for the syndicated Millionaire) or a hybrid version of the “Phone Game”. This hybrid would combine the format of the game from the original primetime version & “Super Millionaire”. You dial the number and have five questions to get through with 10 seconds for each. Any wrong answer ended the came & call- no callbacks. The ones that got it correct selects a tape date and is put in a group of 400 people. The group that is selected from the pool then compete against each other for six slots. The other six would be contestants who auditioned for the game. Whichever way, the qualified will be put in a hotel at ABC’s expense.

Ring of Fire: The game is still immensely popular on GSN & syndication & many people would like to go on the primetime return. So, the ring should expand to twelve finalists. There would be four seats for each edge of the ring. And since there’s some video game geeks who say they’re faster due to how fast they press the buttons on the controlers, a filling of the gender gap: Six guys on one side; six women on the other. And, as mentioned above; there will be contestants in the mix with six contestants that auditioned for the game & six that did the “Phone Game” to go on.

Money Tree: Now, $1,000,000 is fantastic, but because of NBC & “Deal or No Deal”, million dollar games are becoming inflated. So, the money should grow. There are three board ideas:

For $5 Million:

•$5,000,000*
•$2,500,000
•$1,000,000
•$500,000
•$250,000
•$125,000*
•$64,000
•$32,000
•$25,000
•$16,000
•$8,000*
•$4,000
•$2,000
•$1,000
•$500

For $2.5 Million:

•$2,500,000*
•$1,000,000
•$750,000
•$500,000
•$250,000
•$125,000*
•$64,000
•$32,000
•$25,000
•$20,000
•$15,000*
•$10,000
•$7,500
•$5,000
•$2,500

And for $1 Million:

•$1,000,000*
•$750,000
•$500,000
•$250,000
•$200,000
•$125,000*
•$64,000
•$32,000
•$25,000
•$10,000
•$7,500*
•$5,000
•$2,500
•$1,000
•$500

Lifelines: Some new things. Original three lifelines (50/50;Ask the Audience;Phone-A-Friend) with some new adaptaions;
Phone-A-Friend would be responsored by AT&T & would also have the contestant’s five pre-selected friends & would also ahve name, place & picture.
Ask the Audience would be re-expanded by AOL and the AOL Instant Messenger, so everyone can play
Also, additional lifelines. When reaching the 1st safe haven, contestant gets Switch The Question (which will go down to two answers if 50/50 was used before.) When the contestant reaches the 2nd safe haven, the contestant will get Double Dip & Ask the Council (which the contestant asks the Millionaire Council the question and 60 seconds to get an answer by the entire council. There are 8 council members [4 are local NYC icons, 3 are game show champions,and 1 is a Myster Member]).
And, as for the $1,000,000 board, $250,000 will be a 3rd safe haven if someone loses $750,000. As for the first two boards, an idea (in consideration to the blogger that got the idea) called the “Progressive Jackpot” will be on the $500,000 mark and will add by $5000 every time refused. If won, the amount will be like a 3rd safe haven & The Jackpot additions will add to the board (ex.: $500,000+$115,000 Progressive Jackpot addition= $615,000 for contestant (no matter what)= $5,615,000/$3,115,000 to play for.

Miscellaneous: All graphics from the syndicated version carried over to primetime, including logo; a new Lifeline Bar will return; all camera shots from the original primetime version & “Super Millionaire”, plus with some new shots will be added to this revival; the screen above will be used regularly on this revival & the opening will be a revised version to the other opening used in the game’s history. Plus, “Enhanced TV” will expand to GSN.com!

Whew, that’s a mouthfull!!!

I don’t have a strong opinion about the clock. I don’t think it would have hurt me when I was in the hot seat, but it means the show can no longer ask certain types of questions that require systematic thought and analysis, which is unfortunate. To those who complain about past contestants who rambled and babbled, blame the producers and the editors. They decide which parts make it on the air and which parts get cut out.

I noticed that tonight’s National Spelling Bee had a clock. Each contestant could take up to 2.5 minutes for each word in every round. That produced a heck of a lot more stalling and dead air than WWTBAM ever had, and it’s a live broadcast, so nothing gets edited out. It was scheduled to last for 2 hours, but ran over by about 15 minutes. As far as I know, viewers found the format compelling. The focus was on the words and the agony and triumph of trying to spell them. I don’t know why the same principles wouldn’t also apply to “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.”

And as for Sam’s contention that the clock somehow has something to do with the lack of a $1m winner in six years, I find that to be a ridiculous argument .. show me a time where someone who really knew their stuff was simply snuffed out by the clock rather than because they’ve exhausted their lifelines and didn’t know the answer to their last question? Didn’t happen. If you can’t reason an answer to a question in 45 seconds, you don’t know the answer :p .. If you take out all the banter during Carpenter’s run, I bet he didn’t spend more than 30 seconds deliberating on each question.

The clock is awesome. :D

(Maybe they just want to have episodes take a set amount of time to tape. Without a clock, taping just could go on and on.)

Assuming the 50/50 was truly random, it would still leave the most-likely wrong answer an average of one-third of the time, fueling cynicism that it wasn’t random. Some contestants got help, others didn’t, so the double-dip is a “choose your own 50/50” of sorts.

So those could be your 11 potential experts, if they choose to bring back the 11 proven contestants who actually accomplished the goal that gave the show its name. (Robert Essig is a special case — he also won a million, but stopped three questions short of the top prize.)

It’s fun to speculate and imagine what each of us would do if we were the producers. I’m excited about seeing Regis back where he belongs. I hope that most of the key elements of the original format will be restored, and that viewers will again catch the spirit and party like it’s 1999!

Good luck to Regis, the contestants, the producers, and everyone else who is making this happen.

Also, does anyone know if they’ll continue the standard Ring of Fire format where ten contestants per episode or will they simply add a contestant when one is already in the hot seat?