| It's Your Chance of a Lifetime | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Game show |
| Created by | Stephen Leahy |
| Directed by | Bob Levy |
| Presented by | Gordon Elliott |
| Narrated by | Mark Thompson |
| Composer(s) | Edgar Struble |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Brad Lachman Stephen Leahy |
| Editor(s) | David Harrison Mark Elmer |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Original run | June 5 – 10, 2000 |
It's Your Chance of a Lifetime was an American game show that aired on Fox in June 2000. Australian TV personality Gordon Elliott hosted the show, with Mark Thompson serving as announcer (only to do the opening intro and contestant call-in at the end).
Contents |
It's Your Chance of a Lifetime aired from June 5 to June 10, 2000, but was canceled before it was to begin as a weekly series the following week. The show was supposed to have aired five nights in a row from June 5 to June 9; however, when ABC decided to put a special episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? opposite it on June 7, Fox moved that episode to the following day. The remaining two shows also were moved to the next day, as well.
FOX had announced that the show would air Wednesdays at 8:00PM/7:00PM CT beginning June 14, following the premiere week. A telephone number for the contestant hotline was shown at the end of every episode that aired, but the network decided against producing more episodes during that week.
It's Your Chance of a Lifetime was conducted as follows:
A solo player competed for a chance to win over $1,000,000 by correctly answering 10 questions (winnings over $200,000 were paid in the form of an annuity). 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 (and locking it in by pressing a button whose light encircles the monitor); 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, keeping whatever money was left over in the bank as well as the money from the Credit Card Question. 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 both Last 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 other Last Chance to give him 3 possible answers (Reuben Kincaid, Alan Brady, and Parker Lewis), he correctly said Reuben Kincaid, and won the million dollars-plus.
| Country | Name | Host | Network | Date premiered | Prize |
| Australia | The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime | Frank Warrick Sandy Roberts |
Seven | 1999 2000 |
A$1,280,000 |
| Germany | Die Quiz Show | Jörg Pilawa Christian Clerici Matthias Opdenhövel |
Sat.1 | 2000–2004 | €256.000 |
| Italy | Quiz Show | Amadeus | Rai Uno | 2000-2002 | IT₤512 million |
| Lebanon | لمين الملايين؟ Lamin El malayin? |
Serge Zarqa | MTV | 2001–2002 | 100,000.000L.L |
| لمين الملايين جونيور Lamin El malayin Junior |
Carole Sakr | 2002 | |||
| Poland | Życiowa szansa | Krzysztof Ibisz | Polsat | 2000–2002 | 1,000,000 zł |
Versions have also aired in Norway, France, Israel, and other countries.