It's Your Chance of a Lifetime

A solo player competed for a chance to win over $1,000,000 in the form of an annuity, doing so by answering ten questions (winnings over $200,000 were annuitized.) The first question was dubbed the "Credit Card Question," with a correct answer eliminating any credit card debt the contestant had rung up (the bill itself was shredded onstage). The highest possible credit card debt was $10,000.

The next question was worth $5,000, and a contestant had to answer correctly to advance. If correct, the contestant would have a maximum of eight questions to answer, being forced to bet at least half of what they had at that particular point in the game. The catch was that each question came from one of ten different categories, and the contestant never knew where they would come from. However, the contestant could always see the list of categories still in play and was told which one would be used for the next question, so he/she could bet accordingly.

The ten categories used in the game were: Pop Culture, Famous Events, Movies, Famous Places, TV, Pop Music, Toys And Games, People, In The News, and Animal Kingdom. Once a question was asked, the contestant had two minutes to give a response; otherwise; it was considered an automatic miss.

Along the way, each contestant had two forms of assistance known as "Second Chances." One "Second Chance" allowed the contestant to switch the question for one in a category of his/her choice, and the other allowed the question to be made multiple choice (allowing the contestant to see 3 answer choices for the question). Once a contestant reached the last three questions, a "Last Chance" was awarded, allowing the contestant to choose one of the two options for a second time.

A contestant could stop after any correct answer, but an incorrect answer deducted the amount of the wager and ended the game for the contestant. Even a miss on the credit card question ended the game, as happened on one occasion.

A possible $1,280,000 was available to a contestant, although the closest anyone came was Dr. Tim Hsieh's $1,042,309 (including the credit card question). Betting $470,000 on his last question in the Pop Music category, he was asked which musical act had the biggest-grossing concert on December 31, 1999. With two chances left, he decided to pass on it (the answer: Phish). Hsieh was then asked a question in the TV category about the name of the band manager on The Partridge Family; after using his Last Chance to give him 3 possible answers, he correctly said Reuben Kincaid, and won the million.

Broadcast
FOX 06/05/00 - 06/10/00

Host
Gordon Elliott