History Series / MinuteToWinIt

* {{Lifelines}}: Introduced in the December 2010 episodes for reaching certain levels, these included extra lives and 10-second bonuses for beating a game and then using this bonus on another game(Either adding 10 seconds, or removing 10 seconds on HoldTheLine challenges). They seemed to have been used less later on.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: Intense music with OminousLatinChanting...during a game that involves ping-pong balls, eggs, or spoons.

** To put it simply: No one has ever won the game.

* Non-Indicative Difficulty: When you get a hard level 1 challenge like floatacious but get an easy level 2 challenge like Face The Cookie.
* NumericalHard / HardModeFiller: The same game may be featured on different levels with the difficulty adjusted by changing the number of objects involved or the quota required to win.

* HoldTheLine: Defying Gravity (keep three balloons up in the air), Keep it Up (keep two feathers in the air with breath), and Uphill Battle (keep three marbles on an inclined table hitting them with a spoon).

* MusicalSpoiler: Slow, boring or tense music usually indicates the game will be lost, while beginning to climax means it'll be won. A common fail theme is the string loop theme which plays, trying to make contestants lose balance and steady hands since most challenges require this.

* DifficultySpike: After level 5 usually sees the first spike, then Level 7 may have another, and if you make it to Level 8,9 or 10 then some games seem to be UnwinnableByDesign.

** A game show with a minimum of 9-13 minutes of actual gameplay per episode and lots of added fluff to stretch it into an hour? [[SarcasmMode Amazing!]] While some of the padding did get toned down by the mid-point of Season 1 (and games did straddle between episodes), it was cranked UpToEleven in episodes which later followed.

* KickTheDog: One Christmas 2010 episode was particularly cruel to one unfortunate couple, sticking them with [[ThatOneLevel Extreme]] (Christmas) [[NintendoHard Nutstacker]] — a game previously played on Level 9 and ''barely'' passed — on '''Level 7'''.
* {{Lifelines}}: Introduced in the December 2010 episodes for reaching certain levels, these included 1-ups and 10-second bonuses (Either adding 10 seconds, or removing 10 seconds on HoldTheLine challenges). They seemed to have been scrapped later on.
* LovelyAssistant: The "game agents", female assistants with an allegedly elaborate entrance sequence (complete with fog machines!). However, their appearances were trimmed down and eventually dropped entirely as a result of the style shift the show began to implement.

* MusicalSpoiler: Slow, boring music usually indicates the game will be lost, while beginning to climax means it'll be won.
* NintendoHard: Arguably, the games past Level 6. The most notorious include Extreme Nutstacker, Double Trouble, Hang Nail, and Don't Blow The Joker. The last one is so infamously difficult, NBC actually has hints on how to beat it on the show's website. All topped by the notorious Supercoin.

* WakeUpCallBoss: The first few levels seem easy enough, but then you hit Level 6 and [[DifficultySpike out of nowhere]] the game starts showing teeth.

* DifficultySpike: Level 6 usually sees the first spike, then Level 8 may have another, and if you make it to Level 10 then Supercoin is nigh UnwinnableByDesign.
* {{Fanservice}}: Most female contestants have been young and beautiful, often with low-cut tops.

!!GameShowTropes in use:

