Top 09 of 2009: Number Five
Number five on our countdown isn’t a specific moment, but more a sweeping generalization of a show’s change. Only two shows had anything of any major note going on throughout the season. The one we’ll discuss is Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Throughout the year of 2009 it was the show that probably had the most adjustments and tweaks out of no where. Some of them were for the better and added something new and interesting to the show. Quite a few, though, were just confusing.
The three major changes were the addition of a new money chain, the Tournament of Ten, and the removal of what really is a pop culture item: Phone A Friend. Beyond the Tournament, none of them were really massively preplanned additions. The old double-up money chain, which really worked, became something a bit more bizarre in an effort to “give away more money,” or as I like it call it, “Getting people to stop earlier and not giving away $25,000 or more as often as usual.” I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’re having problems seeing people even get to $25,000 anymore. We’ll see even less when, out of no where, Phone A Friend gets removed in January. The producers said it’s to preserve the integrity of the game, but I still don’t buy that. Phone A Friend, to be frank, is a bit of a catch phrase engrained in pop culture. It gets referenced and used often and instantly links back to the show. Getting rid of it teeters on dumb unless it was for budgetary reasons. Phone A Friend still got referenced even by Experts on the lifeline Ask the Expert on the final week of shows.
The most prominent change of the year, though, was the Tournament of Ten. The top ten players from the first nine weeks of the season were invited back to play a million dollar question with no lifelines available. The contestant had to gamble his or her money for a chance at it. If they went for it and were right, they were in the lead for the $1,000,000 top prize. If they were wrong, they dropped back to $25,000. The weird part about it was that basically everyone had a correct guess and a good hunch but just wouldn’t risk it Even people only risking $25,000 of their original $50,000 to gain $950,000 wouldn’t gamble which completely stunned me. Only one did, Sam Murray, and in the end became the first person to leave with $1,000,000 from the show since Robert Essig won $1,000,000 by answering 12 of 15 questions on the short series Super Millionaire. Yeah, it would have been nice to see it done the natural way, but it was still interesting.
The most exciting moment of the tournament came with Jehan Shamsid-Deen, the number one seed (we’ll have more on her at a later date), playing her million dollar question letting the clock run down to nothing. As those last few seconds ticked down it got pretty intense. It was a bit anticlimactic to sit there for a few moments before even addressing the fact that someone won the million dollars, but the last minute of that clock was as intense a moment as we’ve seen in a very long time. Jehan has a knack for creating an exciting game. When it comes down to it, though, there has to have been a better way to handle it. If there was any excuse to bring back Fastest Finger, it would have been here to determine who gets to play and end it with the first person to answer. I know they wanted a set final date for the tournament but that’s what tune-in advisories are for and there was no point in watching until that final game.
Photo and video courtesy of Valleycrest Productions Ltd.
Gotta love that moment! Jehan did the right thing with the clock: letting the clock run out!! All those people who bailed out early on their questions with a minute or two left, could have used that extra time and, who knows, maybe the answer would've jumped out then! Also, that split-screen did add more excitement!
Gotta love that moment! Jehan did the right thing with the clock: letting the clock run out!! All those people who bailed out early on their questions with a minute or two left, could have used that extra time and, who knows, maybe the answer would've jumped out then! Also, that split-screen did add more excitement!
I just heard someone use the phrase "phone a friend" a few days ago. Better yet, it was a thirteen-year-old who has probably seen the show maybe once or twice in his life. Just goes to show you the effect that Millionaire, and specifically the Phone a Friend lifeline, has had on everyone.
In defense of the other tournament players quitting early, it's not entirely true. After noticing some sudden changes in the sync of the music and graphics on the show, and speaking to some of the tournament players, the majority of the questions were edited for time. I can vouch for at least two of the contestants besides Jehan who actually ran the clock down to zero before walking away on their million dollar question, but the show edited out most of it so it could fit in their time slot.
A good way to notice: Go back and look at each video. When the contestant walks away, pay attention to the bars on either side of the clock. After a few seconds, they "fade up" to the amount of time the contestant really had left when they walked away. Robin Schwartz was the most prominent as a good 3 or 4 circles lit up immediately during a camera switch during her question.
In defense of the other tournament players quitting early, it's not entirely true. After noticing some sudden changes in the sync of the music and graphics on the show, and speaking to some of the tournament players, the majority of the questions were edited for time. I can vouch for at least two of the contestants besides Jehan who actually ran the clock down to zero before walking away on their million dollar question, but the show edited out most of it so it could fit in their time slot.
A good way to notice: Go back and look at each video. When the contestant walks away, pay attention to the bars on either side of the clock. After a few seconds, they "fade up" to the amount of time the contestant really had left when they walked away. Robin Schwartz was the most prominent as a good 3 or 4 circles lit up immediately during a camera switch during her question.
I'm gonna miss phone a friend, the money tree is fine with me, and the tournament of 10 was pretty eventful (though i wish more people had gone for it.) I wish they did it normally by just lowering the difficulty, but people are bagging on Basin for having a easy batch, so i guess why they did it.
I'm gonna miss phone a friend, the money tree is fine with me, and the tournament of 10 was pretty eventful (though i wish more people had gone for it.) I wish they did it normally by just lowering the difficulty, but people are bagging on Basin for having a easy batch, so i guess why they did it.
I'm gonna miss phone a friend, the money tree is fine with me, and the tournament of 10 was pretty eventful (though i wish more people had gone for it.) I wish they did it normally by just lowering the difficulty, but people are bagging on Basin for having a easy batch, so i guess why they did it.