Minute To Win It (American Game Show)
The series premiered on NBC on March 14, 2010, airing the first two episodes back-to-back. A second season began on December 7, 2010. On May 13, 2012, NBC announced that the show would not be renewed for a third season. On February 4, 2013, GSN green-lit a revival of the series, and the first season began airing on June 25, 2013. A second season of the GSN version premiered on February 25, 2014.
Gameplay
Contestant(s) are presented with a blueprint for the first challenge (level) and must successfully complete a game within 1 minute to move past the first level and advance to the next level. The challenges are games that require contestants to perform tasks with various household items (such as releasing a balloon's air to blow a certain number of plastic cups off of a table, or rolling marbles at an upright-standing pencil in order to knock it over). Contestants who can complete all ten challenges win the show's top prize ($1,000,000 in the NBC version & $250,000 in the GSN version).
The difficulty of the games progressively increases throughout the show. If time expires or the conditions of the game cannot be fulfilled (such as exhausting any allotted attempts or breaking a rule), the contestant(s) loses a "life", three of which are provided throughout the game. Contestant(s) who lose all three of their lives have their game end and their winnings drop to the previous milestone they passed. After successfully completing a game, contestants can leave with the amount of money already won before seeing the blueprint for their next level. If they elect to play the game, however, they cannot walk away until that level is complete or they have exhausted all three of their lives.
Episodes featuring celebrity contestants competing for charities and teams of two contestants tweak these rules slightly. In celebrity episodes, all levels are milestones, while in episodes featuring teams of two contestants, some games are played by both, while others are played solo and lives are shared between the two contestants with the same rules applying. A contestant can only make three consecutive attempts at solo games (including re-attempts following losing a life; an intervening team game does not reset this count). After a contestant makes three attempts, the other contestant is forced to attempt the next solo game.This rule was removed in season 2's produced episodes.
Special editions
Besides celebrity specials (with every level bankable) and editions featuring teams, other special editions have been conducted by the NBC version of the series. To begin the show's second season, three special Christmas-themed episodes were produced and aired in December 2010. Two extra games were added, with the 11th game worth $2,000,000 and the 12th game worth $3,000,000. In addition, some games contained a "Holiday Bonus," in which a contestant won a gift if the level is passed. A visual representation of the gift was placed inside of a box, which was opened if and when the level was successfully completed. The gifts included an extra life, an extra ten seconds to be used during a challenge, or a bonus prize.
The series also featured other episodes that featured twists to the regular format. In "Head to head" matches, two teams of two players compete against each other in a best-of-seven match. Winning a challenge earns the team a point; the first team to four points wins a guaranteed $50,000 and a chance to play for the million starting from Level 6 with three lives remaining. Some head-to-heads featured a best of three, with the winner starting at level 3(if two games were played) or 4(if three games were played). In "Last Man Standing" episodes, 10 contestants play against each other; the one with the worst result at the end of the challenge is eliminated. This continues until there is one contestant left. The winner wins $100,000 and plays a million-dollar game for a chance to win the top prize. In addition, during a few summer episodes, one member of the audience would be selected to play a million-dollar game towards the end of an episode.
Payout structure
Successfully completing a level is worth a specific cash prize. Contestants who successfully complete levels on milestones (prize amounts in bold) are guaranteed to leave with no less than the cash award at that level should they fail any later stunts. Gold indicates the top prize. Dark Green indicates that the challenge was the Christmas level 11 or 12 and a milestone.
| Level | Value (NBC) |
Value (GSN) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | |
| 2 | $2,500 | $2,000 |
| 3 | $5,000 | $3,000 |
| 4 | $10,000 | $5,000 |
| 5 | $50,000 | $10,000 |
| 6 | $75,000 | $15,000 |
| 7 | $125,000 | $25,000 |
| 8 | $250,000 | $50,000 |
| 9 | $500,000 | $100,000 |
| 10 | $1,000,000 | $250,000 |
| 11 | $2,000,000 | N/A |
| 12 | $3,000,000 | |
Added midway in season 1 of NBC version.
Added early in season 2.