Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire title card
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire title card
Format Game show, reality show
Created by Mike Whitehill
Steve Knight
Presented by Regis Philbin (1999–2002; 2009)
ABC Primetime
Meredith Vieira (2002–present)
Syndication
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes Approx. 1363[citation needed]
Production
Running time 60 minutes (1999–2002; 2009-present)
30 minutes (2002-present)
Broadcast
Original channel ABC (1999–2002, 2009-present)
Syndicated (2002-present)
Original run August 16, 1999 – June 27, 2002
September 16, 2002 – present
External links
Official website
Part of a series on
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Lists
Variants in whole world
Winners in whole world
Hosts in whole world

In the United States, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (also known simply as Millionaire) is a television reality/game show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 (originally lump sum; now annuitized) for correctly answering 15 successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The show is based on and follows the same general format of the original version of the show from the United Kingdom, and is now part of the international Who Wants to Be a Millionaire franchise.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire debuted in the United States on August 16, 1999 on the ABC television network, and was hosted by television personality Regis Philbin.

The network version, whose episodes were originally shown just a day after their taping in New York, became explosively popular in 2000, and at its peak was airing in prime time four nights a week on ABC. The show was popular enough to find rival networks creating or reincarnating game shows of their own, and created a brief renaissance of sorts for United States based game shows (e.g. Greed, Twenty One, etc.) as well as a flurry of American versions of UK and Australian originals, such as Winning Lines, The Weakest Link, and It's Your Chance of a Lifetime.

ABC used Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in so many prime time slots that when the show's popularity faded by the fall of 2001, it was left with a dearth of original programs on June 27, 2002. ABC's overall Nielsen Ratings suffered as a result of the show's decline in popularity. Michael Eisner, then CEO of The Walt Disney Company (ABC's parent), a former page at Jeopardy! and The Price Is Right, thought that the show would be successful like many other daytime television shows. However, he had realized too late that a hot show like Millionaire would tire more quickly in prime time than in daytime.[1]

Millionaire's place as a daytime show was granted when ABC's sister company, Buena Vista Television (now Disney-ABC Domestic Television), produced a daily syndicated offering with Meredith Vieira which premiered in September 2002. This version, also taped in New York, began airing its seventh season on September 8, 2008, and has earned Vieira an Emmy for best game show host.[2] The format is licensed by Sony Pictures Television as part of the acquisition of 2waytraffic in 2008, though the U.S. version is still distributed by Disney.

To celebrate Millionaire's 10th anniversary, the show will return to ABC Primetime with host Regis Philbin for a two week event.

Contents

[edit] Format

[edit] Preliminary Fastest Finger round

In the primetime era, 10 contestants had to compete for the right to play the main game. To earn the right to play, the contestants would have to successfully complete a timed task faster than any other player. Every Fastest Finger question had one goal: place four items in the correct order using four lettered keys (A, B, C, D) and pressing the OK key to confirm the answer given or pressing the Delete key to start over. Contestants had 20 seconds to complete the task at hand.
The player with the correct order and in the fastest time of all the contestants would earn the right to play the main game. The remaining contestants, if time permitted, would play another Fastest Finger after the hot seat was empty.
If no one got the task right, they would have to repeat the round with another task. In case of a tie, a tie breaker round would be run for those contestants.

An example of a Fastest Finger task would be the following below:

Put the following valleys in order by geographical location from east to west.
• A: Death Valley • B: Ohio Valley
• C: Silicon Valley • D: Shenandoah Valley
Correct order: DBAC

The Fastest Finger round has been eliminated from the syndicated series, with the host now calling the contestant out, and he or she coming into the set and immediately sitting in the hot seat.

The world record for the shortest amount of time that a contestant has taken to come up with the right order (across all international versions of the show) is 0.87 seconds, which was set on January 12, 2000 (episode 35) by a contestant named Shannon McGehee.[1]

[edit] Main game

Once a contestant gets into the hot seat, the goal is to answer 15 multiple-choice questions correctly from progressively harder sets of questions. Each question is worth a specified amount of money, and the contestant has the option of not answering. In this case, the contestant is awarded the amount of money they have earned for the their previous correct answer. The amounts are not cumulative.
After passing either questions 5 or 10, the contestant is guaranteed that amount of prize money. If the contestant gives a wrong answer to any question, their game is over and their winnings will drop down to the last milestone they passed.

