WWTBAM Bored

You riverboat gambler, you.


From Steve Beverly's 1/02/09 e-mail:

(6) "MILLION DOLLAR PASSWORD" PUTS A NEW SPIN ON A CLASSIC FORMAT

Some people love it, some hate it, and some are still not sure of it. "Million Dollar Password," the fifth attempt at the classic game that began on CBS in 1961, returned to its original network as a Sunday night summer series (with some Thursday episodes) in prime time.

Mounted by a heavy dose of the original "Millionaire" creative team (Vincent Rubino as executive producer and Mark Gentile as director), this was definitely not your father's "Password." The show had a distinctively "Millionaire" look in the opening graphics and original "WWTBAM" emcee Regis Philbin as host.

To call "Million Dollar Password" faster-paced than any of its predecessors is an understatement. As opposed to all of the previous editions, every round of the game is a race against the clock. The preliminary rounds bear a strong resemblance to "The $100,000 Pyramid" in structure.

The bonus rounds contain a climb-the-money hurdle format starting at $10,000 and ending with $1 million. However, the odds of a player winning the top jackpot are so risky that THE FIX suggested only a riverboat gambler of the ilk of former "WWTBAM" millionaire Ed Toutant would probably try for a "Password" million.

The game was helped during the summer run by the return as a celebrity player of Betty White, widow of original "Password" host Allen Ludden and arguably the most enduring queen of game show performers. "How I Met Your Mother" star Neil Patrick Harris was a well-focused rookie celebrity and Rosie O'Donnell restricted the bombastic side of her personality to demonstrate her talent and enthusiasm as a game show player. Rosie understood why she was there and played intelligently for her civilian contestant partners.

Unfortunately, "Million Dollar Password," probably abetted by interfering network executives, could not resist the interjection of young performers in the futile attempt to draw more 18-49 age viewers. The insertion of a pinup model and a "High School Musical" actress who were weak players did not help the show, nor attract that younger audience.

"Password" earned a six-show renewal as a bridge between editions of "The Amazing Race" on Sunday nights. Late in the year, William Shatner----television legend and game show veteran----played but struggled with the format. White returned for an encore on a Sunday edition that battled closely with NBC's Sunday Night Football in the ratings.

The revival is performing steadily enough to possibly earn another summer run or a shot in syndication in the fall of 2009, though Philbin would almost certainly not be part of a daily edition.

Thanks. It's nice to be remembered. That column is on my personal list of the top 10 things that happened in 2009 (as of Day 1). So far, this year is a big improvement over last year, and I hope it continues so for everyone here. My avatar depicts how I started last year.

Since when does Ed gamble on a riverboat?

Does Ray know this?

Watched the first episode of Password last night on the Tivo. Shatner really was pretty bad although the other "celebrity", who I remember from 24, was pretty good. I didn't pay that much attention to the format but I thought I recalled that if someone gambled on going for 250K and won it would be guaranteed, thus making the shot at the million a free run right?

Of course the gamble is on making the 250K although adding 150K at the risk of 75K might be worth it for some. The words do get pretty tough at that level though even if they do show them in advance.

tanstaafl2 wrote:Watched the first episode of Password last night on the Tivo. Shatner really was pretty bad although the other "celebrity", who I remember from 24, was pretty good. I didn't pay that much attention to the format but I thought I recalled that if someone gambled on going for 250K and won it would be guaranteed, thus making the shot at the million a free run right?

Of course the gamble is on making the 250K although adding 150K at the risk of 75K might be worth it for some. The words do get pretty tough at that level though even if they do show them in advance.

You've got the rules right, tanstaafl. Besides getting more difficult words at the higher levels, the limit of only three clues per word can be mighty severe.

tanstaafl2 wrote:Watched the first episode of Password last night on the Tivo. Shatner really was pretty bad although the other "celebrity", who I remember from 24, was pretty good. I didn't pay that much attention to the format but I thought I recalled that if someone gambled on going for 250K and won it would be guaranteed, thus making the shot at the million a free run right?

Of course the gamble is on making the 250K although adding 150K at the risk of 75K might be worth it for some. The words do get pretty tough at that level though even if they do show them in advance.

I tried to watch the TiVoed episode from last Sunday but I got the slop-over of "60 Minutes" instead.

Bob Juch wrote:

tanstaafl2 wrote:Watched the first episode of Password last night on the Tivo. Shatner really was pretty bad although the other "celebrity", who I remember from 24, was pretty good. I didn't pay that much attention to the format but I thought I recalled that if someone gambled on going for 250K and won it would be guaranteed, thus making the shot at the million a free run right?

Of course the gamble is on making the 250K although adding 150K at the risk of 75K might be worth it for some. The words do get pretty tough at that level though even if they do show them in advance.

I tried to watch the TiVoed episode from last Sunday but I got the slop-over of "60 Minutes" instead.

I believe you can view all the episodes at cbs.com.

Betty White was great last week. Bless her heart. She would have done even better for both of her contestant partners if they would have taken advantage of her expertise and let her "give" in the final rounds instead of thinking they could do a better job... Whippersnappers. Demonstrated in the elimination rounds, Betty still shows much prowess in that department. In addition, her hearing ain't so great these days, which wasted time with several misheard clues. If anyone is ever so fortunate to get the chance to play with her, I hope they'll wise up and let her "give."

- Nice shout out, 'fessor!

Second Chance wrote:Betty White was great last week.

But she was a Triple Stumper when they showed her picture on Friday's Jeopardy episode. The contestants seemed subpar, not in a good way.

She got bailed on before she should have. Her brain worked the clues.

Her partners were too quick to give the third clue.