
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a review of the new "Million Dollar Password" (click on the title of this entry to read), which has proven to be a pretty substantial hit for CBS this summer (placing third and sixth in the prime-time Nielsens in its first two broadcasts). My two main criticisms were:
> No Betty White. This woman is the only star who has appeared on every version of the show since it first premiered in 1961. Give her her due, and put her on there first. In her place we got Rachael Ray, who given 30 seconds can whip up dinner but not a synonym for it.
> The absence of the original elimination-round format, in which one word is "passed" from team to team until it is guessed. (As my friend Philip pointed out, without that feature, it's not really "Password"; they might as well call it "Guessword.")
The Tony Awards broadcast will pre-empt "Million Dollar Password" next Sunday. So to keep the show's momentum going, CBS scheduled an airing last night, in the plum Thursday timeslot reserved during the regular season for "Survivor."
Having watched the special showing last night, now I understand. And to CBS, Fremantle Media, and the spirits of Goodson and Todman, I say this: I not only forgive you, I salute you.
The celebrity guests were an actress from "Curb Your Enthusiasm" named Susie Essman, and the aforementioned Ms. White. Ahhh -- so CBS saved the Betty White episode for a timeslot that the network has dominated for the last seven years.
At the top of the show, Regis Philbin pointed out that Betty had been a guest on the original "Password" and then proceeded to fall in love with and marry its emcee, Allen Ludden. And Betty White explained: "I slept with the host of this show for a long time. Reege . . . what are you doing?"
Her comic timing, perfected on the Mary Tyler Moore show and "The Golden Girls," is still razor sharp. And she came up with plenty of laughs throughout the hour, as the game's tension mounted: "I'll have a vodka and soda, please." "Regis, I'm too old for this!" And to Regis's comment that she wasn't bad for an old broad: "Well, you're half right."
Better yet, Betty White's legendary gameplaying abilities have only marginally diminished with time. As a receiver of clues, she appears to have a slight hearing problem that slowed her down in a couple of rounds. But as a giver? She's brilliant. Over the two rounds of the show, which required each celebrity to give clues four times, I believe she and her teammate scored the maximum five out of five every time.
In the first half of the show, Susie Essman reached the Million Dollar Round only because she was the last celebrity to have played with the winning contestant; Susie and Betty had both scored an equal number of points for him. Susie proved to be a better player than I expected; she and her teammate reached the $100,000 level, and the contestant decided to go home with that amount rather than risking it for a quarter of a million dollars.
The second Elimination Round ended with a 17-17 tie, and that's where "Million Dollar Password" completed its rehabilitation. Regis said, "As you know, when there's a tie, we play Classic Password as a tiebreaker. Each team will have the same password, and if the first team doesn't guess it on one clue, it will pass to the second team, and so on and so forth until a team guesses the word. That team will go on to play the Million Dollar Round."
Yes! The challenge, the consternation, the comedy that the original game offered are still there! They've been relegated to the tiebreaker, but so what? That almost elevates the importance of the original format, without compromising the fast pace of the modern edition.
If you didn't see the show, I'll let you play along. Susie Essman's team went first. The contestants were giving the clues.
S.E.'s partner: "Container."
S.E.: "Tupperware."
"Tupperware" was not the correct answer, so the action shifted to Betty White's team.
B.W.'s partner: "Hot."
Betty White, somehow, guessed the password. The answer's at the end of this post.
And so Betty found herself in the Million Dollar Round, where her teammate, an "interfaith minister," elected to give the clues. This is not the decision I would have made, given Betty's success at giving and her reduced ability to hear every clue. Nonetheless, they reached the $100,000 level, and where the contestant gave this brilliant succession of clues on the last of the five words:
Contestant: "Butterfly."
B.W.: "Uh, uh . . . bird."
Contestant: "Chrysalis."
B.W.: "Cocoon!"
And with that, the interfaith minister had $100,000 in her collection plate, and Regis asked Betty if she thought she should risk it for the chance to win $250,000. Betty said, "I think she should take the money and run like a thief." Which is exactly what the contestant did. The studio audience cheered, and in at least one house in Riverside, California, so did the home audience.
Yes, it's only a game show, but last night's episode of "Million Dollar Password" was also nostalgic and respectful (at one point, the studio audience was chanting, "Bet-ty! Bet-ty!") and encouraging and uplifting: The old broad's still got it. I hope when I'm her age I do too.
By the way, the password was . . .
