For the next 1,000,000 seconds or 11 1/2 consecutive days, NBC is giving us the biggest game show in television history. Tonight at 8p you will get to see the first live airing of
The Million Second Quiz that is taking place in a giant hourglass on the Manhattan side of the Lincoln Tunnel, and you will feel the rush as the contestants compete for the largest prize in game show history.
Since no one has seen the game, here is a description how it is played:
Money is accumulated by sitting in the “Money Chair” and answering trivia questions against a rival. For each second a player remains in the chair the money meter will add $10 to the total. The longer a contestant stays in the chair, the more money is added until he/she is defeated by a challenger. During the million seconds the top players who have accumulated the largest amounts of money up to that point in the game will live next to the hourglass in “Winners’ Row” and try to survive there until the million seconds are up. Other contestants will displace them if they achieve longer runs in the money chair. When the countdown clock hits zero only the final few contestants who have made it to the end cash in their winnings and battle it out for the grand prize.
An example of the questions that the contestants will be answering can be found on The Million Second Quiz App and you can play along with the show as it airs nightly or play with strangers all over the US. If you score enough points on the App, you might find someone knocking on your door tell you, you will be competing on the show. I have to admit, I am sincerely addicted to App and I found out I know more useless information than I thought.
Ever game show needs a host and the person with that title is Ryan Seacrest. Over the weekend (because is he always working) I was on a conference call with him and he told us why he said yes to this gig that isn’t even two weeks long. He said, “Frankly it’s really been the first big idea I’ve heard in almost a decade that I really wanted to get in front of and host in prime time.” Then he added, “And so after he and Paul Telegdy pitched me the idea I said let’s go for it. Now that I’ve gotten here I’m not quite sure what I’ve gotten myself into.” Because unlike American Idol, this show is being played for 1,000,000 seconds straight, even though we are only seeing an hour of it live. So MSQ is all about time and that is something Seacrest has very little of available to him. So even though this show is going on 24/7, Seacrest still has commitments that he has to tend to during the day. So on top of everything he has to take on for this groundbreaking show, he still has to work on all the other shows that he works on.
When he wasn’t working at his day job, he was trying out the MSQ App, so how well of a contestant is he? He said, “I played the app. Let’s just say there are a lot of people in every state that beat me when I play on the app.” Then he explained, “I last a couple of bouts and I’m really good at the pop culture. Once you get outside of that I started to lose my play.”
And the one thing we know he is very good at, is hosting. Since The Million Second Quiz is unlike anything we have ever seen before, you will totally want to check out the NBC game show tonight and every night for the next 10 nights at 8p to experience something that hasn’t been done before. Plus who doesn’t like the adrenaline of not knowing what will happen next because the contestants are changing by the second. Literally!
BTW if you are in NYC, you can go down to their studio and play the game live. Who knows we might see you in the Money Chair!
