Review: The New Hoosier Millionaire
JohnLaMantia
because cable must carry a Gary IN station.
Much better to watch than the Illinois version (which was ruined with
that damn pinball game) because of the bigger prizes and cheap ass
sets. Hostess not as sexy as Linda Kohlmeyer though. The host is
pretty good too. Was it me or did he call the Buffalo vs. Tennessee
wild card game on ABC TV today?
What do you think the odds are of one of these lottery winners making
it to a game show with some actual skill needed?
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Chris Lambert!
Saturday :)
(One-liner: 'Lines' rocks. Celador has the magic touch; hopefully the
ratings will be encouraging. And if the home viewer prize catches on, then
let's do 'Lucky Numbers' up right on this side of the pond! Shane Ritchie's
probably available, too :) )
"The New Hoosier Millionaire"
Premiere: 1/8/2000
Flagship station: WTTV WB4, Indianapolis
Host: Mark Patrick
Hostess: Barbara Hobbs
Announcer: Tony LaMont
Since you last noticed....
1989: 'Hoosier Millionaire' debuts on WTTV-4, lifting the front game format
of Illinois' "$100,000 Fortune Hunt" with bigger cash prizes, a classier
set, a million-dollar bonus round, and two new catchphrases - "Thanks,
Mark!" and "A thowwwz'n dollars."
1995: After 6 years as the nation's highest rated lottery game show,
'Millionaire' disappears from what was then called "TTV4" and jumps to
WNDY-23 (now a UPN affiliate.)
WNDY, which had just recently changed its calls from WMCC, seemed to be out
to put WTTV out of business, stealing away Indiana University basketball
coach Bob Knight's talk show and Indiana high school sports championship
coverage, all from WTTV. Without the monster signal of WTTV, ratings for
'Millionaire' drop in many areas - including the hometown of yours truly,
whose cable system claimed WNDY's signal was too weak to carry, and also
failed to pick up WFTE-UPN58 out of Salem/Louisville, the nearest Hoosier
Lottery affiliate.'Millionaire' is a faint rumor to Chris Lambert for four
years.
1997/8: Mark Patrick retires as sports director of WISH-8 after turning down
a $600,000 per year contract. Patrick, whose sportscast was #1 in the market
by gargantuan numbers, focuses on this game show and frequent appearances on
the syndicated "Bob and Tom" radio show. (He has since become a popular
speaker, occasional fill-in on "ESPN Radio GameNight", and generally goofy
guy about town.)
1995-1999: WTTV has Bob Knight back, ratings for high school sports drop
like a rock after a switch to class basketball (the contract is now with
WHMB-40), and Hosier Millionaire, after ten years on the air and creating
143 millionaires, returns to its true home for at least four seasons with a
new format.
RULES:
1. 6 contestants play per day, divided into two three-player rounds. Each
player will make three selections from a board of 16 numbers. (The board is
now electronic, so Barbara is no longer our own little Susan Stafford.) 13
squares have dollar values from $1,000 to $10,000, two have $1000 + bonus
prizes (either a vacation or 5,000 scratch-off tickets), and one is a
"doubler" which, well, doubles the player's additional pick. Each group of
three contestants has its own board to play.
High dollar winner from each round advances to the playoff, which starts
with one pick apiece from a new board of 16 (no doubler or bonuses here). In
case of a tie, they keep picking until a winner is crowned.
BONUS GAME:
The big change. The player faces a board of nine numbers: three are "000",
two are "stoppers", and the other four are 50, 100, 150, and 250. Player
makes two picks; a 250 and a triple-zero, for example, would win the player
$250,000. Picking two triple-zeros is worth one-million dollars; a stopper
means they get jack squat. (I'm not sure what would happen with, say "100"
and "250" - I assume a third choice would be made and the 250 would be
used.) [In the old version, four numbers hid $150K, $200k, $1 MIL, and a
stopper. Players could elect not to play and get a guaranteed $100K; that
option is gone.]
FINAL WORD:
The changes were needed, and they add a bit more interest to the show.
Plowing through two sets of three players holds interest more than the old
way of trudging through all six each round. Granted, there's only so much
humor Mark can wring out of Jeb from Cloverdale who bought his winning
ticket at Jethro's Package Liquors, but you can always count on at least a
zinger or two each night.
