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 is an American game show which aired on Fox in the United States and Canada. It is based on the UK 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 was 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 of seven multiple-choice questions (See below 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.

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.

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 will automatically be used. Contestants are not allowed to use the Quick Change on the final question because it has no time limit. 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.

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]

See also

• The Million Pound Drop Live

References