“Millionaire” Gets a New Money Chain Today
Just a small reminder that Who Wants to be a Millionaire‘s new money chain begins today. The show starts off with a bang now, at a $500 question and just five right answers now earns the contestant $5,000. Five more for $25,000 with questions 6, 7, and 8 being worth more money. Question 9 only goes down to $15,000 and the rest is the same. That may have changed but it’s still 15 questions to $1,000,000 and best of all no disco music. Here’s the chain in full, courtesy of the show.
Question #1 – $500 (formerly $100)
Question #2 – $1,000 (formerly $200)
Question #3 – $2,000 (formerly $300)
Question #4 – $3,000 (formerly $500)
Question #5 – $5,000 – “Safety Level” (formerly $1,000)
Question #6 – $7,500 (formerly $2,000)
Question #7 – $10,000 (formerly $4,000)
Question #8 – $12,500 (formerly $8,000)
Question #9 – $15,000 (formerly $16,000)
Question #10 – $25,000 – “Safety Level”
Question #11 – $50,000
Question #12 – $100,000
Question #13 – $250,000
Question #14 – $500,000
Question #15 – $1,000,000
Again, more money is fine to me but that $12,500 sticks out horribly.
I really don't get the continued comments that "$12,500 sticks out" in some what that other amounts don't. There's no rocket science to where that number came from. As has been pointed out elsewhere, EVERY amount in the 2nd tier is $2,500 more than the one before it. Then, when you get to the $25,000 level, the tree kicks back to normal (or, what's been normal for a few years now).
I really do get the $2,500 increase, but it's a $7,500 risk for a $2,500 gain.
It's cool that they adjusted the scores of their "Tournament if Ten" players to reflect the new money tree.
Other than that now $500 softball, the new tree doesn't bother me much.
I think they are banking on most contestants going for $25,000 and not really carinmg about the risks along the way. But you are right; the $12,500 level could be a disincentive and could result in more walkaways. Time will tell….
It is strange how they try to add more money in the game but the $15,000 slot is $1,000 less than what it was. This is what I think it should be:
15;$1,000,000
14:$500,000
13:$300,000
12:$200,000
11:$100,000
10:$50,000***
9: $25,000
8: $12,500
7: $10,000
6: $7,500
5: $5,000***
4: $4,000
3: $3,000
2: $2,000
1: $1,000
That's right, 8 is 12,500. any way I think they had it right the first time.
The creators of Millionaire stressed this:
"We wanted to create a prize structure that would allow for the duplication of amounts until the contestant reached one million dollars."
The very first concieved prize ladder went as this:
1- $61.03
2- $122.07
3- $244.14
4- $488.28
5- $976.56
6- $1,953.13
7- $3,906.25
8- $7,812.50
9- $15, 625
10- $31,250
11- $62,500
12- $125,000
13- $250,000
14- $500,000
15- $1,000,000
That is why ALTHOUGH these amounts looked horrible – the producers eventually settled on ALL OF THE amounts ALWAYS doubling (excluding the first tier and 64,000 > 125,000 questions).
In this new ladder I see, it's more of ADDITION, then multiplication. I'm seeing:
5 – $5,000 and then …
6 – $2,500+
7 – $2,500+
8 – $2,500+
9 – $2,500+
Gross, digusting and nasty looking.
Almost worse then the initially concieved tree!
I rather have every question $100 through the first 14 & then $1000,000.
I’m ok with the new money chain. $5,000 is now the new “first safety level”, so contestant will go home with a good chunk of change. As for the people complaining about the $15,000 level, remember this, the $25,000 level was once $32,000. All in all, it’s all good.
No one's complaining about the $15k level.
Funny how when Alex said "no disco music" and then something was wrong at Millionaire cause the first couple of sounds played such as "win milestone" were pitch-increased which sounded a whole lot worse then disco, haha!
seems millionaire producers are taking from are you smarter than a 5th grader producers and forcing contestants to risk more than they stand to gain. I like asf's chain but at some levels it's not an even risk if a change was necessary here's what I would have done:
15. $1,000,000
14. $500,000
13. $250,000
12. $100,000
11. $75,000
10. $50,000))))))
9. $25,000
8 $15,000
7. $10,000
6. $7,500
5. $5,000 ))))
4. $2,500
3. $1,000
2. $500
1. $250
notice at no pint is a contestant forced to risk more than they stand to gain. and T>C> the values didn't quite double every time in the 1st 5 ques but who cares about those?
I think this is a good tree.
People aren't as impressed with the notion of the money doubling anymore. Sure when the show debut, the idea of $4000 suddenly turning to $8000 seemed stunning, but now no one seems to bat an eye at it. I think this tree does the best for all three tiers.
By adding more money to the first tier, suddenly I find myself caring more about the first 5 questions.
