Does who your ATE is make a big difference in your success?

[TexasMommy]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When you are a contestant on the show and your so called "expert" can not commit to an answer of the question you ask her, that's just bad luck. But when that same "expert" will not comitt to ANY of the answers of the numerous questions she is asked, and then, on most of the questions, she decides to narrow the four choices down to two ("...this is just a hunch but I'm guessing it's either...") and THEN goes as far as to eliminate one of the remaining two answers ("I'm almost sure it's not..."), her uncertainty forces contestants to use another precious lifeline, if they even have one. BUT WAIT! The good news is that she has narrowed it down to just two possible answers and even eliminated one of the other ones! (you all can calculate the odds here!) And, WOW, I just happen to have my "double dip" lifeline left which is PERFECT because based what she said (she IS a former $500,000 winner after al!) the risk is minimal! So even if she's wrong about one of the answers she gave me, chances are good that she will be right about the other one... right?!?

WRONG! In fact, Meredith is SO SORRY to inform you that the one answer your "expert" steered you away from... the one answer that you outright disregarded (even if you were leaning towards it at first) because you figured she most have some basis for discounting that one... You guessed it! THAT WAS THE CORRECT ANSWER! And just how many times has this unfortunate scenerio occured within the last three days? Once? Twice? Three times? Nope! FOUR!!!! Four times, which includes twice just today!

Lynne, if you happen to read this post, I'm sorry for offending you, and I'm sure you are a very nice lady, but, what the heck girl??? If you are going to guess at an answer and you are a reasonably intelligent person as we assume you must be, then we, as contestants, with our money in your hands, will also assume that your guesses are at least educated! If you don't have any real knowledge of the subject and you don't have anything reliable to base your guesses on, then they can NOT be considered educated guesses!! And if you do not know the answer or have an educated guess based on an educated process of elimination, then just say you don't know! Please don't tell me what your "gut" is telling you because your "gut" has a very bad track record right now! Now Ogi's gut on the other hand... well... I would listen to any of Ogi's internal organs, but that's something for another day.

Maybe I'm being too hard on Lynne... I mean, after all, it IS each contestant's decision whether or not to listen to the expert. But after my own experience with a really good expert, I feel that I had an unfair advantage when compared to contestants like Jay (Frogman- Great job by the way!), who consequently was one of the four who was effected by Lynne's gut and who obviously suffered because of his (bad) luck of the draw. Would he have gone further if he had a better expert? I mentioned in a previous post that my husband, who was in the audience for an entire weeks worth of shows, told me that it was a very good thing that I was a hold over for the next day because the expert they had for the "week" he watched either couldn't or wouldn't commit to any answer, and, consequently, didn't help a single contestant. Up until this season, the only lifeline that potentially gave contestants an advantage was the phone a friend, but since each person is in control of who they choose to call, you could argue that it's a fair lifeline across the board. Now, we have a lifeline that is not only a variable, but one that we have no control over.

The question I present to the group is in the below poll. You can either choose one of the options, go on to the next post, or, feel free to digress on your own.



Sorry Lynne!

[Bob78164]

Lynne, if you happen to read this post, I'm sorry for offending you, and I'm sure you are a very nice lady, but, what the heck girl??? If you are going to guess at an answer and you are a reasonably intelligent person as we assume you must be, then we, as contestants, with our money in your hands, will also assume that your guesses are at least educated! If you don't have any real knowledge of the subject and you don't have anything reliable to base your guesses on, then they can NOT be considered educated guesses!! And if you do not know the answer or have an educated guess based on an educated process of elimination, then just say you don't know! Please don't tell me what your "gut" is telling you because your "gut" has a very bad track record right now! Now Ogi's gut on the other hand... well... I would listen to any of Ogi's internal organs, but that's something for another day.

Lyn did drop by here after her run aired but hasn't been seen since. Having said that, I have a lot of sympathy for her.

First things first. She's received four consecutive difficult questions -- I wouldn't have known any of them and I only had a correct inkling about one of them, even though I like to think I've got a little something under the hood myself.

