The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime

The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime
Genre	Game show
Directed by	Jerome Shaw Joe Carolei
Presented by	Jim Lange
Narrated by	Marc Summers (1986) Johnny Gilbert (1986–1987)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
Production
Executive producer(s)	Bob Synes Scott A. Stone Jay Feldman
Producer(s)	Joel Stein
Location(s)	Hollywood Center Studios Hollywood, California
Running time	approx. 22–26 minutes
Production company(s)	XPTLA Company
Distributor	Lorimar-Telepictures
Release
Original network	Syndicated (daily)
Original release	January 6, 1986 – September 11, 1987
Chronology
Related shows	All Clued Up (UK version)

The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime is an American game show which offered a $1 million (annuitized) grand prize to winning contestants. The show aired in syndication from January 6, 1986 until September 11, 1987. The show was hosted by Jim Lange, and he was joined by Karen Thomas as co-host during the second season. Marc Summers was the show's announcer for its first few weeks and Johnny Gilbert announced the remainder of the series. The show was produced by XPTLA, Inc. and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures.

Two couples competed each day, one of which was usually a returning champion. The two couples tried to win money by solving hangman-style word puzzles.

In order to fill-in the blank spaces in the puzzle, a series of toss-up clues were played. The clues were usually one word in length, but certain clues called for two or even three words to be used. The contestants were told how many letters were in the clue and the letters were put into the clue one at a time until one of the contestants buzzed in. If that contestant gave a correct answer, the couple scored $25. If not, the clue would be filled in up to the last letter and the opposing contestant got the chance to guess.

Once a contestant guessed correctly, he/she stepped up to an oversized keyboard to place letters in the puzzle, which was displayed on a giant screen. All of the letters appearing in the puzzle, as well as a star if there were any punctuation marks in it, were lit on the keyboard, as was one additional letter that was not. The decoy letter was referred to as the Stinger. Correctly guessing the clues earned the contestants the choice of two letters on the keyboard, and each time the letter appeared in the puzzle $25 was added to a bank that went to the couple who solved the puzzle. If either contestant found the Stinger, their turn immediately ended and a new clue was played.

In the second round, the couples switched positions and the values for each word and correctly placed letter doubled to $50. For the third round, as well as any subsequent rounds, the values rose to $100 and each couple had to choose which one of them would play. The game continued as long as time permitted. If time ran short during a puzzle, each of the remaining letters was put into the puzzle one at a time and the bank continued to accumulate until one of the couples answered correctly.

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