Miljoenenjacht


Miljoenenjacht, officially Postcode Loterij Miljoenenjacht, is a Dutch game show, sponsored by the country's postcode lottery, where a contestant and at-home viewer could win up to €5,000,000 or as little as €0.01. The show is broadcast at various times, spanning across six episodes for each set. The program was originally shown by TROS on NPO 2, but moved to creator John de Mol's channel Tien in 2005. After the channel was discontinued after its sale to the RTL Group, the program moved to RTL 4.
Originally based on the German game show ":de:Die Chance deines Lebens|Die Chance deines Lebens", the format of the programme's final round used since 2002 has been exported worldwide by Dutch producer Endemol under the title Deal or No Deal, a title also used for Miljoenenjacht's lower-stakes sister spinoff on RTL 5, which is based more off the global format and removes the additional elements.

Airings

The show has been airing since late 2000. In the first season which aired from November 2000 to September 2001, there has only been one show per month. Since the "Deal or No Deal" endgame has been introduced, Miljoenenjacht airs two series of about five episodes each per year: One in spring and the other in fall. In 2017, a New Year's Eve special will air.
SeasonFromToNo. of episodes
Spring 2004March 21, 2004April 25, 20046
Fall 2006November 19, 2006December 17, 20065
Spring 2007May 6, 2007June 3, 20075
Fall 2007November 25, 2007December 30, 20076
Spring 2008May 4, 2008June 1, 20085
Fall 2008November 16, 2008December 28, 20087
Spring 2009March 29, 2009April 26, 20095
Fall 2009November 15, 2009December 13, 20095
Spring 2010March 28, 2010April 25, 20105
Fall 2010November 14, 2010December 12, 20105
Spring 2011April 3, 2011May 1, 20115
Fall 2011November 20, 2011December 18, 20115
Spring 2012April 8, 2012May 6, 20125
Fall 2012November 11, 2012December 9, 20125
Spring 2013March 17, 2013April 14, 20135
Fall 2013October 6, 2013November 10, 20136
Spring 2014February 9, 2014March 9, 20145
Fall 2014September 28, 2014October 26, 20145
Spring 2015March 15, 2015April 12, 20155
Fall 2015October 25, 2015November 22, 20155
Spring 2016March 13, 2016April 10, 20165
Fall 2016October 2, 2016November 6, 20166
Spring 2017March 19, 2017April 16, 20175
Fall 2017September 10, 2017October 8, 20175
New Year's Eve special 2017December 31, 2017December 31, 20171
Spring 2018March 18, 2018April 15, 20185
Fall 2018September 2, 2018September 30, 20185
Spring 2019March 3, 2019March 31, 20195
Fall 2019September 8, 2019October 6, 20195

Quiz rounds

Original rules (2000–2001)

1,000 contenders were split into ten numbered sections of 100, these blocks were also divided into five blocks of 20. The first round consisted of four multiple-choice questions, each one with three possible answers. The contenders were given keypads to answer each of the questions within six seconds. They were divided into two teams of 500 - a red team and a blue team. Each right answer gained their team a point, the team with the most points after four questions advanced to the second round, the other team was eliminated from the contest. In the second round, the five victorious sections from the first round played each other exactly the same way as in the previous round, with only one of the five sections proceeding to the next round. The five blocks of this section were then pit against each other in Round 3.
The 20 winning contenders made it to Round 4 where they faced each other in trivia question duels - in each duel, a question with four possible answers was asked. Contenders buzzed in when they thought they knew the answer. If no-one buzzed in, every 10 seconds one of the wrong answers disappeared. The first contender to buzz in got the right to answer. If he was right, he proceeded - if he was wrong, he was eliminated and his opponent advanced to the next round. That means that only 10 contestants were allowed to proceed.
Round 5 consisted of some estimated guess questions the contenders had to answer using their keypads. After each question, the contestant with the best guess was announced. This player was automatically qualified for the next round. Five questions were asked - five contenders moved on.
The five remaining contenders had to put six historical events into chronological order. This game was played twice - after each game, the player who did it worst was eliminated. Only three players proceeded to Round 7 - the Photo Quiz.
At the Photo Quiz, the three contenders were shown 25 pictures, each one showing a celebrity - each photo was an answer to one of the following questions. Open-ended questions were asked in this round - contenders again had to buzz in when they thought they knew the answer. If a contender was right, he gained two points. In case of a wrong answer, his two opponents received one point each. The first two players to 15 points each made it to the semi-final.
The semi-final consisted of two parts - in the first part, an amount of money starting at 10,000 guilders rose up to an unknown amount determined by the show`s independent adjudicator. As long as the amount kept rising, contenders could buzz in and take the money - the first contender to press their buzzer received the current amount and left the game, which meant that their opponent proceeded to the show`s endgame. If none of the two players buzzed in before the rising of the money stops, they move on to the second part where the two competitors receive a calculation. If one contender buzzed in with the correct result, he won the game and advanced to the endgame. If a player buzzed in with the incorrect answer, his opponent moved on to the endgame.
Three times during the game, the remaining contenders were given the chance to leave the game with a valuable prize. They were given 10 seconds to press their buzzer - the first one to do so was given the prize and left the game. He was then replaced by an audience member selected by the Random Remote of Doom. If none of the contenders decided to leave the game, the Random Remote of Doom picked out an audience member to win the prize instead.
In 2002, the format of Miljoenenjacht has been changed and the "Deal or no Deal" final round was introduced. These are the new rules used for the show from 2002 on:

Settings

Five hundred contestants are seated in an arena-style set. The audience is divided into two sections of 250 contenders each, one red and one blue. Each section is then divided into five sections of 50 players each. The five red blocks are numbered 1 to 5 and the blue blocks are numbered 6 to 10. These blocks of 50 are further divided into two blocks of 25, with the top 25 labelled "A", and the bottom 25 "B". Linda de Mol, the host, enters the studio through vault doors and begins this quiz round section. Since 2010, the ten blocks feature contestants from certain postcodes.

Preliminary rounds

In the first round, de Mol asks the contestants a multiple choice question with three possible answers, which they have 5 seconds to answer using their keypads. Each correct answer gains their team of 250 a point, with a wrong answer worth nothing. Points are announced after each question and the team with the most points after three questions advances to round two. The other team of 250 is out of the game.
In round two, the five blocks of 50 compete against each other in the same fashion as above, with the winning group proceeding.
Finally, round three sees the two blocks of 25 battle each other, with the winning half continuing to the next round.
In 2009, after each round, one player from the losing section was randomly chosen and given the option of taking home a valuable prize or taking a seat in Round 4. If the contestant took the seat in Round 4, the prize rolled over to the next round, so after Round 3 someone could have gone home with about €15,000 in prizes.
Starting in 2010, after each round, one of the eliminated players is randomly selected and given the opportunity to pick one of three colored briefcases. Two of them have a valuable prize inside. If one of these is chosen then everyone in that block of 25 wins that prize. The other case contains a "Chance to win € 5 million" sign and, if this case is picked, the contestant then takes a seat in Round 4.

Round 4

Six different variations of Round 4 have existed during the show's current run.

Variation used from 2002 to 2003

The twenty-five players from the winning block in Round 3 proceed to the next round where they get joined by another contender selected completely at random from the remaining 475 players. Originally, the fourth round consisted of two parts - in the first part, the contenders had to answer seven multiple-choice questions, each one with two possible answers. They had five seconds to answer each of the questions and, in case of a correct answer, received one point for each incorrect answer from their opponents. After seven questions, the names of the 10 best players were announced. These contenders moved on to the second part of the game. In this second part, the rules were equal to those in the first part, but now there were four possible answers for each question instead of two. After the second part of the game, the two highest scorers moved on to the final quiz round, Round 5.

Variation used until 2005

The 25 players in the winning block proceed to the next round where they will be joined by another player selected at random after Round 3. The randomly-chosen player gets the opportunity to choose between a valuable prize and a seat in Round 4 - the prize he rejects will be given away to another randomly-selected audience member. The final 26 players then are placed on podiums in the middle of the set where they will be asked 10 questions - the first three have two possible answers, the next three questions have three, and the final four questions have four. All players key in their answers. If a player answers correctly, they receive one point for each contestant who answered incorrectly. All players who choose a wrong answer receive nothing. The two highest scorers at the end of the round move on to the final quiz round, Round 5.
There has also been a slight variation of this 26-player round where the contestants had to answer only six questions, with the first three questions having two possible answers and the last three questions having four options. Again, players who answered correctly scored one point for each incorrect answer of their opponents, and the two highest scorers advance to the final quiz round.