* HomeGame / AllThereInTheManual: Played straight, as each challenge is ''designed'' to be played with supplies that can easily be acquired by potential contestants, and NBC put out extensive documentation on the games themselves to lure in potential contestants (or so you could roll your own home version. Even though the show has long been cancelled, this has kept the spirit of the show alive among many a social event). The contestants ''do'' know what 10 games they'll be playing so they can practice, but not the order (this point is hidden in the credits, although some contestants did bring up their need to practice certain games, while the GSN version added ConfessionCam segments from an area dubbed the "Minute to Win It Boot Camp")
** A more traditional home game was also planned — speculation over what it would consist of was rampant.
** Toys based off some of the games were in a Wendy's kids meal promotion.
* {{Lifelines}}: Introduced in the December 2010 episodes for reaching certain levels, these included 1-ups and 10-second bonuses (Either adding 10 seconds, or removing 10 seconds on HoldTheLine challenges). They seemed to have been scrapped later on.
* Personnel:
** TheAnnouncer: Whoever announces the intro, and the woman who provides the voiceovers on the blueprints (also sub hosts on some occassions).
** GameShowHost: Guy Fieri.
** LovelyAssistant: The "game agents", female assistants with an allegedly elaborate entrance sequence (complete with fog machines!). However, their appearances were trimmed down and eventually dropped entirely as a result of the style shift the show began to implement.
* WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire: Played straight with early episodes, which were tense, padded, had sob stories, a dark set, a complete theater-in-the-round audience, and had {{Lovely Assistant}}s introduced with fog machines (apparently, according to a screener copy that the writer of Buzzerblog was given). It turns out the producers may have actually realized the errors in their ways; the game agents were all but demoted to the cutting room floor in post-production, and further improvements (including a tweaked set, faster format, etc.) were made throughout the season (these changes were most apparent by the summer run of the season)
** By Season 2, ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' began rubbing off on ''Minute'' too; most episodes were heavily padded by overdramatic contestants and storylines.
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!!This show provides examples of:
* AdaptationDistillation:
** The US version spun off international adaptations in Australia and the Netherlands, which are basically the same show with much better pacing by removing most of the padding, filler, and cliche {{Commercial Break Cliffhanger}}s, and by averting ViewersAreGoldfish.
** The British version, ''[[ProductPlacement Cadbury Spots vs. Stripes]] Minute to Win It'', does away with quite a bit of the original format, which significantly averts being anywhere similar to ''Millionaire'', or even the [[InNameOnly original]] for that matter. Two teams of 6 (with one celebrity captain each) play 6 games to score points. Each team member can only play once. Whichever team scores the most after 6 games wins, and gets to play a two-part BonusRound; a game is played to determine the prize money (every point is worth £1,000, on top of a base £5,000), followed by one more game to claim the prize.

* NumericalHard: The same game may be featured on different levels with the difficulty adjusted by changing the number of objects involved or the quota required to win.

* HurricaneOfPuns: Almost [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minute_to_Win_It_challenges every game]] has some sort of pun in its title. Special mention goes to the ones with [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar racy names]], like for instance, "Don't Blow The Joker"

* CelebrityEdition: Nick Jonas was the first celebrity to step into the ring, and Season 2 brought several more celebrity editions; including NFL players and past Miss America contestants, as tie-ins for NFL Kickoff game and the Miss Universe pageant respectively ([[CrossPromotion Just guess which network both of these events aired on at the time]]).

* CelebrityEdition: Nick Jonas was the first celebrity to step into the ring, and Season 2 brought several more celebrity editions; including NFL players and past Miss America contestants (as tie-ins for NFL Kickoff game and the Miss Universe pageant respectively. [[ProductPlacement You can just guess which network both of these air on]]).

* BonusSpace: The "Holiday Bonus" levels on the Christmas 2010 episodes, which awarded {{Lifelines}} or bonus prizes upon their completion. After the Christmas episodes, they became the "Blueprint Bonus" and only gave out lifelines. After inconsistent appearances throughout the Winter 2010-11 run, the Summer 2011 seems to have done away with them.

** While not labeled as such under normal circumstances, the fact that they even added a safe point at Level 9 effectively turns Level 10 into one. [[SarcasmMode Good luck!]]
** Episodes using the "Last Man Standing" format use a single attempt at Supercoin as the bonus round for the winner.
* HomeGame / AllThereInTheManual: Played straight, as each challenge is ''designed'' to be played with supplies that can easily be acquired by potential contestants, and NBC put out extensive documentation on the games themselves to lure in potential contestants (or so you could roll your own home version). The contestants ''do'' know what 10 games they'll be playing so they can practice, but not the order (this point is hidden in the credits, although some contestants have admitted their need to practice certain games, while the GSN version is more open about it by having ConfessionCam segments in the "Minute to Win It Boot Camp", which is presumably where this takes place)

* {{Christmas Episode}}s: Yes, more than one. With a decorated set, bonus prizes, Christmas-themed reskins of existing games (and some new ones too), and two additional levels (playing on the Twelve Days of Christmas) with a possibility of winning up to $3,000,000! Only God knows what they had in store for Level 10+; would 10 still have been Supercoin, or would it be the TrueFinalBoss at 12?
* CommercialBreakCliffhanger: What were you expecting from an NBC reality and/or game show? The producers seem to have found over 100 different places to shove commercial breaks in on this show, with ''and'' without warning!

