Minute to Win It | |
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Genre | Game show |
Created by | Friday TV |
Presented by |
Guy Fieri (2010–11) Apolo Ohno (2013–14) |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of seasons | 4 (2 on NBC, 2 on GSN) |
No. of episodes | NBC: 68 GSN: 40 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | NBC: Craig Plestis Tim Puntillo Mattias Olsson Jock Millgårdh Estelle Bodén GSN: Michael Binkow |
Running time | 42–44 minutes |
Production company(s) | Universal Media Studios (2010–11) Universal Television (2011) Friday TV Smart Dog Media Shine America (2013–14) |
Distributor | NBCUniversal Television Distribution |
Release | |
Original network |
NBC (2010–11) GSN (2013–14) |
Picture format |
480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
First shown in | United States |
Original release | NBC: March 14, 2010 – September 7, 2011 GSN: June 25, 2013 – April 29, 2014 |
External links | |
Website | web |
Minute to Win It is an American television game show which features contestants playing simple games with common household items in an attempt to win a cash prize. The series originally ran on NBC with host Guy Fieri and was revived in 2013 on Game Show Network (GSN) with Apolo Ohno presenting the show.
The series premiered on NBC on March 14, 2010, airing the first two episodes back-to-back. A second season began on December 7, 2010. On May 13, 2012, NBC announced that the show would not be renewed for a third season. On February 4, 2013, GSN green-lit a revival of the series, and the first season began airing in June 25, 2013. A second season of the GSN version premiered in February 2014.
Contestants are presented with a blueprint for the first challenge (level) and must successfully complete a game within 60 seconds to move past the first level and advance to the next level. The challenges are games that require contestants to perform tasks with various household items (such as releasing a balloon's air to blow a certain number of plastic cups off of a table, or rolling marbles at an upright-standing pencil in order to knock it over). Contestants who can complete all ten challenges win the show's top prize ($1,000,000 in the NBC version, $250,000 in the GSN version).
The difficulty of the games progressively increases throughout the show. If time expires or the conditions of the game cannot be fulfilled (such as exhausting any allotted attempts or breaking a rule within a challenge), the contestant loses a "life", three of which are provided throughout the game. Contestants who lose all three of their lives have their game end and their winnings drop to the previous milestone they passed. After successfully completing a game, contestants can leave with the amount of money already won before seeing the blueprint for their next level. If they elect to play the game, however, they cannot walk away until that level is complete or they have exhausted all three of their lives.
Episodes featuring celebrity contestants competing for charities and teams of two contestants tweak these rules slightly. In celebrity episodes, all levels are milestones, while in episodes featuring teams of two contestants, some games are played by both, while others are played solo. A contestant can only make three consecutive attempts at solo games (including re-attempts following losing a life; an intervening team game does not reset this count). After a contestant makes three attempts, the other contestant is forced to attempt the next solo game.
Besides celebrity specials and editions featuring teams, other special editions have been conducted by the NBC version of the series. To begin the show's second season, three special Christmas-themed episodes were produced and aired in December 2010. For these specials, two extra games were added, with the 11th game worth $2,000,000 and the 12th game worth $3,000,000. In addition, some games contained a "Holiday Bonus," in which a contestant won a gift if the level is passed. A visual representation of the gift was placed inside of a box, which was opened if and when the level was successfully completed. The gifts included an extra life, an extra ten seconds to be used during a challenge, and a bonus prize.