WWTBAM Bored

A friend saw three shows taped yesterday and also non-passed the test.

Here's his report with the things we already know and spoilers eliminated:

There's a whole new color scheme for the set. It still has the disco floor but now the lights make it look like they're sitting over a fire pit.

New 3D graphics for the displays. The HSer's display has a whole lot more stuff on it; the time remaining is shown as a bar that turns red when there are five seconds left.

The next person to go into the HS sits in the bleachers during the previous round.

The time didn't seem to bother most people. One person got down to just three seconds before using the PAF LL. After the time for the PAF expired, Meredith said, "Now you have just three seconds to answer." Then they started the 3 second clock. The HSer said, "X. blat, final answer" in time. That seemed to him like a little cheating.

Leftover time from the questions is available to be used on (only) the $1MM question.

This isn't really a spoiler because it will probably never make the air:

Spoiler

One woman llamaed. She answered with just the letter instead of the letter and the answer. She said B instead of C. She realized that she had said the wrong letter immediately, so it was like "C final answer oops B".

Here's the most controversial item: The "experts" they had were all editors from "Entertainment Weekly". Two actually said when they were used, "I don't know anything about anything except entertainment. I'd walk with the money if I were you." WTF???

Bob Juch wrote:Here's the most controversial item: The "experts" they had were all editors from "Entertainment Weekly". Two actually said when they were used, "I don't know anything about anything except entertainment. I'd walk with the money if I were you." WTF???

Another stellar job, Michael Davies!

Bob Juch wrote:Here's the most controversial item: The "experts" they had were all editors from "Entertainment Weekly". Two actually said when they were used, "I don't know anything about anything except entertainment. I'd walk with the money if I were you." WTF???

It sounds like a product placement or a sponsored trade out deal. Maybe we'll get to see an animatronic Geico Gecko Expert on future episodes, who will only be helpful for questions about car insurance.

Bob Juch wrote: The time didn't seem to bother most people. One person got down to just three seconds before using the PAF LL. After the time for the PAF expired, Meredith said, "Now you have just three seconds to answer." Then they started the 3 second clock. The HSer said, "X. blat, final answer" in time. That seemed to him like a little cheating.

They don't reset the clock when you use a lifeline? You can't even take a few extra seconds to evaluate what the PAF has told you? Sheesh!

Bob Juch wrote:Here's the most controversial item: The "experts" they had were all editors from "Entertainment Weekly". Two actually said when they were used, "I don't know anything about anything except entertainment. I'd walk with the money if I were you." WTF???

Gah! This new lifeline sounds like what the PAF has become interpretted as, when business writers claim that consensus answers are as good or better than expert answers, "as demonstrated on Millionaire by the better ATA record compared to the 'expert' PAF record". It's one thing if the experts are former contestants (who still may know a lot or nothing about a particular category) but if they use this as another opportunity to give air time to various celebrities who know nothing whatsover about the questions they're asked, what kind of expert is that?

Question: did the contestants know "who" the expert was before using that LL? (Either by name or by description as an EW editor?)

Or when watching in the bleachers, couldn't they figure that out from a prior contestant (assuming it was used)? What a waste of a lifeline!

So which lifelines actually stop the clock, is double dip the only one that permanently stops the clock? That stinks that even after PAF the clock picks up where it left off!!!

These changes are a little disappointing. It's like it's not even the same show anymore.

Bob Juch wrote:Here's the most controversial item: The "experts" they had were all editors from "Entertainment Weekly". Two actually said when they were used, "I don't know anything about anything except entertainment. I'd walk with the money if I were you." WTF???

That sonic boom you just heard was MBFFB's® head exploding.....

Spokesman for MBFFB wrote:

Bob Juch wrote:Here's the most controversial item: The "experts" they had were all editors from "Entertainment Weekly". Two actually said when they were used, "I don't know anything about anything except entertainment. I'd walk with the money if I were you." WTF???

That sonic boom you just heard was MBFFB's® head exploding.....

I am looking forward to seeing a lot of MBFFB® this season, Mr. Spokesman. After reading all of these previews of the upcoming season, I'm probably not gonna be looking forward to any winners of over $100,000.

Spokesman for MBFFB wrote:

Bob Juch wrote:Here's the most controversial item: The "experts" they had were all editors from "Entertainment Weekly". Two actually said when they were used, "I don't know anything about anything except entertainment. I'd walk with the money if I were you." WTF???

