The Chair

''PREMIERE OPENING SPIEL: Hi, I'm John McEnroe. I've spent the better part of my life performing under pressure. So I know how important is it to stay calm, cool, and completely focused when big money's on the line. (montage of clips of his days as a tennis pro, including his famous tirades) That's just me. If tonight's contenders will keep their heart rates under control and answer the questions, they could leave here with $250,000. But first, they'll have to beat The Chair!''

The Chair was a short-lived game show on ABC where contestants would sit in a chair inside a pit and answer questions, all while keeping their heart rate under control for a possible $250,000.

Gameplay
The contestant would be seated in the Chair in the pit and he/she looked up at a video screen, on which McEnroe's image was displayed, as well as the information for the current question. The contestant would start out with $5,000 and could go up to $250,000 by answering 7 multiple choice questions. But the tricky part about the game is their heart rate, due to the fact that the pit has flames on the outside. The contestant's heart rate was continuously measured throughout the game and compared to a "redline" threshold. This value started at 60% (later 70%) above the resting heart rate, and it was lowered by 5% of the resting heart rate after each question. If the heart rate goes up and exceeds the "redline" rate, money is deducted. In addition, he/she was ineligible to give an answer during this time; only after the heart rate dropped below the threshold could an answer be given. (Redlining between questions, or while a question was being asked, carried no penalty.) The third question involved recalling information from a video clip, the fifth was a list, and the seventh involved choosing which event occurred first/last (However, in Stephen Benjamin's game, he was asked a question about animal groups for #7). After the fourth question, McEnroe would make a one-time offer: keep the redline rate constant for the next question, at a cost of $25,000. This was rarely - if ever - accepted.

As long as the contestant had money in the account, and continued to answer questions correctly the game continued. If the money ran out or a question was answered wrongly, the game ended. The question values and penalties for redlining are shown in the table below.

Heartstoppers
At two points during the contestant's campaign, a "heartstopper" event took place. These were designed to raise the heart rate. If the contestant could endure the event for 15 seconds, or 20 seconds in the Korean version of the show, the event would end. If he/she went over the redline rate, the event would continue until the heart rate was under control, and he/she would lose money at the rate for the previously answered question. In the Korean version, the host is responsible for initiating the heartstopper by saying, simply enough, "start the heartstopper," at which point the countdown begins.

Heartstoppers (among others)

 * The flames in the fire pit would flare up
 * A shower of electrical sparks would rain down on the player
 * The player is face to face with an alligator
 * The player is faced with a hive of bees
 * McEnroe would serve tennis balls at the player's head
 * A player would come face to face with a boa constrictor (or python)
 * 2 extremely large hammers would suddenly hit each other, causing an explosion
 * Fireworks would be set off in the fire pit

Stabilize
After answering the $15,000 question correctly (for a potential prize of $35,000), the contestant earned the chance to "stabilize". Once during the rest of the game, he/she could exercise this option after a correct answer; if he/she missed a question, he/she would leave with the money won up to the "stabilize" point. However, if the contestant redlined in the interim and went below the stabilized amount, the stabilized amount would fall and match the current prize amount, but if the player redlines or misses a question without stabilizing, the player left with nothing.

If a contestant could answer all seven questions correctly and keep his/her heart under control for the entire game, the top prize of $250,000 is awarded.

Countermeasure Rule
Contestants were required to stay alert during the game at all times. If a contestant tried to close his/her eyes or perform some other task in an attempt to lower the heart rate, McEnroe gave a warning. Three warnings would end the game. The latter never happened, though one contestant on the US show was warned twice and almost disqualified for the above actions. On the first episode, one contestant closed her eyes for the entire time on the one heartstopper she reached and was not given a warning. In the Korean version, that warning rule only applies in heartstoppers.

Broadcast history
The Chair lasted for nine episodes on ABC in 2002, but not before two people managed to answer the final question correctly; Kris Mackerer won $224,600 and Steven Benjamin won the maximum $250,000. Just a week before Mackerer's $224,000+ win, another player (Dean Sheffron) saw the last question but redlined away a massive $132,200 and lost it all after he was unable to get his heart rate under control.

Trivia

 * A spinoff of this show was aired on FOX known as The Chamber just after The Chair got cancelled.
 * John McEnroe is a famous Tennis player. He later hosted the UK version that same year.

International Versions
Here is a list of other countries that has aired their versions of The Chair:


 * Arabia
 * Blugaria
 * Cambodia
 * France
 * Japan
 * Mexico
 * Netherlands
 * New Zealand
 * Russia
 * South Korea
 * Thailand
 * United Kingdom
 * Vietnam

Catchphrase
"I'm sorry, you have been beaten by The Chair." - John would say this when a player redlines all of his money.

"You may/may not answer the question." - John McEnroe

"Okay, it is game time!" - John McEnroe

YouTube
The Intro to the Premiere

The First Ever Contestant

Alecia Jordan

Part 1

Part 2

Dean Sheffron

Part 1

Part 2

Kris Mackerer

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Mike Wilson

Part 1

Part 2

Steven Benjamin

Part 1

Part 2

Veoh
Penny DeMarco