Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (American game show)

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
File:WWTBAM2010falllogo.png
Genre	Game show
Created by	David Briggs Mike Whitehill Steven Knight
Directed by	Mark Gentile (1999–2002) Matthew Cohen (2002–2010) Rob George (2010–present)
Presented by	Regis Philbin (ABC versions; 1999–2002, 2004, 2009) Meredith Vieira (syndicated version; 2002–present)
Composers	Keith Strachan (1999–2010) Matthew Strachan (1999–2010) Jeff Lippencott (2010–present) Mark T. Williams (2010–present)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	ABC: 374 Syndicated: 1,772 (as of May 18, 2012) Total: 2,146
Production
Executive producers	Michael Davies (1999–2010) Leigh Hampton (2002–2010) Rich Sirop (2010–present) Co-executive producers: Vincent Rubino (2002–2005) Meredith Vieira (2005–present) Rich Sirop (2009–2010)
Producers	Leslie Fuller (1999–2002) Dennis F. McMahon (2002–2007) Jennifer Weeks (2007–2009) Tommy Cody (2008–2010) McPaul Smith (2010) Bryan Lasseter (2011–present) Supervising producers: Rich Sirop (2005–2009) Geena Gintzig (2009–2010)
Running time	39–48 minutes (ABC) 22–26 minutes (Syndicated)
Production companies	Celador (1999–2007) 2waytraffic (2007–present) ABC (1999–2002, 2004, 2009) Valleycrest Productions, Ltd. (2002–present)
Original release
Network	ABC (1999–2002, 2004, 2009) Syndication (2002–present)
Release	ABC August 16, 1999 (1999-08-16) – June 27, 2002 (2002-06-27) Daily Syndication September 16, 2002 (2002-09-16) – present

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (also referred to by some as simply Millionaire) is an American television quiz show based upon the British program of the same title, which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering a series of consecutive multiple choice questions. Originally, as in the UK edition, contestants were required to correctly answer 15 questions of increasing difficulty, but in 2010, the format was modified so that the contestants are now faced with 14 questions of random difficulty. The program follows the same general premise as its original UK counterpart, and is one of many international variants in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise.

The original version of the US Millionaire show aired on ABC from August 16, 1999 to June 27, 2002, and was hosted by Regis Philbin. The current syndicated version of the show began airing on September 16, 2002, and is hosted by Meredith Vieira. It continues to air in syndication five days a week with Vieira unless otherwise noted on the show's website.

The tenth season of the syndicated version of Millionaire premiered on September 5, 2011, and with it came the show's introduction to high-definition broadcasting.

Broadcast history

ABC

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was introduced to the United States on August 16, 1999 as a primetime program on ABC, hosted by television personality Regis Philbin. The network version, whose episodes were originally shown only a day after their taping in New York City, became explosively popular in 2000 and at its peak was airing in the primetime five nights a week on ABC. The show was popular enough that rival networks created or re-incarnated game shows of their own (e.g., Greed, Twenty One, etc.) and American imports of various British and Australian originals (such as Winning Lines, Weakest Link, and It's Your Chance of a Lifetime).

Ratings

The nighttime version 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 with 28,848,000 viewers. In the next season (2000–2001), three nights out of the five weekly episodes placed in the top 10. 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 the network to fall quickly from its former spot as the nation's most watched network.

The show was immensely popular in that anyone could originally qualify for the show by competing in a telephone contest with potential contestants across the country by dialing a toll-free number and answering three questions by putting objects or events in order. Callers had ten seconds to enter the order on a keypad, with any incorrect answer ending the game/call. The 10,000–20,000 candidates who answered all three questions correctly were selected into a random drawing in which approximately 300 contestants would compete for ten spots on the show using the same phone quiz method. Accommodations for contestants outside the New York City area included round trip airfare (or other transportation) and hotel accommodations.

ABC has occasionally brought back the show for specials, including 2004's Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire, which raised the top prize to $10,000,000, and another in 2009 which celebrated the show's tenth anniversary.