No. Correct Answer Value Walk-Away Value Missed Answer Value Wrong Answer Loss
1 $100 $0 $0 $0
2 $200 $100 $0 $100
3 $300 $200 $0 $200
4 $500 $300 $0 $300
5 $1,000 $500 $0 $500
6 $2,000 $1,000 $1,000 $0
7 $4,000 $2,000 $1,000 $1,000
8 $8,000 $4,000 $1,000 $3,000
9 $16,000 $8,000 $1,000 $7,000
10 $25,000 $16,000 $1,000 $15,000
11 $50,000 $25,000 $25,000 $0
12 $100,000 $50,000 $25,000 $25,000
13 $250,000 $100,000 $25,000 $75,000
14 $500,000 $250,000 $25,000 $225,000
15 $1,000,000 $500,000 $25,000 $475,000

[edit] Original Board

No. Correct Answer Value Walk-Away Value Missed Answer Value Wrong Answer Loss
1 $100 $0 $0 $0
2 $200 $100 $0 $100
3 $300 $200 $0 $200
4 $500 $300 $0 $300
5 $1,000 $500 $0 $500
6 $2,000 $1,000 $1,000 $0
7 $4,000 $2,000 $1,000 $1,000
8 $8,000 $4,000 $1,000 $3,000
9 $16,000 $8,000 $1,000 $7,000
10 $32,000 $16,000 $1,000 $15,000
11 $64,000 $32,000 $32,000 $0
12 $125,000 $64,000 $32,000 $32,000
13 $250,000 $125,000 $32,000 $93,000
14 $500,000 $250,000 $32,000 $218,000
15 $1,000,000 $500,000 $32,000 $468,000

Starting with Season 7 of the current syndicated version (2008–09), (debuted on September 8, 2008), the graphics were updated, including a new "Millionaire Menu". The menu shows the categories of the contestant’s entire pyramid of 15 questions, which are revealed at the beginning of the game and are always visible to the player.

[edit] Lifelines

Contestants are given a series of Lifelines to aid them with questions they are finding difficult. They can use as many lifelines as needed (even more than one), but each lifeline can only be used once.

In addition, the game clock is frozen when a lifeline is used; once the lifeline is completed, the clock continues from that point.

[edit] Current lifelines
  • Phone A Friend: Sponsored by AT&T (during the ABC primetime era and first two seasons of the syndicated version), the contestant can call one of five pre-selected friends anywhere in the country to discuss the question for up to 30 seconds. In season 7, the Phone A Friend lifeline has more detailed information about the contestant's three potential lifeline friends, such as name, hometown, and photos.
  • Ask The Audience: The contestant asks audience members to use touch pads to designate what they believe the correct answer to be.
  • Double Dip: Previously used on Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire, this lifeline allows the player to make two guesses at the question; however, once used, the contestant must answer the question, and cannot walk away or use any further lifelines. This lifeline is available throughout the game (unlike Super Millionaire, in which it was only available after the contestant correctly answered question 10 for $100,000). The clock is frozen until the player gives his or her first answer; if that answer is wrong, the clock continues for their second guess. Giving another wrong answer or running out of time on the second guess will result in a loss.
  • Ask the Expert: Similar to the Three Wise Men lifeline from Super Millionaire, this lifeline allows the contestant to call an expert via live face-to-face video call, sponsored by Skype. The person can be anyone, such as a scientist, a celebrity, a newsmaker, a politician, or a past Millionaire winner. The lifeline functions similar to the Phone A Friend and includes such people as Bill Nye, Ogi Ogas, Jeff Gross, Nancy Christy, Alan Thicke, Jay Thomas and other Sony Pictures Television game show champions such as Ken Jennings (of Jeopardy! fame; Sony acquired Millionaire in 2008). The lifeline is only available once the contestant has earned $1,000. In addition, unlike the Three Wise Men lifeline, there is no set time limit, and the contestant and expert are allowed to discuss the question together in an attempt to reach the answer.

