Million Dollar Money Drop

Million Dollar Money Drop
Genre	Game show
Developed by	Endemol
Presented by	Kevin Pollak
Theme music composer	ispy music
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	12
Production
Location(s)	The Culver studios
Running time	60 minutes (including adverts)
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Picture format	720p (HDTV)
Original run	December 20, 2010 – February 1, 2011
Chronology
Related shows	The Million Pound Drop Live
External links
Website

Million Dollar Money Drop was a game show which aired on Fox in the United States and Canada. It was based on the U.K. series The Million Pound Drop Live. However, unlike the original UK version, it was not broadcast live, and there were several changes to the format. The show premiered on December 20, 2010, and is hosted by Kevin Pollak.^[1]

On February 21, 2011, buzzerblog.com announced a potential second season to air in the summer along with a board game as well.

On May 18, 2011, TVSeriesFinale.com^[2] reported that FOX had cancelled Million Dollar Money Drop and would not be producing a second season. However, more than 15 different international versions of the program will continue to air in other countries. There has been no comment from FOX as to why Million Dollar Money Drop was cancelled, though there's speculation it was due to its initial low ratings.

Game format

A team of two people with a pre-existing relationship is presented with $1,000,000 U.S. in $20 bills, banded in 50 bundles of $20,000 each.^[3] The team must risk the entire amount on each correctly of seven multiple-choice questions (See below the 3rd Paragraph).

For each question, the contestants choose one of two categories, then indicate which answer(s) they wish to risk their money on by moving the bundles of cash onto a row of trap doors, termed "drops," each of which corresponds to one answer. However, they must always keep at least one drop "clear" with no money on it. In addition, six of the seven questions have a time limit; any money that is not placed on an answer when time runs out will be lost.^{[citation needed]}

Once the money is in place, the trap doors for the incorrect answers are opened, and the cash on them falls out of sight and is lost. The contestants then continue the game using the cash they had placed on the correct answer. They get to keep whatever money is left after the seventh question; if they lose everything before reaching this point, the game ends immediately and they leave with nothing.^{[citation needed]}

Question(s)	Answer choices	Time limit
1–3	4	60 seconds
4–5	3	75 seconds
6	3	90 seconds
7	2	None

Quick Change

The contestants may use one "Quick Change" during the game, on any question except the seventh. This feature allows them an extra 30 seconds to distribute their cash among the trap doors. If none of the trapdoors are left open and the contestants still have the Quick Change, it must be used. Contestants are not allowed to use the Quick Change in question 7 because there is no time limit and there are 2 choices. The Quick Change was later implemented on the German version in early 2011.

Final Fact

For the seventh question, once the contestants have placed their money on one of the trap doors, the host reveals a piece of information about the answers. They then have 60 seconds to switch their answer or leave the money where it is.^{[citation needed]}

Broadcast history

Ratings

For the twelve episodes aired, the average viewership was 5.03 million.^{[citation needed]}

Contestant winnings

Nathan Moore and Lana McKissack are the most-successful pair, having won $300,000 on the episode that aired January 18, 2011.^{[citation needed]} Twelve contestant pairs have finished with $0 or have been eliminated from the game.^{[citation needed]}

Controversy

On the very first episode, Okoye and Mayti lost $800,000 on a question that asked, "Which of these was sold in stores first?" The three possible answers were: Macintosh computer, Sony Walkman, and Post-It notes. Gabe placed the bulk of the team's money on the answer "Post-It notes." The correct answer was then revealed to be Sony Walkman.^[4]

Later, viewers began to dispute the accuracy of the question because of information on the Internet that indicated Post-It Notes were "launched" or "introduced" under the name "Press 'N Peel" in four cities in 1977, based on an interview with the inventors of the Post-It Note published in the Financial Times.^[5][6] On April 6, 1980, the product debuted in US stores as "Post-It Notes."^[7] The Sony Walkman went on sale in Japan on July 1, 1979, and was later introduced to the US in June 1980.^[8]

On December 21, 2010, Gawker published an article on this controversy, and the web site was later contacted by a Fox representative. Jeff Apploff, the show's executive producer, initially issued the following statement: "The integrity of the questions and answers on our show are our No. 1 priority. In this case, our research team spoke directly with 3M, and they confirmed that although they had given out free samples in test markets in 1977 and 1978, it wasn't until 1980 that Post-Its were sold in stores. Million Dollar Money Drop stands behind the answer that was revealed on the show."^[9]

On December 23, 2010, Apploff issued another statement: “Unfortunately the information our research department originally obtained from 3M regarding when Post-it notes were first sold was incomplete... As a result of new information we have received from 3M, we feel it is only fair to give our contestants, Gabe and Brittany, another shot to play Million Dollar Money Drop even though this question was not the deciding question in their game. The revised information regarding the Post-it is as follows: the product was originally tested for sale in four cities under the name ‘Press ‘N Peel’ in 1977, sold as ‘Post-its’ in 1979 when the rollout introduction began and sold nationwide in 1980." Losing the $800,000, however, would not have directly impacted the outcome of the game, as the last question (in which the contestants either win or lose the entire remainder of their money) was answered incorrectly.^[10]

