July 1-7: John Carpenter on Tournament of Champions John Carpenter may be described as a smart aleck who doesn't have much personality, but he may also be described as one as the smartest players ever to appear on WWTBAM. WWTBAM had an encore presentation all through the month of June of its original TOC. The last night, Carpenter won his $250k prize. Only stopping to ask the audience at $64k, go 50:50 at $250k, and Phone A Friend at $500k, John demonstrated that he was a pro at the game - 25 questions in a row and no using a lifeline. John's Winning Question came when he knew, after a 50:50, that Wassily Kandinsky painted the award winning painting featured in the play "Six Degrees of Seperation." His $500k stumper: Who was the 1st baseball player to be featured on a US postage stamp? Correct answer was Jackie Robinson. Turns out his Phone A Friend, which was his brother Tom, would have been right, too. John split his $250k with SARAH, an orginization in Connecticut devoted to helping people with physical and developmental disabilities. July 8-14: Olympic Contestants The Olympic Athletes may be described as of course really athletic, nice, and funny people. Regis even described them all as beautiful people. But they are also really smart, splitting money in half with their favorite charities. The majority of the Olympians won $125,000 on Olympic week, which, although it may not be all the way at the top, is nothing to be turned down at. Although they were allowed to seek help from friends up to $16,000, they showed that just because they are athletic doesnt mean they dont know their trivia. The second thing was that they played like smart people, and didnt risk a lot of money for the charities. Even Rulon Gardner, the wrestler, and Maurice Greene, the humorous track and fielder, didnt risk $93,000 for themselves and charity. This is just a congratulation to the Olympians, and thanks for being smart and entertaining people. July 15-21: Chris Walton Oh, those $125,000 Questions! Chris Walton, a long time gameshow fan and trivia buff, won $64,000 without using a lifeline. Then, the buzzer blew. He came back the next night, just 4 questions away from a million and all 3 lifelines intact. The Question was The Study of Human Settlements is known as what? Not knowing the answer, Chris phoned a friend. They didnt know. He than asked for a 50:50. Of course, it doesnt help if you dont know the answer, so reluctantly, he used his last lifeline, and asked the audience. 75% of the audience agreed with what his friend guessed, but most likely they were swayed by what the PAF said. So after thinking, struggling, and agonizing for quite a few minutes, he made Ecology his final answer. However, it wasnt right, sending him back to $32,000. Even though Chris didnt win it all, he should be complimented for his wide range of trivia. I could picture him easily going all the way if it werent for that $125k question. July 22-28: Rob Wilson, Will Chapman, and Jeff Bathurst It was a tough decision, but after careful deliberation, I decided these 3 contestants all deserve to be the featured contestants, and we now have our first tri-featured contestants. Lets start with Rob Wilson. Rob won the most out of the three, $64,000. Going for $125,000, Rob used his last lifeline, the phone a friend. The friend couldnt help, and they ran out of time. Rob decided to walk away with his already won $64,000. My Compliments to Rob for tying the top score of the week, and for being a great player. Will Chapman and Jeff Bathurst looked to be sure millionaires after they got into the hotseat. Rampaging through their first 10 questions without using a lifeline and winning $32,000, they both missed on the $64,000 question, using only one lifeline, which, unfortunately, didnt help. Will asked the audience on the $64,000 Question which doesnt help a lot in the upper tier and got results that didnt help too much either. He went with the majority of the audience (about 40%), and missed it. His Total Prize Money: $32,000. Jeff Bathurst, who was in the writing business, surprisingly didnt know which magazine debuted in November of 1927. He took a 50:50, which is the best lifeline to use if you have no idea, and said National Geographic. However, it wasnt correct, and it sent him packing back to $32,000. (Because I didnt tape the episode, I do not remember what the correct answer was. Any help would be appreciated.) Like I said about Chris Walton in last weeks column, I could have easily pictured them going all the way if it werent for those questions. July 29-August 4: Top of the Charts Contestants The Celebrity Editions of WWTBAM are always very fun to watch. (At Least when they are new, not repeats.) WWTBAM's recent Top of the Charts Edition was no exception. Top of the Charts Musical Stars from the past 3 decades competed for a chance at One Million Dollars (which no one won.) Everyone from TLC's Lisa Lopes (AKA "Left Eye") to Huey Lewis, from "Huey Lewis and the News," were competing for charity. Although they are allowed to seek help from their friends up to $32,000, they were all smart and showed knowledge across an incredible range. They were all very entertaining people, and it was enjoyable to watch them. Joey McIntyre, formerly from "New Kids on the Block," made a gutsy move: he was going for $125,000 with 3 lifelines, and, as Regis always says is something good to do, he went with his first instinct, but sadly missed it. He won $32,000. I'm not sure if any of you heard about it, but there was a rumor going around that Lisa Lopes would win a Million Dollars, the first Celebrity to do so. However, it was a rumor, and unfortunately didn't happen. I am sure, no matter how much each celebrity won, their charities will be happy with the money that they donated. They were all great players. |