Syndication

In 2001, it was proposed that a new version of Millionaire would be developed for daily syndication. Initially Rosie O'Donnell was chosen to host this new edition, but she almost immediately declined that opportunity, and the position eventually went to Meredith Vieira, who began hosting the syndicated program when it debuted on September 16, 2002. The syndicated program was initially proposed and developed under the assumption that the primetime show would still air on ABC, but that version was canceled a few months before the syndicated version premiered.

Episodes of the syndicated edition run approximately 22–26 minutes every weekday (not counting commercials). Also, the syndicated version has no preliminary "Fastest Finger" question (see below); rather, Vieira calls each new contestant onstage after the preceding contestant's game ends.

Potential contestants, depending on touring tryouts or tryouts held at ABC's New York studio center, are required to pass an electronically scored quiz comprising thirty questions which must be completed in ten minutes. Contestants who pass the general knowledge test are then interviewed by the production staff, and those who impress the production staff the most are then taken for a videotape interview. Later, they are sent a postcard in the mail stating whether they are in a pool of potential contestants, who by the producers' discretion are sent to New York to participate in their tapings. Unlike its ABC counterpart, the syndicated version does not offer accommodations to contestants at the production company's expense.

Since its inception, the syndicated edition has been distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television (originally known as Buena Vista Television), a unit of ABC. It retained its association with Disney even after production company 2waytraffic was purchased by Sony Pictures Television in 2008.

Vieira has won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for her hosting duties on the syndicated Millionaire (one in 2005, the other in 2009).

Guest hosts

Since the spring of 2007, guest hosts have appeared in the second half of each season of the syndicated Millionaire. So far, Al Roker, Tom Bergeron, Tim Vincent, Dave Price, Billy Bush, Leeza Gibbons, Cat Deeley, Samantha Harris, Shaun Robinson, Steve Harvey, John Henson, Sherri Shepherd, Tim Gunn, D. L. Hughley, and even Regis Philbin have appeared as guest hosts. Of those contestants that appeared on weeks featuring guest hosts, almost none carried over to the following week.

GSN

GSN acquired the rerun rights to the U.S. version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2003. The network initially aired only episodes from the three seasons of the original prime-time run, but additional episodes were later added, including the Super Millionaire spin-off, which aired on GSN from 2005 through 2007, and the first season of the syndicated version, which aired from 2008 through 2011.

Gameplay

Preliminary "Fastest Finger" round

On the ABC versions, ten contestants competed for the right to play the main game on each episode. The contestants were presented with a question and a list of four answers which needed to be put in a specific order (e.g., ordering four historic events starting with the most recent, ordering the size of animals starting with the smallest, etc.). Using keys on their podiums, each of the contestants attempted to enter the correct order in the shortest amount of time. If the main game ended and there was still time available for another game, the remaining contestants would play another Fastest Finger round for a chance to play the main game. If two or more contestants tied with the fastest time, those contestants played an additional Fastest Finger question to break the tie.

If all contestants answered the question incorrectly, the round was repeated with another question. If any of the contestants were visually-impaired, the host read the question and four choices all at once, then repeated the choices after the music began.

The Fastest Finger round was eliminated from the syndicated series.

Main game

Original format (1999–2008)

File:Millionaire Contestant.jpg

A Millionaire contestant faced with a question in the original format (1999-2008).

Once a contestant is in the "hot seat," their goal was to correctly answer 15 consecutive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty from progressively harder sets of questions. Each question is worth a specified amount of money; in most formats, the amounts are not cumulative.

Upon correctly answering questions five and ten, the contestant is guaranteed at least the amount of prize money associated with that level. If the contestant gives a wrong answer to any subsequent question, their game is over and their winnings will drop down to the last milestone achieved. If the contestant answers a question incorrectly before reaching question five, they leave with nothing. However, the contestant has the option of "walking away" without giving an answer after being presented with a question. In this case, the game ends and the contestant is awarded the amount of money the contestant earned for a previous correct answer.

Clock format (2008–2010)

Picture of Millionaire gameplay from Season 7, with a contestant faced with a question about Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales.

