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Post by greekmillionairefan on Dec 23, 2022 2:50:38 GMT -5
When I was watching the first seasons of greek "millionaire" in 1999-2006 ,I remember that the studio was completely empty in the middle during the FFF round and then when a contestant was qualified to play to the main game, the contestant's and host's chair and the "desk" with the 2 computer screens had "magically" appeared in the center of the studio. If another FFF ran during the episode, the seats were disappearing again and reappearing when the next contestant was to take the hot seat. I think that the same also happened on other countries version such as UK and US. Since the show came back in 2022, seats are permanently placed in the center of the studio as FFF round has been phased out. But I saw that revival versions in other countries that still have FFF, seats are also permanent and not appearing/disappearing as on original (non-revival) seasons. I have 2 questions about this:
1. How was that possible? Chairs may had wheels so they could be moved back and forth off-camera by the production crew but what about the computer screens? Didn't the need to connect to power and maybe network? Were they being disconnected and reconnected every time a new contestant took the hot seat? And how was that convenient? There weren't any visible wires on the floor when the seats set was taken away. Are there any "backstage" videos explaining it?
2.Until when was this practice used? Was it firstly abolished on the first revival edition of the UK in 2018 or earlier?
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omran.dk
Ce sera mon dernier mot au moment venu !
Posts: 307
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Post by omran.dk on Dec 23, 2022 8:51:53 GMT -5
Since I am in this forum, for my part I think that you are the first to speak about it. So I think I can answer all of this in one post (if you need a second post) For your story, there is the editing that is done, that's why the viewer sees it as if it were magic. But I'll tell you how it goes by answering your two questions: 1. Regarding the seats, there is a small team that transports these seats to each part of a contestant. And at each end of the game, the team responsible for putting the seats in the middle of the set brings them back behind the cameras on which the contestant is framed. As for the monitor (the computer), it's another thing because it all depends on the weight and the shape, or it is transported on a pallet because the foot of the monitor has no wheels. Either a team can manually transport the monitor. So I'm not telling you that for the monitors with a silver briefcase (whether it's the first computers of the British, Russian, Ukrainian and Greek versions among others), the team won't break their backs lol. And a question is added: how does the computer work? In the middle of the small circle that is in the middle of the large luminous circle, there is a small hole that you use to connect the cables connecting the tray to the trunk of the monitor. I think it lasts if I'm mistaken, about ten or even twenty minutes if you count everything I just said. 2. Well, tell yourself that they didn't expect in 2018 to understand that it's a bit long to do this traditional process. Concerning the French version, they stopped doing that in 2009. For the English version I think it took place in November 2002 or see the beginning of 2003. The Dutch version stopped carrying their monitor from 2003-2004. And for some versions, their monitors were always in the middle of the board (like in Finland for example). |
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Post by CycloneBoom on Dec 23, 2022 20:47:49 GMT -5
Cool topic, and interesting insights there omran.dk for how it happened. I'm curious about details of the show's production like this too. 
This is something I wondered about too in the past for the reason why they removed the hotseats and computer screens. Based on the initial UK episode where Chris Tarrant walks into the centre circle, it seems like practically the initial idea was to establish a podium in the middle of the studio.
Like so:
While in years later on, he walked in from the main host entrance and stood there while introducing the show (and same while Fastest Finger is in progress). Obviously for the audience, half of them would only see his back. As much as it looks cool from the high back camera angle, it doesn't matter much for close-up shots where he stood. Also arguably it looks more professional for him to stand in the entranceway like he ended up doing (plus all the audience can see him clearer).
Perhaps the producers figured with the central podium not used much, it wasn't worthwhile to keep removing and re-installing it?
It's quite funny as I remember back in the day talking with family about how the seats suddenly appear, and one of our elaborate theories was it came down hoisted on cables from the roof, or there was a trap door and it came up from under the stage. That would've saved the carrying and unplugging, but sure would've been an expensive solution.
When carrying them on and setting them up, it makes me wonder whether if at any time they got the monitors the wrong way around by mistake, with the contestant seeing the host screen and vice versa. Seems unlikely though, and especially back in the early days when the money was in the see-through case at the front. Which speaking of, I wonder whether there were plans to lower down the money case for dramatic effect, but that proved impractical and might've been abandoned for the idea.
