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Greed (game show)
Encyclopedia
Greed is an American television game show
that aired on Fox
from November 4, 1999 until July 14, 2000. The game consisted of a team of contestants who answered a series of multiple-choice questions for a potential prize of up to $
2 million. The show was hosted by Chuck Woolery
, with Mark Thompson
serving as announcer.
's response to the success of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
. After renewing the show for the summer of 2000 with a possible return the following season, Fox abruptly canceled the program on July 14, 2000. Repeats of Greed have sporadically aired on GSN
since January 2002 and in Australia
on Fox8
since May 2006.
Toward the end of Greed's run, the qualifying round was eliminated and the position for each contestant was determined randomly in a backstage draw.
Questions one and two featured four options for a multiple choice question, and questions three and four featured five options. Starting with the surviving contestant whose guess was furthest from the correct answer in the qualifying game, the contestant was read a question and provided the choices. Following the contestant's selection, the team captain could accept the response or replace it with a choice of their own. Questions continued through the $100,000 level until the team captain accepted or gave an incorrect answer, or decided to end the game, at which point each member of the team received an equal share of the amount won. If the game ended following an incorrect answer, the team left with nothing.
Questions five through eight featured questions with four correct answers each. The $200,000 question featured six options, the $500,000 question featured seven, the $1,000,000 question featured eight, and the $2,000,000 question featured nine options. Prior to question five, the team captain was given a "Freebie", which eliminated an incorrect option for any one question, forcing the team to determine the correct answers from the remaining options. Prior to each question, the team captain was provided the category to the question and the option to end the game with the prize accumulated thus far, splitting it equally among the team members.
For questions six, seven and eight, the remaining contestants each provided a choice for the question. If the team consisted of fewer than five contestants, the team captain was also required to provide a choice. If additional choices were required after providing their own answer, the team captain could delegate another team member to provide a choice/choices until four answers were selected.
Correct answers were then revealed individually. If the team provided at least three correct answers, the host offered a cash buyout to the team captain to end the game before revealing the fourth answer chosen. For questions five and six, the buyout was $20,000 and $50,000, respectively. If the team captain chose to end the game, the remaining team members received an equal share of the buyout. For question seven, each team member decided individually whether to continue with the game or leave on their own and take a buyout worth close to $100,000 (which included a car and $25,000 in cash).
If the team (or any individual team members during question seven) chose to continue with the game, the fourth answer was revealed. If it was correct, the team split the cash award for that level's question. If an incorrect answer was revealed at any point, the team left with nothing.
Both contestants made their way to podiums at the center of the studio and the host read a question. The first contestant to buzz-in and provide a correct response eliminated the other contestant from the game and claimed their share of the collective winnings. If a contestant provided an incorrect response or did not immediately respond following buzzing-in, they were eliminated from the game and their opponent collected their share of the winnings.
Contestants were originally required to wait for the question to be read completely before buzzing-in. Buzzing-in too early immediately eliminated the contestant, just as if a wrong answer had been given. This was later changed to allow contestants to buzz-in at any time if they knew the answer, though the host would immediately stop reading the question at that point.
In the only instance in which a contestant chose to play the $2 million question, the remaining contestant was given thirty seconds to select four answers and was warned that if four answers were not selected within the time limit, the game would end and the contestant would leave with nothing.
Following the selection of answers, correct responses were revealed individually. No buyout was offered following the reveal of the third correct answer. If all four chosen answers were correct, the contestant (or team) won $2 million.
Daniel Avila was the only contestant to reach this level, risking $200,000 to go on and play for $2.2 million on the episode that aired November 18, 1999. However, Avila missed the question based on a Yale University
study about the four smells most recognizable to the human nose (peanut butter, coffee, Vicks Vaporub, and chocolate; Avila incorrectly guessed tuna as one of his choices).
The contestant had 30 seconds to study the question, then 10 seconds to lock-in the four correct answers to win the money. Correct answers were revealed one at a time, and if all four were chosen, the contestant won an additional $1 million. However, if any of the answers were wrong, the contestant won no additional money but kept any money won on previous episodes.