[edit] Defunct lifelines
  • 50:50 (1999-2008): The computer eliminates two incorrect answers, leaving only one incorrect answer and the correct answer. Still used on most other international versions.
  • Switch the Question (2004-2008): This lifeline was earned upon answering the $25,000 question. The computer replaced, at the contestant's request, one question with another of the same monetary value. If a player used a lifeline such as 50:50 before switching the question, it was not carried over to the new question.

[edit] Rule changes

By January 2001, the U.S. edition of the show struggled from not having a $1 million winner for over five months, so producers instituted a one-time skins game-type bonus of $10,000 per episode retroactive from the last episode the top prize was awarded. The bonus started at $1,710,000 ($10,000 multiplied by 71 shows without a top prize winner) and increased by $10,000 in the next hour show that was not won. With this bonus instituted, the top prize grew to $2 million (over 100 shows), making the first attempt at the million dollar question (by Gary Gambino in February 2001) actually worth twice its value. Eventually, the bonus grew to $2.18 million, when Kevin Olmstead won the eventual prize on April 10, 2001. However, two such prizes were awarded due to an error in a question during the time the bonus was in place, when Ed Toutant won the top prize and the bonus was at $860,000 on January 31, 2001. When he continued in an episode not aired until September 7, 2001, he also answered all 15 of his questions correctly, and was given $1 million and the $860,000 bonus. It has not been reinstituted since.

In 2001, contestants (from previous prime time episodes) who missed a question in the first tier and left with no winnings were invited back for a special edition of Millionaire. This was repeated in 2003 for contestants from the first season of the syndicated program.

In 2002, unlike the U.K. version where some questions have joke answers, the $100 question always has a joke answer posed by Meredith Vieira as the last answer choice (e.g. "The Popular Children's song It's Raining, It's Pouring mentions an old man doing what?", choice D was "Yelling at Squirrels"). This is a continuation of a gag used in the ABC series, although in that series, the first three questions all had joke answers for the D choice.

The primetime version featured the Fastest Finger; however, the daytime version does not.

In the original US version of the show, the values progressed to $16,000, $32,000 (safe), $64,000, $125,000 and it ran that way from 1999-2002, and through the daytime run from 2002-2004.

In Late 2004 during the Meredith Vieira run, the Switch the Question lifeline was added once the new, safe, $25,000 level (formerly $32,000) was attained. The values then reached $50,000 and $100,000 before the traditional 13th level question for $250,000.

The Ask the Audience lifeline was expanded. Instead of just the studio audience giving answers, users of the AOL Instant Messenger could participate as well. If they had asked the screenname MillionaireIM to allow his or her participation, then they would receive an instant message if a contestant used his or her Ask the Audience lifeline. The message would contain the question and four possible answers, and they would send their answer back. This was the first time in history that the public had been able to interact with a game show while it was being taped. When the tape was shown, the results of the poll would first show the studio audience's response, then the IM users' response. The AIM side of the lifeline failed to work at times. In these instances, the game show's policy was to allow the contestant to only rely on the studio audience's response. The AOL Instant Messenger Ask the Audience lifeline has been suspended as of the fifth season of the syndicated version of the show following the withdrawal of sponsorship of the program by AOL. The AOL Instant Messenger Ask the Audience also made it theoretically possible for potential phone-a-friends to see the question before they were called by the contestant, but it is unknown if this advantage was taken of to any extent.

[edit] Season 7 rule changes

Fragment of the new "Clock Format" version of the show; Question is about Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales.

Season 7 sparked some major changes to the game. Included in these changes were:

  • Categories: Contestants may now see the category of their questions before they are asked.
  • Lifeline changes: The 50:50 lifeline was replaced with Double-Dip; Switch-the-Question was replaced with Ask-the-Expert which is now earned after answering the 5th question correctly.
  • Time limits: Contestants must now provide their final answer to each question within a specified time limit. The clock for each question begins counting down immediately after all four answer choices have been revealed. Contestants who exceed this time limit are forced to walk away with all prize money they have won up to that point. (e.g. The clock expiring on a $1 Million question will end the contestant's game with total winnings of $500,000.) The only exception to this rule is if the "Double-Dip" lifeline is currently being used; if the clock expires before a second final answer is given, it is treated as an incorrect answer (see below). Any time remaining on the clock after each question is "banked" and given back to the contestant for their $1 Million question.
No. Value Time Limit
1
2
3
4
5		 $100
$200
$300
$500
$1,000		 15 Seconds
6
7
8
9
10		 $2,000
$4,000
$8,000
$16,000
$25,000		 30 Seconds
11
12
13
14		 $50,000
$100,000
$250,000
$500,000		 45 Seconds
15 $1 Million 45 Sec + Banked Time