That sonic boom you just heard was MBFFB's® head exploding.....

And what a fitting moment to do so.

I know! Maybe they can have a contestant who's in the military and then get the president to tape some "Ask the Expert" advice for him, just like on DoND! "I don't know what question you're being asked, but I'm proud of you! My advice is to walk away."

Bob Juch wrote:The time didn't seem to bother most people. One person got down to just three seconds before using the PAF LL. After the time for the PAF expired, Meredith said, "Now you have just three seconds to answer." Then they started the 3 second clock. The HSer said, "X. blat, final answer" in time. That seemed to him like a little cheating.

Leftover time from the questions is available to be used on (only) the $1MM question.

Here's the most controversial item: The "experts" they had were all editors from "Entertainment Weekly". Two actually said when they were used, "I don't know anything about anything except entertainment. I'd walk with the money if I were you." WTF???

So now there's no time for chitchat, or thinking, about what the PAF/ATA/Expert did or did not tell you. Your "incentive" for making fast decisions is the possibility, if all those fast decisions are correct, of using the extra few seconds you've saved on your $1MM question. And your "expert" is an expert in only one area.

Faster tapings. "Deer in the headlights" panic decisions as time is expiring. More departures as single-digit thousandaires as time is expiring. I'd be interested in an outsider's view of the changes as improvements or not in the gameplay and whether or not they'd be more likely to watch the show because of them. Not so sure they're a plus for the likes of us. I'll reserve complete judgment until I see the shows.

I believe I see a dorsal fin at the end of the jump ramp of WWTBAThousandaire...

Then again I don't watch the show anymore in the first place. I enjoy reading the transcripts for the questions and seeing just how awful many of the contestants are thanks to the "good TV" casting theory that has helped drive the show into the ground for me.

But what the heck, I can do without the transcripts. We have plenty of people on this bored who write better questions and create more interesting games than CindyBAM has become.

Money isn't quite as good here though! But then again my chances of making the show as a dyed in the wool MAWG weren't exactly good anyway...

Davies mentioned to me the distinct possibility that they were going to rework the Experts over the August break. I was under the impression the experts were a mix of SyndiBam winners and non-BAM people (including Bill Nye the Science Guy, and others that have been mentioned); though I did read on the Bored that Joe Trela was contacted. But I never heard any Regis-era names mentioned.

The description of how the timer worked post-PAF matched my experience post-Expert. In many ways, it's more of a "decision" timer than a "figure it out" timer because there's additional time around the edges to do thinking and analyzing, you just need to announce your decision while the timer is running. It's kind of a soft timer, though not nearly as soft as in previous seasons.

I haven't seen the visuals or heard the new music, so that was very interesting to hear about.

Another question: Can the contestant walk away at any point during the 30 seconds? Or once the timer starts are they forced to answer or use a lifeline?

What happens if the time runs out and no answer was given? Do they get the money from the preceding question (as though they had walked away), or do they get nothing (or 1k or 25k if those were reached) as though they got the question incorrect?

I don't like this one bit!

If you don't answer by the end of time, then it's treated as if you said "I walk".

LastMinuteRequest wrote:If you don't answer by the end of time, then it's treated as if you said "I walk".

That's better than as if they said "You're wrong!" At least you get to keep the money you've won without dropping down to the milestone.

I bet we see a lot of thousandaires this year.

I think the contestant should be able to pick the expert based on the category of the question they are about to answer (i.e. a science expert for a science question.) This lifeline sounds like it needs some tinkering with.

I will always be a loyal supporter of the show, and I hope whatever changes they try will turn out for the best. I'm concerned to hear about the apparent wide disparity between "Experts." I guess that's just part of the game, but how could you justify telling one contestant that she's getting help from (hypothetically) Ken Jennings, then tell the next person that she's getting help from (hypothetically) Paris Hilton? I'm sure that any top winners from past WWTBAM seasons would have well rounded knowledge and do their absolute best to help the contestant. Apparently, some of the "experts" don't fit that profile, and that's unfortunate.

At least on a show like Million Dollar Password, the difference between skilled and unskilled celebrity experts is neutralized by having them switch sides. There's no obvious way to do that on WWTBAM. I suppose you could have three or more different "experts" on call, and let the contestant decide whether she'd rather get help from (hypothetically) Ken Jennings or from (hypothetically) Paris Hilton, or from Bill Nye.