Curtis Warren became Greed's only Million Dollar Moment winner when he successfully answered a question about movies based on television shows on the episode that aired February 11, 2000. Warren was the program's biggest winner and briefly held the title of biggest U.S. game show winner of all time with $1,410,000, but his record was beaten within a week as David Legler won $1,765,000 on NBC
's Twenty One
. Curtis has since been surpassed by others
.
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
that aired on Fox
20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Fox Television is the television production division of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, and a production arm of the Fox Broadcasting Company...
from November 4, 1999 until July 14, 2000. The game consisted of a team of contestants who answered a series of multiple-choice questions for a potential prize of up to $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2 million. The show was hosted by Chuck Woolery
Chuck Woolery
Charles Herbert "Chuck" Woolery is an American game show host. He has had long-running tenures hosting several different game shows. He was the original host of Wheel of Fortune from 1975–81, the original incarnation of Love Connection from 1983–94, and Scrabble from 1984–90...
, with Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson (TV)
Mark Thompson is a two-time Emmy award winner for writing, hosting and producing specials for the Fox Television stations.-Career as television host:...
serving as announcer.
Broadcast history
Greed premiered on November 4, 1999 and was widely considered as 20th Century Fox Television20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Fox Television is the television production division of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, and a production arm of the Fox Broadcasting Company...
's response to the success of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...
. After renewing the show for the summer of 2000 with a possible return the following season, Fox abruptly canceled the program on July 14, 2000. Repeats of Greed have sporadically aired on GSN
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
since January 2002 and in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on Fox8
FOX8
Fox8 is an Australian cable and satellite channel available on Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television's subscription platforms...
since May 2006.
Qualifying round
Six contestants were asked a question with a numerical answer between 10–999. Each contestant locked-in their answers using a keypad in front of them. After all six contestants submitted a guess, the answer was revealed and the contestant with the guess farthest from the correct answer was eliminated. The surviving contestants were stationed at podiums based upon the closeness of their guess to the correct answer, with the contestant who had the closest guess becoming the team's captain. If two or more contestants gave the same guess, the contestant who entered their guess before the other(s) received the higher ranking.Toward the end of Greed's run, the qualifying round was eliminated and the position for each contestant was determined randomly in a backstage draw.
Question round
The team then attempted to answer a series of eight questions worth successively higher amounts, from $25,000 up to $2,000,000.| Correct questions | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 |
| 2 | $50,000 |
| 3 | $75,000 |
| 4 | $100,000 |
| 5 | $200,000 |
| 6 | $500,000 |
| 7 | $1,000,000 |
| 8 | $2,000,000 |
Questions one and two featured four options for a multiple choice question, and questions three and four featured five options. Starting with the surviving contestant whose guess was furthest from the correct answer in the qualifying game, the contestant was read a question and provided the choices. Following the contestant's selection, the team captain could accept the response or replace it with a choice of their own. Questions continued through the $100,000 level until the team captain accepted or gave an incorrect answer, or decided to end the game, at which point each member of the team received an equal share of the amount won. If the game ended following an incorrect answer, the team left with nothing.
Questions five through eight featured questions with four correct answers each. The $200,000 question featured six options, the $500,000 question featured seven, the $1,000,000 question featured eight, and the $2,000,000 question featured nine options. Prior to question five, the team captain was given a "Freebie", which eliminated an incorrect option for any one question, forcing the team to determine the correct answers from the remaining options. Prior to each question, the team captain was provided the category to the question and the option to end the game with the prize accumulated thus far, splitting it equally among the team members.
For questions six, seven and eight, the remaining contestants each provided a choice for the question. If the team consisted of fewer than five contestants, the team captain was also required to provide a choice. If additional choices were required after providing their own answer, the team captain could delegate another team member to provide a choice/choices until four answers were selected.
Correct answers were then revealed individually. If the team provided at least three correct answers, the host offered a cash buyout to the team captain to end the game before revealing the fourth answer chosen. For questions five and six, the buyout was $20,000 and $50,000, respectively. If the team captain chose to end the game, the remaining team members received an equal share of the buyout. For question seven, each team member decided individually whether to continue with the game or leave on their own and take a buyout worth close to $100,000 (which included a car and $25,000 in cash).
