Millionaire 2017-18 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

[seaborgium]

Spoiler

But whereas I can understand someone who is not into movies struggling with that one, Dan has no one to blame but himself for missing the $7k question. Even if he is bad pop culture (although I'm shaky on it and knew Rihanna was from Barbados), it is either foolhardy or lazy not to look up all the word capitals if you're going on a game show.

Spoiler

All 193 of them? Can you name them all without googling?

I couldn't name them all, but I can reliably name a country given a capital or vice versa for all of them.

[Bamaman]

Yes. And have been since 1999. You hadn't noticed?

Heh, I've only seen a dozen episodes total, if even that, since Regis stopped hosting.

I've come across way more questions from MarkBarrett's updates in this topic.

Understood. It has gone way downhill since the prime time days. But that shouldn't stop good trivia players from taking advantage of free money given the opportunity.

I wonder if the move to Vegas has hurt the quality of advice you get from the audience.

[goongas]

I haven't watched this season after watching almost every episode. Has anyone won a lot of money this season?

[triviawayne]

As long as you're making "forward progress," you're allowed to think as long as necessary. If they see you fumbling around just trying to buy time, they can force you to walk away. This is why they encourage you to say absolutely everything out loud and not think in your head; they can't tell if you're making progress or spacing out otherwise.

There is a ton of editing, and yes, if you're circling the drain, they let you keep circling, but if you're not progressing toward the correct answer, they can and will stop you.

Is that what they tell contestants these days? Does anybody have a concrete example of a contestant being forced to walk away

Yes

[LanceJ]

Spoiler

But whereas I can understand someone who is not into movies struggling with that one, Dan has no one to blame but himself for missing the $7k question. Even if he is bad pop culture (although I'm shaky on it and knew Rihanna was from Barbados), it is either foolhardy or lazy not to look up all the word capitals if you're going on a game show.

Spoiler

All 193 of them? Can you name them all without googling?

Spoiler

I agree that world capitals is basically step 2 (after US state capitals) when prepping for a game show. I think IronNeck's post came off as kind of mean-spirited but it's not wrong

on a non-question-related Q, anyone else tape for this season and still haven't been called with an air date? i'm dying here, millionaire tptb.

[MarkBarrett]

From the 5/16 episode:

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Tiffany Bolton going for $10,000

Next:

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Her reasoning was there are not that many people on Family Feud and there are a lot of spaces on the wheel. She left with the +1 unused and $5,000.

Next:

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Gregg Meller going for $30,000

Next:

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Gregg had already used his +1 to get $20,000.  He used his ATA which gave:
India 38%
Iraq 35%
Egypt 28%
Vietnam 6%

Next:

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The 50:50 left India & Egypt

Next:

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Gregg locked in Egypt and left with $5,000.

[MinnesotaMyron]

Univision used to air Mexican Let's Make a Deal while I was getting ready for work. It's surprisingly language-neutral.

[clprez]

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I don't know much spanish, but I got Family Feud based on "We surveyed 100 people..."

I didn't get the India question because I thought there was either more than one official language or no official language at all.

[MarkBarrett]

The results of the 5/17 episode:

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Rachel Lane going for $10,000

Next:

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Rachel had her +1 & 50:50 available.  She knew Anne was Canada, Scout was the South and Dorothy was Kansas.  She admitted she had not read The Catcher in the Rye.  Rachel locked in Holden Caulfield and left with $5,000 as Dorothy was the closest.

Next:

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Ken Johnson with his ATA and +1 available
$10,000

Next:

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Ken used the ATA and it gave him:
Riboflavin: 40%
Retinol: 22%
Ascorbic acid: 19%
Niacin: 19%

Next:

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Ken went with the audience and left with $5,000 as Retinol is Vitamin A. Riboflavin is B2, Niacin is B3, and Ascorbic acid is of course Vitamin C. When I first read the question I thought for a moment it was going to be all Bs and I would have to recall the corresponding number and alphabetize from there. Classic case of overthinking. Once I realized I was looking at a decent report card mix and not a poorer one it was easy.

Next:

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There was time to call down audience member Megan Alexander to play for $1,000

The reaction from the audience was immediate and quite audible by Millionaire's standard.
Roseanne - Conner Family
Full House - Tanner Family
3rd Rock from the Sun - Solomon family

[xxaaaxx]

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After the first contestant I was ready to post something snarky about not using lifelines...and then the next one gets screwed by ATA. YIKES!!! Did they misread the question, or did 40% of them actually think riboflavin is vitamin A??

