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Greed (game show)

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Greed
StarringChuck Woolery
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes44
Production
Running time60 min
Original release
NetworkFOX
ReleaseNovember 4, 1999 –
July 14, 2000

Greed (or Greed: The Series) was a television game show where a team of contestants answered a series of multiple-choice trivia questions for a potential prize of up to $2 million (later $4 million during the five Super Greed episodes).

Broadcast history

Greed, produced by Dick Clark and hosted by Chuck Woolery, debuted on November 4, 1999. It was widely considered as Fox's answer to ABC's prime-time hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. After being renewed for the summer of 2000 with a possible return the following season, Fox abruptly canceled Greed on July 14, 2000. Repeats of Greed have aired on GSN (formerly Game Show Network) since January 2002 and these repeats are also being aired in Australia on Fox8 since May 2006.

Greed has also been exported to other countries by FremantleMedia. Jerry Springer hosted a British version of the show in 2001 on five. Kerri-Anne Kennerley hosted a version in Australia on Channel Ten in 2001; despite the fact that the show was not successful, the US version ended up airing in Australia a few years later on Fox8. The show also aired on SABC3 in South Africa with Revin John as host. The show also aired on ZDF in Germany from 2000-2001 under the title "Ca$h" with Ulla Kock am Brink as host. In 2000, a version of the show aired in Turkey on ATV. Starting in April 2002, Greed had a run in Lebanon on LBC. In Spain, "Audacia" was a hit for TVE, and in Portugal, "A Febre do Dinheiro" was a hit from 2000-2001 on RTP.

Rules of the game

The object of Greed was to complete a climb up the "Tower of Greed," which consisted of eight multiple-choice questions, with the value of each question increasing with the level of difficulty. Anyone who correctly answered all eight questions won or shared the $2 million grand prize. As answers were selected, they were highlighted in blue. As long as an answer was highlighted in green, meaning it was correct, the game continued. Once an answer was highlighted in red, meaning it was the wrong one, the game ended and the players would lose all prize money earned as a team. Once a team has reached the $200,000 level and got 3 out of their 4 choices correct, the host offered them a $20,000 buyout in case they were not sure of the 4th answer.

Qualifying round

Six players competed in a qualifying round that determined who made the team. The host asked a question that always had a numerical answer. After all the contestants locked in their answers, the host would reveal the answer (always between 10 and 999). The contestant who was closest to the correct answer became the captain of the team. The remaining players were ranked based on how close they were to the correct answer. If there was a tie, the player who answered the fastest got the higher ranking. The player who was furthest away from the correct answer (or was left in case the remaining two tied) was the only one who did not qualify. Players who did not make it to the team could return later for another qualifying question, though this rarely ever happened.

The first four questions

Each contestant, except for the captain, was given a multiple-choice trivia question to answer. Once the contestant answered it, the captain had the option to accept or reject that answer. The first two questions (worth $25,000 and $50,000) had four possible answers; the second two (worth $75,000 and $100,000) had five possible answers. To determine which contestant would answer each of the first four questions, they were asked in the order they scored in the Qualifying round, starting with the lowest ranked contestant (the one whose answer was the farthest away from the correct answer), then the contestant with the next-furthest guess, and so on.

A correct answer gave the team that much hypothetical money, all of which to be evenly distributed between them should they leave the game with it. After each question resolved (including the higher-level questions explained below), the host would ask the captain if he or she wanted to end the game, or if he or she "felt the need for greed." Leaving the game gave all players their share of the winnings. Going on meant going to the next question and risking all of the money currently earned.

After the fourth question is correctly answered, the host will give the team a category that has something to do with the fifth question (see the high-level questions section below). Based on that category, the captain would decide if he or she "felt the need for greed" while the rest of the team and the audience voiced their opinions.

The Terminator

Before every question at the $200,000 level and higher, the Terminator would be played. The host activated the "Terminator," which randomly selected a team member (and to whom Chuck would announce, "The Terminator has chosen you"). That player then had the opportunity to challenge another team member and take their share of winnings. To induce players into challenges, they were offered $10,000 that was theirs to keep, win or lose (even if the team answered a question incorrectly). In addition, if the team captain was challenged and eliminated, the challenger would assume the captain's position.

If the contestant opted to challenge, the two players competed in a "one-question showdown". Chuck would read a general-knowledge question, with no multiple choices. Either contestant could buzz in (locking out the other contestant) and answer the question. If the contestant answered correctly, they eliminated the other contestant from the game and took their share of the prize money. If the contestant answered incorrectly or didn't answer at all within a matter of seconds, they would be eliminated and the non-buzzing player would get their share instead.

During the first few weeks of the show's run, contestants were required to wait for the question to be completely read before buzzing in; buzzing in too early immediately eliminated the contestant, just as if a wrong answer had been given. For the remainder of the show's run, contestants were allowed to buzz in at any time, though Chuck would immediately stop reading the question at that point (so a contestant buzzing in early ran a risk of misinterpreting the question).

The Terminator Round was activated before each of the high-level questions except the $2 Million ($4 Million in Super Greed) question and starting at the $200,000 question, pending the team survived that far and "felt the need for greed."

