$1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime, The

1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime Game Show

The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime ran for two seasons from January of 1986 to September of 1987, and was hosted by Jim Lange.  In this game show, two couples would compete against each other by solving world puzzles.  If a couple managed to make it through the bonus round of three episodes, then they would then play for an annuity worth $1 million dollars.  In order to come back for another show, the couple would have to give up the prize for that show ($5k and $10k respectively).  Of course they could always take the money and forfeit a return.

The object of the game was to fill in the blank letter spaces on the phrase puzzle and guess the phrase.  In order to do this, contestants would first have to guess a clue word.  For the clue words, the computer would begin filling in letters until a contestant buzzed in and guessed the word.  Guessing correctly earned some money, such as $25, $50, or even $100 dollars.  That clue word would then show up above the phrase to be guessed, and the contestant would choose two letters to be shown in the phrase (sort of like Wheel of Fortune).  If they accidentally picked the hidden "stinger" letter, they would lose their turn.  The "puzzle bank" would continue to grow until somebody guessed the phrase, at which point that team would win the money in the puzzle bank.  The winner of the early rounds would then go to a bonus round, where they were put in an isolation booth and had to guess a certain number of words, based on their chosen category, in 60 seconds.  For example, the first couple to win the million dollars in 1986 had to guess 6 cookie names within 60 seconds as letters were put on the screen (Ginger Snap, Macaroon, Fig Newton, Fortune, Oatmeal, and Toll House).