[edit] Syndication

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire title card
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire title card
Format Game show, reality show
Created by Mike Whitehill
Steve Knight
Presented by Meredith Vieira
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes Approx. 1363[citation needed]
Production
Running time 30 minutes (including commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel Syndicated
Original run September 16, 2002 – present
External links
Official website

In 2002, Disney's Disney-ABC Domestic Television started selling a new version of the show for daily syndication, with a new host, Meredith Vieira (who previously appeared on the nighttime show and won $250,000 during a celebrity week where all the money would go to charities related to victims of 9/11). It was initially proposed and developed under the assumption that the prime time show would still be airing on ABC, but the prime time show was cancelled a few months before the syndicated show premiered. The syndicated version doesn't include the Fastest Finger competition; contestants are brought out individually during each half-hour show after passing contestant auditions, consisting of a written test and an interview.

[edit] Fill-In Hosts

Because of Vieira's commitments with her new job at NBC News, substitute hosts are frequently used, and have represented the four major networks — Tom Bergeron (employed by Disney for Dancing with the Stars and "America's Funniest Home Videos"), Al Roker (who also happens to work alongside Meredith Vieira on Today), and Tim Vincent (of NBC-syndicated Access Hollywood) each guest-hosted a week's worth of shows during the 2006-07 season.[3]. CBS News weatherman Dave Price hosted a week of shows in March 2008, and NBC's Access Hollywood reporter Billy Bush also filled in for episodes that aired in April 2008. [4][5] Leeza Gibbons also substituted for Vieira for a week in late-June 2008. For a week in mid-February 2009, Cat Deeley from Fox's So You Think You Can Dance guest-hosted the show. For the week of May 11, 2009 through May 15, 2009, Samantha Harris, who co-hosted with Tom Bergeron from Dancing with the Stars guest hosted this show. Shaun Robinson, from Access Hollywood hosted the week of June 8th, 2009

[edit] List of Fill-In Hosts

[edit] Qualifications

Unlike the original network version, where aspiring contestants made a phone call, answered a few questions correctly on the phone, and were randomly selected, leading to a fastest-finger competition to determine the player in the hot seat, the current version uses a more traditional game show procedure, similar to what is used for most game shows. This toughens the contestant pool.

Contestants, depending on touring tryouts or tryouts held at ABC's New York studio center, are required to pass a quiz between 30 and 40 questions which is electronically scored.

Contestants who pass the general-knowledge test are then interviewed by production staff. Persons who impress the production staff the most are then sent to New York for the show for their taping.[6]

[edit] Ratings and popularity

The primetime version of the show initially drew in up to 30 million viewers a day three times a week, an unheard-of number in modern network television. In the 1999-2000 season, it averaged #1 in the ratings against all other television shows. The next year (2000-2001), it also frequently placed within the top three or top five programs; finishing at #3 in the ratings[7]. However, the show's ratings began to fall during the 2000-2001 season, and by the start of the 2001-2002 season, the ratings were only a fraction of what they had been one year before. ABC's reliance on Millionaire's popularity led to the network's falling quickly from its former spot as the nation's most-watched network.

The show was immensely popular in that one could qualify for the show (for most of the initial run and the two runs of Super Millionaire) by competing in a telephone contest with hopefuls across the country by dialing a toll free number and answering three questions by putting things or events in order by using your telephone keypad, much like the show's "Fastest Finger First" (you had 10 seconds to enter the order on your keypad, and any wrong answer ended the game, and the call). The 10,000-20,000 people who answered all three questions correctly were entered into a random drawing in which approximately 300 people would compete for 10 spots on the show using the same phone quiz method. (For Super Millionaire, it was five questions, with no callback round—all callers successfully completing the five questions picked one tape date, and the players were drawn from that pool for each tape date.) In the days of the network show, contestants were driven or flown in to New York City and put up in a hotel at ABC's expense, except if the contestant is from the New York metropolitan area. The syndicated show no longer does this. The program also had the advantage of immediacy as the program was taped for the following evening's airing.

