2006-01-28

A drop in performance this past week, as week 18 sees ten contestants win a total of $109,000. Hands up for Karen Hasty (below right), an opthalmic technician from Harrah, OK. She used her last lifeline (switch the question) on question 11, and guessed correctly on the replacement. However, Karen had no clue on question 12 ($100k), so she happily walked away with $50,000.

Two runners-up this past week left with $25,000. Heidi Schuessler, a managing editor from Seattle, WA and Elizabeth McCoy, a corporate pilot from Amarillo, TX are the pair of winners. Elizabeth looked poised for a big run, but question 10 ($25k) stopped her cold. She had to use all three lifelines to get by the question.

Finally, for only the third time in syndicated Millionaire history, a player missed the very first question. Paul Weir Galm, from Portland, OR was the unfortunate contestant. He and his wife had quit their jobs as attorneys and used their savings to travel the world. An income boost from Millionaire after their return would have been nice, but something took hold of Paul when he faced this question 1 ($100):

Which of these phrases is a common way of saying "I can't take it anymore!"?

a. That's the last stick!

b. That's the last leaf!

c. That's the last straw!

d. I'm moving to Canada!

For reasons known only to Paul, he blurted out "a. That's the last stick!, final answer." A few nanoseconds later, Paul realized his mistake. Let that be a lesson to you all. If you utter the magic words "final answer", you've locked it in.

We really don't have to tell you that the answer is "c. That's the last straw!", now, do we?

2006-01-22

Week 17 of Millionaire sees our intrepid contestants set a high water mark for individual players. Seven players combined to win a total of $217,000. Only the soon-to-be married during Play to Pay For Your Wedding week (week 9) fared better.

The wealth was distributed quite evenly, as for the first time we have three players of the week. Our first player in the spotlight is last week's carryover contestant, Windy Waite (top right) from Cold Spring, NY. Windy started the week with all of her lifelines intact, but question 9 ($16k) gave her pause. She used ask the audience, then 50:50 to get by this question:

In physics equations, what letter is typically used to represent the speed of light?

a. c

b. m

c. t

d. v

The 50:50 left a. c and b. m, both parts of Einstein's famous equation E = mc². Windy reasoned out that a. c was the correct answer. Windy went on to use phone-a-friend on question 10 and switch the question on question 11. The second $50k question was more to Windy's liking, but question 12 ($100k) was not, so she walked.

Tom Kaczka (middle right), an arbitrator from Mountain Lakes, NJ was the week's second $50k winner. Tom breezed through his first nine questions, before unusually using his 50:50 first on question 10. He was torn between two answers though, and the lifeline helpfully eliminated one of them, propelling him into the upper tier. Ask the audience got Tom through question 11, but on question 12 ($100k) he decided to use switch the question. Here are the two question 12s he faced:

$100k (1): In 1966, what U.S. state became the last to repeal its statewide Prohibition laws?

a. Tennessee

b. Alabama

c. Arkansas

d. Mississippi

$100k (2): Contrary to his nickname, Thomas "Tennessee" Williams was born in what U.S. state?

a. Virginia

b. Missouri

c. Louisiana

d. Mississippi

Tom saved his phone-a-friend for the second question 12, but no help was forthcoming. So Tom walked with $50k, but was in all likelihood witness to a Millionaire first. The answer to both of his $100k questions were the same: Mississippi.

Our third $50k winner for the week was Rodney Crouther (bottom right), a writer and editor from Austin, TX. Rodney took a more typical path through his stack - using his first lifeline on question 8 ($8k), and then using one each on questions 9, 10 and 11. The second $50k question he was able to answer, but without any lifelines left on question 12 ($100k), he decided to take the money and run.

Chris Baker from Manassas, VA is currently in the hot seat, and will return on Monday to face question 9 ($16k) with all three lifelines intact.

2006-01-14

Millionaire concludes taping for season 4 this weekend at Disney World's Millionaire - Play It! attraction in Orlando, FL. Besides taping quite a few regular episodes, Meredith and the crew are taping College Week and Walk In and Win Week. Also recording his episode is AOL Million Dollar Buddy contest winner Bob Juch.

2006-01-14

Welcome to another year of news and notes from wwtbam.biz. New syndicated Millionaire episodes returned to our airwaves this past week after a two week hiatus.

We pick up with season 4 week 16. A fine week for the players as eight of them combine to win a total of $166,000. Leading the way were Bill O'Connor, a NYPD lieutenant from Suffern, NY (the excited gentleman at left) and Keith Wildman, a sixth grade teacher from Freehold, NJ (the excited gentleman below right). Both took Meredith Vieira for a cool $50k.

Bill took off like a shot through his stack. He joined an elite group by answering his first 10 questions correctly without using a lifeline. Carrying four lifelines into the upper tier, he finally used ask the audience on question 11. Not really feeling certain about the audience responses, he then used 50:50 to get through the question.

On question 12, Bill decided to use his switch the question lifeline. The replacement wasn't much better for him, so he used phone-a-friend to try and get an answer. No joy after 30 seconds with his friend, but leaving with $50k will take some of the sting away.

Keith used his first three lifelines to reach the upper tier, but then answered question 11 without using switch the question. Question 12 ($100k) forced him to use it, but the replacement question wasn't to his liking either.

This week's honorable mention goes to Ellen Whittemore from Mamaroneck, NY. She didn't use a lifeline until question 10. After using ask the audience and 50:50 to answer it correctly, and move into the upper tier, she then phone-a-friend to try and answer question 11. She didn't receive enough help, and used switch the question. The replacement wasn't much better, as Ellen was forced to guess incorrectly.

Windy Waite from Cold Spring, NY is currently in the hot seat, and will restart on Monday with $8k and all three lifelines intact.