Variation used in 2005 and 2006

Starting in 2005, the five best players from the winning block plus one randomly selected audience member take their place at one of six podiums. Linda gives the players a series of clues one at a time that pertain to a certain person, place, or object. If a player buzzes in and is incorrect, they will leave the game. If a player buzzes in and is correct, however, that person must select an opponent to eliminate from the game by pressing one of five buttons on their podium. However, the player who is about to be eliminated still has a chance to win some money. If they feel they have been chosen to be eliminated, they can press their buzzer. The first person that does chooses a coloured suitcase. These contain amounts from €1,000 to €22,000. Whatever is in the case is what that player wins, however, they must then leave the game. If no-one chooses to take the bribe, the player who was selected to be eliminated leaves without any money. The game continues until two remain.

Variation used in 2007 and 2008

The five best players from the winning block plus one randomly selected audience member take their place at one of six podiums. Linda asks the players questions. The answers to these questions are always numbers. The players type in their answer. The one whose answer is furthest away from the correct answer gets eliminated. However, like in the variation used in 2005 and 2006, the player who is about to be eliminated still has a chance to win some money. Before Linda reveals the answer, they are given a chance to press their buzzer and bail out of the game. This person can then choose between four coloured suitcases. The four suitcases together contain €40,000. Whatever is in the case is what that player wins, however, they must then leave the game. If no-one chooses to take the bribe, the player whose answer was furthest away leaves without any money. The game continues until two remain.

Variation used in 2008

Just like in the previous variation, the five best players and a randomly selected audience member take place at one of six podiums and answer four questions, to which the answers are always numbers. The only difference is that the players have no possibility to press their buzzer and choose one of the suitcases. Instead of this the player whose answer is furthest away from the correct answer wins a small sum of money.

Variation used from 2009 onward

As in the previous two variations, the six players—those who turned down prizes from the previous rounds, plus the best players in the quiz—will answer questions with numerical answers. The difference is that the questions are now based on audience polls. Linda will ask a yes-or-no survey question to either the entire studio audience or a particular part of it and once everyone has entered his answer, she will ask the players to guess how many people answered yes to that question. Whoever is furthest away from the actual number is eliminated, but will win a sum of money as stated above.

Round 5

The two remaining contestants face each other at a single showdown-style podium, with one buzzer for each contender and a neon bulb in the centre. A mystery suitcase, which is spinning, is placed on the set's stairs. The contents can be given to one of the players if they eliminate themselves from the game, therefore giving the other player a chance to win from €0.01 to €5,000,000. Its contents can include trips, cars, and a variety of other prizes. If no-one chooses to take the contents of the suitcase, which they will not know until it is open, the two contenders had to play another short quiz round. From 2003 until 2004, Linda would ask the players a simple math question, the first player to buzz in and provide the right answer proceeds to the final round. A player who buzzes in with an incorrect answer gets eliminated and his opponent moves on to the final game. In later shows, Linda asks one more multiple-choice question with three possible answers. If a player buzzes in and answers correct, that player wins the game and moves on to the final round. If a player buzzes in and answers incorrect, the other player may answer with one of the two remaining choices. If both are wrong, the player who buzzed in first proceeds, and the other is eliminated.
During the first 2008 series, however, the mysterious suitcase was no longer the prize one of the two players left could take. Starting from €0, the amount of money awarded to a player who eliminates themselves rises up to a certain amount, chosen beforehand, after which the players cannot eliminate themselves freely anymore. If a player buzzes before the money rise has ended, the player will receive the amount of money it had risen to up to that point. If no player eliminates themselves, the contestants will receive a calculation, which they will have to answer correctly to proceed to the final round. If an incorrect answer is given, the other contestant will proceed to the final round.

Final round

Variation used until 2002

The original final round of Miljoenenjacht was based on the final round of the German game show format "Die Chance deines Lebens" : The winning player is sitting in a red armchair which is situated on a platform rising towards the ceiling as the final game begins. he will be guaranteed at least ƒ1, but can turn it into ƒ10,000,000. To do so, Linda will ask seven multiple-choice questions, each one with seven possible answers of which only one is correct. The player has to answer each of the questions within 30 seconds. For each question the contestant answers correctly, a zero will be added to their winnings. They are asked the questions back-to-back however. After answering all seven questions, the platform gets lowered again, Linda joins the player on stage and the finalist gets notified which and how many questions they got right and their total winnings. Here is the ladder for the amount of winnings:
Questions answered correctlyAmount of money won
0ƒ1
1ƒ10
2ƒ100
3ƒ1,000
4ƒ10,000
5ƒ100,000
6ƒ1,000,000
7ƒ10,000,000

