Good news for Million Dollar Password fans: the show’s did very well in its first outing. It scored a 6.8/12 which is a pretty nice success story to them. Let’s see how ratings hold up as the show progresses, though. Again, I don’t think the game is that bad. The presentation is what really hurts the show, and that’s bound to (and hopefully will) improve in the weeks and months to come.
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2 responses to "Ratings for “Password” Fantastic"
I’m still not that enthralled with MILLION $ PASSWORD, even though I’ll likely watch it, unless something more captivating is on opposite it. I will, however, watch when Betty White “comes home.” As for the ratings, I am surprised; is it Regis, or the show itself that’s making the difference? Anyway, while I doubt this happens, it wouldn’t surprise me if the show “jumps the shark” after tonight. Or, worse, it suffers the same fate as POWER OF 10, where it did well enough initially to warrant a return, only to get kicked right in the “Nielsens;” then, kicked to the curb. I’m still not crazy at all about the the truncated PYRAMID-meets-MILLIONARE-like format; but, after all’s said and done, it’s still PASSWORD…an iconic game show that certainly deserves better than what Pof10 got.
Just a thought on game change if they keep this going past the current batch of episodes.
They should scrap the “safety” level, and simply have the rule be: if you lose, the game is over, and you fall back to your previous level for your winnings.
Considering how the current “ladder” is, this doesn’t affect the ladder too much, and it will give people more incentive I think to play further on. The only reason we had anyone play for the $250,000 is because that first guy did have a very winnable 5 passwords he was shown. The next one who got to see them, those words were definitely not conducive to risking $75,000 for $150,000 more (2 to 1), although risking 50k for 150k (3 to 1) might make it more appealing.
Going with my “ladder”, the only differences come at the 3rd round (you have $25k, if you lose, you go back to $10k, not keep your $25k), 5th round (you have $100k, if you lose, you go back to 50k, not 25k), and 6th round (having 250k, on a loss you still leave with 100k, not 25k).
I think this will especially important to get people to go for the million, as leaving with 100k will be much more of an appealing “consolation prize” than 25k. Overall, I think it gives more early risk (no 25k “safety net” in round 3, although you still get 10k if you miss), along with more incentive later on to “go for it”.