More to the point, I know that when I'm playing along practicing what I'd say as either the contestant or a PAF (yes, I do practice performing as a PAF), it's often the case that something's tickling my brain but I couldn't for the life of me tell you why. In the PAF position, that gives me two options -- either say nothing or give my guess identifying it as a guess. That's what Lyn has done.

When I do have a reason for leaning toward or eliminating an answer, I try to articulate that reasoning to allow the contestant to assess my reasoning for herself. That's what Lyn did on the Maybach question. It's exactly what I would have done as well. I would have duplicated her reasoning, particularly in light of the fact that the question was only worth $16,000, so the answer should not be terribly obscure.

In short, people who volunteer to serve as the ATE lifeline are taking a risk. In my view, all it's fair to ask of the expert is that they take the responsibility seriously, and so far I think that's happened with all of the experts. Everything else is merely the luck of the stack. We who are fans of the show (and who undoubtedly share the Bored with others who will appear as the ATE lifeline) should know that, even if the general public does not. --Bob

[TheConfessor]

I know where you're coming from, but I think you're comparing apples and oranges. By almost any standard, Ogi has had easier questions than Lyn. I think if you compare dollar values, this would be evident.

I know Ogi is smart and I'd be pleased to have him as an "Expert" if I were in the hot seat. I have no personal knowledge of Lyn's abilities, but her track record suggests that she knows more than her share of stuff. I wonder what would have happened if Ogi answered Lyn's questions and Lyn answered Ogi's questions. You might have written the same analysis with a Pro-Lyn, anti-Ogi slant. Your conclusions are based on a very small sample size.

Clearly, some "Experts" will be better than others. Does it affect the outcome of the game? Yes. Is it equitable? Probably not, but no one ever said it would be. Is it fair? Yes, as much as any game show is fair. Was it fair that 150 different Jeopardy contestants had to face Ken Jennings, instead of a weaker opponent?

[Shade]

Hey! Lyn is very smart, it's not her fault that the show gives her hard question. Although I agree, Ogi does seem smarter than Lyn to me, But I also saw him in action on Grand Slam too.

I like the Ask the Expert Life Line, but I'm still not sure whether it is fair. A Life Line is never supposed to guarentee the answer to a question.

[sunflower]

I know a lifeline is never a guarantee, but this one just seems so inconsistent. On average, an audience is going to be pretty consistent in the aggregate. A PAF and double dip are the contestant's choice so they're inherently equal (but based on the ability of the contestant). The ATE is the only one (in my opinion) that is not necessarily consistent.

That being said, at the end of the day it is the contestant's choice what answer to go with...and with the exception of a 50,000 question, I would not guess based on an answer that a stranger was not certain of!!! Nor would I invoke a double dip unless I was certain of it being down to 2 choices.

So overall, I don't love the lifeline. I like STQ better but STQ did me wrong so that one varies from contestant to contestant as well.

[TheConfessor]

Some may be pleased to know that Ogi will be back as the Expert on Thursday and Friday this week.

[frogman042]

Interesting enough, I am not dissatisfied with the lifeline. It's true that Lyn went 0 for 4, but I don't hold that against her. I know my family bemoaned that I got Lyn when I was sandwiched in-between Ogi. Would Ogi know what Poutine was? Don't know - maybe since he is up in Mass not too far from Quebec. That is not the point. I was in the unusual position of knowing about both Lyn and Ogi, so it was exciting for me in general to have had either. I don't think TPTB made a bad choice in picking either as experts.

If I could do it all over again, I would have engaged Lyn more with my line of thinking - did she think traditional meant from generation to generation or some other interpretation? This is the only lifeline that the clock plays no role and I regretted not using it more effectively by engaging in an active dialog, giving Lyn my thoughts and getting her feedback. All of this off the clock.

Woulld it have changed things in my specific case, probably not, but I think I didn't take full advantage of the lifelines potential. Others have fallen into the trap of thinking it is a one way street with the expert providing info. That is the wrong way to use the lifeline IMO. It gives you a chance to have a dialog - the only time you can take you time going through the question without the clock - as long as you keep engaging the expert.

