History Series / MinuteToWinIt

->''"The game begins in 3 ... 2... 1 ..."'' [[note]](Cut to commercial!)[[/note]]

* UnwinnableByDesign: Supercoin takes this to the extreme. While it's possible to bounce a quarter off a table from the specified distance into a water jug in a controlled environment with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSKR2zzwNbs a lot more time on your hands]] (this clip actually ''did'' get featured on the show), the odds of doing it on-stage in 60 seconds are...quite slim without a LOT of practice and some luck.

* LetsJustSeeWhatWouldHaveHappened: Averted, since unlike other game shows where the contestant may have no control over what happens and the result may be up to chance or based on what trivia question you get, In a game show like Minute to Win It, where the contestant does have control over the final outcome and barely any luck is involved, It's only fair that seeing what would've happened would've been subjective based on the stunt given and the pressure of completing it. With the pressure gone, it wouldn't make sense to see what would've happened. If only the game was shown, it would leave the audience wondering forever what the stunt was (If it was a newly added one) or be left with disappointment cause they wanted to see that stunt. Obviously, which stunt the contestant(s) get(s) would be crucial to their perception of it. Contestants also have to leave before seeing the stunt, so since they didn't see it, it's not wrong to assume why they walked away before seeing the stunt if they thought the previous stunt was hard. If the contestants don't walk away, they commit to whatever stunt is chosen, this fear can also instill a pressure to walk away and seeing would've eliminated the pressure of having to commit. In a game show like Minute to Win It, the contestant's actions affect the game and the atmosphere plays a big role.

* 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. They were usually only seen in challenges such as "Blind Ball" which required the contestants to be spun around and blindfolded.

* {{Fanservice}}: Most female contestants have been young and beautiful, often with low-cut tops, proving Minute To Win It seems to want to become a sport or athletic activity.

* GameShowHost: Guy Fieri on the NBC version, Apolo Anton Ohno on the GSN version, Darren McMullen on the British and Australian versions.

* Obstsacle Exposition: Done in the blueprints by the announcer, she lays it all out for the viewers at home, even though you could've just gone to the website.

* BonusMaterial: Games, interviews and extra content were all found on the now defunct website.

* RulesSpiel: Mostly averted by Guy Fieri ever since the show became a hit. He would still say the entire "as the money goes up, the challenges become more difficult" speal at the beginning, or middle of a show, but this died down quite a bit in the second season.
* SchizophrenicDifficulty: When you get a hard level 1 challenge like floatacious but get an easy level 2 challenge like Face The Cookie.

* GameShowHost: Guy Fieri.

* 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 racy names, like for instance, "Don't Blow The Joker"

* LetsJustSeeWhatWouldHaveHappened: Averted, since unlike other game shows where the contestant may have no control over what happens and the result may be up to chance or based on what trivia question you get, In a game show like Minute to Win It, where the contestant does have control over the final outcome and barely any luck is involved, It's only fair that seeing what would've happened would've been subjective based on the stunt given and the pressure of completing it. With the pressure gone, it wouldn't make sense to see what would've happened. If only the game was shown, it would leave the audience wondering forever what the stunt was (If it was a newly added one) or be left with disappointment cause they wanted to see that stunt. Obviously, which stunt the contestant(s) get(s) would be crucial to their perception of it. Contestants also have to leave before seeing the stunt, so since they didn't see it, it's not wrong to assume why they walked away before seeing the stunt if they thought the previous stunt was hard. If the contestants don't walk away, they commit to whatever stunt is chosen, this fear can also instill a pressure to walk away and seeing would've eliminated the pressure of having to commit. In a game show like Minute to Win It, the contestant's actions effect the game and the atmosphere plays a big role.

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

* 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.]]

* WakeUpCallBoss: The first few levels seem easy enough, but then you hit Level 7 and [[DifficultySpike out of nowhere]] the game starts showing teeth.

** A typical episode had 9-13 minutes of gameplay and lots of added fluff to stretch it into an hour. 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.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: The challenge you get is random and when contestants "hope" they don't get certain games, they usually get those, which are the ones they are not good at. Also, while the contestants are pitted against the "challenges", they are more so pitted against the female announcer because she is the one giving the challenges..

* LetsJustSeeWhatWouldHaveHappened: Averted, since unlike other game shows where the contestant may have no control over what happens and the result may be up to chance or based on what trivia question you get, In a game show like Minute to Win It, where the contestant does have control over the final outcome and barely any luck is involved, It's only fair that seeing what would've happened would've been subjective based on the stunt given and the pressure of completing it. With the pressure gone, it wouldn't make sense to see what would've happened. If only the game was shown, it would leave the audience wondering forever what the stunt was(If it was a newly added one) or be left with disappointment cause they wanted to see that stunt. Obviously, which stunt the contestant(s) get(s) would be crucial to their perception of it. Contestants also have to leave before seeing the stunt, so since they didn't see it, it's not wrong to assume why they walked away before seeing the stunt if they thought the previous stunt was hard. If the contestants don't walk away, they commit to whatever stunt is chosen, this fear can also instill a pressure to walk away and seeing would've eliminated the pressure of having to commit. In a game show like Minute to Win It, the contestant's actions effect the game and the atmosphere plays a big role.

