The Million Second Quiz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Million_Second_Quiz

Starting on Monday, a massive game show event began, entitled The Million Second Quiz, hosted by American Idol's Ryan Seacrest, on NBC. As the title states, the event lasts continuously for one million seconds, or about twelve days, and will be the ultimate test of both knowledge and endurance, with the biggest cash prize in game show history at stake. It could possibly be the biggest revolution in game shows since the advent of the original million-dollar game show, the appropriately-titled Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, in 1999 (originally 1998 in the UK, where the franchise originated). While only one hour of the event will be televised in prime time during weeknights for this week and next week (four night have passed already), the event goes on continuously around the clock, streamed live on NBC.com. Throughout the duration of the event, it will also be interactive, allowing people from across the country to play at home by downloading the Million Second Quiz app.

In this game, money is made by sitting in the "Money Chair" and answering various multiple-choice questions. For every second a contestant sits in that chair, he or she earns $10 per second, which is $36,000 an hour, and $864,000 a day. Contestants compete for the right to sit in the Money Chair in a series of trivia bouts that last for a set period of time. In order to get into the money chair, a contestant must first play the Million Second Quiz app and score high enough to make it into the hourglass, and then stand at a podium across from the Money Chair and beat the contestant currently sitting in that chair in a quiz bout in order to take it away from them. After that contestant is eliminated, it is possible to re-enter to get back in later there is still enough time left. If they score high enough, however, upon removal from the Money Chair, they will instead go to the "Winners' Row," where the top four players with the most accumulated winnings so far will reside continuously until they are replaced by newcomers. During the prime time show, they are subject to the "Winner's Defense" bout, in which one of them will compete with the contestant currently sitting in the Money Chair for a chance to reclaim the chair in a winner-takes-all contest.

During quiz bouts, players can "double" the points if they think the opponent does not know the answer to the question; the opponent can also "double back," which will quadruple the points earned by answering the question. If the doubled contestant gives the correct answer, they receive double the points, but if not, the opponent receives the points instead. For every 100 seconds within a bout, the standard number of points increases by 1.

After the million seconds are up, the remaining contestants, four in the Winner's Row and the one in the Money Chair, keep all of their accumulated winnings, and will battle it out in a series of knockout bouts for an additional $2 million cash prize.

The prime time bouts are televised at 8PM EST, every Monday through Friday night, on NBC, and the rest of the event is televised live on NBC.com. You can also play along on the Million Second Quiz app, and if you score high enough, get ready to pack your bags, because you'll be surprised by a local television reporter to be invited onto the show on the following night for a chance to take the Money Chair away as a "line jumper."