Ginny heads back to Maryland with $32,000. Let's find another contestant:
| A. Hind Legs | B. Tail
| C. Muzzle | D. Withers | |
Below is the correct order. Use your mouse to highlight the letters.
C. Muzzle
| D. Withers
| A. Hind Legs
| B. Tail | |
Let's see who got them right, and who did it the fastest:
| Joanne Roberts | 8.57
| Brendan Walsh | 7.01
| Ken Schwartz | 5.19
| Michael Serbanos | WRONG
| Ginny Horvath | $32,000
| Frank Naclerio | WRONG
| Steve Rogitz | WRONG
| Michael Shutterly |
| Jason Gershman | WRONG
| Laura Edge | 8.93 | |
Michael Shutterly is our winner!
Michael is a lawyer, coin collector, and Boy Scout leader, and family man. He's into a broad range of interests - let's see if he has just as broad a range of trivia.
| 1. What vegetable gives Popeye the Sailor his extra strength? |    A. Spinach | B. Cabbage
| C. Beets | D. Celery
| Michael chooses A... Which is his final answer. And he's right! $100. | ||||
| 2. Which of the following was NOT one of Christopher Columbus' ships? | | A. Santa Maria | B. Minnow
| C. Nina | D. Pinta
| Michael goes with the gag answer, B... And that's his final answer. Right again! $200. | ||||
| 3.What is the name of the computer in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey"? | | A. Al | B. Hal
| C. Pal | D. Sal
| Michael goes with B... Yes, that's his final answer And once again, he's right! | ||||
| 4. In which of the following devices would you find a device called the "agitator"? | | A. Can Opener | B. Toaster
| C. Washing Machine | D. Iron
| Michael quickly picks C... For his final answer. And he's got $500! | ||||
| 5. What is the name of the Russian space station? | | A. Sputnik | B. Skylab
| C. Mir | D. Kremlin
| Michael selects C... And confirms that's his final answer. Well, he can't walk out of there with less than $100!
 | ||||
This is the second time that the show has ended right after the $1000 question. The last player that had that happen was Doug Van Gundy. He wound up winning $250K. |
| 6. Who is the current president of the National Rifle Association? | | A. Ralph Reed | B. Tom Selleck
| C. William Bennett | D. Charlton Heston
| Michael was hoping Ben Hur would be a choice, but Charlton is close enough. He picks D... Which is his final answer. Ben-Hur or Heston, either one is right! | ||||
| 7. Which of the following is NOT a business-focused publication? | | A. Barron's | B. Fortune
| C. Esquire | D. Morningstar
| Michael will go with C... And that's his final answer. It's right! He's up to $4000! | ||||
| 8. On the classic "Andy Griffith Show," the city of Mayberry is located in what state? | | A. South Carolina | B. Georgia
| C. North Carolina | D. West Virginia
| Michael is wasting no time - he selects C... And says that's his final answer. Mayberry, North Carolina; he's right! | ||||
| 9. What breed is President Clinton's current dog, Buddy? | | A. Labrador Retriever | B. German Shepherd
| C. Cocker Spaniel | D. Golden Retriever
| Michael, unhesitiantly, burns his first Lifeline and Asks the Audience. A. Labrador Retriever - 62% | B. German Shepherd - 2% |  C. Cocker Spaniel - 11% | D. Golden Retriever - 25%
| It's not a truly overwhelming majority like many other ATAs usually are, but it's enough to convince Michael. He chooses A... Yes, that's his final answer.
The majority is right yet again!! LOOGAROO LAMENTS: I'd have been snagged on this question. I thought it was a Cocker Spaniel. | ||||||||
Regis: "Can I ask you a personal question?"
More regarding Michael's stoicism in my final lament. |
| 10. Who wrote the best-selling book "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus"? | | A. John Gray | B. John Bradshaw
| C. John Grisham | D. James Redfield
| Michael selects A... And that's his final answer.
Regis takes a long pause...
And declares that Michael is right!!
 | ||||
| 11. What is the name of the chartered yacht on which Gary Hart traveled to Bimini with Donna Rice in 1987? | | A. Risky Business | B. Business as Usual
| C. Monkey Business | D. Show Business
| Michael mentions that all four accurately depict what was going on at the time, but only one is the right answer. Slowly, he picks C... Which is his final answer.
Reege takes no time in saying... That Michael has just won
 | ||||
| 12. In 1912, the Titanic departed from what English port? | | A. Bristol | B. Dover
| C. Portsmouth | D. Southampton
| Michael, again without hesitation, takes a 50:50. OUT | B. Dover |  OUT | D. Southampton
| Michael was thinking of two possibilities... and the 50:50 knocked one out. Confidently, he goes for D... Which is his final answer.