Episodes of the primetime version have been rerun on GSN since September 2003 (except August 1999 and 2002 shows). Prime time Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is the highest-rated regularly-scheduled program on GSN[citation needed]. GSN began airing the daytime half-hour version on November 10, 2008.

The game itself is still quite popular among trivia enthusiasts.

During a week of episodes in Season Six (November 2007), to celebrate the syndicated version's 1,000th episode, all contestants that week started with $1,000 (which meant that no contestant could leave with nothing), and only had to answer ten questions to win the $1 million. Also, 20 home viewers each day during that week won $1,000 each.

[edit] Top Prize Winners

11 contestants to date have correctly answered all 15 questions and have won the top prize.

[edit] Million Dollar Winners on ABC

Name Date Lifelines used on
Final Question		 Achievements/Notes
John Carpenter November 19, 1999 Phone a Friend - First Top Prize Winner Worldwide.
- Became the All-time American game show winnings leader from 1999 to 2000, before being eclipsed by Rahim Oberholtzer.
- Phone a Friend was used to inform his father that he would win the prize, not as a means of obtaining help.
- Other than the Phone a Friend "joke", he didn't use a lifeline during his run.
Dan Blonsky January 18, 2000
Joe Trela March 23, 2000 - Was the youngest person to win a Million on a U.S. game show until Jamie Sadler won on the Power of 10.
- Became the 1st person to win the million with his lifelines having been used before the top tier of questions ($64,000-$1,000,000)
Bob House June 13, 2000 50:50
Phone a Friend
Kim Hunt July 6, 2000
David Goodman July 11, 2000 50:50
Ask the Audience
Phone a Friend
Kevin Olmstead April 10, 2001 - $2.18 Million top prize.
- Became the All-time American game show winnings leader from 2000 to 2004, before being eclipsed by Ken Jennings.
Bernie Cullen April 15, 2001 Ask the Audience
50:50
Ed Toutant September 7, 2001 50:50 - $1.86 Million top prize.
- Most recent top prize winner in Primetime.
- Originally answered $16,000 question incorrectly.

NOTE: Ed Toutant originally left with only $1,000 on January 31, 2001. It was later discovered that there was a mistake in his $16,000 question. He was then invited back to play for the $1.86 Million prize that he previously played for, and ultimately went on to win the prize.

[edit] Million Dollar Winners in Syndication

Name Date Lifelines used on
Final Question		 Banked Time on
Final Question		 Achievements/Notes
Kevin Smith February 18, 2003 Not Timed
Nancy Christy May 8, 2003 Not Timed - First and only female so far to win a Million Dollars in the U.S.
- Last top prize winner to not be timed on questions.
- Most recent top prize winner on the show as of 2009.
- 2nd person to win the million without the use of lifelines on the upper-tire of the questions.
  • To this date, no contestant in either the Primetime or the syndicated series has ever answered the 15th question incorrectly. On the Primetime series and for part of the syndicated series, a contestant who answered the 15th question incorrectly lost $468,000. Since 2004, a contestant who ever answers the 15th question incorrectly will lose $475,000. While it has never occured in the United States, internationally however, there have been a number of contestants who answered the final question incorrectly and have had their winnings decimated.

[edit] Winning Million Dollar Questions

A gray answer is an answer that was removed when a contestant used the 50:50 lifeline.