Patrick did a bit of that, others need to learn from my mistake.

---Jay

[Bob Juch]

Interesting enough, I am not dissatisfied with the lifeline. It's true that Lyn went 0 for 4, but I don't hold that against her. I know my family bemoaned that I got Lyn when I was sandwiched in-between Ogi. Would Ogi know what Poutine was? Don't know - maybe since he is up in Mass not too far from Quebec. That is not the point. I was in the unusual position of knowing about both Lyn and Ogi, so it was exciting for me in general to have had either. I don't think TPTB made a bad choice in picking either as experts.

If I could do it all over again, I would have engaged Lyn more with my line of thinking - did she think traditional meant from generation to generation or some other interpretation? This is the only lifeline that the clock plays no role and I regretted not using it more effectively by engaging in an active dialog, giving Lyn my thoughts and getting her feedback. All of this off the clock.

Woulld it have changed things in my specific case, probably not, but I think I didn't take full advantage of the lifelines potential. Others have fallen into the trap of thinking it is a one way street with the expert providing info. That is the wrong way to use the lifeline IMO. It gives you a chance to have a dialog - the only time you can take you time going through the question without the clock - as long as you keep engaging the expert.

Patrick did a bit of that, others need to learn from my mistake.

---Jay

It's too bad you weren't a Bored old-timer as poutine has been discussed here so often it's a running joke now.

[Estonut]

It's too bad you weren't a Bored old-timer as poutine has been discussed here so often it's a running joke now.

It's only been discussed "here" (on phpbb) since Frogman himself brought it up in August.

[tanstaafl2]

Don't know that my feeling about the lifeline is reflected in the answers to the poll. Then again I don't even watch the show anymore and am basing it on the discussion and transcripts here, which I read routinely.

If I had a choice I would rather have the old lifelines back, to include STQ and 50/50. I think the ATE is so difficult to judge based on the likelihood of knowing so little about the expert. Nothing hard to judge about the STQ. Don't like a Q? Change it! Don't like the second one? Pack it in and go home. Choice is entirely yours to make.

Former players are likely better than a "celebrity" expert but neither inspire me with a lot of confidence beyond perhaps the few names I "know" from this bored. But even former players are likely to be largely unknown. Their stack may have fit perfectly with their knowledge but have little to do with the current question needing an answer. Also people who played different versions of the game may have had an easier stack so the money winning total may have little to do with the actual extent of their trivia knowledge.

The current CindyBam stacks remain, in my opinion, generally more difficult than PTBAM, not they were necessarily easy. Except when they were...

Would I gamble on what Ken Jennings responds? Maybe. But I would be less likely to do so because Joe Shmoe won $100K at some point in the past on the show.

No offense to Joe Shmoe. Hell, I would be happy to be Joe Shmoe with an extra $100K in my pocket!

[TexasMommy]

Very interesting responses! But I would expect nothing less from this crowd. Just wanted to clarify something about my post here... I tend to forget that none of you really know me or my personallity for that matter which doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things but does become a relevant issue when you are reading what I write. While I wouldn't call myself the "class clown", I am known for my sense of humor and quick wit within my circle of friends which is especially aparant when I write (I LOVE TO WRITE!). So please know that while there is truth behind what I wrote, I in no way was intending to be insulting towards Lyn (or Ogi's internal organs, for that matter). While I hope that some of you were able to discern that on your own, after I read my post again, I felt that it wasn't clear enough. And you never know when a "DOWN With Texas Mommy" blog could spring up (board moderators, if it does, PLEASE don't link to it here!) Even if you think I deserve it, it wouldn't be fair to all of the lovely Texas moms out there who wouldn't understand!

In all seriousness, I'm not a mean person even though I do get in trouble sometimes when my mouth works faster than my brain (or in this case my hands) and I use humor at anothers expense.

For future reference, if you take offense to something I post here, please know that unless I specifically say otherwise, no offense was intended and I'm sorry.

btw... did Lyn vote twice?

