Winning Lines: Difference between revisions

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A [[The BBC|BBC]] game show (produced as a tie-in with the British National Lottery) from the people who brought you ''[[Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?]]''. The game started with 49 numbered players (the ''Thunderball'' lottery draw which aired during the show had 49 balls), who played an elimination game based on questions with numerical answers. If a contestant thought their number was the answer to the question asked, they could buzz in. The player with the correct answer advanced to the next round, but ''only'' if they buzzed in. Those who guessed incorrectly were eliminated. This process continued until 6 players remained. Viewers whose telephone numbers contained all 6 of the "ones" digits of the advancing players could register to become a contestant on a future episode too.

A [[The BBC|BBC]] game show (produced as a tie-in with the British National Lottery) from the people who brought you ''[[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?]]''. The game started with 49 numbered players (the ''Thunderball'' lottery draw which aired during the show had 49 balls), who played an elimination game based on questions with numerical answers. If a contestant thought their number was the answer to the question asked, they could buzz in. The player with the correct answer advanced to the next round, but ''only'' if they buzzed in. Those who guessed incorrectly were eliminated. This process continued until 6 players remained. Viewers whose telephone numbers contained all 6 of the "ones" digits of the advancing players could register to become a contestant on a future episode too.

Then came the next round, "Looking After Number 1", where the field would be reduced to one player. A question was asked on the buzzer whose answer was one of the numbers of the remaining players. If a contestant answered correctly, the contestant with that number would be eliminated. If the player with the matching number guesses correctly, they're saved. Wrong answers eliminated the person who guessed. This was repeated until one remained, who got to "activate" the Thunderball drawing, and then play the Wonderwall bonus round for a chance to win progressively better trips (ranging from bed and breakfast at Spaghetti Junction to a trip "around the world") by answering questions with one of 49 answers on a giant video screen in three minutes.

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Winning Lines ran for six series on BBC One, hosted by Simon Mayo from 1999-2000, and Phillip Schofield from 2001-04.

To cash in on a recent [[Who Wants to Be Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?|renaissance of primetime high-stakes game shows]] triggered by ''Millionaire'' in the United States, Winning Lines came stateside in 2000 for CBS, with the hosting role filled by veteran television personality Dick Clark. The show was a faithful adaptation nonetheless, sans Lottery cross-promotion, but now with an almost lottery-sized grand prize of $1,000,000! Unfortunately, it was [[Too Good to Last]] and only managed to get 10 episodes in before being pulled due to low ratings.

To cash in on a recent [[Who Wants to Be Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?|renaissance of primetime high-stakes game shows]] triggered by ''Millionaire'' in the United States, Winning Lines came stateside in 2000 for CBS, with the hosting role filled by veteran television personality Dick Clark. The show was a faithful adaptation nonetheless, sans Lottery cross-promotion, but now with an almost lottery-sized grand prize of $1,000,000! Unfortunately, it was [[Too Good to Last]] and only managed to get 10 episodes in before being pulled due to low ratings.

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** [[Game Show Host]]: Simon Mayo and Phillip Schofield for the British version, Dick Clark for the U.S. version.

** Announcer: Chuck Reilly served as the announcer for the U.S. version

* [[Who Wants to Be Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?]]: The producers managed to subvert their own cliches. It only premiered about a year after ''Millionaire'', and its influence did rub off on it in a way. It definitely has a dark, futuristic look, and even shared the same composer. However, unlike most ''Millionaire''-inspired shows, it was a BBC/National Lottery game show (so giving away a million pounds was out of the question. They save that for the lottery), it ''wasn't'' primarily a single player game (only the Wonderwall was, but that's a typical characteristic of a bonus round), and the aforementioned Wonderwall is actually designed to be a [[Speed Round]], averting padding (but the main game, is another story).

* [[Who Wants to Be Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?]]: The producers managed to subvert their own cliches. It only premiered about a year after ''Millionaire'', and its influence did rub off on it in a way. It definitely has a dark, futuristic look, and even shared the same composer. However, unlike most ''Millionaire''-inspired shows, it was a BBC/National Lottery game show (so giving away a million pounds was out of the question. They save that for the lottery), it ''wasn't'' primarily a single player game (only the Wonderwall was, but that's a typical characteristic of a bonus round), and the aforementioned Wonderwall is actually designed to be a [[Speed Round]], averting padding (but the main game, is another story).

** However, in America, it was played straight - the average viewer probably never knew it was from the creators of their new favorite show. They just saw it as another show trying to cash in on the ''Millionaire'' craze.

* [[Zonk]]: The British version offered a stay at a bed and breakfast overlooking the [[wikipedia:Gravelly Hill Interchange|Gravelly Hill Interchange]] in Birmingham (otherwise known as Spaghetti Junction) as a consolation prize if one were to get nothing right on the Wonderwall.

* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Simon Mayo was known for hosting various flagship programs on BBC Radio 1, and Schofield (who now hosts ''[[The Cube (TV)|The Cube]]'') was well-known for being one of the hosts of the BBC's children's lineup in the 80's.

* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Simon Mayo was known for hosting various flagship programs on BBC Radio 1, and Schofield (who now hosts ''[[The Cube (TV series)|The Cube]]'') was well-known for being one of the hosts of the BBC's children's lineup in the 80's.

** And who ''hasn't'' heard of Dick Clark? ''[[American Bandstand]]''? ''[[Pyramid]]''? ''New Year's Rockin' Eve''?

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: This wasn't the first Celador show involving telephone numbers for a home game. Their 1994 show ''Talking Telephone Numbers'' was a variety show whose acts generated a series of numbers. If the last 5 numbers in your phone number matched them, you could call in live and potentially win up to £25,000.