Million Dollar Password
Million Dollar Password is an updated version of the game show Password on CBS, which was hosted by Regis Philbin and ran from June 1, 2008 to June 14, 2009. Based upon a format created by Bob Stewart for Goodson-Todman, FremantleMedia produced the program.
Production and broadcast history
Million Dollar Password premiered June 1, 2008, at 8:00 PM Eastern. The initial order of the series consisted of six, hour-long episodes, each comprising two games. These six episodes were taped in New York City's Kaufman Astoria Studios in March 2008. Repeats of the first season aired on Thursdays beginning June 26, 2008, moved to Sundays on August 3 and finished on August 24.Season two, another six episodes, began on December 18, 2008, with a special Thursday broadcast. The show moved to its regular Sunday time slot three nights later. These games were taped on August 2–4, 2008, at CBS Radford studios in Los Angeles. On January 7, 2009, despite good ratings, CBS removed the last two episodes, along with a Season 1 repeat scheduled for January 18, from its schedule. The program returned to the schedule on May 24, 2009. Excluding June 7 for the broadcast of the 63rd Tony Awards, the network ran a mixture of unseen episodes and repeats of Season 1 and 2 episodes on Sundays until the beginning of July. The first four episodes, airing during the official 2008–09 television season, had an average viewership that made the show finish as the 42nd most-viewed program of that season.
Betty White became the first celebrity to play in all American television versions of Password with her appearance on the June 12, 2008, episode. The widow of Allen Ludden, who was the host of the original Password in its various incarnations from 1961 to 1980, she also appeared on December 28, 2008, and was the only celebrity to appear more than once during the show's run. Sande Stewart, the son of Password creator Bob Stewart, was a consultant for the show. Noted cruciverbalist Trip Payne acted as the show's "word expert".
On August 3, 2009, during the 2009 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler officially announced that there were no plans to renew the series; despite strong overall ratings, the show was most popular among a very old demographic that was not popular with advertisers.
GSN originally aired repeats of the series on Sunday nights in mid-2010, later putting the show additionally on weeknights for a few weeks more, until removing the show from the schedule completely. It was then re-added in a Saturday afternoon slot in January 2011. In June 2013, GSN removed the series from the schedule permanently.
The director of the show was Mark Gentile; he served as the director for the primetime version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? for its entire network run and was the consulting producer for the syndicated version's first two seasons before becoming the director of Duel.
Gameplay
This format of Password departs somewhat from its predecessors in terms of gameplay. The first half of the game is an elimination game featuring two contestants and two celebrity guests. The contestants alternate playing 30-second rounds in which they attempt to correctly identify as many as five given words with a celebrity partner using the traditional one-word clue method, like the Lightning Round. There is no limit on the number of clues for each word. Words can be passed on and returned to later if time permits.The contestants are each paired with one of the celebrity partners for the first two rounds, and then switch partners for the next two rounds. The rounds alternate between the contestant giving and receiving clues, such that they give and receive once to each celebrity. After four rounds, the contestant who has correctly identified the most words moves on to the Million Dollar Password game. For the final round, the contestant who is trailing in score plays first. His opponent does not need to play the final round if they are still leading after that, and otherwise has their round cut short as soon as they have passed his opponent's score. If the contestants are tied after four rounds, a tie-breaking word is given to both teams, starting with the winner of a coin-toss. The teams alternate giving clues and responses until one contestant gets the word and wins the game.
Million Dollar Password
The Million Dollar Password round had a six-step prize ladder with a top prize of $1,000,000. The contestant's partner in this round was the celebrity with whom the contestant earned more points in the elimination game; if the contestant earned the same number with both celebrities, their partner is the last celebrity the contestant played with. The contestant may choose to give or receive the clues for the entire round. For each step of the ladder, the clue giver must get their partner to say five given passwords within 90 seconds. For each word, the clue giver may give a maximum of three clues. The giver may pass, but cannot return to a word, like the original "Lightning Round" of the classic Password.Successful contestants may take their winnings and leave, or may attempt the next prize level. At each subsequent level the gameplay remains the same, but the number of available passwords is reduced by one. Failure to complete a level ends the game. A contestant who fails on the first two levels earns nothing. Failure on the $50,000, $100,000 or $250,000 levels means the contestant leaves with $25,000. Should a contestant clear the first five levels, s/he wins a guaranteed $250,000 and gets a free shot at the $1,000,000 top prize.
If a contestant giving the clues clears the $100,000 level, s/he is shown the six passwords for the $250,000 level before making a decision.
Legal clues
Throughout the game, the giver must wait for a response before giving a new clue, and only one response may be given at a time. Breaking either rule forfeits the word. Antonyms are acceptable clues, but hyphenated clues and acronyms are not. Using more than one word, a "coined", foreign or otherwise unrecognized clue will also forfeit the word. As before, givers may use multiple words to form sentences and phrases, but must pause in between each word.International versions
France
An adaptation of the 'Million-Dollar Password' format was aired from January 10, 2009 to July 30, 2016 on France 2, where it is called 'Mot de passe'. The show is rebroadcast in Canada on TV5.Indonesia
A version of Million Dollar Password called :id:Password Jutawan|Password Jutawan aired originally on Global TV with :id:Muhammad Farhan|Muhammad Farhan as host from 2008 to 2009. Three years later, the show was revived on SCTV since 2012, now hosted by :id:Aditya Herpavi Rachman|Aditya Herpavi Rachman.Mexico
A version called Password: La palabra secreta, produced by TV Azteca, airs Saturdays on Azteca 13.Spain
A version based on the Million-Dollar Password format has been adapted for their audience. The program, entitled Password, premiered on July 7, 2008. Hosted by Luján Argüelles, it is nearly identical to the 2008 Philbin version. The biggest differences include the top prize of €25,000 and changing the program to a forty-five-minute weekday broadcast.| Country | Local name | Host | Network | Prize | Premiere |
| ' | Mega Senha | Luciana Gimenez and Marcelo de Carvalho Marcelo de Carvalho | RedeTV! | R$1,000,000 | April 29, 2010 – 2011 September 15, 2018 – present |
| ' | Mot de passe | Patrick Sabatier | France 2 | €100,000 €50,000 €20,000 | January 10, 2009 – July 30, 2016 |
| ' | Password | Giorgos Tsalikis | Alpha TV | €100,000 | 2008 |
| ' | Password Jutawan | Muhammad Farhan | Global TV | Rp.200,000,000 | August 23, 2008 – March 21, 2009 |
| ' | Password: La palabra secreta | Rodrigo Murray Rafael Araneda | TV Azteca | MX$250,000 | May 8, 2010 – 2011 2013 |
| ' | Heslo za milión | Tůma Filip | Markiza | Sk10,000,000 | 2008 |
| ' | Password | Luján Argüelles Ana Milán | Cuatro | €25,000 €30,000 + accumulating jackpot | July 7, 2008 – June 10, 2010 |
| ' | Kelimenin Gücü | Kenan Işık | aTV | 500,000TL | May 17, 2010 – 2011 |