On December 28, 2010, Host Kevin Pollak said, "They never had a chance to win that money. Ever. No matter what," and added, "This story is a moot point." He provided further detail when he said, "They lost everything on the next question. It's a non-story."^[11]

International versions

Country	Title	Host	Network	Top Prize	First Airdate
Albania	100 Milionë	Eno Popi	Top Channel	10,000,000 lek	January 11, 2011
Argentina	Salven el Millón	Susana Giménez	Telefe	1,000,000 AR$	June 9, 2011
Australia [12]	The Million Dollar Drop	Eddie McGuire	Nine Network	A$1,000,000	March 21, 2011
Brazil [13][dead link]	Um Milhão na Mesa	Silvio Santos	SBT	R$1,000,000	September 21, 2011
Chile[14]	TBA	Don Francisco	Canal 13	CL$500.000.000	TBA
Colombia	Millones por montones	María José Barraza	Caracol Televisión	CO$1.000'000.000	25 July 2011
Egypt[15]	انت والمليون Inta wal milyon	Nagla Badr	Mehwar TV	‏EGP1,000,000	January 2012
Estonia [16]	Rahaauk	Alari Kivisaar	TV3	€100,000	September 12, 2011
France [17]	Money Drop	Laurence Boccolini	TF1	€250,000	August 1, 2011
Germany	Rette die Million!	Jörg Pilawa	ZDF	€1,000,000	October 13, 2010
Greece	Money Drop	Grigoris Arnaoutoglou	Mega TV	€300,000	October 16, 2010
Hungary	A 40 Milliós Játszma	Rákóczi Ferenc	TV2	‏40,000,000 Ft	November 29, 2010
India (Bengali) [18]	কোটি টাকার বাজি Koti Takar Baji	Jeet	Star Jalsha	Rs1,000,000	October 15, 2011
Israel	אל תפיל את המיליון Al Tapil Et HaMilyon	Erez Tal	Channel 2 (Keshet)	‏₪1,000,000	October 13, 2010
Italy [19]	The Money Drop	Gerry Scotti	Canale 5	€1,000,000	December 12, 2011
Kazakhstan [20][dead link]	Шоу Сорок Миллионов Тенге‏ Shou Sorok Millionov Tenge	Abdel' Mukhtarov	tv7	40,000,000 ₸	January 22, 2011
Latvia [21][dead link]	Paņem 100 000... ja vari	Edgars Ludāns	TV3	€100,000	October 1, 2011
Lithuania [22][dead link]	100 000 eurų grynais	Marijonas Mikutavičius	TV3	€100,000	September 2, 2011
Malaysia	RM 1,000,000 Money Drop	TBA	Astro Ria	RM1,000,000	TBA
Netherlands[23]	Show Me The Money	Beau van Erven Dorens	SBS 6	€1,000,000	April 11-22, 2011
Poland	Postaw na milion	Łukasz Nowicki	TVP2	1,000,000 zł	March 5, 2011
Russia	Шоу Десять миллионов Shou Desyat' Millionov	Maxim Galkin	Russia 1	10,000,000 руб.	September 4, 2010
Serbia[24]	Multimilioner	Dragan Nikolić	RTV Pink	10,000,000RSD (weekly)	September 13, 2011
Singapore [25]	Million Dollar Money Drop	George Young	MediaCorp TV Channel 5	S$1,000,000	August 9, 2011
Spain [26]	Atrapa un Millón	Carlos Sobera	Antena 3	€1,000,000 (weekly)	February 4, 2011
	Atrapa un Millón Diario			€ 200,000 (daily)	April 4, 2011
Sweden[27]	Pengarna på bordet	Peter Jihde	TV4	2,000,000 Kr.	October 3, 2011
Switzerland[28]	Die Millionen-Falle	René Rindlisbacher	SF1	1,000,000SFr	July 4 - August 15, 2011
Turkey	Bir Milyon Canlı Para	Engin Altan Düzyatan	Show TV	1,000,000TL	October 25, 2010
Ukraine	Шоу на два мiльйони Shou Na Dva Milyoni	Andriy Domanskyi	1+1	2,000,000 грн.	January 12 - March 30, 2011
United Kingdom	The Million Pound Drop Live	Davina McCall	Channel 4	£1,000,000	May 24, 2010

