NBC Orders Live Competition Series "The Million Second Quiz"
Apr 24, 2013
by Michael Schneider


NBC plans to air a major, multi-night game show event at the start of fall in order to help launch its new primetime schedule. The Peacock network has just picked up "The Million Second Quiz", a 12-day event that will likely air in September.

The competition will center on contestants as they battle each other over trivia questions for 12 consecutive days and nights. The show will exist online, as well as on live primetime episodes that will take place from a "gigantic hourglass-shaped structure" somewhere in Manhattan.

It's there that the four players who have remained in the game the longest will actually live and continue to play — 24 hours a day, or risk being eliminated from the primetime show.





Paul Telegdy, NBC's president of alternative and late night programming, calls "The Million Second Quiz" "a game, a social experiment, and a live interactive event" all in one.

"The Million Second Quiz is a genre-redefining spectacle," he says. "It embraces technology's ability to allow everyone in America to actively participate and compete in a way that has never been done."





Viewers will be able to play along at home and win a chance at appearing on the primetime show. Local NBC stations will also sync to the game, live throughout the day.

At the end of the million seconds — which spans just under 12 days — the show's champions will duke it out for a chance at winning a cash prize of up to $10 million.

NBC is still ironing out some of the details, including when it will air and whether it will run on consecutive nights in primetime.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/NBC-Million-Second-Quiz-1064497.aspx

"Million Second Quiz": An NBC Exec Explains the Orwellian Experiment
by Hillary Busis
Apr 30 2013


When word broke last week that NBC had ordered a new game show featuring 24/7 competition, a possible $10 million dollar cash prize, and — oh yeah — live broadcasts for 12 consecutive days from “a gigantic hourglass shaped structure in the heart of Manhattan,” where the game’s champions will also live for the duration of the contest, the news was greeted with a collective “Huh?”

"The Million Second Quiz", frankly, sounded more like a ludicrous, Truman Show-inspired reality show parody than an actual event that will air on network TV this fall.





But according to Paul Telegdy, NBC’s president of alternative and late night programming, the show is actually “mind-blowingly simple when you really lay it out.” And perhaps more importantly, Telegdy swears that "The Million Second Quiz" will feel more current than the vast majority of today’s popular reality shows — nearly all of which were created before online video and social media had come into wide use.

(The exception to that rule? "The Voice", “which, lucky enough, is on NBC.”)





Here’s how it works: Before the quiz begins, wannabe contestants will line up beneath that enormous hourglass set — a complex Telegdy rather ominously refers to as “the structure.” Things will kick off when the first two people in line are invited into the hourglass for a round of trivia. They’ll draw lots to see who gets to sit in the Money Chair, the show’s hot seat; the longer a contestant sits in the Money Chair, the more cash he or she will earn.

If the Money Chair’s occupant loses the bout of questioning, she’ll be out of the game and her competitor will take her place. If the occupant is victorious, she’ll be escorted to another section of the hourglass called Winner’s Row, “a kind of living leaderboard” where the game’s four reigning champions will both compete to win immunity from elimination and live “a slightly Clockwork Orange or Orwellian existence,” in full view of both the show’s audience and Manhattan passersby.





Questions will be asked continually throughout "The Million Second Quiz‘s" 12-day run, meaning that the makeup of Winner’s Row could be in constant flux. Viewers can keep up with the action 23 hours per day online and one hour per day in primetime, when new contestants will challenge the champions, attempting to snag both their spots on Winner’s Row and all of the money they’ve won so far.

Those at home will also get a chance to win a spot on the show by playing along via "The Million Second Quiz‘s" app or website. This at-home play will reward those who watch the show live, without succumbing to the urge to fast-forward:

“Whilst the commercials are airing, you can be asked questions about the commercial content,” Telegdy explains.





"Million Second Quiz" will have one major advantage over other trivia games: topicality. Telegdy says that the show’s questioners will draw from stories occurring in real time as well as pop culture, history, and other general knowledge categories; comparable series, which tape weeks or months before being aired, don’t have that same luxury.

The champions in Winner’s Row will also have access to media, and will be expected to stay informed in case of questions referring to current events in the outside world.