By only increasing the payouts of the 2nd tier by $2,500 it puts more pressure to reach $25,000
And now because the 2nd tier's pay structure is so small, the third tier's numbers seem much much bigger now when you watch it.
This new money tree will make the average payouts more comparable to other game shows, and actually you'll notice the $15,000 is taking the place of $16,000, which is where most people opt to walk away. So in reality they might actually save some dough in the long run. :P
I know :)
I said excluding the first tier = Q1-4
and exlcuding 64 > 125k
I wonder what happens if the two previous $16,000 winners who were on the money tree (and now have changed to $15,000) get BUMPED by other NEW $15,000 winners because they have a better time.
AND THEN what happens if it comes down to the final 10th and 11th spot, it DEPENDS ON TIME! Now the NEW $15,000 winners have a better time then the old $16,000 winners So the old $16,000 winner gets BUMPED because they got converted to $15,000 and had a worse time BUT IN REALITY they ORIGINALLY won $1,000 more then the NEW $15,000 winner…
haha… funny tagent.
but im sure the actual value of the dolar wouldn't factor so much as time. Since $15000 and $16000 were the same level of difficulty, you can't penalize someone who came in after the money change.
But I'll wager there isn't a single $16,000 winner in the tournament of 10 when November rolls around. There may only be 1 or 2 $25,000 winners.
Wow, you really think people will do that good!?
The 15,000 makes almost no difference and the idea is that the same amount can be won on that question now as can be lost, so that one level at least makes sense.
Someone above did, actually.
Think about last season, most contestants really did make it to $25,000 a lot because of the changes. (In fact, the average total winnings per contestant last season was $27,000.) With 2 months of shows before the tournament of ten stipulation starts, personally I do think the $25,000 winners will be the lowest on the board.
Another thing is… had I devised this I would have made the rule people who got to $50,000 but then lost it are higher placed than people who got to $25,000 but then got the $50,000 question wrong… and then lifeline usage probably should have counted before time as well (perhaps if you got question 1 right and didn't use a lifeline, you got 3 points, 1 for each lifeline you still had at the end of the question.) Time should have been the FINAL factor—and that possibly would have made contestants care about interrupting Meredith a little bit less.
Nevermind that, Alexandra Wentworth = Worst "expert" ever. She is a perfect 0-7 going into Friday's game. What possessed the producers to CONSIDER this moron an epxert?
Honestly, I don't know why they even bother to call it Who Wants to Be a Millionaire anymore. They've changed almost every aspect of the show now. They've gotten rid of the original host, the original money tree, the original music, the original graphics, the original method to get to the hotseat (i.e. the Fastest Finger), the original lifelines, and the original limitless time to answer the questions. The show does not even resemble at all what it started out as 10 years ago now. They should've just changed the name of the show when they started making all these inane changes, rather than ruining the once proud legacy of Millionaire as a top notch game show.
Just wanted to add that, all of these changes have made it more like all of those other boring TV game shows. They've ruined the strengths of Millionaire's format that made it stand out from the bunch, and consequently, what made it so popular.
I think the 12-quetion tree from the UK is a better option for a quick-paced daytime version of Millionire like this:
$1,000,000
$500,000
$250,000
$100,000
$64,000*
$32,000
$16,000
$8,000
$4,000*
$2,000
$1,000
$500
And, Alex, I have to disagree on some points. Yes, the music here is great, but I would like to see somebody go for $1,000,000 with this music:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CotRD2nYPrE
Genius
WOW!!!!!!!! That actually makes sense. I still think they shouldn't have changed it from what it was when it premiered 10 years ago.
Regis said it best. If it aint broke don't fix it. Speaking of Regis, he did quit didn't he because he was the perfect host. The show was a 15 out of 10 from day one.
Ok…I Don't get why everybody hates the new money tree. The Original was just fine.
Q1: $100
Q2: $200
Q3: $300
Q4: $500
Q5: $1,000
Q6: $2,000
Q7: $4,000
Q8: $8,000
Q9: $16,000
Q10: $32,000
Q11: $64,000
Q12: $125,000
Q13: $250,000
Q14: $500,000
Q15: $1,000,000 or A REALLY ODD MONEY TREE?
and then there's the new one…
Q1: $500
Q2: $1,000
Q3: $2,000
Q4: $3,000
Q5: $5,000
Q6: $7,500
Q7: $10,000
Q8: $12,500
Q9: $15,000
Q10: $25,000
Q11: $50,000
Q12: $100,000
Q13: $250,000
Q14: $500,000
Q15: $1,000,000. You Decide which one is better.
I think the 15-quetion tree from the UK is a better option for a quick-paced daytime version of Millionire like this:
15 $1,000,000
14 $500,000
13 $250,000
12 $150,000
11 $75,000
10 $50,000
9 $25,000
8 $20,000
7 $15,000
6 $10,000
5 $5,000
4 $3,000
3 $2,000
2 $1,000
1 $500