** The Celebrity Editions feature contestants with well-known inspirational stories to draw from, such as Aron Ralston's mountain climbing accident, resulting in frequent breaks from the game.

* NintendoHard: Arguably, the games past Level 6. The most notorious include Extreme Nutstacker, Double Trouble, Hang Nail, and Don't Blow The Joker. The last one is so infamously difficult, NBC actually has hints on how to beat it on the show's website.

** Meanwhile, episodes using the "Last Man Standing" format use a single attempt at Supercoin as the bonus round for the winner.

** A more traditional home game was also planned — speculation over what it will consist of was rampant.
** Toys based off some of the games were in a Wendy's kids meal promotion, too.

** TheAnnouncer: Whoever announces the intro, and the woman who provides the voiceovers on the blueprints(also sub hosts on some occassions).

* CatchPhrase: Beisdes the many ways a TitleDrop can be shoved into a statement, there's also:

* BonusRound: While not labeled as such under normal circumstances, the fact that they even added a safe point at Level 9 effectively turns Level 10 into one. [[SarcasmMode Good luck!]]

* AdaptationDistillation: The US version spun off international adaptations in Australia and the Netherlands, which are basically the same show with much better pacing by removing most of the {{Padding}}, {{Filler}}, and cliche {{Commercial Break Cliffhanger}}s, and by averting ViewersAreGoldfish.

* CatchPhrase: Quite a few, ranging from how many different ways a TitleDrop can be shoved into a statement, "Failure to complete this task in 60 seconds may/will result in elimination", and the countdown before a task.

* FanService: Most female contestants have been young and beautiful, often with low-cut tops.
* {{Filler}} / {{Padding}}: A game show with a minimum of 9-13 minutes of actual gameplay per episode and lots of added fluff to stretch it into an hour? [[SarcasmMode Amazing!]] While some of the padding did get toned down by the mid-point of Season 1 (and games did straddle between episodes), it was cranked UpToEleven in episodes which later followed.

* ProductPlacement: Somewhat averted in comparison to other NBC shows, as BrandX products with the show's logo on them were often used for props in challenges...except in Breakfast Scramble (assemble a square-pieced puzzle made from a cereal box), which used an actual cereal box cover (no word on if this was just incidental or not), and of course the NFL Kickoff and Miss Universe cross-promotions mentioned earlier.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: One episode had a team of five kids playing. They [[MomentOfAwesome bested the whole competition]], losing only a single life (and then earning it back via a Blueprint Bonus, along with a 10 second bonus they kept till the very end). All that work, all that awesomeness, only to fall in the end to that damn Supercoin. Needless to say, this basically proves it's {{Unwinnable}} — if you're these kids and you can't beat it in ''190 seconds'', you're not beating it '''ever'''.

Originally aired by Creator/{{NBC}} and hosted by Food Network personality Guy Fieri, a contestant (often a couple or similar tag-team in later episodes, but originally a solo player) tries to complete 10 tasks of increasing difficulty involving various household items. As [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the title of the show suggests]], each task has a time limit of 60 seconds; either having to complete the task within that time, or performing a certain task for the complete period. If the task can't be completed (by running out of time/chances/whatever other oddball loss condition they can think of), the player loses one of their three lives, and losing all three ends the game and drops prize money down to the last safe point.

That last point [[Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire may seem a little familiar]]. And it was -- a little too much for some people's liking. That, combined with low viewership on its original Sunday night slot, led to its producers making changes and experimenting with new ideas (such as a CelebrityEdition and a "Last Man Standing" format). When a re-tooled ''Minute'' returned for a series of episodes over the summer as a lead-in to the popular ''AmericasGotTalent'', it fared much better for NBC. ''Minute'' returned for a new season in December, beginning with a series of Christmas episodes, followed by more in the new year. And then people started complaining that ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' rubbed off on it. Well, you can't please everyone.