It's quite ironic in the way how the more modern LCD screens were fixed in place, whereas the big bulky "briefcase" monitors continually disappeared and appeared.  |
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Post by greekmillionairefan on Dec 24, 2022 6:56:48 GMT -5
Cool topic, and interesting insights there omran.dk for how it happened. I'm curious about details of the show's production like this too.
This is something I wondered about too in the past for the reason why they removed the hotseats and computer screens. Based on the initial UK episode where Chris Tarrant walks into the centre circle, it seems like practically the initial idea was to establish a podium in the middle of the studio.
Like so:
While in years later on, he walked in from the main host entrance and stood there while introducing the show (and same while Fastest Finger is in progress). Obviously for the audience, half of them would only see his back. As much as it looks cool from the high back camera angle, it doesn't matter much for close-up shots where he stood. Also arguably it looks more professional for him to stand in the entranceway like he ended up doing (plus all the audience can see him clearer).
Perhaps the producers figured with the central podium not used much, it wasn't worthwhile to keep removing and re-installing it?
It's quite funny as I remember back in the day talking with family about how the seats suddenly appear, and one of our elaborate theories was it came down hoisted on cables from the roof, or there was a trap door and it came up from under the stage. That would've saved the carrying and unplugging, but sure would've been an expensive solution.
When carrying them on and setting them up, it makes me wonder whether if at any time they got the monitors the wrong way around by mistake, with the contestant seeing the host screen and vice versa. Seems unlikely though, and especially back in the early days when the money was in the see-through case at the front. Which speaking of, I wonder whether there were plans to lower down the money case for dramatic effect, but that proved impractical and might've been abandoned for the idea.
It's quite ironic in the way how the more modern LCD screens were fixed in place, whereas the big bulky "briefcase" monitors continually disappeared and appeared. Our host,Spyros Papadopoulos, never stood in the center of the "circle" although it was empty, he always stood in front of the main entrance while introducing FFF contestants and/or FFF question. When I was watching the early seasons as a child,I also used to imagine that the seats and computers were hidden underneath the floor and they were emerging and submerging with the metal "core" of the floor acting as a trapdoor but I wondered why were they editing out this part and didn't show how the were coming up and down as it would look more impressive. About the accidental mix-up of host and contestant screen,I had read somewhere that it has happened once on Thai version and the contestant was finally stripped of his winning but Thai version is an unlicensed one and I don't think that they were using this trick. |
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omran.dk
Ce sera mon dernier mot au moment venu !
Posts: 307
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Post by omran.dk on Dec 24, 2022 8:36:38 GMT -5
Cool topic, and interesting insights there omran.dk for how it happened. I'm curious about details of the show's production like this too.
This is something I wondered about too in the past for the reason why they removed the hotseats and computer screens. Based on the initial UK episode where Chris Tarrant walks into the centre circle, it seems like practically the initial idea was to establish a podium in the middle of the studio.
Like so:
For my part with Jean-Pierre Foucault, he started to come in the middle of the circle around 2001 or 2002, whereas at the beginning he was at the entrance when he had no contestant and we saw J-P "whole" (like his head and his body) until 2003 when we saw his head more closely. Chris Tarrant stopped that at the same time the small team stopped transporting the computer and the seats. But some still do it to come in the middle of the circle, like Günther Jauch, Robert Ten Brink (even when the computer is there), Hubert Urbański (he will never change this process for sure lol) Our host,Spyros Papadopoulos, never stood in the center of the "circle" although it was empty, he always stood in front of the main entrance while introducing FFF contestants and/or FFF question. When I was watching the early seasons as a child,I also used to imagine that the seats and computers were hidden underneath the floor and they were emerging and submerging with the metal "core" of the floor acting as a trapdoor but I wondered why were they editing out this part and didn't show how the were coming up and down as it would look more impressive. About the accidental mix-up of host and contestant screen,I had read somewhere that it has happened once on Thai version and the contestant was finally stripped of his winning but Thai version is an unlicensed one and I don't think that they were using this trick. Regarding Spiros Papadopoulos (who is one of my favorite WWTBAM hosts), he wasn't even at the entrance, he was right behind the entrance lol. I think the reason he was behind the entrance is that he had a screen to his right (if I'm not mistaken) to see who was the fastest in the question of speed. |
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Post by FinalAnswer19 on Dec 24, 2022 14:25:21 GMT -5
It doesn't explain it, but you might see a small bit of your answer here. |
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Post by CycloneBoom on Dec 25, 2022 2:22:52 GMT -5
When I was watching the early seasons as a child, I also used to imagine that the seats and computers were hidden underneath the floor and they were emerging and submerging with the metal "core" of the floor acting as a trapdoor but I wondered why were they editing out this part and didn't show how the were coming up and down as it would look more impressive. This idea reminds me of the old game show named The Chair which aired for a while in the early 2000s and it was raised up onto a platform. Accompanied by fire, stage fog, and with obligatory strobe lighting effects. Given the existing cost for the WWTBAM stage lighting and everything (as was upgraded from the initial designs), it seems like this might've blown the budget a little however. It sure would've been dramatic though, and emphasised the hot seat as being "hot" as its namesake.
