Saturday 19 July 2014

Around the World in Quiz Shows #1 - Million Dollar Minute (Australia)


Million Dollar Minute 


Million Dollar Minute is an Australian Game Show that I heard of recently and decided to hunt it down on Youtube….ah, the wonders of the Internet!

Hunting down the show has given me an idea for a new feature on the blog looking at gameshows from around the world and what better place to start than with Million Dollar Minute.

Million Dollar Minute began in 2013 and as the name suggests is a big money quiz show. Three contestants begin, as you can see in the above episode, on the buzzer for points. The winner of round 1 is made a cash offer for their points which they can choose to keep or sell. A nice little touch. The questions I have seen in the episodes so far have been pretty enjoyable in the first rounds and that in itself is enough to keep me coming back to Million Dollar Minute.

The second round is called Snapshot and begins with faded pictures after a question is asked . First to buzz gets the money or points…..contestants can choose the money for their pockets or the points to aid towards winning the round. Makes a good tactical element.

It is straight back to questions on the buzzer and points building after that with Million Dollar Minute offering cash for points at the end of the round.  By this point around $10k has been given away in most of the episodes I have watched without any of the contenders having to leave the show nor give up their chase of the big prize. Certainly a worthwhile game show in terms of financial incentives!

After a double point round, and more offers of cash, the player with the most points gets to play The Million Dollar Minute for $20,000. The Million Dollar Minute consists of a series of multiple choice questions. The contestant needs to simply answer 5 questions within the minute to win the money. Of course these questions are a little trickier than previous rounds and with only 2 seconds per question it puts the player under pressure. The player is not aware, in fact nor is the viewer, if the answers given are correct until the minute is up.

If the $20,000 has been won and the 5 questions have been answered, then the player gets a tough choice….take the $20,000 and go home, or play on for a chance at a Million! But staying on involves coming back to the show again and again and again with the prize money rising each time. I think it is around 7-8 shows a player would need to win to take the $1 Million. A Tough ask!

Overall I think Million Dollar Minute Is a fun gameshow with a good range of questions, nice mix of rounds. It rattles along at a fast pace (as you will see in the above video it is mainly the adverts that drag on!) and plenty of questions to get stuck into.  I enjoyed it and will certainly try and catch a few episodes online as and when I can.


Any thoughts on Million Dollar Minute?

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