[edit] ABC

  • John Carpenter - November 19, 1999
Which of these former U.S. Presidents appeared on the television series Laugh-In?
• A: Lyndon Johnson • B: Richard Nixon
• C: Jimmy Carter • D: Gerald Ford
  • Dan Blonsky - January 18, 2000
The Earth is approximately how many miles away from the Sun?
• A: 9.3 million • B: 39 million
• C: 93 million • D: 193 million
  • Joe Trela - March 25, 2000
Which insect shorted out an early supercomputer and inspired the term "computer bug"?
• A: Moth • B: Roach
• C: Fly • D: Japanese beetle
  • Bob House - June 13, 2000
Which of the following men does not have a chemical element named after him?
• A: Albert Einstein • B: Niels Bohr
• C: Isaac Newton • D: Enrico Fermi
  • Kim Hunt - July 6, 2000
Which of the following landlocked countries is entirely contained within another country?
• A: Lesotho • B: Burkina Faso
• C: Mongolia • D: Luxembourg
  • David Goodman - July 11, 2000
In the children's book series, where is Paddington Bear originally from?
• A: India • B: Peru
• C: Canada • D: Iceland
  • Kevin Olmstead - April 10, 2001
Who is credited with inventing the first mass-produced helicopter?
• A: Igor Sikorsky • B: Elmer Sperry
• C: Ferdinand von Zeppelin • D: Gottlieb Daimler
  • Bernie Cullen - April 15, 2001
What letter must appear at the beginning of the registration number of all non-military aircraft in the U.S.?
• A: N • B: A
• C: U • D: L
  • Ed Toutant - September 7, 2001
During WWII, U.S. soldiers used the first commercial aerosol cans to hold what?
• A: Cleaning fluid • B: Antiseptic
• C: Insecticide • D: Shaving cream

[edit] Syndicated

  • Kevin Smith - February 18, 2003
The U.S. icon "Uncle Sam" was based on Samuel Wilson, who worked during the War of 1812 as a what?
• A: Meat inspector • B: Mail deliverer
• C: Historian • D: Weapons mechanic
  • Nancy Christy - May 8, 2003
Who did Grant Wood use as the model for the farmer in his classic painting "American Gothic"?
• A: Travelling salesman • B: Local sheriff
• C: His dentist • D: His butcher

[edit] Spin-offs and special editions

[edit] Special editions

The show has had various special editions such as:

  • Celebrity Edition (where winnings go to a charity),
  • Champions Edition (where big winners come back and split their winnings with a charity),
  • Top of the Charts Edition (similar to Celebrity Edition but with musical artists who have chart-topping hits and their winnings go to their charity of choice),
  • Zero Dollar Winner Edition (where those who took home nothing got a second chance), and
  • Family Edition where, for example, a father and son face the questions together.

Also notable is an edition aired in February 2001 in which H&R Block calculated the taxes of winnings so the contestants could earn their stated winnings after taxes, called Tax-Free Edition.

During two seasons, there was also a Couples Edition where married couples played together. In recent years, special contestant episodes such as Play to Pay for Your Wedding Edition (featuring engaged couples), College Edition (featuring undergraduate college students, taking place in Walt Disney World), Teacher Edition (featuring schoolteachers), and Walk In & Win Edition (featuring audience members who haven't taken the audition test, also from Walt Disney World]) have aired annually. The first season featured a Twins Edition (featuring twin contestants), which played similar to the Couples Edition and Play To Pay For Your Wedding Edition.

Themed question shows featuring questions concerning professional football (Super Bowl Edition), celebrity gossip (Celebrity Scoop Edition), the movies (Netflix Million Dollar Movie Edition; Academy Awards Edition) and pop culture (Pop Culture Edition) have aired on occasion as well.

The prime time show began as a half-hour show aired over several consecutive nights, but was made into a multi-weekly hour-long show when it was added permanently to the schedule in January 2000, allowing more Fastest-finger contestants to reach the Hot Seat in each episode. In special events it may be extended from half an hour to an hour. Episodes of the syndicated show run 30 minutes in length every weekday, but this version has no Fastest-finger question. Instead, the following contestant appears after the preceding contestant's game ends.

[edit] Champions Edition

In 2000, previous Millionaire contestants who won $250,000-$1,000,000 were on a special edition where they would go for the hot seat again, winning half for charity. Examples of contestants were: John Carpenter (the first US winner), Dan Blonsky, Joe Trela, Neil Larrimore, Stephanie Girardi (the first woman to see the million-dollar question) and more.

[edit] Celebrity versions

The show began to dabble in celebrity versions of the game in mid-2000, at the height of its popularity. The first version featured stars such as Drew Carey, Rosie O'Donnell, Eve Jeffers, Queen Latifah, and Dana Carvey; later celebrity players included P. Diddy, Vanessa Williams, Chevy Chase, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, Norm Macdonald, and current host of the weekday version of Millionaire Meredith Vieira. Later, Carol Alt, Martin Short, Florence Henderson, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Tyrese, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Charlie Sheen, Jon Stewart, Joey McIntyre and more. Drew Carey is the only celebrity to be on Millionaire twice (First time was $500,000 and then the second time was $32,000 which was a drop from $125,000 for a grand total of $532,000).

