The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime
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 May 22, 1987. The show was hosted by Jim Lange, and he was joined by Karen Thomas as co-host during the second season. Mark Summers was the show's announcer for the first few weeks and Johnny Gilbert announced the remainder of the series. The show was produced by XPTLA, Inc., and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures. Gameplay 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, but only one member of each couple played at any given time. 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 computer screen. All of the letters appearing in the puzzle, as well as a star that would represent numbers or punctuation marks, were lit on the keyboard. There was always an additional key lit that represented what did not appear in the puzzle; the decoy key 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. Finding the Stinger ended a contestant's turn immediately; the contestant had to avoid it on both key choices in order to be able to guess the puzzle. A new clue was played whenever a contestant either failed to guess the puzzle or found the Stinger. 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. The couple in the lead at the end of the game won their bank and played the bonus round. If there was a tie after