Two-minute Drill
Host: Kenny Mayne
Airs: Monday, 7 p.m. EST, soon to run on Thursdays
Panelists:
First three shows: Tony Dorsett, Marcus Camby, Rich Eisen, Robert Wuhl
Premise: Cross Sports Geniuses with Inquizition and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and this is
what you get. And it's actually quite good.
Play: In round one, each of three contestants takes a seat at the chair center stage. The contestants
are introduced to the four panelists (two flank Kenny on each side). Each panelist has a different sports
category. The contestant has two minutes to answer questions: The contestant calls on a panelist,
and hears the question. A right answer earns one point. He may then continue hearing questions from
that panelist, or try another. If he misses or passes, he MUST call on somone else. The players are
awarded a bonus point for getting all five questions right from a panelist. Each contestant plays
once, and categories change, At the conclusion of this round, the low scorer is out.
In round two, all four panelists and Kenny ask rapid-fire questions, with no categories (but they all
have some link to sports). Again, 1 point per right answer, and scores accumulate. The contestant
with the higher score at the conclusion of this round wins $5000 and an ESPN experience prize.
In the bonus round, the contestant hears one question from Kenny about his or her specialty subject,
announced when he plays round one. Answering it correctly wins another $5000.
The Qualifying Round consists of 17 matches, with the winner of each moving on to the next round,
and the top scoring second place finisher also continuing.
In the Quarter-Finals, the seventeen winners and the wild card are ranked by scores (and passed questions where necessary) and play another game. The winner receives another $15,000 and an ESPN experience, the losers are out and keep what they've won to that point. The final round question is worth another $15,000; making possible winnings $40,000. The Semi-Finals takes those six winners, who play another game for $30,000 more, and another experience. Jim Jividen and Willy Gibson won the Semi-Finals, and the bonus question is again worth $30,000. Larry Glickstein, the #1 seed, was the Wild Card that made it to the final. The final was worth $50,000, a $50,000 bonus question, and the trophy.
The show's run culminates on Christmas
Day with the winner receiving $100,000 (and four ESPN experiences) and a shot at $200,000.
Season Two
Two Minute Drill returned in the summer of 2001 for another tournament, with some changes.
The tournament now has 32 contestants, including season one winner Willy Gibson. Each show is a contest between two players, and there are no wild card spots: it's miss and out at each step. In round one, each of the four panelists has four questions, with a bonus point for each sweep. This time, the panelist reads all four questions in succession, regardless of right or wrong answers, and the contestant must wait for the panelist to finish reading before he can answer. Round two is the same as round one, but each panelist has five questions, and Kenny sits out. Thus, forty points are possible in the game. The winner gets $5,000, the loser gets the consolation prize. The final question is now the Question of Great Significance, and Kenny splits away from the panel for the final question.
Cosmetic changes: The readerboard in front of the panelists has changed from the neat "scoreboard" effect to a blue screen. The score board made a similar change, and the set is now "theater-in-the-round" (similar to Millionaire).