Greed (TV game, United States)

Qualifying round

The game initially takes six people. They ask a question, the answer to which is a number in the range from 10 to 999 inclusive. Each participant entered answers from the keyboard. After all six answers, the host voiced the correct answer, and the player dropped out of the game, whose answer was farther than the others from the true one. The remaining five people took their places in the team depending on the proximity of their answer to the correct one. The participant who gave the answer closest to the truth (or gave an absolutely accurate answer) became the team captain. If two players gave the same answer, the team passed the one who gave it before.

In the last issues, the qualifying round was canceled, and the places of the participants were already randomly determined.

Question Round

The team then answered eight questions ranging in value from 25 thousand to 2 million US dollars.

In questions one to four, it was necessary to choose one option from several: in the first and second - from four options, in the third and fourth - from five options. The host read out the question to one of the participants who chose the correct answer. The captain had the right to accept the answer or change it. If the answer was correct, the team received money for this question. The captain had the right, after the correct answer, to stop the game and collect the money already won or continue the game. If the team decided to leave, then the money was distributed among all five people. In the case of an incorrect answer, all the money won burned out, and the team left with nothing. The first player to answer the question was the one who gave the least accurate answer to the qualifying round question, the second was the second player from the end, and so on.

In questions five through eight, it was necessary to choose four correct answers: in the fifth question there were six options, with each next question the number of options increased (7 in the sixth, 8 in the seventh, 9 in the eighth). As in past questions, the host asked the captain whether he would play further or take the money. If he took the money, then they were distributed among all the remaining members of the team. If the game continues, the “Terminator” round was held (see below), as a result of which the number of players could decrease. Starting from the fifth question, the captain had the right in one of the questions to use a kind of "joker", removing one of the incorrect answers.

In questions from the fifth to the seventh, the players gave answers, starting with the weakest according to the results of the qualifying round (each gave one answer). If there were four or fewer players, the captain gave the missing answers, although he could give this right to other players. Starting from the fifth question, the captain had the right to change only one answer out of four. Answers were checked in turn. If three correct answers were given, the host would offer the captain a bribe in exchange for refusing to play. In the fifth question, the size of the bribe was 20 thousand dollars, in the sixth - 50 thousand dollars; he was divided equally among all the players. In the seventh question, each player was offered a bribe in the form of a car and 25 thousand dollars (approximately 100 thousand dollars total). If the captain (on the fifth or sixth question) or at least one player (on the seventh question) refused a bribe, the fourth answer was announced. In the case of the correct answer, the team took the money for the question; in the case of the first mistake, it left with nothing.

Terminator

The Terminator round was held before the fifth, sixth and seventh questions. A player was randomly selected who was offered 10 thousand dollars as a fireproof amount for participating in the show (he left with them, no matter how the game ended for him or his team). If he agrees, he played with another player. Opponents met in the center of the site, they were asked one question with no answer options. The player, the first to answer, pressed the button and answered the question. In the case of a correct answer, he returned to the game, and his opponent dropped out of the game, and all the money earned by the opponent remained to the winner. In case of an error, he left the show, and his opponent continued the game. In case the captain left the game, the winner in the “Terminator” became the captain. The player was immediately disqualified for a false start: he had the right to press the button only after the moderator finished the question (later this rule was canceled, but the moderator did not finish reading the question in this case). The computer player chosen had the right to abandon the Terminator round, and the team continued to play as they were before the round.

Last Round

In a question worth $ 2 million, each player decided for himself whether to leave the game or stay. If at least one player agreed to stay, then the eighth, final question of the game with nine possible answers was proposed, four of which were correct. All the remaining players were given 30 seconds to choose all four answers, and the rules of the game in the last round were strict: if it was not possible to keep within the time, the team lost everything. Responses were checked individually. It was impossible to change the answers, there were no bribes. However, if all four answers were correct, the team (or the remaining participant) won two million dollars.

In the entire history of the game with classical rules, only Daniel Avila, who earned 200 thousand dollars by that time, reached the last question. This release was released on November 18, 1999 . The final question was about Yale’s study of the most easily recognizable odors by humans (peanut butter, coffee, Vick Vaporub ointment, and chocolate). Unfortunately, Daniel made a mistake by specifying tuna instead of chocolate, and left the game with nothing.

Grand Prize

In the first month of the television game’s release, the size of the main prize increased by $ 50,000 each time the team left the game. Since no one reached the eighth question, the jackpot by the time reached 2 million 550 thousand US dollars. Later, the prize size began to be strictly two million dollars. At that time, the program was simply called Greed , and after the abolition of the funded formula, it became known as Greed: The Series (in one case it was called Super Greed ).

Million Dollar Moment

In February 2000, four issues were released, where eight participants from previous shows participated in a peculiar draw of $ 1 million. In each issue, two players first played according to the rules of the Terminator round. The winner of the round had to answer a question worth $ 1 million with eight possible answers, four of which were correct. The player had 30 seconds to familiarize himself with the question and 10 seconds to select answers. The answers were checked in turn: if the answer was correct, the participant took $ 1 million. However, in the case of the first mistake, the player lost the right to win a million dollars, preserving the money previously won.

The first and only winner of such a show was Curtis Warren ( English Curtis Warren ), who correctly answered the question about films created on the basis of television games. This issue was released on February 11, 2000 . Warren eventually won 1 million 410 thousand dollars, which was at that time a record gain in the history of television games in the United States. Later, however, this record was repeatedly broken, and the first to do it was David Legler, who won 1 million 765 thousand dollars in the television game Twenty One on NBC ^[1] .

Super Greed

The game received the new name Super Greed in May 2000, changing its rules. The elimination round was canceled, and the prize for each question was doubled (thereby the main prize was $ 4 million). On the sixth question, the team was given a bribe in the amount of $ 100 thousand in exchange for refusing to play: if the team played further and answered the question correctly, they were awarded fireproof 200 thousand dollars.

During this period, two teams reached the seventh question. The first team received an offer to pick up the car and 75 thousand US dollars (a total of 150 thousand US dollars) and accepted the offer. The second was offered a bribe in the amount of 150 thousand dollars, which was shared between all members of the team, but she refused the bribe and earned 2 million dollars, abandoning the eighth question.

• Greed on TV.com