Staff Writer
A new breed of television game shows has captivated the masses with recognizable hosts, laugh-out loud easy questions and a sum of money synonymous with almost all of these programs: one million dollars. No, not the new Family Feud with Louie Anderson. These shows appeal to the public's natural love for greed, free money and trivia questions that do not make the viewers feel like idiots. "There is just something about seeing someone's expression when they win a million dollars," sophomore Robert Rice said. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," the forerunner in the onslaught of quick-money game shows, starts at the $100 level but doubles each time the contestant answers a question correctly. Garnering amazing ratings and success, copy cat programs such as "Greed," "Twenty-One" and "Winning Lines" spawned quickly to ride the coattails of the new media fad. "Greed" allows competitors, who start off in teams of five, to eliminate each other in a battle of wits via "The Terminator." Contestants are randomly selected and are given the option to decide to face off against the opponent that they choose. The catch is that the less people there are to split the prize money, the more each remaining player will receive. Old favorites like "Wheel of Fortune" seem more like Wheel of Chump-Change. With cash totals rarely topping $50,000, "Wheel of Fortune" tested contestants' luck, knowledge of the English language, grasp on famous phrases and quick thinking ability. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," in contrast, pampers the contestants by giving them unlimited time, multiple-choice questions and three lifelines. Why is it that every question on "Jeopardy" seems more difficult than any asked on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"? With millionaires created seemingly every day with high-tech Internet companies and the aid of a booming stock market, the public is no longer shocked by prizes under a million dollars. Accumulating a quick fortune is something Americans have begun to consider a basic right. Thus, the public's thirst for greed has created a new breed of shows with two very appealing elements: money and danger. "Survival" demonstrates how far people will go for the chance to obtain a quick and easy fortune. Beginning in March for 39 days, 16 castaways were marooned on a tropical island in the South China Sea. They were forced to band together and carve out a new existence, using their collective wits to make a living without any conveniences of the modern world. The show is summed up as "two parts adventure contest, eight parts surviving the peer group," Mark Burnett, "Survival's" executive producer said. Contestants, or "survivors," can be voted out of the game by their peers during an Island Council meeting, thereby losing the opportunity to win the million-dollar prize. Has the media gone too far to satiate the mass hunger for dangerous excitement and lavish money prizes? Will the era of greed-driven game shows turn out to be nothing more than a passing fad like pogs? With sky-high ratings and public frenzy to back them up, shows like "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Greed" are likely to stick around for a while. However, the line has been stretched - the question is: how far will future game shows go to shock and surprise viewers?