A $2 Million Question

By Paul Gray

On Aug. 19, when he noted the smash overnight ratings for ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Dick Clark had an idea. "Not a stroke of genius," he admits. But as someone who remembers and starred on '50s network TV (American Bandstand), when such quiz programs as The $64,000 Question and 21 mesmerized viewers, Clark could recognize history repeating itself: "Game shows are so old they are new again." Next question: How could Clark get in on the revival of the action?

First off, he scheduled a meeting four days later at Dick Clark Productions to discuss new quiz-show possibilities. Normally, nursing programs from the brainstorming stage to the air can take forever, but this time the process kicked in at warp speed. Greed will premier on Fox this Thursday at 9 p.m. E.T. and run for three weeks, or longer if it proves to be a ratings winner.

Greed is just the first of the quiz-show contenders hoping to cash in on Millionaire's success. Because game shows are cheaper to produce than sitcoms or dramas, nearly every network is scrambling to come up with one. The trick is finding the right formula.

What Greed's viewers will see is not exactly the show Clark originally had in mind. Assembling two Hollywood game-show veterans--Bob Boden, a producer of the syndicated Family Feud, and Jeff Mirkin, whose credits include Love Connection and Studs--Clark outlined a quiz format that would involve group participation and a share-the-wealth ethos. "I was inspired by those scenes of lottery winners--you know, the guys in the office who chipped in on a ticket." That first meeting produced a working title, All for One, and the notion that the questions would be based on pop culture. As Clark puts it, "You don't have to be a walking encyclopedia to win." And the show would trump Millionaire by offering a $2.5 million top payoff.

The first pitch to a network--Clark won't say which one, but other sources identify it as nbc--was turned down. But the Clark team's one-page proposal quickly appealed to Fox executive vice president Mike Darnell, who oversees the network's successful reality-based programming, such as World's Scariest Police Chases and When Good Pets Go Bad. In the market for a quiz show to pep up Fox's increasingly anemic-looking fall lineup, Darnell thought Clark's idea would work if it employed an edgier title and execution--contestants not only cooperating but also competing with one another. Thus while the zeitgeist twitched did All for One become Greed.

Cobbling together a new TV program meant a steady grind of 18-hr. workdays as the Clark team hustled to meet Fox's demand to get the show on the air during the November ratings sweeps and before the scheduled Nov. 7 reappearance of Millionaire. Somewhere along the way, the grand prize was whittled down to $2 million.

Fox Sports anchor Keith Olbermann, busy with baseball play-off duties, turned down the job as host of the show. Fox also looked at several comics and TV emcees. Roughly two weeks before the scheduled premiere, experienced daytime host Chuck Woolery (Love Connection, Wheel of Fortune, etc.) signed on. He says joining a new show so close to liftoff doesn't bother him. "I've been doing this a long time. I can evaluate a show and see if it's worth doing when I first look at it."

Fine, but will those who get their first look at Greed this Thursday think it's worth watching? The game's rules seem harder than its questions (see boxes). A team of six members tries to move up the "Tower of Greed," ascending from $25,000 to $2 million questions. One wrong answer and the team loses everything. As the prize money escalates, "terminator rounds" pit contestants against one another. The most interesting question on Greed is, Which team player will start tossing mates overboard in a mad pursuit of the one-winner-takes-all top prize?

Woolery laughs off the idea that the show's rules are too byzantine. "Can you imagine Abner Doubleday trying to sell baseball as a parlor game?" And the answer is no. But then, baseball didn't have to become the national pastime in its first three games.

--Reported by David E. Thigpen/New York

With reporting by David E. Thigpen/New York