“Minute to Win It”: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
If you read this site you’re well aware that I was a bit hard on Minute to Win It at first because it was so unrelentingly a clone of the ITV game show The Cube. It hasn’t stopped me from watching occasionally, though; and the more I watch the more the show seems to be trying to distance itself from The Cube and become it’s own product. This was not more evident than on this past weekend’s episode, a Last Man Standing special. This what the show should strive for.
Minute to Win It‘s Last Man Standing started with ten contestants and eliminated them one by one in various timed and untimed games. The ultimate winner won $100,000 and a guaranteed shot at the million. This episode brought in some of the best moments the show has had because it attempted to do something different and make the show away from the shadows of others. In particular, this was the most thrilling and intense episode they’ve had yet and it brought essentially the first heart-pounding moment of the entire series thus far. It came in the game Ping Tac Toe, and it was really intense. It’s the first time Minute has been able to do something this intense.
I’ve noticed they got away from their Millionaire clone set and now, accidentally, it looks like it’s taking place in a college gym with the wood floor everywhere. But regardless, it looks a lot brighter and opposite of the show everyone compares it to, so that’s another plus. The show’s gotten a lot faster and they’ve ditched all traces and awkward edits from removing the models and mammoth smoke machines, so good on them. They’re really trying here. It just took them a really long time.
Possibly too late, though, and that’s a bit bad. This show has the strangest ratings pattern I’ve ever seen. It hasn’t really lost or gained any viewers so it’s definitely got its audience. The issue is that it’s just small. It’s regularly below six million viewers and anywhere else it would be deemed a failure and off the air quickly despite its costs, but it’s NBC and they need something. It’s just the strangest thing I’ve seen. It hasn’t even lost any viewers from the debut. New and old episodes get the same exact ratings. You don’t see that often.
The ugly comes from their million dollar game Super Coin. The blueprint for the game is below.
I know a million dollars should be hard to win and rightfully so. However, they are trying to make this game seem winnable and express their shock that no one’s done it. It doesn’t matter if there’s no risk. Making someone toss a quarter from fifteen feet away, bouncing it off a table, into a container with an opening less than two inches, while under that extreme pressure with lights, audience, and money on the line is not going to happen. I know, there’s a clip of someone doing it on YouTube. The difference is they did that for four to five minutes and sped it up, and that’s without the added pressure. It’s downright impossible to win the million under the normal format. Maybe someone can get lucky in one of these games where there is no risk, but not a single person is going to gamble $500,000 to do this, since it’s down to luck. I’d like to see some other million dollar games come into play. If you want to pretend the show is winnable, you have to actually have something that’s not next to impossible to do.
And this is why I do think if they ever want anyone to get far enough in the game to give the illusion that winning the million dollars is something that’s in the realm of possibility, they need to continue stunts and alternate formats like this. It made for the best all-around episode they’ve done yet.
I agree that the Last Man Standing format made M2WI a lot better. The regular format has a lot of pitfalls; if someone gets 40 seconds into a game and obviously has no chance to succeed, it kills the drama. Games like Bobblehead are just 60 seconds of wasted time in single-player, but become a spectacle with a crowd (and you get to at least count down the row afterwards for some suspense).
I don't see anything wrong with having a super-hard million dollar game, though… if they'd only change it so that there's no risk. Where is it written in the laws of game shows that you HAVE to lose everything if you play on and fail?
The upside of having a super-hard final game is that it doesn't come off as cheap, if and when someone wins, it'll be an amazing moment. It might even become a viral video hit.
Along with you, I've seen only a few episodes. While I want to hate the show for what it originally set out to be, it isn't a show that I'll quickly turn away once I start watching it. It's a reasonably enjoyable show with it's fair share of dramatic and emotional moments. And even though they've successfully made the transition to make their own show, I still see an issue with one facet of the game: the ability to know what you're getting yourself into.
In the last episode I caught, a girl lost on the $250,000 game after several tries. I can't say there wasn't enough drama when, at that point, she risked a large portion of her winnings to play some "mystery game". But when she came out a failure in the end, I was as upset as the in-studio family members who were rooting her on.
I wonder: Is this show better (in any sense–dramatic, emotional, etc.) with the current factor of blind risk, or could it be improved by giving the contestants the knowledge of the next game before they gamble their winnings?
I agree whole-heartedly. LMS format brought something we haven't seen before, and something we probably couldn't see in The Cube. The Cube also has being winnable going for it – an extreme difficulty of a game you've already played is just tempting enough to make you want to play it, even with no safety net of $50K. I'm really hoping we'll hear something from CBS about it soon.
Let me add my baritone to the choir of support for the "Last Man Standing" format of "Minute To Win It". This new wrinkle adds to the pace of the show, and some of the moments have been tense indeed.
There was one incident in "Johnny Applestack", however, that left me wondering what was going on. One of the players–as it turned out, the one who would go on to win the $100,000–had stacked his apples so that one of them was on its side, not upright. Even Guy Fieri noted this, and there was a close-up. However, there was no disqualification. One wonders if there had been such a decision, would it have generated more controversy.
I do not know if the written-down rules for "Johnny Applestack" require the apples to be upright. The fact that the Voice mentions the five knobs on the bottom of a Red Delicious would suggest that might be so. One suspects that, if there is not such a requirement in the rules, there will be in future.
The proposal was a bit much, though! However, I can see how the producers could have worked it in, if this chap had, in pre-show interviews, made clear his desire to take his light o'love to wife. As the music seems all out of the can, they could find the appropriate tunes to play for just such an occasion.