If the team (or any individual team members during question seven) chose to continue with the game, the fourth answer was revealed. If it was correct, the team split the cash award for that level's question. If an incorrect answer was revealed at any point, the team left with nothing.
Terminator
A Terminator question was played prior to the fifth, sixth and seventh question, giving a randomly-selected contestant the option to challenge a fellow teammate to a one-question showdown for their share of the team's collective winnings. Win or lose, the challenging contestant was given $10,000 to keep if they chose to participate.Both contestants made their way to podiums at the center of the studio and the host read a question. The first contestant to buzz-in and provide a correct response eliminated the other contestant from the game and claimed their share of the collective winnings. If a contestant provided an incorrect response or did not immediately respond following buzzing-in, they were eliminated from the game and their opponent collected their share of the winnings.
Contestants were originally required to wait for the question to be read completely before buzzing-in. Buzzing-in too early immediately eliminated the contestant, just as if a wrong answer had been given. This was later changed to allow contestants to buzz-in at any time if they knew the answer, though the host would immediately stop reading the question at that point.
$2 million question
Prior to the $2 million question, each team member again individually decided to quit with their share of the team's collective winnings or continue playing. If any team members chose to continue, a question with nine possible answers was presented, of which four were correct.In the only instance in which a contestant chose to play the $2 million question, the remaining contestant was given thirty seconds to select four answers and was warned that if four answers were not selected within the time limit, the game would end and the contestant would leave with nothing.
Following the selection of answers, correct responses were revealed individually. No buyout was offered following the reveal of the third correct answer. If all four chosen answers were correct, the contestant (or team) won $2 million.
Daniel Avila was the only contestant to reach this level, risking $200,000 to go on and play for $2.2 million on the episode that aired November 18, 1999. However, Avila missed the question based on a Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
study about the four smells most recognizable to the human nose (peanut butter, coffee, Vicks Vaporub, and chocolate; Avila incorrectly guessed tuna as one of his choices).
Rule changes
In the first month of Greed's run, the top prize was worth $2 million plus an additional $50,000 for each game where the top prize was not won. As no team had reached the jackpot question and provided the necessary correct answers, the jackpot reached $2,550,000 in the first month. When the program became a permanent series, the top prize was changed to a flat $2,000,000.Million Dollar Moment
In February 2000, eight previous Greed contestants were brought back for a "Million-Dollar Moment," with one taking place at the end of each of four episodes. Two contestants faced off with a Terminator-style sudden-death question, and the winner was given a $1 million question with eight possible choices.The contestant had 30 seconds to study the question, then 10 seconds to lock-in the four correct answers to win the money. Correct answers were revealed one at a time, and if all four were chosen, the contestant won an additional $1 million. However, if any of the answers were wrong, the contestant won no additional money but kept any money won on previous episodes.
Curtis Warren became Greed's only Million Dollar Moment winner when he successfully answered a question about movies based on television shows on the episode that aired February 11, 2000. Warren was the program's biggest winner and briefly held the title of biggest U.S. game show winner of all time with $1,410,000, but his record was beaten within a week as David Legler won $1,765,000 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Twenty One
Twenty One (game show)
Twenty One is an American game show which aired in the late 1950s. While it included the most popular contestant of the quiz show era, it became notorious for being a rigged quiz show which nearly caused the demise of the entire genre in the wake of United States Senate investigations...
. Curtis has since been surpassed by others
American game show winnings records
This article lists American game show winnings records and goes into the history and people who have held them. Through the years there have been number of big winners as American game shows competed for viewers with ballooning prizes....
.