About the accidental mix-up of host and contestant screen, I had read somewhere that it has happened once on Thai version and the contestant was finally stripped of his winning but Thai version is an unlicensed one and I don't think that they were using this trick. Oh wow! I'm surprised it actually happened somehow. That's quite remarkable for the host not to notice. Since their screen is different for the info presented, including the right answer indicator. Unless some versions of WWTBAM had the producers tell the host via an earpiece for that part, and so they were anyway.
Otherwise the contestant might've well said "That's the right answer!" themselves and the host could've sat out.
Without knowing the full details, it seem quite unfair for the contestant to not win their prize. I thought the right answer only is displayed upon it being locked in. Maybe that got changed after this incident even, so then the host only knew after their final answer state was given. For being unlicensed, that might've meant the Thai version diverged more than most other editions of the show.
Maybe they could've marked each screen with Host or Contestant or colour coded them even.
For my part with Jean-Pierre Foucault, he started to come in the middle of the circle around 2001 or 2002, whereas at the beginning he was at the entrance when he had no contestant and we saw J-P "whole" (like his head and his body) until 2003 when we saw his head more closely. Chris Tarrant stopped that at the same time the small team stopped transporting the computer and the seats. But some still do it to come in the middle of the circle, like Günther Jauch, Robert Ten Brink (even when the computer is there), Hubert Urbański (he will never change this process for sure lol) Interesting, and for different hosts doing their own things, maybe the producers gave each host the freedom of style to do what they'd prefer. Or perhaps it was a creative decision they were directed to do, and it just differed for each iteration of WWTBAM.
Regarding Spiros Papadopoulos (who is one of my favorite WWTBAM hosts), he wasn't even at the entrance, he was right behind the entrance lol. I think the reason he was behind the entrance is that he had a screen to his right (if I'm not mistaken) to see who was the fastest in the question of speed. That emphasises the point even more about hosts incorporating their own styles. Some subtle differences in the set design seem likely too that way, and where originally the Classic set seems quite standardised in iterations around the world. Where nowadays from what I've seen there are bigger differences.
It doesn't explain it, but you might see a small bit of your answer here.
Very cool to see, I've never seen this clip before (11:37). Thanks for linking to it.
I believe I saw only parts of this documentary (or one similar), and this will be a worthy watch from a behind the scenes perspective.
As an aside, I like the way how Chris (and sure other hosts similarly) spend a few moments to calm the contestant. Having just won Fastest Finger, it makes sense to stop recording and make sure they're ready to begin. While obviously having to remain professional, he's doing his job to put them at ease. To hopefully allow them the best chance of success, as the lady did with winning £16,000 there that show.