It's never exactly been "Pyramid" quality, but it's a fun diversion early
saturday nights. And I wouldn't mind getting a job on the show. :)
RATING: $ $ $
And if you're curious, it's NOT a Jonathan Goodson production. :)
--
Chris Lambert *** http://move.to/L *** djchris{AT}kiva{DOT}net
Go Pacers, Mark Martin! *** Remembering Gene Rayburn (1917-1999)
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Eric Duncan
>pretty good too.
Pretty good? Just "Pretty good"? He's better than hosts who have made it on
national game shows (and I'm not just talking about Patrick Wayne). Can you
imagine how he would be hosting Family Feud instead of Richard Dawson or Louie
Anderson. I've been watching Hoosier Millionaire for about a year now (I
remember seeing it a few years ago but I was too young to recall it) and there
is nothing Mark Patrick can say that doesn't make me laugh out loud at least
once a week (and I usually don't laugh out loud) from asking "Is that your
final answer" after a contestant selects a number to a quote that I was going
to put as my sig. a while ago that went something like, "...that's what make
Hoosier Millionaire the most popular game show in...ALL of Indiana."
He's actually the only lottery show host I've seen that actually bothers to
interact with the contestants (and lottery show contestants seem to be pretty
dull). It's been a second round tradition of the old Hoosier Millionaire to
let the contestants say hi to family and friends. Usually their lists are very
long but apparently one contestants was taking so long that Mark Patrick got
into the fetal position on the contestants' table.
And then there was one time where a contestant's son was a professional
wrestler. Mark got into his best professional wrestler voice and started
walking toward the camera like he wanted to beat up something. The whole thing
reminded me of those interviews that Gene Okerland (sp?) used to do on those
old WWW pay-per-views. If that wasn't enough Mark went to the audience and
took a chair. I guess since he realized he couldn't hit someone with it, he
decided to finish the round sitting in the chair until "Someone took it away."
It's refreshing to see a better-than-average host of a lottery show. Now that
I think about it, I think Pearson should have gotten a hold of him when they
were looking for hosts of family Feud. He would've done better than Louis
Anderson.
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JohnLaMantia
> > The host is
> >pretty good too.
> Pretty good? Just "Pretty good"? He's better than hosts who have
> made it on
> national game shows (and I'm not just talking about Patrick
> Wayne).
I've only seen the show twice. Once was several years ago when it was
on WBGO 66 (which is now a Univision Spanish language station) and just
a couple of weeks ago. So, I don't know the host real well. My
comment was a compliment. I wonder after seeing his name that he did
the play-by-play on ABC for the Buffalo-Tennessee wild card game.
Can anyone confirm this here or should I go to a football board?
Allez Cuisine
As a former Hoosier myself, I'm surprised that John said that it was a Gary
station carrying the show when I thought that WGBO66 carried it. Or at least
*used* to. That's what happens when you move out of market.
Anyway, the changes sound for the better... but I don't know about the
endgame... the original endgame could be just as tension-filled, since you're
playing for a cool mil.
No one's mentioned the cool pipes of Tony, so I will -- I'm surprised *he*
hasn't gone to LA yet. Personally, he's on par with Burton.
Nick
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*know your rolls*
Chris M. Dickson
<djc...@kiva.net> writes
>And if the home viewer prize catches on, then
>let's do 'Lucky Numbers' up right on this side of the pond! Shane Ritchie's
>probably available, too :)
He probably is, too - I saw a poster advertising a theatre show called
"Boogie Nights" and starring Shane in Manchester this weekend. Student
kitsch, or something. I do hope it's not a theatre version of that movie
about the porn industry.
For those who don't know Shane, you might care to watch Ainsley Harriott
on his US show. Shane tends to walk around dippily a bit more, but
otherwise they are really quite similar. It's scary.
Cheers!
Chris
--
Chris M. Dickson, Middlesbrough, Great Britain; ch...@dickson.demon.co.uk
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H
>I've only seen the show twice. Once was several years ago when it was
> on WBGO 66 (which is now a Univision Spanish language station) and just
> a couple of weeks ago. So, I don't know the host real well. My
> comment was a compliment.
Yeah. I saw that one when I was little, and really liked the double
tiered contestant set. I don't remember anything else, except it was
your ordinary turn the letter, get the cash, home player format I've
seen in three games here in the Midwest.
€H
Shup, Duder!