[peacock2121]

Some may be pleased to know that Ogi will be back as the Expert on Thursday and Friday this week.

LOL

and some may not.

[peacock2121]

I don't get what being fair has to do with anything.

[Winnamill]

Two things:

#1 -- The producers do tell you what the expert's self-provided strengths and weaknesses are before a contestant enters the HS.

#2 -- If they still had STQ, what would that do to the menu items? Would the menu switch too or just another question from a category you might not know anything about? Just food for thought in case it ever returns.

[kusch]

"In all seriousness, I'm not a mean person even though I do get in trouble sometimes when my mouth works faster than my brain (or in this case my hands) and I use humor at anothers expense."

Comment about the mouth/brain makes you fit right in with some of the others from the disstaff side that are on this bored.

[lv42day]

If the expert can use the internet to look up the answer, that would seem to equalize things at least a little bit, for many questions. I had no idea what poutine was, or how many emirates there were, but all I had to do was go on wikipedia and the answer was there.

[sunflower]

If the expert can use the internet to look up the answer, that would seem to equalize things at least a little bit, for many questions. I had no idea what poutine was, or how many emirates there were, but all I had to do was go on wikipedia and the answer was there.

I've never seen an expert typing. I believe that they are reading the answer choices on their screen, and I am pretty sure that is the extent of computer involvement.

[KillerTomato]

I may have sparked some of this discussion in my comments in the transcript thread from Wednesday. I do need to go on record clarifying that I meant absolutely no disrespect to Lyn at all (and I apologize profusely for butchering the spelling of her name). I don't think it's entirely Lyn's fault that she got some really, really tough questions thrown at her.

OTOH, is Ogi going to be the only Expert on Thursdays and Fridays for the rest of the season? Isn't this the third week in a row? Don't get me wrong, I like Ogi, and think he's doing a great job, but I'd like to see some other people doing it, too...

[gsabc]

OTOH, is Ogi going to be the only Expert on Thursdays and Fridays for the rest of the season? Isn't this the third week in a row? Don't get me wrong, I like Ogi, and think he's doing a great job, but I'd like to see some other people doing it, too...

Maybe Ogi is the sole ATE employee during the second shift.

[frogman042]

BTW, for those who didn't already figure it out - it wasn't really that odd that Sophie was so excited to see Ogi air on the show. She saw Ogi on the Friday show, Leslie and I saw Ogi on the previous days taping, and Ogi was the 2nd shift expert on the day I taped - so I basically had a Lyn sandwich between two slices of Ogi.

Ogi's average was at that point well over 90% - I think of the shows my family saw with Ogi there was at most only 1 question he didn't know. On the other hand Lyn went 0 for 4. There was much talk the late afternoon of my taping day among family members bemoning the fact that I didn't get Ogi as my expert. Sophie at that point had commented about that a number of tmes - so that explains her excitment seeing Ogi at the beginning of the airing season.

I think it was much harder for my family to accept Lyn as a legitimate expert based on the brief data they had - I, on the other hand, defended her role because I was familier with her history, and to be honest all the post-show agonizing that I went through was always focused on choices I made not on who my expert was or what my stack was. I had no control over that, I had control over my decisions in the hot seat - that is what kept me up at night.

That said, a few weeks later when I was reading Bob Harris's 'Prisoner of Trebekistan' and came across Lyn Paine [sic - It's spelled wrong in Bob's book] and then doing a quick search on the J! archive site to make sure it was my Lyn - I couldn't resist pointing this out to my wife. I actually thought that it was real cool that I kept encourtering people whose existince I had no clue about 3 months earlier and now had such a profound effect on my life.

I'm sure Lyn feels bad about what happened that day - but I just want to say (if she ever sees this) - that she shouldn't feel that way and this frog habors no ill feelings.

---Jay

[tlynn78]

Comment about the mouth/brain makes you fit right in with some of the others from the disstaff side that are on this bored.

HEY!!