Bob's spoiler made me think there may be a loophole here. You'd really piss off TPTB if you did it repeatedly, but it seems like you could squeeze out a few extra seconds, if that would help. Suppose you're still thinking about a question as the clock runs down. You could say "A <whatever>". Then, when MV asks "final answer?", you say "no" and then either give the correct answer, or give another non-final answer. Staying in control of that little game, however, would likely derail your train of thought on the actual question.

LastMinuteRequest wrote:If you don't answer by the end of time, then it's treated as if you said "I walk".

No, the warmup guy, Paul Mercurio, was asked that and he said it's treated as a miss.

Estonut wrote:Bob's spoiler made me think there may be a loophole here. You'd really piss off TPTB if you did it repeatedly, but it seems like you could squeeze out a few extra seconds, if that would help. Suppose you're still thinking about a question as the clock runs down. You could say "A <whatever>". Then, when MV asks "final answer?", you say "no" and then either give the correct answer, or give another non-final answer. Staying in control of that little game, however, would likely derail your train of thought on the actual question.

You must say "final answer" before the clock runs out.

sunflower wrote:Another question: Can the contestant walk away at any point during the 30 seconds? Or once the timer starts are they forced to answer or use a lifeline?

What happens if the time runs out and no answer was given? Do they get the money from the preceding question (as though they had walked away), or do they get nothing (or 1k or 25k if those were reached) as though they got the question incorrect?

I don't like this one bit!

The 30 seconds is for only the 2nd tier questions. The time starts as soon as Meredith finishes reading the choices.

Of course you can walk anytime before time runs out.

sunflower wrote:Question: did the contestants know "who" the expert was before using that LL? (Either by name or by description as an EW editor?)

Or when watching in the bleachers, couldn't they figure that out from a prior contestant (assuming it was used)? What a waste of a lifeline!

So which lifelines actually stop the clock, is double dip the only one that permanently stops the clock? That stinks that even after PAF the clock picks up where it left off!!!

Yes, after the $1000 question they introduce the "expert". My friend said the video quality looked much better than a webcam should be. They were all in front of the same set. maybe they used a higher quality video because they were in New York?

MarleysGh0st wrote:

Bob Juch wrote: The time didn't seem to bother most people. One person got down to just three seconds before using the PAF LL. After the time for the PAF expired, Meredith said, "Now you have just three seconds to answer." Then they started the 3 second clock. The HSer said, "X. blat, final answer" in time. That seemed to him like a little cheating.

They don't reset the clock when you use a lifeline? You can't even take a few extra seconds to evaluate what the PAF has told you? Sheesh!

No, they don't reset the clock. As I said, Meredith actually did give the HSer a few extra seconds to consider the answer beyond the time it took to discuss the ATA results. In other words, there's a variable amount of time after the ATA.

I think they should make the contestant push A, B, C, or D and then a FINAL button.

Bob Juch wrote:

LastMinuteRequest wrote:If you don't answer by the end of time, then it's treated as if you said "I walk".

No, the warmup guy, Paul Mercurio, was asked that and he said it's treated as a miss.

Bob Juch wrote:

Estonut wrote:Bob's spoiler made me think there may be a loophole here. You'd really piss off TPTB if you did it repeatedly, but it seems like you could squeeze out a few extra seconds, if that would help. Suppose you're still thinking about a question as the clock runs down. You could say "A <whatever>". Then, when MV asks "final answer?", you say "no" and then either give the correct answer, or give another non-final answer. Staying in control of that little game, however, would likely derail your train of thought on the actual question.

You must say "final answer" before the clock runs out.

If that is the case it should make for even more thousandaires than initially thought. And if they put a time limit on the bottom tier it could even add to the membership roles of the hundredaires and the llama club.

Good TV indeed!

Spokesman for MBFFB wrote:

Bob Juch wrote:Here's the most controversial item: The "experts" they had were all editors from "Entertainment Weekly". Two actually said when they were used, "I don't know anything about anything except entertainment. I'd walk with the money if I were you." WTF???

That sonic boom you just heard was MBFFB's® head exploding.....

OK, as still a newbie to the bored, I did a little poking around but could not discern who/what is MBFFB - my guess is that it was some regular who was either a puriest about the show or extremly anal about it?

And boy do I really want to chime in on this thread - the only thing I will say is that not everything that has been written here regarding the details of the new rules is 100% correct - so take it with a grain of salt - you'll see how it really plays it soon. I wish I could talk about it but I can't.

---Jay (so if BAM has jumped the shark, does this make me the Fonz?)