Genre Game show Directed by Bob Levy Narrated by Mark Thompson | Created by Stephen Leahy Presented by Gordon Elliott Composer(s) Edgar Struble | |
It's Your Chance of a Lifetime is an American game show that aired on Fox in June 2000. Gordon Elliott hosted the show, with Mark Thompson serving as announcer (only to do the opening intro and contestant call-in at the end).
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Broadcast information
It's Your Chance of a Lifetime aired from June 5 to June 10, 2000, but was canceled before it was to begin as a weekly series the following week. The show was supposed to have aired five nights in a row from June 5 to June 9; however, 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.
FOX had announced that the show would air Wednesdays at 8:00PM/7:00PM CT beginning June 14, following the premiere week. A telephone number for the contestant hotline was shown at the end of every episode that aired, but the network decided against producing more episodes during that week.
Rules of the game
A solo player competed for a chance to win over $1,000,000 by answering a series of 10 questions. The first of these was a "Credit Card Question"; if the player answered correctly, his/her entire credit card bills were paid off, to a maximum of $10,000. He/she was also invited to run the billing statement through an onstage paper shredder. An incorrect answer ended the game immediately.
A list of 10 categories was displayed, with each of the remaining questions drawn from a different category. The second question awarded $5,000 if answered correctly; if the player missed, the game ended but he/she still kept the credit card payoff. Beyond this point, if the player chose to continue in the game, he/she had to risk at least half of his/her winnings (not counting the payoff) on each new question. A correct answer added the value of the wager, while a miss subtracted it and ended the game, with the player keeping whatever remained of his/her total.
After each correct answer, the player was given the category for the next question and could either continue on, or end the game and keep all winnings. Once a question was asked, the player had two minutes to give a response and lock it in by pressing a button on the podium; failing to do so before time ran out counted as an automatic miss. The category list was always visible to the player and consisted of the following: Pop Culture, Famous Events, Movies, Famous Places, TV, Pop Music, Toys and Games, People, In the News, and Animal Kingdom.
Two forms of assistance known as "Second Chances" were available to the player and could each be used once. One Second Chance gave the player three multiple-choice answers to select from, while the other discarded the current question and replaced it with one from the player's favorite category. Reaching the final three questions awarded a "Last Chance," which allowed him/her an extra use of either Second Chance.
If the player answered all 10 questions correctly, he/she won all money accumulated during the game, for a potential prize of $1,290,000 including the credit card payoff. The show's biggest winner was Dr. Tim Hsieh, who collected $1,042,309 in his game.
All winnings totals over $200,000 were paid as an annuity.
International versions
Versions have also aired in Norway, France, Israel, and other countries.