* 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 or any type of quiet music which doesn't fit with the challenge(i.e throwing ping pong balls with quiet music)

* {{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, and only in the New Darkened Set used for the two-hour episodes and specials.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: "Last Man Standing", special episodes with ten contestants playing ten events; winner gets $100,000 and then deals with Supercoin. Also "Head-to-Head" shows with two teams playing best of four for $50,000 and the chances to play levels 6-10 as normal.

* {{Fanservice}}: Most female contestants have been young and beautiful, often with low-cut tops, proving minute to win it seems to want to become a sport or athletic activity.

** To put it simply: No one has ever won the game, at least formally. Some International versions have had winners, except their challenges were always different from the Us. However, supercoin was beaten by a man in venezuela without a table.

* DifficultySpike: After level 3 or 4 usually sees the first spike with the games being a bit harder as a result of more cash to win, then after level 6 may have another, and if you make it to Level 8, 9 or 10 then some games seem to be UnwinnableByDesign due to the exponential rise of the money.
->''"As the money goes up the challenges become more diffcult."''

* CommercialBreakCliffhanger: As usual for an NBC reality and/or game show, the producers managed to find over 100 different places to splice in commercial breaks, with ''and'' without warning, even in the middle of a game.

* 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 Just guess which network both of these events aired on at the time]]).

* CommercialBreakCliffhanger: As usual for an NBC reality and/or game show, the producers managed to find over 100 different places to splice in commercial breaks, with ''and'' without warning.

* LetsJustSeeWhatWouldHaveHappened: Averted, since unlike other game shows where the contestant may have no control over what happens and the result may be luck-based or based on what trivia question you get, In a game show like Minute to Win It, where the contestant does have control over the final outcome and barely any luck is involved, It's only fair that seeing what would've happened would've been subjective based on the stunt given and the pressure of completing it. With the pressure gone, it wouldn't make sense to see what would've happened. If only the game was shown, it would leave the audience wondering forever what the stunt was(If it was a newly added one) or be left with disappointment cause they wanted to see that stunt. Obviously, which stunt the contestant(s) get(s) would be crucial to their perception of it. Contestants also have to leave before seeing the stunt, so since they didn't see it, it's not wrong to assume why they walked away before seeing the stunt if they thought the previous stunt was hard. If the contestants don't walk away, they commit to whatever stunt is chosen, this fear can also instill a pressure to walk away and seeing would've eliminated the pressure of having to commit. In a game show like Minute to Win It, the contestant's actions effect the game and the atmosphere plays a big role.

* ThemeNaming: The Christmas episodes featured festive versions of classic games, including "Jingle In The Trunk" (Junk In The Trunk, but with jingle bells), Face The Gingerbread Man, Extreme ''Christmas'' Nutstacker, Hung With Care (Hang Nail with mini candy canes), etc.

* TimeTitle: A contestant tries to complete 10 tasks of increasing difficulty involving various household items. Each task has a time limit of 60 seconds.

* 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)

*** Then ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPdcroF-Fwc#t=34 this]]'' happened.

* UnwinnableByDesign: Supercoin takes this to the extreme. While it's possible to bounce a quarter off a table from the specified distance into a water jug in a controlled environment with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSKR2zzwNbs a lot more time on your hands]] (this clip actually ''did'' get featured on the show), the odds of doing it on-stage in 60 seconds are...quite slim.
** At the same time, it almost seems like the producers ''knew'' that Supercoin was utterly impossible. Free attempts at Supercoin were practically given out like candy during the later half of season 1 (as a BonusRound for Last Man Standing, audience games) with no risk to them, and one last safe point was added at $500,000 downright proved that Supercoin was now just a BonusBoss rather than the final showdown it claims to be. Only two teams have ever made it past Level 9 — the first skipped out on the game, and the others (post-$500,000 checkpoint) went on and lost.

* ButThouMust: In team play, an individual player's limited to three consecutive attempts at solo games (including do-overs). After that, the other player has to play. And, no, an intervening team game doesn't reset the count. This can lead to situations where having less lives is ultimately better in the long run for the grand prize since somebody could be forced to go if you re-attempt failed games due to one player being better at higher-level games than the other. Someone could even be forced to play on the last life. You could theoretically avoid a three-count by having the forced player reset the count by playing after the other player played twice, but either-way you're wasting a life if one team member is bad at the chosen game.

* ButThouMust: In team play, an individual player's limited to three consecutive attempts at solo games (including do-overs). After that, the other player has to play. And, no, an intervening team game doesn't reset the count. This can lead to situations where having less lives is ultimately better in the long run for the grand prize since somebody could be forced to go if you re-attempt failed games due to one player being better at higher-level games than the other. Someone could even be forced to play on the last life. You could avoid a three-count by having the forced player play before the three-count, but either-way you're wasting a life if one team member is bad at the chosen game.

* ButThouMust: In team play, an individual player's limited to three consecutive attempts at solo games (including do-overs). After that, the other player has to play. And, no, an intervening team game doesn't reset the count.

* 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.