In fairness, it did cross my mind when I read that that it sounded veeerrrry familiar....

t.

[LynPayne]

Hi guys!

So sorry to be absent from the conversation for so long, and I hope everyone on the bored has been well this year--I've had lots of things going on, including lots of travel for work and a deal with a literary agent to do a book about my game show experiences, for which I'm currently working on the proposal. (Yes, I'm going to include my four-in-a-row debacle as an ATE.) This is a great group, and I hope to stay in touch with you for feedback as I work on the book.
To the wonderful Jay--Thanks SO much for being such a gentleman when I couldn't help you. You have no idea how hard I tried, but somehow that just wasn't my day. You were a truly terrific contestant, as were my other three, and I was so bummed out that I wasn't able to help any of you that I actually cried and wanted to slink off to a cave for a few days--I can only imagine how it feels to call on an "expert" for help and get nothing.
To explain a little more of the process behind the whole ATE thing: When the Millionaire staff went over with me how I could best help the contestants, they said I'd have plenty of time to talk things through with them, and encouraged me to offer whatever advice I could. So my m.o. was to be as honest and discursive as possible, hoping that maybe something I said might work for someone to grab onto an answer even if it wasn't ringing a bell for me. I always tried very hard to make sure the contestants knew when I didn't have any idea of the correct answer (all four times), and even said that if I'd been playing I wouldn't have been sure enough to go with the information I gave them (the show may have edited some of that out). Basically I was under the impression that thinking out loud, even when I didn't know, might be of more help than simply saying I didn't know and not trying at all. That may come from the fact that I used to play a lot of bar trivia by satellite, and the teams would always talk through things that way. The Mideast question and the art question I really should have known, but I'd never thought to count the Emirates and had never read that "The Scream" was part of any series at all. I'd even spent the week studying so that I could catch up on stuff--a Canadian cookbook would have really come in handy, but that didn't occur to me.
I was afraid to ask the staff about googling, since it seems to be don't ask don't tell, but the way the Skype system was set up on my desk, it seemed impossible to even try it because it would be too obvious on camera.
After the dust cleared, I obsessively asked dozens of ultra-savvy friends (including some former Jeop! winners) all four questions and no one knew any of them. My 10-year-old son was the only one with a correct answer, since he'd seen a Discovery Channel piece about the Maybach car.... *sigh*
I don't think I've ever had such a losing streak, ever, and I'll always regret that it happened for four lovely people who were obviously counting on me. And, to top it all off, one of my contestants lives right here in Central Florida and reads my newspaper (or I guess she did until now). ;(
That said, I do think that when the show calls it "Ask the Expert," it sets up expectations that perhaps no one (well, maybe with the exception of my friend Ogi) could fulfill, since few trivia fiends are technically "expert" in more than a couple of subjects, the rest of our knowledge being what I call "random brain junk." "Ask the Former Contestant" is more unwieldy, but a lot more precise.
It's always fun and exciting to be on Millionaire, and if they call me again I'd love to do it--and will make sure to take the thoughtful advice from the bored with me. You guys rock, and I hope I get to see many more of you on the show.
XOXO,
Lyn Payne

[Bob78164]

Hi guys!