Indeed, there's the pallet / trolley which omran.dk described, and I see the stage crew are bringing the chairs on as well. That really is rare footage, and it makes it more personable to see the angle of what a contestant would see. Everything looks so different away from the standard TV camera positions. |
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Post by greekmillionairefan on Dec 25, 2022 7:01:42 GMT -5
It doesn't explain it, but you might see a small bit of your answer here. Wow!Very rare footage.So,the chairs are carried by hand and the computers set seem to be transported on a wheel platform.But the question that remains unsolved is how the heck does this system get wired/connected.If it was today I would say that computers are battery-powered and connected to WiFi but in late '90s-early '00s wireless networking seemed like a thing of sci-fi.So omran.dk's explanation with a secret hole in the center of the circle where wiring can pass through seems more convincing. When I was watching the early seasons as a child, I also used to imagine that the seats and computers were hidden underneath the floor and they were emerging and submerging with the metal "core" of the floor acting as a trapdoor but I wondered why were they editing out this part and didn't show how the were coming up and down as it would look more impressive. This idea reminds me of the old game show named The Chair which aired for a while in the early 2000s and it was raised up onto a platform. Accompanied by fire, stage fog, and with obligatory strobe lighting effects. Given the existing cost for the WWTBAM stage lighting and everything (as was upgraded from the initial designs), it seems like this might've blown the budget a little however. It sure would've been dramatic though, and emphasised the hot seat as being "hot" as its namesake.
We had the same format in Greece too,on Ant1 TV, but it was very short-lived.I think that it began in fall 2002, and it lasted only until Christmas of the same year or early 2003.It was named "Στα Όρια" ("To the limits") and I clearly remember the fires and the chair moving up and down.I also remember that the contestant's pulse was measured and if it was too high, they were losing money.Pretty stressful situation.The sight of the quick drop of money prize was causing more anxiety, leading to higher pulsation,so it was somehow a vicious circle. About the accidental mix-up of host and contestant screen, I had read somewhere that it has happened once on Thai version and the contestant was finally stripped of his winning but Thai version is an unlicensed one and I don't think that they were using this trick. Oh wow! I'm surprised it actually happened somehow. That's quite remarkable for the host not to notice. Since their screen is different for the info presented, including the right answer indicator. Unless some versions of WWTBAM had the producers tell the host via an earpiece for that part, and so they were anyway.
Otherwise the contestant might've well said "That's the right answer!" themselves and the host could've sat out.
Without knowing the full details, it seem quite unfair for the contestant to not win their prize. I thought the right answer only is displayed upon it being locked in. Maybe that got changed after this incident even, so then the host only knew after their final answer state was given. For being unlicensed, that might've meant the Thai version diverged more than most other editions of the show.
Thai version is very different to the standard "millionaire" format. Logo,music,set,graphics, all is so different, that it is disputable whether it can be considered a part of WWTBAM franchise at all.Only the rules are the same. |
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theidentfan
Transport Enthusiast, Game Show Fan & Swiftie
Posts: 337
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Post by theidentfan on Dec 25, 2022 11:47:10 GMT -5
When I was watching the first seasons of greek "millionaire" in 1999-2006 ,I remember that the studio was completely empty in the middle during the FFF round and then when a contestant was qualified to play to the main game, the contestant's and host's chair and the "desk" with the 2 computer screens had "magically" appeared in the center of the studio. If another FFF ran during the episode, the seats were disappearing again and reappearing when the next contestant was to take the hot seat. I think that the same also happened on other countries version such as UK and US. Since the show came back in 2022, seats are permanently placed in the center of the studio as FFF round has been phased out. But I saw that revival versions in other countries that still have FFF, seats are also permanent and not appearing/disappearing as on original (non-revival) seasons. I have 2 questions about this: 1. How was that possible? Chairs may had wheels so they could be moved back and forth off-camera by the production crew but what about the computer screens? Didn't the need to connect to power and maybe network? Were they being disconnected and reconnected every time a new contestant took the hot seat? And how was that convenient? There weren't any visible wires on the floor when the seats set was taken away. Are there any "backstage" videos explaining it? 2.Until when was this practice used? Was it firstly abolished on the first revival edition of the UK in 2018 or earlier? Same goes with the UK original! It always confused me why they did this and took all this effort to presumably take away the chairs and computers at the start of the show, and then reassemble them at the end of FFF? I think it looked worse in Nigeria (original, or at least from 2006 to the early 2010s) though, with the off-centre nature of the central mat becoming even more clear in the process of removing the Hot Seats. |
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theidentfan
