It's Your Chance of a Lifetime
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It's Your Chance of a Lifetime was an American quiz show that aired on Fox in June 2000. It aired from June 5 to June 10, but was canceled before it began a weekly run the following week.
Gordon Elliott hosted the show, with John Cramer serving as announcer.
[edit] Rules of the game
It's Your Chance of a Lifetime was conducted as follows:
A solo player competed for a chance to win over $1,000,000 in cash, doing so by answering ten questions. The first question was dubbed the "Credit Card Question," with a correct answer eliminating any credit card bill debt the contestant had rung up (the bill itself was shredded onstage).
The next question was worth $5000, and a contestant had to answer correctly to advance. If correct, the contestant would have a maximum of eight questions to answer, being forced to bet at least half of what they had at that particular point in the game. The catch was that each question came from one of ten different categories, and the contestant never knew where they would come from. However, the contestant was shown the category before the question was asked, so they would know and could bet accordingly.
Along the way, each contestant had two "Second Chances," which were used to help the contestant. One "Second Chance" allowed the contestant to switch the question for one in a category of their choice, and the other allowed the question to be made multiple choice. Once a contestant reached the third level of questions, a "Last Chance" was awarded, allowing the contestant to choose one of the two options for a second time.
A contestant could stop after any correct answer, but an incorrect answer deducted the amount of the wager and ended the game for the contestant. Even a miss on the credit card question would end the game, as happened on one occasion.
A possible $1,280,000 was available to a contestant, although the closest anyone came was Dr. Tim Hsieh's $1,042,309 (including the credit card question). Betting $470,000 on his last question, he was asked which musical act had the biggest-grossing concert on December 31, 1999. With two chances left, he decided to pass on it (the answer: Phish). Hsieh was then asked a question about the name of the band manager on "The Partridge Family"; he correctly said Reuben Kincaid, and won the million.
[edit] Trivia
This show was based on an Australian show called $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime that aired on Seven. The first series, that aired in 1999, was hosted by Frank Warrick. When the show returned for a second run in 2000, it was hosted by Sandy Roberts.
In Germany, a version called die Quizshow aired from 2000 to 2004. It aired live on Sat.1. Hosts have included Jörg Pilawa, Christian Clerici, and Matthias Opdenhövel.
The show was supposed to have aired five nights in a row from June 5 to June 9, but when ABC decided to put a special episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire opposite it on June 7, Fox moved that episode to the following day. The remaining two shows also were moved to the next day, as well.