So sorry to be absent from the conversation for so long, and I hope everyone on the bored has been well this year--I've had lots of things going on, including lots of travel for work and a deal with a literary agent to do a book about my game show experiences, for which I'm currently working on the proposal. (Yes, I'm going to include my four-in-a-row debacle as an ATE.) This is a great group, and I hope to stay in touch with you for feedback as I work on the book.
To the wonderful Jay--Thanks SO much for being such a gentleman when I couldn't help you. You have no idea how hard I tried, but somehow that just wasn't my day. You were a truly terrific contestant, as were my other three, and I was so bummed out that I wasn't able to help any of you that I actually cried and wanted to slink off to a cave for a few days--I can only imagine how it feels to call on an "expert" for help and get nothing.
To explain a little more of the process behind the whole ATE thing: When the Millionaire staff went over with me how I could best help the contestants, they said I'd have plenty of time to talk things through with them, and encouraged me to offer whatever advice I could. So my m.o. was to be as honest and discursive as possible, hoping that maybe something I said might work for someone to grab onto an answer even if it wasn't ringing a bell for me. I always tried very hard to make sure the contestants knew when I didn't have any idea of the correct answer (all four times), and even said that if I'd been playing I wouldn't have been sure enough to go with the information I gave them (the show may have edited some of that out). Basically I was under the impression that thinking out loud, even when I didn't know, might be of more help than simply saying I didn't know and not trying at all. That may come from the fact that I used to play a lot of bar trivia by satellite, and the teams would always talk through things that way. The Mideast question and the art question I really should have known, but I'd never thought to count the Emirates and had never read that "The Scream" was part of any series at all. I'd even spent the week studying so that I could catch up on stuff--a Canadian cookbook would have really come in handy, but that didn't occur to me.
I was afraid to ask the staff about googling, since it seems to be don't ask don't tell, but the way the Skype system was set up on my desk, it seemed impossible to even try it because it would be too obvious on camera.
After the dust cleared, I obsessively asked dozens of ultra-savvy friends (including some former Jeop! winners) all four questions and no one knew any of them. My 10-year-old son was the only one with a correct answer, since he'd seen a Discovery Channel piece about the Maybach car.... *sigh*
I don't think I've ever had such a losing streak, ever, and I'll always regret that it happened for four lovely people who were obviously counting on me. And, to top it all off, one of my contestants lives right here in Central Florida and reads my newspaper (or I guess she did until now). ;(
That said, I do think that when the show calls it "Ask the Expert," it sets up expectations that perhaps no one (well, maybe with the exception of my friend Ogi) could fulfill, since few trivia fiends are technically "expert" in more than a couple of subjects, the rest of our knowledge being what I call "random brain junk." "Ask the Former Contestant" is more unwieldy, but a lot more precise.
It's always fun and exciting to be on Millionaire, and if they call me again I'd love to do it--and will make sure to take the thoughtful advice from the bored with me. You guys rock, and I hope I get to see many more of you on the show.
XOXO,
Lyn Payne

Welcome back, Lyn! I hope you can spend some more time with us. --Bob

[MarleysGh0st]

That said, I do think that when the show calls it "Ask the Expert," it sets up expectations that perhaps no one (well, maybe with the exception of my friend Ogi) could fulfill, since few trivia fiends are technically "expert" in more than a couple of subjects, the rest of our knowledge being what I call "random brain junk." "Ask the Former Contestant" is more unwieldy, but a lot more precise.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lyn. When I voted against this lifeline, it was because of structural problems like this. Already, there's a meme among business writers, comparing the ATA and the PAF, to make a pronouncement about "the wisdom of crowds". These writers always ignore all the pesky little details of comparing apples to oranges.

With PAFs already being popularly misconceived as experts, now TPTB have added this new lifeline falsely called the Expert. IMHO, this change was not to add a better for the contestant, less controversial lifeline, but simply to add an opportunity for Meredith to chat with a celebrity (former contestant or not).

And that's not what I think WWTBAM should be about.

[LynPayne]

this change was not to add a better for the contestant, less controversial lifeline, but simply to add an opportunity for Meredith to chat with a celebrity (former contestant or not).