Here's hoping that they go to this format exclusively for episodes to be taped from here on. It's a real winner, and makes "Minute To Win It" not only distinct from "The Cube", but also from such precursors as "Beat The Clock". It's also adaptable should MTWI be fixed up as a syndicated half-hour: just cut the initial contestant pool down to five.
I thought the last man standing approach was an excellent idea and hope to see it again.
I gotta agree about Supercoin. As much as I think the million dollar game should be almost unreasonably hard, if I were on the show, there is no way in hell I would bet $450,000 that I could pull that off in a minute, even with 3 lives, (but maybe I'm the only one.) I think the best thing there is to recreate the money ladder so that every third game is a safe haven, and you get a free shot at the million. I'm thinking something like 1k, 2500, 5000, 10k, 25k, 50k, 100k, 150k, 250k, 1m.
As for the blind risk idea, perhaps they show you two blueprints, and tell you one will be chosen at random before you're asked to play on. At least then they have some sort of idea.
I dunno, just my 2 cents there.
Well, I enjoyed the last man standing format, and I actually prefer it to the overdone "stay or play" format, even if it does take away from the meaning of "Minute to Win It." What I might suggest is that each round does have a time limit, and those who fail are eliminated. When there's only one player left, the player is guaranteed to leave with the money from that level and can keep going for the million, just like in the $64,000 Challenge of the 1950s.
I don't get it…DOND makes getting the million easier, and that idea gets panned. NBC realizes the mistake, and makes the million (in MTWI) a lot more difficult to win…and the idea gets panned. According to that, NBC can't win!
To me, "Last Man Standing" was to MTWI as "Million Dollar Mission" was to DOND.
Think about it…it makes it easier to go for the million…but, in no way does it guarantee the million. On DOND, even if there were 13 million dollar cases, it never guaranteed a winner. The two people who actually won the million on DOND had a lot fewer than 13 cases…but, they still had to pick the right case AND stick with it.
Both shows require luck and skill….DOND required you to pick the right case and keep it…MTWI requires you to know the game your facing, the hope that knowable games come up, the willingness to risk money, and the skill to be able to conquer tougher games for bigger money.
Of course there are some differences…but, I see a lot of similarities, as well.
I was surprised that they played Supercoin after the very similar Ping Tac Toe. Bounce (Item A) off (Table B) and hope it lands in (Item C). I think the contestant made Supercoin look a lot harder than it is. He was right-handed, stood off to the side, and bounced the quarters off at an angle as fast as he could. Little consistency, except for being wide left. If he had stood directly behind the table, bounced them on their sides a little slower, he could have gauged what strength and place on the table worked best. I'm not saying he'd have won, but he would have been a heck of a lot closer than what he ended up being. He just did it the worst way possible.
Going back to Ping Tac Toe, I think the same could be said for the woman who lost it solo a couple weeks back. She went too fast and at too flat an arc.
^"As for the blind risk idea, perhaps they show you two blueprints, and tell you one will be chosen at random before you're asked to play on. At least then they have some sort of idea."
But, knowing game shows, the stunt picked "at random" will be based on what they want the contestant to win — the hard one for a loss, or the easy one for a win.
If the show DOES do the "Here's two stunts and one will be chosen at random", and it's anything like the 50:50 on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?", trust me when I say that people will be calling shenanigans.
Just caught the latest sweeps-month episode of "Minute to Win It", with Kevin Jonas (of the Jonas Brothers, in case somebody has been under the proverbial rock all this time), playing for charity. K. Jonas won $250,000 for his charity, which is more than anyone else has won on this show.
Mostly used were games that do not lend themselves to the "Last Man Standing" format, such as '"Junk In The Trunk", "Matchmaker" and the eventual nemesis, "Don't Blow The Joker'.
All this transpired on the new set, which does look enough unlike that of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" to give it some distinction.
Yeah, but in spite of all the hype, the JoBro episode only saw at most a 25% increase in viewers (was averaging about 5.5 mill, went up to 6.7 mill). Honestly, I expected more. Will those viewers come back? Or they only watch cuz K2 was there?
Glad to see Guy changed his shirt, too. :)
At this point, NBC will take any increase in viewership that it can get! Ever since the Winter Olympics ended, they are desperate!
We'll know that "Minute To Win It" is in trouble when, as and if it can't outdraw the Mexican soap-operas on Univision! There are shows on the Peacock's Nest that can't beat a telenovela!
We can always wait for the only good thing on NBC: Sunday Night Football
I have to say that the Last Man Standing format should be the new format for the show. Also i agree with Jim’s idea of the money tree with every third game a safe haven and also the two blueprint idea for the next game. Yet they need another partner in game. i know its another rant about 1 vs 100 but the show actually wasnt too bad. my idea is to use a format very similar to the xbox live version. have not only the contestant play against the mob but also have the ppl in the audience play (referred as the crowd, like the live show.) also, have the crowd get some cash on the spot (have the point structure of the live game be used except with cash). as for the payoff for the contestant, revert back to the original except extend to 14 questions with the amounts as $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 $5,000 $6,000 $8,000 $10,000 $12,500 and $15,000. new contestants will come straight from the crowd at random with their winnings. also i like the idea of MTWI being syndie-adapted, so how about a 1v100/MTWI syndie block?
I really love this show! It’s really fun and so cool for kids and adults of all ages! I mean it’s so much fun to do at home and anybody can do it! I think everyone should just sit down and watch another episode and reevaluate everything . . . you won’t be disappointed!
We have played these games at a party I went to and it was great fun. Even if you do not like the show you have to enjoy the games, well if you try them.