WWTBAM Bored

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Sam was just on the show last Friday, he got on the leaderboard just in the nick of time.

Sam is a bartender, but also a musician. When playing last Friday, Sam used his musical ability to keep track of how much time he had used. When he got to the $100k question, he thought he knew the answer but decided not to answer, given his certainty that he would be in the Tournament of Ten.

Sam says "if I have an idea, I'll go for it" but he's noncommital about how much of an idea he will need.

Sam would use this money to start attending nursing school. Sam has $50,000 in hand as he faces the million dollar question, with 3 minutes and 23 seconds of think time.

$1,000,000
According to the Population Reference Bureau, what is the approximate number of people who have ever lived on earth?
A: 50 billion B: 100 billion
C: 1 trillion D: 5 trillion

Sam figures the current population is "around 6 billion", smiles, thinks for another minute or so while murmuring about death rates and lifespans, and then says...

"What the hell,

Spoiler

B: 100 billion

, final."

With an especially cruel fakeout, Meredith says, "No it's not

Spoiler

100 billion

, it's actually

Spoiler

106.5 billion

but we rounded it down"

There is much rejoicing, but no confetti. Sam's son Tim is brought down from the audience. (Tim drove in from Wisconsin at the last minute as a surprise for his dad.)

Meredith reminds Sam that he has not really won the million yet, the only thing that stands between Sam and his check is if one of the higher ToT seeds gets their answer correct. Sam is given his promotional $1,000,000 Capital One check.

Really, I like most subjects, but this one is right up my alley. Stats and old, old history are really my best areas (pop culture is my worst). That gets very useful at the higher levels.

I go for this, even I'm on $500K, with no lifelines. I've happened to read a history book from about 1999 or 2000. It said around 85 billion people have lived on Earth. As Sam said, I would know 6 billion is the current population. Therefore, I eliminate C and D within 10 seconds- they're too far off from my readings. I then decide that, nah, that book I read said it was considerably more than 50 billion. Think and make sure (I don't want the Grand Slam syndrome...) final answer. B. I'm done with this, rather quickly, around 30 seconds.

Now, if Sam doesn't win the million, does he still get the $50,000? Since he got the question right, I feel he should. What did he do wrong, otherwise, no?

(You may know me as Prizes or prizes22 from other forums.)

MindsofthePeople wrote:Now, if Sam doesn't win the million, does he still get the $50,000?

Yes. Welcome aBored! --Bob

"What the hell" is right. I mean, a guy risking $25,000 to make $950,000 isn't exactly the stuff of great drama, though Meredith played it as well as she could, I thought.

Weyoun wrote:"What the hell" is right. I mean, a guy risking $25,000 to make $950,000 isn't exactly the stuff of great drama, though Meredith played it as well as she could, I thought.

We already had two other people who didn't care to risk the 25K, so there is some drama involved.

All in all, however, this "tournament of 10" seems eerily like the gimmick on Deal or No Deal where they kept adding million dollar cases until somebody won the jackpot.

I knew this one cold, I remembered reading from multiple sources that 6% of all people who have ever lived are alive. (I think this is the first million dollar question on Syndicated Millionaire that I just simply knew)

MindsofthePeople wrote:Now, if Sam doesn't win the million, does he still get the $50,000? Since he got the question right, I feel he should. What did he do wrong, otherwise, no?

Yes, if someone else answers correctly, he keeps his original $50,000. If he had guessed incorrectly and someone else won the $1 million, he'd still have lost $25,000, though. A definite risk, but only a potential win.

Welcome to the Bored, MindsofthePeople!

lv42day wrote:I knew this one cold, I remembered reading from multiple sources that 6% of all people who have ever lived are alive. (I think this is the first million dollar question on Syndicated Millionaire that I just simply knew)

I've known them all - not because I'm especially brilliant - because they're real questions, not some pop culture junk, or something really obscure.

BBTranscriptTeam wrote:$1,000,000
According to the Population Reference Bureau, what is the approximate number of people who have ever lived on earth?
A: 50 billion B: 100 billion
C: 1 trillion D: 5 trillion

A long time ago on the British WWTBAM, they asked a high-level question along the lines of, "Roughly what percentage of all of the people who have ever lived on Earth are alive today?" The correct answer was 6.5%. So all I had to do here was figure out 6.5% of each of those choices to see what gives 6.5 billion.

I'm 3-for-3 on MDQs this week, but this was the first one that I actually knew cold.

Sam's ToT performance is the lead item in this column:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnis ... eople.html

Good for him! I, for one, still found it pretty exciting to see someone go for the $1M, even if the risk was minimal. I know it 's not in the rules, but I think if someone gets it right they should get some reward, even if someone else gets the million - maybe move them up one rung on their money ladder? Just a thought.

I'm 2/3 so far!

vettech wrote:Good for him! I, for one, still found it pretty exciting to see someone go for the $1M, even if the risk was minimal. I know it 's not in the rules, but I think if someone gets it right they should get some reward, even if someone else gets the million - maybe move them up one rung on their money ladder? Just a thought.

Well, if they're presenting it as a "tournament", there should be some sort of play-off between all the contestants who get their questions right. Perhaps like a spelling bee, where they keep getting questions until only one person is left.

