29Dec2007
TOP 07 OF 07: Number Three
Number three on our countdown is from one of my personal favorite new shows: CBS’s Power of 10. It’s not often you get a major winner on a primetime game show. However, on the first game on the first episode of the Drew Carey hosted show, first contestant Jamie Sadler won the second biggest prize; $1,000,000; in an extremely exciting finish. He decided not to go for the top prize of $10,000,000 which proved to be wise. Fantastic casting for a fantastic show made for a fantastic win. Only Michael Davies and Embassy Row on mass can take such a tiny idea and make it a fun game. Take a look.
I know what the final two will be:
The Grand Slam finale will be in number two and either Barker’s retirement or Drew Carey’s debut on TPIR would be the number one moment.
I agree with how such a tiny idea from Michael Davies does turn out to be a fun game. I’ve said it number of times and I’ll say it again this is a show that would be fun to have to play on DVD, PC or even a board game of this. I also like the first part of it the best 3 out of 5 thing which throws in some competition to this show and makes it fun too.
I was expecting this to be number one with how much you’ve been deservedly praising the show.
my only gripe and it’s a nitpick is that Drew always re-introduces himself after commerical breaks but maybe in the next run he’ll stop doing that. But i don’t think we’ll ever see a $10 million winner.
Now I’m thinking Drew’s TPIR debut at 2 and the Grand slam finale at 1.
I was thinking the same thing as Mark. I also agree with you that I was a little tired of Drew re-introducing himself after ever commercial. He seems not to do that on TPIR so hopefully this will carry over. This game has to make the $10,000,000 question a little easier for the contestant. Therefore, I have the following suggestion for CBS:
Question 1 ($1,000): 50% range. (Yes, I know it’s half the scale but who wants to see a contestant lose on question one?)
Question 2 ($10,000): 40% range
Question 3 ($100,000): 30% range
Question 4 ($1,000,000): 20% range
Question 5 (Yes, a 5th question for the big money ‘$10,000,000′): 10% range
I would also like to see a 1 vs. 100 and Greed element to this game. A contestant can only walk after the question but Drew can give the category of the survey question.
Just some ideas from me, what does everybody think?
A great moment indeed. The Power of 10 could prove to be the next really BIG thing in primetime games, and hopefully it will continue to spur more great games as well, which could include Million Dollar Password in ’08. And if Duel makes a few tweaks and changes, it could also be great if it comes back.
However, I am also in the boat that the $10,000,000 question should be reformatted so a win can actually happen. It would be mega-historic if it did, but under the current “exact guess” rule, it seems extremely unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely.
For now, here’s to more BIG moments and wins in 2008!
One question: How could a low-rated cable show with the worst possible choice for commentator and a pop-culture round could beat a timeless show than is running strong for 35 years now? If this is the case, Alex, you lost a regular reader.
Who said it was going to be Grand Slam’s Finale? Remember this is Buzzerblog’s opinion. If it is not your opinion fine, but it is there opinion. This is not the GSN boards where you can get away with your little crap, so you don’t have Guide Angel to save you. This is Alex’s board, and he can do whatever he wants to.
Now back to the topic at hand.
I really enjoyed seeing this again. It is one of the greatest moments in Game Show history. Hopefully we have more like this in 2008.
Also on this, there is NO IGNORE LIST!
Power of 10 is an excellent show. I can see it becoming the next big prime time game show. Michael Davies was a genius for giving the Card Sharks format a twist. I hope Power of 10 lasts quite a while.
I think that if Power of 10 wants to see someone risk it for the $10M, they should make the risk $500K instead of $900K. Still a big risk, but it would be more likely that someone would go for it.
There’s also the statistical problems.
Any reputable poll comes with a confidence interval — a range that says that the sample you took represents the population you took it from, accurate to within so many degrees with a certain probability. Technojargon, but what it means is, no poll ever claims to give a precise result, not like Power of 10′s final round suggests. If their poll says 27% of the poll sample are feminists, then something *like* 27% of American women are feminists, but that number isn’t exact. Therefore, the first four questions ask about America in general, but the last asks about the poll sample alone.
I wouldn’t try for the 10 million-dollar question on principle.
This is a great moment!
as far as the last 2 moments are concerned, I think #2 is either Drew Carey’s TPiR Debut/Perfect Show or Grand Slam’s Finale and #1 is Bob Barker’s Final TPiR.
I can see such a simple game show was a hit, they needed a simple tiny host. Drew is not a major star. Although this comment has nothing to do with TPIR but was mentioned in another part, Drew is as funny as Bob Saget or Bush. What talent did CBS and Fremantlemedia pass up on before picking Drew? A sad dark era in TPIR history. Hopefully it will last only 1 season. Drew’s timing is off. He either takes too long or too quick. TPIR is the only successful game show that has aired that long on CBS. If he doesn’t get replaced and ratings drop, I fear the game show will get cancelled because of Drew. Like Family Feud, they had talented people but when they got rid of those 2 and had an unknown person as host, the only thing that Family Feud has in common with TPIR is that the show itself is the only thing that is still keeping it from getting cancelled.
You couldn’t be more wrong Anonymous.
Drew’s certainly gone over pretty well, and Bob was losing his edge too. Whether Drew was better than Bob, or indeed the other alternatives, is an open question, but he’s done more than enough to keep the TPIR show on the road.
Which is completely not what I was expecting after seeing this clip of him practically begging the guy to risk $900,000. (Major props to Jamie for not going along with it, he must have felt under a lot of pressure to take the risk.) Yes, it wasn’t prepared; no, that doesn’t make it better, it makes it worse, it implies this is what Drew is actually thinking at that point. Thankfully we’ve not seen him act anything like this since; however, we’ve not seen another person get to this point, and if he pulls the same stunt on the next person who does, I for one am going to be furious.
But the initial $1m win is a superb moment. Who would have thought that, with the other three networks practically falling over themselves for a jackpot win on a $1m show, they’d be beaten to it by the very first contestant on the very first primetime game CBS had put on in this wave. And, I guarantee you, the only post-DoND show that will outlast DoND, though Fifth Grader might have a good syndie run (to be honest, it belongs in syndication, it’s a good comedy show ruined by being a Millionaire clone).
Another thing I’ve noticed while reading this site is that just because a game show has multiple choice general knowledge questions, a money scale summiting at $1,000,000, or both it’s considered a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire clone. Millionaire’s its own show because the stress and Regis Philbin. Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader is its own show because it takes the initiative to show the average adult’s stupidity. Don’t Forget The Lyrics is its own show because who doesn’t love karoke and Wayne Brady’s physical comedy. Deul is its own show because of the poker chips and head-to-head action.
Well, Fanta555, I’ll concede Duel and DFTL…but if you really think about it, 5th Grader IS a Millionaire clone…that is, if you simplify it enough.
Millionaire: Certain money ladder culminating in the million + two “safe havens” + three (now four) lifelines + walkaway option.
5th Grader: Certain money ladder culminating in the million + one “safe haven” + three “cheats” (essentially lifelines, if you think about it) + walkaway option.
The gameplay is pretty much the same either way…it’s just the presentation that distinguishes the two. But they’re the exact same game.
Well, dropzone5, i’ll concede your reasoning. I’m just a fan of Jeff Foxworthy’s; sorry if I came off as cocky.