From 2008 to 2010, time limits were used for each question. Contestants were given up to 15 seconds each for questions 1–5, 30 seconds each for questions 6–10, and 45 seconds each for questions 11–14. Unused time was banked, and should the contestant reach Question 15, the contestant had 45 seconds plus however much time the contestant banked. Usage of lifelines temporarily paused the clock while the lifelines were played. If the clock reached zero before a contestant could provide a final answer, they were forced to walk away with the winnings they had at that point. However, if a contestant used the Double Dip lifeline and ran out of time prior to making a second guess, they were considered to have provided an incorrect answer and lost all winnings down to the last milestone achieved.

When the clock format was adopted, the on-screen graphics were updated and a new "Millionaire Menu" was introduced that showed a category for each question. The categories are revealed at the beginning of the game and are always visible to the contestant. Some of the prize levels also changed at the start of Season 8; this took effect after the ninth contestant from the 2009 primetime run played.

Shuffle format (2010–present)

The format was revised again for the beginning of Season 9, on September 13, 2010. In this new format, the clock was removed, and the number of questions was reduced. Instead of 15 consecutive questions, there are now 14 questions distributed into two rounds. Players are given three lifelines in this iteration: "Ask the Audience" and two "Jump the Question" lifelines.

The stage was also significantly redesigned in which the Hot Seat was removed and replaced with two video screens which display either the current question in play or the contestants' cumulative total and progress during their game. As a result, the host and contestant now stand throughout the game. Other aesthetic changes were made, including adding new camera angles and new music cues.

Round 1

Ten questions are asked in round one, each assigned one of ten different money amounts: $100, $500, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, $5,000, $7,000, $10,000, $15,000, or $25,000. The dollar values are randomized at the beginning of the game. The contestant is then shown the original order of difficulty for the ten questions as well as their categories, and those are then randomized as well. This means that the difficulty of the question is not tied to its value, and may be worth as little as $100 or up to $25,000. The dollar values for each question remain hidden until a contestant either correctly answers a question or uses the Jump the Question lifeline.

In this format, the value of each question answered correctly is added to the contestant's bank, for a maximum total of $68,600. A contestant who completes the round successfully can walk at any subsequent point with all the money in his or her bank, or can walk before the round is completed with half that amount (e.g., a contestant who banked $30,000 would leave with $15,000). Contestants who give an incorrect answer at any point in the round leave with $1,000.

Since the beginning of Season 10, certain weeks of the show have been designated as "Double Your Money" weeks. In those, a certain question in Round 1 is designated the "Double Money Question." When a contestant answers such a question correctly, the monetary value behind the question is doubled and added to his or her bank, giving him or her the possibility of adding up to a maximum of $50,000 to his or her bank on a single question. However, when a contestant uses the Jump the Question lifeline, he or she forfeits the doubled money.

Round 2: "Classic Millionaire"

The final four questions are played for set values ($100,000, $250,000, $500,000, and $1,000,000) and a correct answer augments the contestant's winnings to that point, as in the previous formats. A contestant can walk away with all the money in his or her bank; an incorrect answer drops the contestant to $25,000.

Unlike Round 1 and the previous format, there are no categories for the Classic Millionaire questions and the question values are not cumulative.

Audience game

In the event that a contestant leaves and very little time remains, a randomly selected audience member is given one chance to win $1,000 by answering the next question intended for the previous contestant. Regardless of the outcome, the audience member receives a copy of a video game based on Millionaire.

Payout structure

Question number	Question value
	1999–2004	2004–2009	2009–2010	2010–present
1	$100		$500	Random value ($100, $500, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, $5,000, $7,000, $10,000, $15,000, $25,000)
2	$200		$1,000
3	$300		$2,000
4	$500		$3,000
5	$1,000		$5,000
6	$2,000		$7,500
7	$4,000		$10,000
8	$8,000		$12,500
9	$16,000		$15,000
10	$32,000	$25,000
11	$64,000	$50,000		$100,000
12	$125,000	$100,000		$250,000
13	$250,000			$500,000
14	$500,000			$1,000,000
15	$1,000,000

The $1 million top prize was initially a lump-sum payment, but was changed to an annuity in September 2002 when the series moved to syndication.

Lifelines

Contestants are given a series of lifelines to aid them with difficult questions. They can use as many lifelines as desired per question, but each lifeline (with the exception of Jump the Question) can only be used once per game. Three lifelines are available from the start of the game. Depending on the format of the show, additional lifelines may become available after the contestant correctly answers the fifth or tenth question. In the timed format of the show, the clock froze when a lifeline was being used and later continued from where it was stopped.