I didn't vote in the poll here but I do think the new lifeline has drastically changed the structure of the game. I know I would not have gotten to $500K without Switch the Question, and I'll always be grateful that I was on last year before the change. And that ticking clock is going to make a lot more contestants nervous and prompt them to make hasty decisions without thinking them through. When I was on, the staff told us that we had as much time as we needed, not to worry, but that if we took longer than, say, four minutes and didn't seem to be getting close to a decision, they might come out on stage and gently prod us along (all that contestant dithering gets edited out, of course). They did say that had rarely happened before.
I will always remember the kindness and encouragement the staff showed to all the contestants--they and Meredith really do want you to win big and they do their best to pamper and cosset you so that you're relaxed and comfortable. I couldn't have asked for better treatment. But they're also running a business, and we as contestants can't ignore the fact that they have to do what they think will increase ratings (that's their job)--so I agree that the ATE is the new ratings-grabber for them. I have no idea if it's actually helped ratings. The fact that it can be off-putting to us hard-core quiz people isn't their problem--we're going to watch anyway.
I'm coaching a friend who wants to be on the show and I have yet to figure out the best strategy to tell her about the ATE. It really is the luck of the draw. You have to build up your own knowledge in as many areas as you possibly can, study unfamiliar subjects so that you at least recognize a lot of terms, and think about your strategy ahead of time--rehearse various scenarios at different dollar amounts in your head and know which lifeline might help you at any given time--you won't have that luxury when you're in the hot seat. And study the kinds of questions that have been used recently, which I find top-heavy with definitions of little-known foods, medical terms, etc. (Get out those specialized dictionaries...)
I still find the PAF the most valuable, since you've hand-picked your friends and they can google. I truly saw no acceptable way I could google when I was on camera as the ATE. I don't have any way of knowing, but I think the Millionaire people wouldn't have wanted that to show up on tape.
The contestants do get information that the ATE's have filled out about their strengths and weaknesses--most of what I know about food is what I've studied for quiz shows, so asking me that category may or may not work. But I do speak French, so I think that's why Jay hoped I'd know "poutine." That's a problem he might not have had with a phone a friend whose background was more familiar. Millionaire's writers have come up with some great questions, but I find many of them in the $16K-$50K range so obscure and random across such disparate categories, making that area the trickiest part of the game. I think that's why most contestants end up winning somewhere in there. When I was on, I happened to get really lucky questions--for me--but people have told me that they wouldn't have known *any* of my upper tier. So when you're on, just remember to play your own game and make the best decisions possible for yourself--then whatever happens you can at least leave hearing the echo of Sinatra's "My Way."
My own main criticism of the show is exactly that $16K-$50K range. To me, the under-$8K or so range should be basic common-knowledge questions that require increasing thought as they go up, but that most adults can get if they paid attention in school, have a reasonably well-rounded life and keep up with current events.
The upper range, $100K and up, have been pretty good (the few we've been able to see over the years)--to me, these should span a wide range of academic, historical and current events knowledge and be truly challenging, but none of them should require minute specialization. They should also contain some contextual clues so that an excellent contestant at least has a shot at figuring them out. My million $$$ question (name the country that angered Krushschev so much he banged his shoe at the 1960 UN meeting), even though it stumped me, is really one of the better ones, and was just right for that level. It really should be possible for a truly exceptional and very well-read contestant (i.e., the readers of this bored) to earn in the upper range.
The thing that keeps that from happening, I think, is that tricky middle range that knocks them off prematurely. To me, it's simply a minefield of random "gotcha" questions that I was lucky enough to pick my way through. I think the writers are looking for material that will engage the audience and create drama, but it's just not working on the contestant side. For the middle range, I'd write questions that are challenging and increasingly tricky, but that give more context so that you can at least use your knowledge to figure them out, in the way that many of the upper-level Jeopardy! questions are written. As it is, too many of them throw a little-known word on the table and simply ask for a definition. When I was on, another player was asked at $25K to define the "zonule of Zinn" (with no context other than that it was a body part)--a part of the eye that even my ophthalmologist didn't recognize. Another person used one or two lifelines on a $25K dealing with Italian terms for pasta and beans--I know some Italian and had specifically read up on the various kinds of pasta, and I'd only heard of one of the four choices. The writers need to have a better sense of what's easy and what's obscure--I see too much inconsistency and not enough thought put into creating and ranking the questions. (Hint, hint: Maybe they could invite former winners to consult on the writing of the questions...)
If anyone wants to read a piece I wrote about my Millionaire experience, it's on my blog (the first story you see) at http://www.lynpaynejournalist.blogspot.com. (It's a human interest piece written for the general reader rather than the quiz show player, but it shows where my thinking was.)
Ciao!
Lyn Payne