Didn't Meredith remark that Sam was now 'in the driver's seat'? I know what she meant but I'm wondering if that is the right metaphor - since someone in the driver's seat has control and it really is out of his hands at this point.

frogman042 wrote:Didn't Meredith remark that Sam was now 'in the driver's seat'? I know what she meant but I'm wondering if that is the right metaphor - since someone in the driver's seat has control and it really is out of his hands at this point.

You're right, it's the wrong metaphor. I'm not sure that there is a correct metaphor that they'd want to use.

How about "lame duck"?

Dear Bob, by saying you've known all the million dollar question on syndicated millionaire, you are saying that you knew the job of "Uncle Sam," the profession of the models used in American Gothic, whose delegates Khrushchev was responding to when he banged his shoe, LBJ's favorite soft drink (no, wait that was primetime) in addition to which presidential wife was related to Pocahontas, and the particulars of Bacon's death. That's pretty impressive. Imho some of that borders on the obscure. You must have a photographic memory.

lv42day wrote:Dear Bob, by saying you've known all the million dollar question on syndicated millionaire, you are saying that you knew the job of "Uncle Sam," the profession of the models used in American Gothic, whose delegates Khrushchev was responding to when he banged his shoe, LBJ's favorite soft drink (no, wait that was primetime) in addition to which presidential wife was related to Pocahontas, and the particulars of Bacon's death. That's pretty impressive. Imho some of that borders on the obscure. You must have a photographic memory.

It's not photographic, but yes, I have an excellent memory. Of course that doesn't help if I've never heard of something.

MarleysGh0st wrote:

frogman042 wrote:Didn't Meredith remark that Sam was now 'in the driver's seat'? I know what she meant but I'm wondering if that is the right metaphor - since someone in the driver's seat has control and it really is out of his hands at this point.

You're right, it's the wrong metaphor. I'm not sure that there is a correct metaphor that they'd want to use.

How about "lame duck"?

King (or queen) of the mountain would have been a better metaphor. Especially since "Cash Mountain" was the working title of the show before it received the name we all know and love.

15QuestionsAway wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:

frogman042 wrote:Didn't Meredith remark that Sam was now 'in the driver's seat'? I know what she meant but I'm wondering if that is the right metaphor - since someone in the driver's seat has control and it really is out of his hands at this point.

You're right, it's the wrong metaphor. I'm not sure that there is a correct metaphor that they'd want to use.

How about "lame duck"?

King (or queen) of the mountain would have been a better metaphor. Especially since "Cash Mountain" was the working title of the show before it received the name we all know and love.

But if you're king of the mountain, you could presumably fight back against someone trying to push you down from the mountaintop. Sam doesn't have that power.

I'd never heard about the "Cash Mountain" working title before. Interesting, but I like WWTBAM better.

If only TPTB believed in the title... <sigh>

MarleysGh0st wrote:

15QuestionsAway wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:
You're right, it's the wrong metaphor. I'm not sure that there is a correct metaphor that they'd want to use.

How about "lame duck"?

King (or queen) of the mountain would have been a better metaphor. Especially since "Cash Mountain" was the working title of the show before it received the name we all know and love.

But if you're king of the mountain, you could presumably fight back against someone trying to push you down from the mountaintop. Sam doesn't have that power.

How about....

"king of the mountain, but fast asleep on a wagon that will roll down the mountain with only a tap"

frogman042 wrote:Didn't Meredith remark that Sam was now 'in the driver's seat'? I know what she meant but I'm wondering if that is the right metaphor - since someone in the driver's seat has control and it really is out of his hands at this point.

It's equivalent to being the "leader in the clubhouse" at a golf tournament. Of those who have completed play, you're ahead, but others are still in a good position to pass you.

While I congratulate Sam on having the guts to risk $25K and go for it, this whole ToT still seems so manufactured. It's just not the same as someone answering fifteen questions correctly (like contestants USED to be able to do ...).

One point: Sam was risking $25K on his MDQ. However, winners of $100K will be risking $75K, while the winner of $250K will be risking $225K. Quite a substantial difference.

I guess the tournament seeding helps contestants judge whether or not to go for it, but people who are risking more are likely to be less willing to answer the MDQ.

rgcviper wrote:One point: Sam was risking $25K on his MDQ. However, winners of $100K will be risking $75K, while the winner of $250K will be risking $225K. Quite a substantial difference.

True. OTOH, the higher you are on the leader board, the fewer people there are with the opportunity to displace you as the potential winner.

At a minimum, when they get to Jehan's turn, she'll have the chance to risk her $250K for guess at a $1 million question, instead of at the $500K question she walked away from. And it's always possible that her question might be solidly in her wheelhouse.

There was no way in hell I would have known this one. Or guessed.

This guy gets the cojones award. And may walk away with the money.

I tested with him in October 2008. We both passed the test, but neither of us got a second interview. We were talking with each other after the test and found out we are from the same area. I hope he wins the million.

padreguillermo wrote:I tested with him in October 2008. We both passed the test, but neither of us got a second interview. We were talking with each other after the test and found out we are from the same area. I hope he wins the million.

Welcome back, padre! It's been a long time since we've seen you around here.