Thermos.
(Did you guess it? I wouldn't have gotten it until someone said "insulated." Here's to you, Betty White.)
> No Betty White. This woman is the only star who has appeared on every version of the show since it first premiered in 1961. Give her her due, and put her on there first. In her place we got Rachael Ray, who given 30 seconds can whip up dinner but not a synonym for it.
> The absence of the original elimination-round format, in which one word is "passed" from team to team until it is guessed. (As my friend Philip pointed out, without that feature, it's not really "Password"; they might as well call it "Guessword.")
The Tony Awards broadcast will pre-empt "Million Dollar Password" next Sunday. So to keep the show's momentum going, CBS scheduled an airing last night, in the plum Thursday timeslot reserved during the regular season for "Survivor."
Having watched the special showing last night, now I understand. And to CBS, Fremantle Media, and the spirits of Goodson and Todman, I say this: I not only forgive you, I salute you.
The celebrity guests were an actress from "Curb Your Enthusiasm" named Susie Essman, and the aforementioned Ms. White. Ahhh -- so CBS saved the Betty White episode for a timeslot that the network has dominated for the last seven years.
At the top of the show, Regis Philbin pointed out that Betty had been a guest on the original "Password" and then proceeded to fall in love with and marry its emcee, Allen Ludden. And Betty White explained: "I slept with the host of this show for a long time. Reege . . . what are you doing?"
Her comic timing, perfected on the Mary Tyler Moore show and "The Golden Girls," is still razor sharp. And she came up with plenty of laughs throughout the hour, as the game's tension mounted: "I'll have a vodka and soda, please." "Regis, I'm too old for this!" And to Regis's comment that she wasn't bad for an old broad: "Well, you're half right."
Better yet, Betty White's legendary gameplaying abilities have only marginally diminished with time. As a receiver of clues, she appears to have a slight hearing problem that slowed her down in a couple of rounds. But as a giver? She's brilliant. Over the two rounds of the show, which required each celebrity to give clues four times, I believe she and her teammate scored the maximum five out of five every time.
In the first half of the show, Susie Essman reached the Million Dollar Round only because she was the last celebrity to have played with the winning contestant; Susie and Betty had both scored an equal number of points for him. Susie proved to be a better player than I expected; she and her teammate reached the $100,000 level, and the contestant decided to go home with that amount rather than risking it for a quarter of a million dollars.
The second Elimination Round ended with a 17-17 tie, and that's where "Million Dollar Password" completed its rehabilitation. Regis said, "As you know, when there's a tie, we play Classic Password as a tiebreaker. Each team will have the same password, and if the first team doesn't guess it on one clue, it will pass to the second team, and so on and so forth until a team guesses the word. That team will go on to play the Million Dollar Round."
Yes! The challenge, the consternation, the comedy that the original game offered are still there! They've been relegated to the tiebreaker, but so what? That almost elevates the importance of the original format, without compromising the fast pace of the modern edition.
If you didn't see the show, I'll let you play along. Susie Essman's team went first. The contestants were giving the clues.
S.E.'s partner: "Container."
S.E.: "Tupperware."
"Tupperware" was not the correct answer, so the action shifted to Betty White's team.
B.W.'s partner: "Hot."
Betty White, somehow, guessed the password. The answer's at the end of this post.
And so Betty found herself in the Million Dollar Round, where her teammate, an "interfaith minister," elected to give the clues. This is not the decision I would have made, given Betty's success at giving and her reduced ability to hear every clue. Nonetheless, they reached the $100,000 level, and where the contestant gave this brilliant succession of clues on the last of the five words:
Contestant: "Butterfly."
B.W.: "Uh, uh . . . bird."
Contestant: "Chrysalis."
B.W.: "Cocoon!"
And with that, the interfaith minister had $100,000 in her collection plate, and Regis asked Betty if she thought she should risk it for the chance to win $250,000. Betty said, "I think she should take the money and run like a thief." Which is exactly what the contestant did. The studio audience cheered, and in at least one house in Riverside, California, so did the home audience.
Yes, it's only a game show, but last night's episode of "Million Dollar Password" was also nostalgic and respectful (at one point, the studio audience was chanting, "Bet-ty! Bet-ty!") and encouraging and uplifting: The old broad's still got it. I hope when I'm her age I do too.
By the way, the password was . . .
Thermos.
(Did you guess it? I wouldn't have gotten it until someone said "insulated." Here's to you, Betty White.)
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