Once again, Regis quickly tells Michael...
 | ||||||||
Just for reference, before Doug Van Gundy came along, only one person in the show's worldwide history had answered the 13th question correctly. Michael might be the second to do it in the same run. |
| 13. Traditionally, what form of address is used when writing a letter to a foreign ambassador? | | A. His or Her Eminence | B. His or Her Excellency
| C. The Honorable | D. Mr. or Madam President
| Michael, with his poker face still on, decides to call his mother Nikki. The Transcript:
Michael: "Well, just say something." Nikki: "Huh?." Michael: "Just say something real quick." Nikki: "Uh, I think it's --" (Too late, Mom; time's up)  Looks like that Phone-a-friend Lifeline could have been used for better purposes. With no Lifelines left, and $93,000 at stake, you'd think that he'd stop. But he doesn't - he's going to guess. Michael chooses B... Reege: "Pretty sure of this?"
B is Michael's final answer.
Not many people know the answer to this question....
But MICHAEL DID!
 | ||||||||||
I bet the folks at Celador could hardly imagine when they brought this show across the pond that two people would reach the $250,000 plateau - only one other person before them had done it in the world! With no Lifelines left, Michael is one question away from being the sole leader in winnings, both in the show and in prime-time television. And he's two questions away from winning the $1 Million grand prize. But, one incorrect answer knocks him down to 32 grand - a loss of $218,000 at this point. |
| 14. What was the real name of Pope John Paul I, who served as Pope for about a month in 1978? | | A. Albino Luciani | B. Eugenio Pacelli
| C. Guiseppe Sarto | D. Giovanni Braschi
| Michael says it can't be B or C; Pacelli was Pius XII, Sarto was Pius X. Again, about 99% of the people in that studio thinks he's going to quit. But once again, the 1% left is the one who's answering the question - and he's going for it. Michael chooses A... And that is his final answer.
I hate to see someone wager $218,000....
And lose it on a question like this.
But MICHAEL PICKED THE RIGHT ANSWER!!!
 | ||||
He's done it!! Michael Shutterly has made television history. Nobody in WWTBAM? history has answered 14 questions. Nobody in prime-time history has ever won $500,000. One more correct answer, and Michael wins this:  A check for One Million Dollars. However, this would be the worst possible time to miss a question, as it would deduct $468,000 from his winnings. He's shown he has nerves of steel - does he have one more answer left in him? |
| 15. On February 22, 1989, what group won the first Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal performance? | | A. Metallica | B. AC-DC
| C. Living Colour | D. Jethro Tull
| At this time, I guarantee you that at least two million people are shouting the correct answer to their television screens, despite the fact that A) He can't hear them and B) This show is on a one day tape-delay, so even if he could hear them, it's 24 hours too late to do anything about it. Michael has listened to only one of the groups on the list... And he's certain it's not the one. With $1,000,000 on the line, he has an important decision to make. He could try for the biggest prize in prime-time history, or he could walk away with half that much money. I believe Michael's words put it best: "I will not be a millionaire, but I'll be half a millionaire."
LOOGAROO LAMENTS: Watching Michael climb his way up the ladder was difficult to watch. Not because so much money was riding on the final questions, but because his stoneface throughout the game made it hard to root for him. That's one of the reasons contestant coordinators are hired: The more charismatic or witty the contestant, the more we care for them, and the more we want them to win. That's what made Doug Van Gundy's $250K run so much fun to see; he got into the game, and thus the audience and viewing public did as well. Michael's game face was too unyielding, and while I commend him on his $500,000 plundering of Disney, I can't say that his game was the best out of the run.
This is not to imply that Celador should hire contestant coordinators; in fact, to do such a thing would suck all of the integrity of the show, because rather than admit players in by ability, they'd do it by screen presence. Nobody would win the million, or even come close, unless they really dumbed up the questions to the point that the show would become unwatchable, since we knew that everyone who got up would win at least a 6-digit bounty.
Another complaint comes up regarding that final question. The answer was D. Jethro Tull. I knew the answer. At least half of GS-L knew the answer. I bet half the country knew the answer. It was so far out in left field that it had to be the right answer. So the question is asked: "How could that question be worth a million bucks?"
The following night, Regis addressed this question. The question alone was an easy one; he admitted that right away when he led into the next Qualifying Question. However, we forget that the previous question was extremely obscure: asking for the real name of a pope who barely lasted a month. It's not any individual question that's worth a million bucks; it's the juxtaposition of questions ranging from Gary Hart to the Titanic to the Vatican to the Grammies. Bottom line: don't say you could've won a million bucks because you knew the answer to the last question. Say you could've won a million bucks because you knew the answer to all 15 questions. | ||||