Rosie O'Donnell is the only celebrity to be on Millionaire and be a Phone-A-Friend. She along with Steve Martin, Tea Leoni, Ed Begley, Jr., Sam Simon and Kim Basinger are the only celebrity phone-a-friends. P. Diddy ($125,000), Valerie Bertinelli ($125,000), Jon Stewart ($125,000), Queen Latifah ($250,000), Martin Short ($32,000 which was a drop from $250,000), Heidi Klum ($250,000), Kelly Ripa ($250,000), John Leguizamo ($32,000 which was a drop from $125,000), Martina McBride ($125,000), Ben Stiller ($32,000 which was a drop from $125,000) Lance Bass ($125,000), Emeril Lagasse ($125,000), Vivica A. Fox ($64,000), Nick Lachey ($125,000), William Shatner ($32,000 which was a drop from $125,000), David Duchovny ($32,000 which was a drop from $250,000), Denis Leary ($125,000), Drew Carey (see above) and Jack Black ($125,000) are the only Millionaire celebrities to also go on Live with Regis and Kelly (Ripa being the co-host). Drew Carey, Rosie O'Donnell and Norm Macdonald (in that order) are the only celebrities to win $500,000.

The show was a huge hit in the ratings, and since they were playing for charity and for fear that celebrities would be too embarrassed to miss an early question, all players were allowed to receive help from their fellow players to attain the $32,000 level, resulting in some humorous exchanges when a celebrity player grew stumped. A classic example of this occurred in an episode (second episode of second celebrity edition for $300) where Jon Lovitz could not identify limes as the second ingredient in Sprite (after lemons), which prompted Kermit the Frog, who was there just for support, to amusingly ask him, "Hey Jon, what color am I? (referring to the fact that he and limes are both green)," after which Lovitz answered the question correctly. (Kermit is the only Muppet and celebrity audience member to be on Live.)

ABC began to rely heavily on celebrity episodes - for most of the 2001-02 season, fully half of the series were celebrity or other "special editions", a move which coincided with the show's drop from the top of the ratings. When celebrities played the game, because they were playing for charity, all were guaranteed at least $32,000, even if they missed a question before reaching it (which happened to one contestant when she missed the $32,000 question but left with $32,000 anyway; in addition, KISS singer Gene Simmons left with $32,000 even though he missed his $16,000 question). In most cases, all contestants got a shot at the main game. In cases in which that did not apply, at the end of the series, all contestants that failed to get into the hotseat were automatically given $32,000.

[edit] Radio Edition

It was announced in 2005 that the syndicated show would bring back celebrities for a special edition to air in November 2005, but those episodes never materialized. However, in 2003, Millionaire held a Radio Edition with three New York City radio disc jockeys playing for their station.

[edit] Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire

Main article: Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire

In 2004, Regis Philbin returned to ABC for 12 episodes of a spin-off Millionaire called Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire or better known as Super Millionaire. The show offered a $10 Million top prize. The show premiered in February 2004 and showed 5 episodes. The show returned later in May 2004 for 7 more episodes. The board went as follows:

No. Correct Answer Value Walk-Away Value Wrong Answer Value Amount Lost if Wrong
1 $1,000 $0 $0 $0
2 $2,000 $1,000 $0 $1,000
3 $3,000 $2,000 $0 $2,000
4 $4,000 $3,000 $0 $3,000
5 $5,000 $4,000 $0 $4,000
6 $10,000 $5,000 $5,000 $0
7 $20,000 $10,000 $5,000 $5,000
8 $30,000 $20,000 $5,000 $15,000
9 $50,000 $30,000 $5,000 $25,000
10 $100,000 (The Next Dimension: Receives Double Dip and 3 Wise Men) $50,000 $5,000 $45,000
11 $500,000 $100,000 $100,000 $0
12 $1 Million $500,000 $100,000 $400,000
13 $2.5 Million $1 Million $100,000 $900,000
14 $5 Million $2.5 Million $100,000 $2.4 Million
15 $10 Million $5 Million $100,000 $4.9 Million

On the second episode, Robert "Bob-O" Essig went on and walked away $1,000,000. He had used his Double Dip on the question and after his first guess, got it right. He did not decide to proceed to the $2.5, 5 or 10 Million question.