Higher-level questions

Once the first Terminator round was over, the next set of four questions began. Each of these high-level questions had four correct answers instead of just one. The number of possible choices depended on the value of the question: the $200,000 question had six choices, the $500,000 question had seven, and the $1 million question had eight. Before the $200,000 question, the captain of the team was given a single "Freebie" in the form of a card that he or she could use on any one question from that point onward. The "Freebie" eliminated one of the predetermined incorrect answers from the question that it was used for.

Each member of the team had to give one answer (unless of course there were 3 or less members left, in which case the captain can elect himself or one of the remaining players to give in answers). After the team gave its four guesses, the captain was given the opportunity to change only one of them if he or she desired. The answers were then revealed, one at a time. If three of the four guesses were correct, the host offered the captain a cash incentive (usually one-tenth of the value of that question) to end the game and split between the players except for the last question (the only occurrence of the last question had no incentive offered). This was done partially as an intimidation, but mostly to see if the captain felt unsure about the last unrevealed answer. If the captain refused the money, the fourth answer was revealed. If the fourth answer was correct, the team won the money for that round and was allowed to continue. On the $1,000,000 question, each player made their own decision to take an individualized bribe (usually a car [a 2000 Jaguar XK-8 convertible] with money in the trunk) or go on with the team.

Like with the end of the fourth question, subsequent questions had their category revealed before the captain decided to walk away with the money, or "feel the need for greed" and continue on to the next highest question.

The $2 million question

If the team correctly answered the $1 million question, it was up to each remaining player to determine if he or she wanted to go for the $2 million or stop and take their share of the prize money currently, leaving the other players behind to try for more, if they wished.

The $2 million question had nine possible choices for the four correct answers. In Greed's nine-month run on Fox (not counting the Super Greed portion), only one contestant ever made it to this level, by himself. Since he was alone, he was given 30 seconds to think about his choices, and then 10 seconds to read them off. If four answers were not given within the time limit, the player would lose everything. It is unknown how the format would have differed if more than one contestant tried their hand at $2 million.

It occurred on only the fourth episode of the show. Daniel Avila (later called Dan Avila or Danny Avila) was given a question on which odors were the most recognizable based on a Yale University study, and three of his choices -- peanut butter, coffee, and Vicks Vaporub -- were correct answers. However, he guessed "tuna" as his fourth choice, and lost; the fourth answer was "chocolate."

Rule changes

In the first month of Greed's run, the top prize was worth $2 million plus an additional $50,000 for each game where the top prize was not won. The jackpot reached $2,550,000 in the first month. When it became a permanent series, the top prize was set to $2,000,000 permanently. As a result of the jackpot, the only attempt at the "$2,000,000" question was really worth $2.2 million.

Toward the end of Greed's run, the qualifying round was eliminated, and the five contestants for the team were given their positions randomly in a backstage drawing (a la Super Greed).

Special episodes

Million Dollar Moment

In February 2000, eight previous Greed contestants were brought back for a "Million-Dollar Moment," different "Moments" taking place at the end of different shows. The players were all players who got very close to the big $2 million question, but never made it. Two players faced off with a Terminator-style sudden-death question, and the winner was given a $1 million question. The contestant had 30 seconds to study the question, then 10 seconds to lock in the four right answers to win the money. As usual, missing any part of the question meant that the money was not won. Curtis Warren successfully answered a question about movies based on TV shows and became the biggest U.S. game show winner of all time - along with the biggest Greed contestant winner - with $1,410,000. His U.S. game show record was beaten within a week as David Legler won $1,765,000 on NBC's Twenty One. Curtis has since been surpassed by others as well (Kevin Olmstead, Ed Toutant, Ken Jennings, and Brad Rutter in that order).

Super Greed

Greed became Super Greed for a month in May 2000. The qualifying question was eliminated, and the values for the top three questions were doubled, making the eighth question worth a potential $4 million. In addition, any team that went for the seventh or eighth question was guaranteed $200,000 regardless of the outcome of the game. Two teams reached the $2 million question, and one team was able to answer all four parts correctly. Also in Super Greed, the contestants were each offered a Jaguar convertible with $75,000 in the trunk (later $150,000 cash) to quit the game if three of the four answers were correct on the seventh question.

Highest winners of the U.S. version

Original airing dates (as listed at [1]) are included. Note: Teams that earned $500,000 or more were paid through an annuity.

Trivia

  • On an episode featuring TV-related questions, one team was eliminated on the $25,000 question. Ironically, the question was Which of these four television shows did not feature Chuck Woolery as a regular host? and the possible answers were Scrabble, Singled Out, Love Connection, and Wheel of Fortune. The player responded confidently Wheel of Fortune, and the captain confidently accepted that answer; the correct answer was Singled Out.
  • In a college edition episode, the question was Which of the following game shows is based on Hangman? and the choices were Jeopardy!, The Price is Right, Hollywood Squares, and Wheel of Fortune. The captain changed Hollywood Squares to Wheel of Fortune (which was correct), by saying "Gimme Wheel of Fortune, Pat," somehow "offending" Chuck Woolery (the contestant was not yet born when Chuck was hosting Wheel). In a playful manner, Chuck said, "I'd like to use my freebie now-- gets rid of one contestant!"
  • There was only one episode that was only 30 minutes where it was part of a special That 70's Greed were all questions were related to the 1970's era. It followed by a one-hour episode of this edition, where one team made it to $500,000 and two players each opted not to terminate anyone and all walked off with $100,0000 each. This is the only time this has happened.
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