There's a growing controversy about that first couple that lost out on Monday's Million Dollar Money Drop. As I noted here, I thought the last question put to them — the one where they lost what little money they had left — had some questionable, perhaps misleading phrasing. Now, a lot of folks are saying they were cheated on an earlier question. Here are the details.
This may or may not get addressed. On game shows, they always have a rule book and it would surely cover this contingency. Contestants always sign some sort of release that says that in the case of a dispute, they agree to let it be handled the way the rule book dictates. This is because losing contestants often run out and hire lawyers when they think they shouldn't have lost. Usually, the rules say that the sole remedy for a mistake is to bring the contestant(s) back to play the game again…but even that's only if the error might have altered the outcome of the game.
Did it here? On The Million Dollar Money Drop, contestants must wager all the money they have on the final question. This couple did and lost. So the show might simply take the position that even if they'd won on the disputed question, they still would have lost everything on the final one and their "winnings" would still have been zero. And then there's the other point: There may not be any more episodes of The Million Dollar Money Drop. The first batch of shows has been taped and Fox hasn't decided yet if they want more.
The show might decide to pay the couple some money out of good will or to nip any bad publicity. If more episodes are ordered, they might bring them back on to play again just to clear the air. That's about all I imagine happening.