[edit] Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - Play It!

Main article: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - Play It!

A version of this game named Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - Play It! was formerly an attraction at the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida and at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, California. The game was very similar to the television version. When a show started, a "Fastest Finger First" question was given, and the audience was asked to put the four answers in order. Fastest time was first player in the Hot Seat for that show.

[edit] Dumbest Contestant hoax

In 2006, a screenshot from the UKGameshows.com site [8] was digitally altered and used in a piece on the satire site BS News. The image was also widely circulated as a spoof email [9], in which it was purported to show a fictional contestant named Kathy Evans failing to answer a simple $100 question correctly after using all three lifelines because she was too skeptical of the assistance that was given (on a question asking which of four objects was the biggest, Evans chose an elephant over the moon). This was inspired by two contestants on the actual show, Chase Sampson and Paul Weir Galm, who missed the $100 question, a woman who answered her $200 question wrong, as well as one contestant who missed the $300 question after using all three lifelines, again because he doubted the assistance that was given.

The screenshot used in the image was actually a digitally-altered image of another (real-life) contestant named Fiona Wheeler on the original UK version of the show answering a different question from a higher tier. Far from failing at the first question, Wheeler won £32,000, only to miss another question later on after passing that mark. She was famous for stating that she wanted to bathe in a bathtub filled with chocolate, which she later actually went on to do in a photo shoot.[10]

[edit] August 2009 primetime revival

First reported by TV Week.[11], BuzzerBlog[12] now confirms the revival of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in a primetime slot on ABC. The series is scheduled to begin airing on Sunday, August 9, 2009 with a two week lifespan, finishing on Sunday, August 23, 2009. This revival is probably to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the US version of the franchise. Regis Philbin, host of the original U.S. format, has committed to the revival, which will consist of a new hybrid format between the original and "tweaked" syndicated formats.

BuzzerBlog reports that there will be the same lifelines as the syndicated version, a clock, and a fastest finger round. There will also be a celebrity (at the end of each show) playing for their favorite charity.[13] It is also confirmed that the "phone game" from the original prime-time show will return, and there will be a new video audition option. [14]

The Academy Award winning movie Slumdog Millionaire and the 2009 economic crisis[15] helped boost interest of renewal of the game show.[16]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.eisner.cnbc.com/transcripts/regisphilbin.pdf
  2. ^ http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Meredith_Vieira/1578769#awards
  3. ^ http://community.tvguide.com/thread.jspa?threadID=700009300
  4. ^ http://gameshow.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=13659&st=0
  5. ^ http://buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/post-season-power-of-10-opinions-and-suggestions/#comment-25041
  6. ^ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/television/2003638513_tvgameshowaudition28.html
  7. ^ http://www.chez.com/fbibler/tvstats/
  8. ^ http://www.ukgameshows.com/page/index.php?title=Who_Wants_to_be_a_Millionaire%3F#Key_moments
  9. ^ http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/gameshows/millionaire.asp
  10. ^ http://www.ukgameshows.com/page/index.php?title=Who_Wants_to_be_a_Millionaire%3F
  11. ^ Adalian, Josef (2009-01-11). "'Millionaire’ Revival a Good Answer for ABC". TV Week. http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/01/adalian_column_millionaire_rev.php. Retrieved on 2009-01-12. 
  12. ^ http://buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-returns-to-abc-in-august
  13. ^ http://buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/abcs-anniversary-edition-of-millionaire-uses-syndicated-lifelines-clock-and-fastest-finger/
  14. ^ http://buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-adds-video-auditions/
  15. ^ http://abc.go.com/primetime/millionaire/index?pn=about
  16. ^ http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-returning/

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Win Ben Stein's Money		 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show
2000 – 2001		 Succeeded by
Jeopardy!
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Wants_to_Be_a_Millionaire_(US_game_show)"
Personal tools