Transport Enthusiast, Game Show Fan & Swiftie
Posts: 337
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Post by theidentfan on Dec 25, 2022 11:48:25 GMT -5
Since I am in this forum, for my part I think that you are the first to speak about it. So I think I can answer all of this in one post (if you need a second post) For your story, there is the editing that is done, that's why the viewer sees it as if it were magic. But I'll tell you how it goes by answering your two questions: 1. Regarding the seats, there is a small team that transports these seats to each part of a contestant. And at each end of the game, the team responsible for putting the seats in the middle of the set brings them back behind the cameras on which the contestant is framed. As for the monitor (the computer), it's another thing because it all depends on the weight and the shape, or it is transported on a pallet because the foot of the monitor has no wheels. Either a team can manually transport the monitor. So I'm not telling you that for the monitors with a silver briefcase (whether it's the first computers of the British, Russian, Ukrainian and Greek versions among others), the team won't break their backs lol. And a question is added: how does the computer work? In the middle of the small circle that is in the middle of the large luminous circle, there is a small hole that you use to connect the cables connecting the tray to the trunk of the monitor. I think it lasts if I'm mistaken, about ten or even twenty minutes if you count everything I just said. 2. Well, tell yourself that they didn't expect in 2018 to understand that it's a bit long to do this traditional process. Concerning the French version, they stopped doing that in 2009. For the English version I think it took place in November 2002 or see the beginning of 2003. The Dutch version stopped carrying their monitor from 2003-2004. And for some versions, their monitors were always in the middle of the board (like in Finland for example). I think the British version stopped when they got their "purple clock" graphics in 2010, like in France. |
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omran.dk
Ce sera mon dernier mot au moment venu !
Posts: 307
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Post by omran.dk on Dec 25, 2022 14:06:54 GMT -5
It doesn't explain it, but you might see a small bit of your answer here. Wow!Very rare footage.So,the chairs are carried by hand and the computers set seem to be transported on a wheel platform.But the question that remains unsolved is how the heck does this system get wired/connected.If it was today I would say that computers are battery-powered and connected to WiFi but in late '90s-early '00s wireless networking seemed like a thing of sci-fi.So omran.dk's explanation with a secret hole in the center of the circle where wiring can pass through seems more convincing. Uh me I do not really believe in the fact that in these times currently the monitor can be connected remotely. Would need a superb ability to hold the machine (especially for a daily one). No, I believe their computers are wired. The same goes for the tablets in terms of speed, don't think they're not connected at all. On the other hand, if we were to make a low-end version (see fan club), I think that the tablets for the contestants and the host would be connected remotely via a small control room (by the way, I'm thinking about a project at the moment but that I will talk about soon and it will be in another thread). Concerning the famous hole in the middle of the circle, I had seen two excerpts, one from the Arabic version which was shot in France (so therefore I saw the French version too lol), unfortunately I can't find this video anymore I saw him not even a month ago. And another snippet I saw in the Hungarian version dating, look at this picture:
now I think we are sure and certain that we have never seen cables coming out of the monitor when we watched WWTBAM (don't be fooled to say that "yes, the cables come out of the computer but we can't see 'naked eye', don't disappoint me please lol) I think the British version stopped when they got their "purple clock" graphics in 2010, like in France. Sorry to tell you that but you're wrong because it's not from 2010, not even, for the UK version it's from 2002-2003 and I'm going to show you (also to you) an image from 2005:
For the French version, it was also in 2009 that they stopped transporting the seats and the computer and for that two images in 16:9 (rarity this format for the French version):
Season 9 (2008)
Season 10 (2009)
now I realize that the basic interest of them moving the seats and the computer was to film the contestants during the questions of speed but since they stopped that, they still manage to film the contestants. it's strange anyway as a principle.
Edit: Little edit to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all
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Post by CycloneBoom on Dec 27, 2022 15:11:46 GMT -5
Wow, nice find too. That sure is a rare shot to see the cables underneath. Logically there'd be a local network setup in the studio, but the host probably didn't have direct input control over the show (likely only from the control room). In which case it might've only needed to be power and signal input (probably VGA) back then to the monitors. Certainly WiFI would be out of the question, and iterations of the show might still prefer wired LAN cables nowadays too for being more robust.
It does seem like the whole hassle of connecting everything after moving the screens and chairs in, was finally decided to be a less than productive use of time. Then soon enough other versions of the show followed suit in not doing it anymore. Certainly it clears up the mystery does this.
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) I guess the next on will be Poland then...