Super Greed
Greed became Super Greed for a month in May 2000. The qualifying question was eliminated, and the values for the top three questions were doubled, making the eighth question worth a potential $4 million. In addition, any team that went for the seventh or eighth question was guaranteed $200,000 regardless of the outcome of the game. During the seventh question, each team member was individually offered a buyout worth $150,000 (a car and $75,000 in cash) to quit the game.| Correct questions | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 |
| 2 | $50,000 |
| 3 | $75,000 |
| 4 | $100,000 |
| 5 | $200,000 |
| 6 | $1,000,000 |
| 7 | $2,000,000 |
| 8 | $4,000,000 |
International versions
| Country | Name | Host | Channel | Prize | First year aired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Arab League Arab WorldArab world The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the... |
يا قاتل يا مقتول Ya Qatel ya Maqtoul |
Marcel Ghanem | LBC Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation , widely known as LBC, is the first private television station in Lebanon. It went global in 1996 when it launched its satellite channel LBC Al-Fadha'iya Al-Lubnaniya covering the Arab World. It now has several channels covering Europe, America, Australia, and... |
US$ United States dollar The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies.... 1.000.000 |
2002 |
 Argentina |
Audacia | Eduardo de la Puente | El Trece Canal 13 (Argentina) El Trece is an Argentine television network and the flagship station of the same network, located in the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires.- Foundation :... |
500.000 AR$ Argentine peso The peso is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS... |
2001 |
 Australia |
Greed | Kerri-Anne Kennerley Kerri-Anne Kennerley Kerri-Anne Wright Kennerley is an Australian television personality. She is one of Australia's most seasoned light entertainment hosts... |
Channel Ten | A$ Australian dollar The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu... 1.000.000 |
2001 |
 Finland |
Gr€€d | Petteri Ahomaalla | MTV3 MTV3 MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials... |
€170.000 | 2001–2003 |
 Germany |
Ca$h—Das eine Million Mark-Quiz | Ulla Kock am Brink | ZDF ZDF Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues... |
1,000,000 DM | November 21, 2000–2001 |
 Italy |
Gr€€d | Luca Barbareschi | Raidue | L Italian lira The lira was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a “national subunit” of the euro... 1,000,000,000 |
2001 |
 Poland |
Chciwość, czyli żądza pieniądza | Mirosław Siedler | Polsat Polsat Polsat is Poland's second biggest television channel, founded on December 5, 1992 and owned by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak.Polsat belongs to the Polsat Group , which also owns other channels:*Polsat HD*Polsat 2 International*Polsat News*TV Biznes... |
1,000,000 zł | 2001 |
 Portugal |
A Febre do Dinheiro | Carlos Cruz | SIC | 100.000.000 $ Portuguese escudo The escudo was the currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the Euro on 1 January 1999 and its removal from circulation on 28 February 2002. The escudo was subdivided into 100 centavos.... 00 |
2000–2001 |
 Russia |
Алчность Alchnost |
Alfred Koch Igor Jankowski Alexander Tsekalo |
NTV | 2.000.000 руб Russian ruble The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union prior to their breakups. Belarus and Transnistria also use currencies with... |
September 10, 2001–April 30, 2002 |
 South Africa |
Greed | Revin John | SABC3 | R South African rand The rand is the currency of South Africa. It takes its name from the Witwatersrand , the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. The rand has the symbol "R" and is subdivided into 100 cents, symbol "c"... 1,000,000 |
|
 Spain |
Audacia | Jordi Estadella | TVE | 100.000.000 ₧ Spanish peseta The peseta was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra .- Etymology :... |
October 19, 2000 |
 Sweden |
Vinna eller försvinna | SVT Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners... |
|||
 Turkey |
Aslan Payı | Mehmet Aslantuğ | aTV ATV Turkey atv is a nationwide TV channel in Turkey, founded in 1993. atv is one of the most widely watched TV channels in Turkey. atv is an acronym of Actual Television.Since 2007 atv is owned by Çalık Holding.- Shows :News Programming* atv Ana Haber... |
1 Trillion Trillion -Numbers:Either of the two numbers :* 1,000,000,000,000 for all short scale countries... TL Turkish lira The Turkish lira is the currency of Turkey and the de facto independent state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The lira is subdivided into 100 kuruş... |
2000 |
 United Kingdom |
Gr££d | Jerry Springer Jerry Springer Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer is a British-born American television presenter, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991... |
Five | £1,000,000 | 2001 |
 Venezuela |
La fiebre del dinero | Fausto Malavé | Venevision Venevisión Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros... |
100.000.000 Bs. Venezuelan bolívar The bolívar fuerte is the currency of Venezuela since 1 January 2008. It is subdivided into 100 céntimos and replaced the bolívar at the rate of Bs.F. 1 = Bs... |
May 25, 2001 |