Variation used from 2002 onward

On December 22, 2002, the format of the final round was changed and the show first introduced the format known in many countries as Deal or No Deal. From 2002 to 2010, twenty-six ladies, with identical outfits and hair enter the studio from the vault doors. Linda and the winning contestant make their way to the stage, where the winner chooses one of the briefcases, numbered from 1 to 26, to become theirs. They also state their postcode for use later in the show. After the selection, the players have a brief talk with the show's independent adjudicator. Linda and the qualified contestant then make their way to the middle of the stage. The other contestants from the winning section in round 3, plus the randomly selected person for round 4, are each given a different suitcase from the 25 remaining ones. They are seated in a special section on set in the order of their case numbers. The winning player chooses cases to be opened, however if they open a case, they will no longer be able to win that amount of money. Each round calls for the contestant to eliminate a set number of cases:
Six cases are removed in the first round, each round removing one less case, and after 6 rounds of offers, the cases are opened one at a time.
The player selects a case, and the eliminated player holding it guesses which value from the remaining ones on board it contains. If they are correct, the player wins €1,000 for each unopened case, so if the first selected panel member guesses correctly, they win €26,000. This was discarded starting in the Winter 2010 season, as the models open up the cases now. After the selected number of cases for the round are opened, an alarm sounds, and a bank offer is placed on the screen using an on-screen graphic. The offer corresponds with what round it is, what is left on the board, the luck and emotions of the player, how many cases are left on the set, and probability of removing a giant amount. The longer the large values remain on the board, the higher the offer will be. The player in this bonus round has a friend sitting on the set to help with the decision. During the first seasons aired from 2002 on, the contenders were even able to ask the audience about taking or refusing the bank offer. Similar to the "Who wants to be a Millionaire" lifeline "Ask the Audience", the audience members used keypads to key in their decision within five seconds - the result of the voting was shown in percentage terms. Once seeing the offer and considering it, the player either says "Deal", in which case the player sells their briefcase for the bank offer, or "No Deal", in which case the player opens the next round's number of cases, before the next offer. Play continues until the player says "Deal" or until all cases are opened, and in this situation, the player leaves with their briefcase's contents. A random at-home viewer will also be given the same amount of money as the contestant's win.
Later seasons see the identical ladies replaced by twenty-six men, clad in tuxedos, but their role remains basically the same.
In most other versions of Deal or No Deal which use 26 models, the models wear identical dresses and shoes, although the style may be changed for each episode; because of that regulation, the models don't wear wigs in most other versions which use 26 cases. In later seasons, the models of Miljoenenjacht did the same, therefore removing the wigs. For the Winter 2010 season, the show went even further and had the models open up the cases instead of the contestants.
Fall 2002 – Spring 2006
Fall 2006 – Spring 2012
Fall 2012 – Fall 2016
Spring 2017
Fall 2017 – present

''Random Remote of Doom''

An item of the show known by fans as the "Random Remote of Doom" has almost become a trademark of the show. Sometimes, de Mol has the remote in her hand, which seemingly appears from nowhere. She presses one of its buttons, a red light flashes on it and someone from the audience is selected randomly - in fact, as this is common use in game shows, the contenders chosen have been predetermined before the taping of the show by an independent adjudicator who randomly ascertains the players. The announcement of the appropriate players - accompanied by various light effects - is presented by firstly "selecting" one of the 10 audience sections. After that, one of the two blocks of that section gets chosen. Finally, a seat number from that block gets selected, the person sitting on this seat is the contestant which gets awarded whatever is on the line. This might be a prize or the opportunity to join the game as an additional contender. The Random Remote of Doom was first introduced in the German original version "Die Chance deines Lebens" in April 2000 and also became an important part of the Dutch version. It has been used from the beginning of the show in late 2000 until 2010 when the production moved from the former Endemol studios in Aalsmeer to the new Endemol headquarters in Amsterdam

''Temptation Table''

