Greed (game Show)
Dick Clark and Bob Boden of Dick Clark Productions created the series in response to the success of ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Production was rushed in an effort to launch the show before Millionaire's new season, and the show premiered less than two months after it was initially pitched. A pilot episode was omitted, and Fox aired its first episode of Greed on November 4, 1999.
While its Nielsen ratings were not quite as successful as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Greed still improved on Fox's performance year-to-year in its timeslots. The show's critical reception was mixed; some critics saw it as a rip-off of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, while others believed Greed was the more intriguing and dramatic of the two programs. Its final episode aired July 14, 2000, and Greed was abruptly canceled following the conclusion of its first season as Fox's leadership shifted the network's focus to scripted programming. The top prize was never awarded; only one contestant advanced to the eighth and final question, failing to win the prize.
Gameplay
Qualifying round
Six contestants are asked a question with a numerical answer. After all six submit a number, the answer is revealed and the contestant whose numerical guess is farthest from the exact answer is eliminated. The remaining contestants are stationed at podiums based upon the proximity of their guess to the correct answer, and the contestant who had the closest guess becomes the team's captain. If two or more contestants give the same guess or guesses that are of equal distance from the correct answer, the one who locks in their answer before the other(s) receives the higher ranking.
Question round
The team attempts to answer a series of eight questions worth successively higher amounts, from $25,000 up to $2,000,000. Each of the first four questions has one correct answer to be chosen from several options (four for questions one and two, five for questions three and four). The host reads the question and possible answers to one contestant, who has unlimited time to select one of them. The captain can either accept that answer or replace it with a different one. If the final choice is correct, the team's winnings are increased to the value of that question; the captain can then choose to either quit the game or risk the money on the next question. If the captain quits after any of these four questions, the money is split evenly among all five team members. Giving or accepting a wrong answer ends the game and forfeits all winnings. The team member in the lowest position (farthest from the correct answer when a qualifying question was played) gives the answer to the first question, and each question after that is answered by the member in the next higher position.
The remaining four questions each have four correct answers to be chosen from several options, starting with six for question five and increasing by one for each question after that. The host reveals the category of the upcoming fifth question to the captain and offers a chance to end the game, with the prize money being divided among the remaining players according to their shares. If the captain chooses to continue, a "Terminator" round is played prior to the question being asked. The captain is given a single "Freebie" lifeline prior to question five and can use it once to eliminate a wrong answer from a question.
For questions five through seven, answers are given one at a time by the remaining contestants with the captain answering last, then (if necessary) choosing to either give enough additional answers to make four or delegate the choices to other members. Once all the answers are in, the captain may either approve the choices as they stand or change one of them if desired. Answers are revealed individually as correct or incorrect; if three correct answers are found, the host offers a buyout to quit the game. Ten percent of the question value is offered on questions five and six ($20,000 and $50,000 respectively), to be split evenly among the remaining players, and the team's decision is entirely up to the captain. On question seven, each team member can choose to take an individual buyout consisting of a luxury automobile and $25,000 cash (approximately $100,000 total value).
If the captain (at questions five and six) or at least one team member (at question seven) chooses to continue with the game, the fourth answer is revealed. If it is correct, the team splits the cash award for the question at that level. If an incorrect answer is revealed at any point, the game ends and the team leaves with nothing.
Question | Value | |
---|---|---|
Greed | Super Greed | |
8 | $2,000,000 | $4,000,000 |
7 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
6 | $500,000 | $1,000,000 |
5 | $200,000 | |
4 | $100,000 | |
3 | $75,000 | |
2 | $50,000 | |
1 | $25,000 |
Terminator
A Terminator challenge is played before each question starting at question five. One contestant is chosen at random and given the option to challenge a teammate (including the team captain) to a one-question showdown for their share of the team's collective winnings. If the selected contestant issues a challenge, they are given a guaranteed $10,000 in cash to keep regardless of the result of the outcome of the Terminator or the overall game. If the selected contestant does not wish to issue a challenge, the team remains as it was and the host proceeds to the next question.
The two contestants face each other across podiums at center stage, and the host reads a toss-up question with a single answer. The first contestant to buzz in and answer correctly eliminates the other contestant from the game and claims their share of the collective winnings. If a contestant buzzes in and provides an incorrect response or does not immediately respond, their opponent wins by default. If the team captain is eliminated, the contestant who wins the challenge becomes the new captain.
$2,000,000 question
Before the $2,000,000 question, each team member can decide to quit with their share of the team's collective winnings or continue playing. If any team members choose to continue, a question with nine possible answers is presented, of which four are correct. Contestants who reach this level are given 30 seconds to select four answers. If they fail to do so within the time limit, the game ends and they leave with nothing. Following the selection of answers, correct responses are revealed individually. None of the answers can be changed and no buyout is offered following the reveal of the third correct answer. If all four chosen answers are correct, the contestant (or team) wins $2,000,000.
Only one contestant played the final question throughout the show's run. On the episode that aired on November 18, 1999, Daniel Avila chose to risk his $200,000 individual winnings to play for the top prize (which had been increased to $2,200,000 as it was during Greed's progressive jackpot shows). However, Avila missed the question based on a Yale University study about the four smells most recognizable to the human nose (peanut butter, coffee, Vicks VapoRub, and chocolate). Avila correctly guessed peanut butter, coffee, and Vicks VapoRub but incorrectly guessed tuna instead of chocolate, and left with nothing.
Rule changes
Top prize
For the first six episodes of Greed's run, aired November 4, 1999, until December 2, 1999, the top prize started at $2,000,000 and increased by $50,000 after every game in which it went unclaimed. As no team had reached the jackpot question and provided the necessary correct answers, the jackpot reached $2,550,000 in the first month. When the program was picked up as a regular series in Fox's weekly lineup, the top prize was changed to a flat $2,000,000.
Greed: Million Dollar Moment
In February 2000, eight previous Greed contestants were brought back for a "Million Dollar Moment" at the end of each of four episodes. The contestants were all players who had gotten close to the $2,000,000 jackpot question. Two contestants faced off with a Terminator-style sudden-death question, and the winner was given a $1,000,000 question with eight possible choices. The contestant had up to 30 seconds to study the question, then 10 seconds to lock in the four correct answers to win the money. Correct answers were revealed one at a time (as on the jackpot question, no buyout was offered after the third correct answer), and if all four were correct, the contestant won an additional $1,000,000.
Curtis Warren became Greed's only Million Dollar Moment winner when he successfully answered a question about movies based on television shows on the episode that aired on February 11, 2000. Warren was the program's biggest winner with $1,410,000 and briefly held the title of biggest U.S. game show winner in history; combined with an earlier six-figure winning streak on Sale of the Century in 1986 and an appearance on Win Ben Stein's Money, his total game show winnings stood at $1,546,988. Warren's record was broken shortly thereafter by David Legler, who won $1,765,000 on Twenty-One. He has since been surpassed by others, including Jeopardy! champions Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer.
Super Greed
From April 28 to May 19, 2000, the show was known as Super Greed. The qualifying question was eliminated, and the values for the top three questions were doubled, making the eighth question worth a potential $4,000,000. The cash buyout on the sixth question ($1,000,000) was increased to $100,000, and any team that got this question right and continued past it was guaranteed a separate $200,000 regardless of the outcome of the game. During this period, Phyllis Harris served as captain of a team that answered seven questions correctly and shared a $2,000,000 prize, though she and her teammates elected to leave the game before attempting the final $4,000,000 question.