Additionally, Telegdy says that the game is designed to take advantage of the resources unique to a broadcast network — that is, NBC’s network of nearly 200 local affiliate stations. Every night on the primetime airing, newly selected contestants will be surprised on their doorsteps by their local affiliates’ local talent, who will inform the fresh meat that they’ve made it onto the show.

“It makes virtue of what a broadcast network actually is,” Telegdy explains, “and that’s sort of why the show is so exciting to us.”





A series that makes use of affiliates, demands big web traffic, and practically forces engaged viewers to watch commercials? No wonder "Million Second Quiz" got picked up.

Moreover, if the show is a success — “and that’s a big ‘if’ in any circumstances in broadcast these days,” cautions Telegdy — it’ll be easy for NBC to bring it back onto the schedule whenever the net has a hole to fill.

“The structure is enclosed, so we could bring back a seasonal edition around Thanksgiving, Christmas,” Telegdy says. “We could bring it back in the new year, after the Olympics, before the Olympics, during the summer.”


Million Second Quiz: Arbor Day Edition, anyone?

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/04/30/million-second-quiz-nbc/

NBC’s new competition series "The Million Second Quiz" premieres Sept. 9 at 8/7c and continues through Sept. 14 in the same timeslot.

The show then resumes Sept. 16 and airs continuously up to the finale on Sept. 19.

http://tvline.com/2013/06/04/up-all-night-creator-emily-spivey-modern-family-writer/

oh my they think of some ridiculous things to try and put on tv...

It’s Official: Ryan Seacrest Will Host NBC’s "Million Second Quiz"
by NELLIE ANDREEVA
Monday August 5, 2013


The "American Idol" host has closed his deal to host and executive produce NBC’s upcoming live interactive game show "The Million Second Quiz", which will feature contestants playing head-to-head trivia bouts inside a massive outdoor hourglass-shaped structure in midtown Manhattan and competing non-stop for a million seconds (11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes and 40 seconds).

"The Million Second Quiz" premieres Monday, Sept. 9 and continues through Saturday, Sept. 14. It will then resume on Monday, Sept. 16 and will air each night until the finale on Thursday, Sept. 19.





"Million Second Quiz" will not interfere with Seacrest duties on "Idol", where he is in the final year of his current contract, which is the richest for a shows host.

The NBC series falls within the framework of a wide-ranging deal he has with NBCUniversal that includes on-air broadcasting and producing duties across the NBC and E! networks. NBC had been looking for opportunities to put Seacrest in primetime.

The show is produced by All3 Media America, Studio Lambert and Universal Television. Stephen Lambert, Eli Holzman, David A. Hurwitz and Seacrest serve as executive producers.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/08/its-official-ryan-seacrest-will-host-nbcs-million-second-quiz/

No way I'll watch it now. :rolleyes:

I was in the city today and some guy was handing out these in the street:



http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w594/JamesGrec3/62602e72-5d20-434e-8f2c-3bbc3c2a6d4b_zpsf7894f61.jpg

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bastard-machine/million-second-quiz-is-confusing-628413

NBC's Ryan Seacrest-hosted game show begs the question: "Who the hell thought this was a good idea?"

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle/2#JT1lez57e6tOah7W.99

The Million Second Quiz is a great game show. I've seen every episode and will continue to watch thru the finale. And Ryan Seacrest isn't annoying like he is on Idol.

Ken Jennings: How I'd fix NBC's confusing "Million Second Quiz" (http://www.parade.com/156777/viannguyen/how-would-ken-jennings-fix-million-second-quiz/)

"When I watched," he says, "it felt like they were making up rules on the fly. Mostly because they were."

It seems like it's on every single night!! I think NBC is going to run it to the ground like every other single primetime game show in recent memory...

It seems like it's on every single night!! I think NBC is going to run it to the ground like every other single primetime game show in recent memory...That was the point to have it on every night. It was a 2 week launch like Millionaire had, only MSQ wasn't as successful.

http://t.co/sFwzDEkC4v

Dumb trivia and confusing rules were only part of the problem.