Another permanent feature of the show is the so-called "Temptation Table", a circle-round futuristic table with a giant neon bulb in its center. Ten buzzers are situated at the edge of the table, and lightning stripes visible through the transparent tabletop lead form the buzzers to the central neon bulb which can be illuminated in various colours. After Round 4 of the original show aired from 2000 on, the ten victorious players gathered around the table, with each player standing behind one of the buzzers. After Linda presented the prize the contenders can gain for bailing out, the neon bulb, which has been illuminated in tred colour up to that point, turned green for 10 seconds - as long as the bulb was green, players could hit their buzzer to quit the game. The first one to hit his buzzer autimatically switched on the lightning stripe leading from the appropriate buzzer to the bulb which indicated the winner. If no-one bails out within the countdown of 10 seconds, the bulb turns red again. The table was used for the bailout rounds after the fourth, fifth and sixth quiz round, as well as for the semi-final.
When the "Deal or No Deal" format was introduced in 2002, the fifth and final quiz round saw only two players facing of at the Temptation Table. After the production moved from the TROS to Talpa, the eight unused buzzers were removed from the tables edge, leaving only two buzzers opposite of each other. Even when the production moved from Aalsmeer to the MediArena studios in Amsterdam in 2010 and the entire design of the show was changed, the Temptation Table still kept its look, only to be replaced by a more futuristic model in 2016.

Extreme prizes (theoretically and factual)

Each show Miljoenenjacht can, theoretically, give away more than three times the jackpot of the case game, €5,000,000. This happens when:
When all these amounts are summed, the total is €15,350,000 plus the money from the 'bribes', which is more than three times the top prize of €5,000,000.
Extreme winners:

Quiz Round

The 500 players are divided into 10 sections of 50 contenders each, each from a pre-selected postal code.
Linda asks 5 multiple-choice questions, each with 3 possible answers. Players have 6 seconds to enter their answers via keypad. The player in each section who answers the most questions correctly in the fastest time moves on to Round 2; the remaining players in each section receive a consolation prize, such as a digital video camera.
In 2013, this round has been completely rearranged - the 500 players have to answer estimated guess questions by typing in a number as close as possible to the correct figure using their keypads. The contestant with the best answer gets chosen after each question and now has to decide whether going through to the next round or selecting one of five briefcases on the set`s stairs. The cases contain valuable prizes, starting from 500 euro in cash going up to a brand-new car. If the contestant chooses to proceed, he nevertheless has to select one of the cases, the content of which get awarded to a randomly selected audience member. If the contestant selects to take the prize, another audience player selected randomly goes through to the next round instead. Five questions get asked in this round - because of that, five contestants proceed to the next game.

Round 2

The ten winners from the Quiz Round are then paired into a series of 5 one-on-one matchups, with Linda polling the studio audience, or certain members of that audience, on a particular question for each matchup. After the audience members electronically answer yes or no, the contestants, using keypads, will guess how many of the audience members answered "yes". The player closest to the actual number moves on to Round 3. Guessing the number exactly wins a brand-new car.
In 2013, this round has been completely eliminated - after the new first round, the game directly proceed with what has been the third round before.

Round 3

The five winners from the previous round play another question round, placed 1st through 5th, based on how well they did in the first 2 rounds. Linda asks a series of general-knowledge questions for players to buzz in and answer. A correct answer moves a player up one place , while an incorrect answer moves a player down one place . A player in last place who answers incorrectly is blocked from answering the next question. After 100 seconds, the 5th place player is eliminated and wins €1,000. The process is then repeated for two more rounds, with the 4th place contestant winning €2,000 and the 3rd place contestant winning €3,000.

Round 4

The last two contestants from Round 3 faced each other at the Temptation Table and are shown a jackpot starting at €1,000 and increasing irregularly up to a predetermined amount. Whoever buzzes in first takes whatever money is shown on the counter while the other player goes on to the Final Round. If no one buzzes in when the predetermined amount is reached, Linda would ask a math question, with the first to buzz in and answer correctly advancing to that Final Round.

Final Round

The final round is played as before, but instead of audience members holding the briefcases and guessing how much theirs is worth, the models are holding the cases, as in the US and Philippine versions of Deal or No Deal. Prior to this round, a randomly selected audience member is given a handbell to ring, during the first two briefcase-picking rounds, if that audience member thinks a briefcase chosen by the contestant has a lot of money. If the briefcase holds €50,000 or more, the audience member wins €50,000, but anything less, and the audience member wins that amount.
Whatever each contestant wins is also won by a randomly selected viewer, and is also divided amongst lottery players in the winner's postal code.

Random Remote of Doom variation

A couple of times in each episode, audience members are randomly selected to win a cash prize, such as €10,000. To do so, firstly one of the ten postcode sections gets selected completely at random before one of the fifty players of this section gets selected by announcing their name. In some cases, the entire section selected wins a small prize while the selected contender wins an additional €10,000 cash prize. For this new selection process, Linda does not use her Random Remote of Doom anymore. As of 2014, only viewers can win €10,000 by calling in or texting.