Rules
For the entire American run, the game was conducted the same as the British version, with a team of players trying to reach and bank a set target within a time limit by compiling a chain of correct answers that would be broken with an incorrect answer or if a player decided to bank the money that was already in the chain. On NBC, the team was composed of eight people looking to win up to $1,000,000. In the syndicated series, the team size was reduced to six players and the potential top prize to $75,000 in the first season and $100,000 in the second. One player would be eliminated after each round until two were remaining. On the syndicated version, each round thereafter was reduced by 15 seconds (with the first round lasting for 1:45); on the NBC version, the clock was reduced by 10 seconds (with the first round lasting for 2:30). As on the British version, contestants who are eliminated in the rounds leading up to the final round are told by the host: "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!," although Gray's snarling taunts clearly were intended for a "smart aleck" gimmick.
For the NBC series and the first season of the syndicated series, the final vote occurred prior to the penultimate round, with the two players competing in one more round together for double stakes (with the round lasting for 1:30 on the NBC series and 0:45 in the first syndicated season). The double-stakes round was eliminated from the syndicated series at the start of its second season, with the final elimination occurring prior to the final round.
Unlike most versions where the game started with the player whose name is first alphabetically, a random draw backstage, similar to most multiple-player game shows, was held among players to determine order, and the player who drew the first position starts the first round. Each round thereafter begins with the strongest link from the preceding round (or if that player had been voted off, the second strongest). For the head to head round, he or she also had the option of going first or passing play to the other finalist.
Read more about this topic: The Weakest Link (U.S. Game Show)
Famous quotes containing the word rules:
“Ideas about life organize perception; names of emotions organize sensations; rules of syntax organize thought. But pain comes on its own.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“This is no argument against teaching manners to the young. On the contrary, it is a fine old tradition that ought to be resurrected from its current mothballs and put to work...In fact, children are much more comfortable when they know the guide rules for handling the social amenities. It’s no more fun for a child to be introduced to a strange adult and have no idea what to say or do than it is for a grownup to go to a formal dinner and have no idea what fork to use.”
—Leontine Young (20th century)
“Now for civil service reform. Legislation must be prepared and executive rules and maxims. We must limit and narrow the area of patronage. We must diminish the evils of office-seeking. We must stop interference of federal officers with elections. We must be relieved of congressional dictation as to appointments.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)