Greed (game show)

infobox television
show_name = Greed


caption =
format = Game show
rating = TV-G
runtime = 60 min
starring = Chuck Woolery
country = USA
network = FOX
first_aired = November 4, 1999
last_aired = July 14, 2000
num_episodes = 44
num_seasons = 1
website =
composer = Edgar Struble
director = Bob Levy
editor = Floyd Ingram
executive_producer = Dick Clark
Bob Boden
imdb_id = 0224484
tv_com_id = 11498|

"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). On the US version, the largest prizes were annuities, rather than cash. The show's catchline is "The Most Dangerous Game Show on Television."

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 renewing the show for the summer of 2000 with a possible return the following season, Fox abruptly canceled it 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.

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 of successively increasing difficulty and value, as follows:

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. However, if at any time an answer became highlighted in red, that meant it was a wrong answer, and the game ended and the players would lose all prize money earned as a team.

Qualifying round

Six players competed in a qualifying round that determined who made the team. The host asked a question with a numerical answer. After all the contestants locked in their answers, the host would reveal the answer (always a two- or three-digit number). 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 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 were "sent back into the contestant pool" and could return later for another qualifying question, though this rarely ever happened. Late in the series, the qualifying round was eliminated, and the player's positions were, as stated by Chuck Woolery, "chosen by lot."

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 flashed spotlights on and off, eventually stopping the spotlights on one team member (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 (depending on how many players remained and wanted to go for the 8th question).

Rarely would a contestant turn down the Terminator; in total, through the entire series, the Terminator was turned down eight times, sometimes by a player who had already completed one Terminator.

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 fewer 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 at least 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 on the $2,000,000 question (the only occurrence of the $2,000,000 question did not offer a buyout option). 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 (two other contestants had made it past the million dollar question with him, but opted to leave with the money they'd already won). 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, but it's presumed to be the same as the $200K, $500K, and $1 Million levels, just that the captain has no option to change answers or take a buyout. Therefore, going for the $2,000,000 meant going for the whole $2,000,000 or bust.

It occurred on only the fourth episode of the show. Daniel Avila (later called Dan Avila or Danny Avila), after watching his two remaining teammates leave with $410,000 each, decided to risk his $200,000 share and was given a question worth $2.2 million 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, but the answer was chocolate. (The other incorrect answers not picked were baby powder, moth balls, dry cat food, and cinnamon.) He then made an appearance on the Meredith Vieira version of Millionaire and walked away with $100,000. More recently, he appeared on an episode of on America's Team asking a question via video submission.

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 became Greed's only Million Dollar Moment winner when he 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 at least three of the four answers were correct on the seventh question.The Tower of Super Greed goes like this.

Highest winners of the U.S. version

Original airing dates (as listed at [http://www.geocities.com/stormseekersite2/greed/] ) are included.Note: Teams that earned $500,000 or more were paid through an annuity.

* Curtis Warren; $1,410,000; November 18, 1999 and February 11, 2000 (combined winnings from both shows) Before his stint on Greed, Curtis was a Champion on Sale of the Century in 1986.
* Lauren Griswold; $810,000; May 12, 2000 ("Super Greed")
* David Juliano; $800,000; May 12, 2000 ("Super Greed")
* Monique Jones; $610,000; May 19, 2000 ("Super Greed")
* George Elias; $600,000; May 2, 2000 ("Super Greed")
* Melissa Skirboll; $410,000; November 18, 1999
* Phyllis Harris; $400,000; May 12, 2000 ("Super Greed")
* Madeleine Ali; $320,000; December 10, 1999
* Robert Abramoff; $310,000; November 4, 1999
* Annemarie Buchta; $310,000; February 18, 2000
* Jeff Ester; $310,000; February 18, 2000
* Evan Benner; $310,000; June 23, 2000
* Jill Schilstra; $310,000; June 30, 2000
* John Epperson; $155,000 and a Jaguar XK8 convertible valued at $75,000 ("Super Greed"); April 28, 2000
* Jeff Gouda; $100,000 ("Super Greed"); April 28, 2000

International versions of the show

Many international versions of the show were made: in Finland (called "Greed") on MTV3 and in Sweden (called "Vinna eller försvinna") on SVT. 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. A Russian version of the show aired on NTV. In Spain, "Audacia" was a hit for TVE, and in Portugal, "A Febre do Dinheiro" was a hit from 2000-2001 on RTP. In Italy, Rai due broadcasted the show in 2000-2001.

On the equally failed Australian and British versions, the money tree went as such:

*$/£1,000,000
*$/£500,000
*$/£250,000
*$/£100,000
*$/£50,000
*$/£25,000
*$/£10,000
*$/£5,000

The South African version had the same values as the American version, but in rand.

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/stormseekersite2/greed/ "Greed" rules and episode guide (unofficial)]
* [http://www.ukgameshows.com/index.php/Greed UK Gameshows Page: "Greed"]
* [http://members.iinet.net.au/~powney/gameshow/greed2001.htm Australian Game Show Homepage: "Greed"]