The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime

The daily game show where two couple each day competed to solve word puzzles in hopes of winning $1,000,000.

Broadcast
Syndication - January 6, 1986 – September 11, 1987

Packagers
XPTLA Company/Lorimar-Telepictures

Host
Jim Lange

Hostess
Karen Thomas (2nd Season)

Announcer
Mark Summers Johnny Gilbert

Inventor
The El Canto Group - Based on a failed 1970s pilot called The Letter Machine

Music
Score Produtions

Main Game
In each round, one member from each couple played the entire round. Their partners can cheer them on but they cannot help out in any way.

The two active players saw a series of blank squares representing the number of letters in a mystery word/phrase/name. When host Lange said "Go" letters in the puzzle appeared one at a time (the same as Scrabble's Speedword & Wheel of Fortune's Toss-Up Puzzles), and as soon as a player knows the puzzle, he/she must then buzz-in. Giving the right answer won money, but giving a wrong answer or running out of time gave the opposing player a chance to see the remaining letters minus the last, then had two seconds to buzz-in and answer.

Each toss-up puzzle was a clue to a bigger puzzle, the player with a correct guess came up to a giant computer housing the puzzle and picked two letters from the keyboard in front of him/her. The keyboard in question consisted of the entire alphabet and a star key (the star key represented punctuation marks and/or numbers in the puzzle). The contestant can only choose from the letter that were lit, for they were the only ones that were in the puzzle, except for just the one which does not belong, and that letter is dubbed "The Stinger". The Stinger was always shown at the start to the home viewers so they can keep their eyes on it, but not to the contestants; any letter can be the Stinger but the star key is the only one that is never the Stinger. When choosing the letter, each time a letter/number/symbol appeared in the puzzle, money (which was always the value of the toss-ups) was added to the puzzle bank; but if the letter chosen was the Stinger, the contestant lost a chance at solving the puzzle. If the two letters chosen were safe, the contestant had a chance to solve the puzzle and if he/she solved it, he/she won all the money in the bank for the team, otherwise another toss-up was played.

Scoring
Here's how they scored in each round:
 * Round 1 - $25
 * Round 2 - $50
 * Round 3 - $100

In the event there was time remaining after three puzzles, a fourth puzzle was played with the same amount from the third puzzle. When time ran out in the middle of a puzzle, letters in the puzzle were revealed one at a time just like the toss-up clues until one player answered correctly.

The couple with the most money at the end of the game won the game. If the game ended in a tie, a tiebreaker toss-up was played with the first player to buzz-in with a correct answer winning the game; but if the contestant buzzed-in and was wrong, the game went to the opposing team.

The winning couple got to keep all the cash earned and went on to play the $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime bonus round.

The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime Bonus Round
To start, the winning couple was shown three categories, they must choose the one they know best. After choosing a category, the winning couple entered into an isolation booth where they can hear only host Jim and not the audience. Once they entered, they had 60 seconds to solve six puzzles under the chosen category. Each puzzle worked the same as the clue puzzles in the main game except that the couple can now guess as many times as they want at anytime. As soon as they yell out the right answer, the puzzle was filled in and they moved on to the next puzzle. If they can solve all six before time expired, they won a cash bonus depending on their appearance.

The first win was worth $5,000, and the second win was worth $10,000, On the first two bonus games they can either take the appropriate bonus cash prize and leave the show or come back the next day to face a new couple. In any bonus round, if they fail to get all six right when time ran out, the reign as champions were detained but they do keep all the main game cash. However, if the winning couple won three bonus games, they win $1,000,000. In the first season the million dollar prize was all cash and delivered in an annuity fashion. In the second season 9/10 of it was cash while the remaining $100,000 was in prizes including two new Mazdas, 40 round-trip tickets (20 for each team member) to anywhere in the USA (on Delta Air Lines); three complete rooms of furniture (a kitchen, living room and dining room); and an outdoor spa.

Nine couples became millionaires over the course of the series.

Links

 * Rules of the $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime
 * Chuck Donegan's $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime rules page
 * Screengrabs of the $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime
 * An interview with $1,000,000 winner, Cheryl Gilmore