After a hiatus (which also saw ''Minute'''s producers handling NBC's newest import, ''Series/WhosStillStanding'', and seeing it promptly blow up in their face), the NBC version was officially axed in May 2012. Shortly after its cancellation, Creator/{{GSN}} picked up reruns of ''Minute'', and then UnCancelled it in June 2013 with speed skater/''DancingWithTheStars'' winner Apolo Ohno taking the helm, and a top prize of $250,000.

* BonusSpace: The "Holiday Bonus" levels on the Christmas 2010 episodes, which awarded a Creator/{{Lifeline}} or bonus prize upon their completion. After the Christmas episodes, they became the "Blueprint Bonus" and only gave out lifelines. After inconsistent appearances throughout the Winter 2010-11 run, the Summer 2011 seems to have done away with them.

* WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire: Played straight with early episodes, which were tense, padded, had sob stories, a dark set, a complete theater-in-the-round audience, and had [[LovelyAssistant Lovely Assistants]] introduced with fog machines (apparently, according to a screener copy that the writer of Buzzerblog was given). It turns out the producers may have actually realized the errors in their ways; the game agents were all but demoted to the cutting room floor in post-production, and further improvements (including a tweaked set, faster format, etc.) were made throughout the season (these changes were most apparent by the summer run of the season)

* HomeGame / AllThereInTheManual: Played straight, as each challenge is ''designed'' to be played with supplies that can easily be acquired by potential contestants, and NBC put out extensive documentation on the games themselves to lure in potential contestants (or so you could roll your own home version). The contestants ''do'' know what 10 games they'll be playing so they can practice, but not the order (this point is hidden in the credits, but several contestants did bring up their need to practice certain games. The GSN version also has ConfessionCam segments showing a ''Minute to Win It Boot Camp'' in the background, which is presumably where this takes place)

* {{Lifelines}}: Introduced in the December 2010 episodes for reaching certain levels, these included 1-ups and 10-secoond bonuses (which either add 10 seconds, or removes 10 seconds for challenges that require doing a certain task for the entire time). They seemed to have been scrapped later on.

* HomeGame / AllThereInTheManual: Played straight, as each challenge is ''designed'' to be played with supplies that can easily be acquired by potential contestants, and NBC put out extensive documentation on the games themselves to lure in potential contestants (or so you could roll your own home version). The contestants ''do'' know what 10 games they'll be playing so they can practice, but not the order (this point is hidden in the credits, but several contestants did bring up their need to practice certain games. The GSN version also has ConfesionCam segments showing a ''Minute to Win It Boot Camp'' in the background, which is presumably where this takes place)

* DuelingShows: Primarily with ''Series/TheCube'', a British-produced stunt-based game show which uses CameraTricks and the added complexity of performing the tasks inside an enclosed space (i.e. the titular Cube, four meters in length on all sides) as its main gimmick. At the time, the show was being shopped around to FOX and CBS (the latter with Neil Patrick Harris hosting). It was even speculated by some that ''Minute'' was intended to be a frugal variant of ''The Cube'' in the first place, but started to evolve into something closer to ''Series/BeatTheClock'' meets ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' later in development.
** Ironically, ITV2, a sister channel of the British channel which airs ''The Cube'' in the first place, actually ended up producing a British version of ''Minute''. However, they did significant changes to the gameplay (which among other things, changed it to use a team format), so much so that some actually thought it was ''better'' than the original! (see AdaptationDistillation above)

* WorkingTitle: The show was piloted as "Perfect 10".

Failure to return to the TV Tropes home page may/will result in elimination.

Failure to return to the TV Tropes home page may/will result in elimination.

After a hiatus (which also saw ''Minute'''s producers handling NBC's newest import, ''WhosStillStanding'', and seeing it promptly blow up in their face), the NBC version was officially axed in May 2012. Shortly after its cancellation, Creator/{{GSN}} picked up reruns of ''Minute'', and then UnCancelled it in June 2013 with speed skater/''DancingWithTheStars'' winner Apolo Ohno taking the helm, and a top prize of $250,000.

* BonusSpace: The "Holiday Bonus" levels on the Christmas 2010 episodes, which awarded a {{Lifeline}} or bonus prize upon their completion. After the Christmas episodes, they became the "Blueprint Bonus" and only gave out lifelines. After inconsistent appearances throughout the Winter 2010-11 run, the Summer 2011 seems to have done away with them.