air dates: syndicated 1/6/86-9/11/87
host ("The man with the millions"): Jim Lange
announcers: Mark Summers (1/86), Johnny Gilbert
hostess: Karen Thomas (9/86-9/87)
Before Millionaire, there was this game in which 2 couples competed for a chance to become millionaires. One member of each couple played each round. A series of blank spaces were shown and letters popped up, one at a time. The first player to buzz in and identify the word, which was also a clue to the puzzle, earned $25 and the opportunity to select two letters from a giant keyboard with 27 keys, with all 26 letters and a star which represented any punctuation marks. The player selected two of the lit keys. All but one of the lit keys indicated letters which appeared in the puzzle. Only one of the lit keys was a "stinger" which didn't belong in the puzzle and lost the player a chance to solve the puzzle. $25 went into the bank each time the chosen letter appeared in the puzzle. If the player avoided the "stinger", (s)he had a chance to solve the puzzle. Doing so won that couple the bank. Up to six clues were played for each puzzle. Each clue in the second round scored $50 and each letter in that puzzle added $50 to the bank. For the third round, each clue and letter was worth $100 a pop. The couple with the most dough played the bonus game.
The winning couple stood in a soundproof booth and were given a choice from 3 categories, each of which had six words to name in one minute. The letters in each word popped up, one at a time. Nailing all six words in one minute won the round, otherwise the couple was retired from the show. If they successful, they could either take $5,000 and retire, or come back on the next show. Winning a second bonus game offered them a choice between another $10,000 or another match. Winning a third bonus game won that couple, you guessed it, ONE MILLION SIMOLEONS!!!!! Nine couples accomplished that feat during the show's year-and-a-half run.
OTHER TIDBITS:
Original announcer Mark Summers was NOT the same Marc Summers who hosted Double Dare, Couch Potatoes, History IQ, and WinTuition.
At first, the grand prize of $1,000,000 was all cash, paid as $40,000/year for the next quarter of a century. As of September '86, it became $900,000 cash, several rooms of furniture, 20 roundtrip airline tickets, and two new Mazdas.