That last one...eh whatever. She's probably never seen any of them, I'd look just as bad if you asked me about the wrong group of 1960s shows.

[IronNeck]

How does one not read Catcher in the Rye at some point? And why would you guess instead of using a lifeline if that's the case?

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After the first contestant I was ready to post something snarky about not using lifelines...and then the next one gets screwed by ATA. YIKES!!! Did they misread the question, or did 40% of them actually think riboflavin is vitamin A??

That last one...eh whatever. She's probably never seen any of them, I'd look just as bad if you asked me about the wrong group of 1960s shows.

Spoiler

Don't know about that. I'm 31 and watched all those shows growing up. They were on air for a very long time, are still in heavy syndication, and two even have modern-day revivals. Even if she is 18-20 (which I doubt, looking at her), those aren't so bad, unless virtually every TV-related question is bad for you.

[MarkBarrett]

How does one not read Catcher in the Rye at some point? And why would you guess instead of using a lifeline if that's the case?

Spoiler

After the first contestant I was ready to post something snarky about not using lifelines...and then the next one gets screwed by ATA. YIKES!!! Did they misread the question, or did 40% of them actually think riboflavin is vitamin A??

That last one...eh whatever. She's probably never seen any of them, I'd look just as bad if you asked me about the wrong group of 1960s shows.

Spoiler

Don't know about that. I'm 31 and watched all those shows growing up. They were on air for a very long time, are still in heavy syndication, and two even have modern-day revivals. Even if she is 18-20 (which I doubt, looking at her), those aren't so bad, unless virtually every TV-related question is bad for you.

If I'm running the carnival age/weight/birth date game and I have to be within 2 +/- I would go with 24 to cover 22-26 and be surprised not to have the right age range.

[econgator]

Why is Holden Caulfield not correct? He tells the story in a hospital(ish place) in SoCal. That's certainly much closer than Kansas.

[IronNeck]

If I'm running the carnival age/weight/birth date game and I have to be within 2 +/- I would go with 24 to cover 22-26 and be surprised not to have the right age range.

Yeah, I agree. My guess was 25.

[MarkBarrett]

Why is Holden Caulfield not correct? He tells the story in a hospital(ish place) in SoCal. That's certainly much closer than Kansas.

I have no idea and when playing I thought he was NY. Who can find Rachel Lane and see if she has done anything about it? Or can someone figure out why perhaps HC is not right? Mistakes happen on game shows and if Rachel was unfairly disadvantaged she should be back on the show.

[econgator]

Why is Holden Caulfield not correct? He tells the story in a hospital(ish place) in SoCal. That's certainly much closer than Kansas.

I have no idea and when playing I thought he was NY. Who can find Rachel Lane and see if she has done anything about it? Or can someone figure out why perhaps HC is not right? Mistakes happen on game shows and if Rachel was unfairly disadvantaged she should be back on the show.

Hmmm. I thought there was something in the book that mentioned where the hospital was, but I may be mistaken. Been too long since I've read it.

[IronNeck]

Why is Holden Caulfield not correct? He tells the story in a hospital(ish place) in SoCal. That's certainly much closer than Kansas.

I have no idea and when playing I thought he was NY. Who can find Rachel Lane and see if she has done anything about it? Or can someone figure out why perhaps HC is not right? Mistakes happen on game shows and if Rachel was unfairly disadvantaged she should be back on the show.

Hmmm. I thought there was something in the book that mentioned where the hospital was, but I may be mistaken. Been too long since I've read it.

You're being far too modest; your memory is excellent. I looked it up, and Holden does indeed narrate the story from a hospital in SoCal, a detail I didn't remember myself despite a clear recollection of the book's events and many of the names.

So you're absolutely correct, and Rachel has a legitimate case to be brought back.

[davey]

And Dorothy lives in Oz for most of her book, so she's gotta be farthest away!

[Bamaman]

The question asked where the character lived. Had Holden taken up permanent residence in California or was he just there for treatment?

[davey]

I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy. I mean, that's all I told D.B. about, and he's my brother and all. He's in Hollywood. That isn't too far from this crumby place, and he comes over and visits me practically every week end. He's going to drive me home when I go home next month maybe.

I believe this is the entire reference.