The Chair (game show)
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The Chair was a game show television program that premiered on ABC in 2002. It was hosted by John McEnroe and directed by Michael A. Simon. A UK version, also hosted by McEnroe, ran for one series in the same year on BBC One with a top prize of £50,000. In France, the show was called Zone Rouge ("Red Zone" in French) and was hosted by Jean-Pierre Foucault (also host of the French version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire) and aired on TF1 with a top prize of €10,000. There was even a version in the United Arab Emirates as well. Teresa Strasser, a former writer on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, better known as the newsgirl of the Adam Carolla Show and host of many programs on TLC as well as ABC's How to Get the Guy was a writer on the US version.
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[edit] Before the Show
Contestants on the program underwent extensive medical supervision before they ever made it to the actual game. They were given intelligence tests, had their heart monitored among other diagnostic procedures. If they were declared fit, they would move on to the game.
[edit] The game
Once sitting in the Chair, the contender aimed to increase his or her $5,000 stake to $250,000 by answering seven questions correctly. The catch was that the contestant was monitored by a heart-rate machine that tracked that number throughout the game. The contestant was given a 'redline rate' that was 160% (later 170%) times that person's resting heart rate. For every second that the contender was over the redline rate, money was deducted from the contender's account. That amount was $100 per second for the first two questions, and it went up to $1,000 for the seventh question. In addition to losing that money, contender was ineligible to answer the question in play if he or she was over that redline rate.
As long as the contender had money in the account, and continued to answer questions correctly the game continued. If the money runs out, or a question is answered wrongly, the game ends.
[edit] Heartstoppers
At two points during the contender's campaign, a heartstopper event takes place. Typically the event is designed to raise the contender's heart rate (coming face to face with an alligator, a hive of bees, having the host serve tennis balls over their head, etc.) If the contestant could endure the event for 15 seconds, the event would end. If the contender went over the redline rate, the event would continue until the heartrate was under control, and the player would lose money, just like in the question portion.
[edit] Stabilize
After answering the $15,000 question correctly (for a potential prize of $35,000), the contender can opt to stabilize. He has that option after every correct answer up through the sixth, as well. Stabilizing meant that the contender would win that money amount if he or she missed a question later on. Unfortunately, if the player redlined in the interim and went below the stabilized amount, the stabilized amount would fall and match the current prize amount.
If a contestant can answer all seven questions correctly and keep his or her heart under control for the entire game, the top prize of $250,000 is awarded.
[edit] Countermeasure Rule
A contender is required to stay alert during the game at all times. If the current contender was to try to close their eyes, or perform some other task in an attempt to lower their heartrate, the host will warn them. If the contender has to be warned twice, their game is over. This never happened, though one contender on the US show was almost disqualified for the above actions.
The Chair lasted for nine episodes on ABC in 2002, but not before two people managed to answer the seventh question correctly, winning $224,600 and the maximum $250,000. One other player got to see the seventh question, but redlined away $132,200 after he couldn't get his heartrate under control.