See also

• The Million Pound Drop Live

References

1. ^ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/million-dollar-money-drop/
2. ^ http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/million-dollar-money-drop-canceled-season-two-20034/
3. ^ "‘Million Dollar Money Drop’ Game Show To Premiere Tonight On Fox". Beverly Hills Courier. December 20, 2010. http://makeamerica.com/million-dollar-money-drop-game-show-to-premiere-tonight-on-fox.html. Retrieved December 21, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "Fox backflips after Million Dollar blunder". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 2010-12-25. http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/12/25/us-fox-backflips-after-million-dollar-blunder/. Retrieved 2010-12-25. 
5. ^ Art Fry and Spencer Silver (2010-12-03). "First Person: ‘We invented the Post-it Note’". FT Magazine. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f08e8a9a-fcd7-11df-ae2d-00144feab49a.html. Retrieved 2010-12-20. 
6. ^ Chuck Ross (2010-12-23). "TVWeek Exclusive: Inventor for 3M Offers Physical Proof That Post-its Were Sold First, Meaning Couple on Fox Show 'Million Dollar Money Drop' Robbed of $800,000 [Article Now Updated Wt. Latest Show Statement, Issued Hours After This Story Was Published"]. TV Week, a Crain company. http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tvbizwire/2010/12/800000-mistake-by-fox-game-sho.php. Retrieved 2010-12-27. 
7. ^ "Spencer Silver". http://www.nndb.com/people/758/000173239/. Retrieved 2010-12-24. 
8. ^ Haire, Meaghan (1 July 2009). "A Brief History of The Walkman". Time. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1907884,00.html. Retrieved 2010-12-29. 
9. ^ Lawson, Richard (2010-12-21). "Couple on Game Show Loses $800,000 for Answering Question Correctly". Gawker. http://gawker.com/5715821/couple-on-game-show-loses-800000-for-answering-question-correctly. Retrieved 2010-12-25. 
10. ^ "Fox backflips after Million Dollar blunder". Access Hollywood. 2010-12-23. http://www.accesshollywood.com/couple-who-lost-800000-on-foxs-million-dollar-money-drop-will-get-another-chance-to-play-for-cash_article_41463. Retrieved 2010-12-25. 
11. ^ "'Million Dollar Money Drop' Host Kevin Pollak On Wronged Couple: 'They Would Have Lost Anyway'". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/28/million-dollar-money-drop_1_n_801813.html. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
12. ^ "The Million Dollar Drop". Channel Nine. http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8209389. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
13. ^ http://www.sbt.com.br/inscricoes/gameShow/default.asp
14. ^ "¡Canal 13 busca a la mejor pareja!". Espectaculos. http://espectaculos.13.cl/television/canal-13-busca-la-mejor-pareja. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
15. ^ ""المحور" تعرض برنامج المسابقات "أنت والمليون"". News 3. http://news3.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=483705&. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
16. ^ "Telemängus "Rahaauk" saab 100 000 eurot kohe kätte". Ohtuleht. http://www.ohtuleht.ee/432300. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
17. ^ ""MONEY DROP" : LAURENCE BOCCOLINI CHAQUE JOUR SUR TF1 DÈS LE 1ER AOÛT". Ozap. http://www.ozap.com/actu/money-drop-laurence-boccolini-tf1-lancement/433164. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
18. ^ http://www.endemoldistribution.com/content/readnews.aspx?id=1683
19. ^ {http://www.cinetivu.com/canali-televisivi/mediaset/mediaset-palinsesto-dicembre-2011-arrivano-my-name-is-e-money-drop/
20. ^ http://www.tv7.kz/program/list/2011/1/22
21. ^ http://www.tv3.lv/anketa
22. ^ http://www.tv3.lt/content/blogcategory/1079/1229/
23. ^ "Show Me The Money LIVE". http://www.sbs6.nl/web/show/id=1470087/langid=43/dbid=550/typeofpage=73941. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
24. ^ "Novi kviz Multimilioner na RTV Pink". Gledamo. http://www.gledamo.tv/index.php?id=3801. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
25. ^ "Million Dollar Money Drop". http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/en/tv/channel-5/programmes/money-drop.aspx?cp-documentid=4772725. 
26. ^ "Carlos Sobera presentará 'Atrapa un Millón' en Antena 3". Antenna 3. http://www.antena3.com/objetivotv/actualidad/espana/carlos-sobera-presentara-atrapa-millon-antena_2011011200087.html. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
27. ^ "Peter Jihde leder TV4:s nya gameshow Pengarna på bordet". TV4. http://www.tv4.se/1.2189590/2011/06/28/peter_jihde_leder_tv4_s_nya_gameshow_pengarna_pa_bordet. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
28. ^ "René Rindlisbacher moderiert neue SF-Quizshow". Schweizer Fernsehen. http://www.glanzundgloria.sf.tv/Nachrichten/Archiv/2011/04/05/Schweiz/Rene-Rindlisbacher-moderiert-neue-SF-Quizshow?WT.zugang=gg_newsteaser. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 

External links

• Million Dollar Money Drop