Current lifelines

• Ask the Audience (1999–present): Audience members use touch pads to designate what they believe the correct answer to be. The percentage of the audience choosing each specific option is displayed to the contestant. Ask the Audience is the only remaining one of the show's original lifelines.

From 2004 to 2006, the Ask the Audience lifeline also included users of AOL Instant Messenger. Users wishing to participate added the screen name MillionaireIM to their buddy list and received an instant message when a contestant used his or her Ask the Audience lifeline. The message contained the question and four possible answers, and Internet users sent replies with their choices. During instances where the AIM side of the lifeline failed to work, the contestant was only able to rely on the studio audience's response.

File:WWTBAM US S9 Rd2 Jump.png

Celebrity contestant Peter Gallagher in a celebrity charity event in Season 9, using his Jump the Question lifeline on the $100,000 question to skip on to the $250,000 question.

• Jump the Question (2010–present): This lifeline can be used twice in a single game. At any point prior to selecting a final answer, a contestant can use Jump the Question to skip to the next question; unlike the retired Switch the Question lifeline (see below), Jump the Question reduces the number of questions a player must correctly answer. However, if the contestant uses Jump the Question, they do not gain any money from the question they choose to skip (for example, a contestant with a bank of $68,100 may jump the $100,000 question, but will still have only $68,100 instead of the typical $100,000 when they face the $250,000 question). Unlike other lifelines, this lifeline cannot be used on the $1 million question.

Retired lifelines

• 50/50 (1999–2008): The computer eliminated two incorrect answers, leaving one incorrect answer and the correct answer. From 1999–2002, the two removed answers were predetermined by the production team. From 2002 until the removal of the lifeline in 2008, two incorrect answers were randomly removed. In September 2008, 50/50 was replaced with Double Dip.
• Switch the Question (2004–2008): The contestant earned this lifeline upon answering the tenth question. The computer replaced, at the contestant's request, one question with another of the same monetary value. Any lifelines used on the original question prior to the switching were not reinstated.
• Phone-a-Friend (1999–2010): The contestant called one of up to five friends (three after September 2008), who provided their phone numbers (and, from September 2008 until the removal of the lifeline in 2010, pictures of themselves to be displayed on the screen) in advance. The contestant had thirty seconds to read the question and answer choices to the friend, who then had the remaining time to offer input. The Phone-a-Friend lifeline was sponsored by AT&T from the beginning of the U.S. Millionaire show until the summer of 2003, and again for the 2009 ABC primetime episodes. Phone-a-Friend was temporarily removed during episodes of the syndicated version guest hosted by Regis Philbin that aired out of order in December of 2009, then it was permanently removed beginning with the episode that aired on January 11, 2010. The reasoning behind the removal of Phone-a-Friend was because the producers felt that there was an increasing trend of contestants' friends using the Internet to assist those individuals who were unfairly privileged who had computer access over those who did not, and although that was not necessarily a violation of the rules of the game, it was contrary to the original intent of that lifeline, by which friends were supposed to provide assistance based on what they already knew. In return for the removal of the Phone-a-Friend lifeline, Ask the Expert became available from the beginning of the game, rather than after the fifth question.
• Three Wise Men (2004): Used only on Super Millionaire, this lifeline allowed the contestant to ask a sequestered panel chosen by the sponsor which answer they believed was correct. The panel, consisting of three people, one being a former $1,000,000 winner on the show and at least one being female, had 30 seconds to select an answer but did not need to reach a consensus—each member of the panel was allowed to provide a different answer.
• Double Dip (2004, 2008–2010): Originally used on Super Millionaire, this lifeline allowed the contestant to make two guesses at a question. However, once the contestant confirmed use of this lifeline, the contestant was committed to playing out the question and could not walk away or use any further lifelines. This lifeline was available throughout the game (unlike in Super Millionaire, where it was only available after the contestant correctly answered question 10). The clock was frozen until contestants gave their first answer and resumed for the second answer if the first was incorrect. A second incorrect answer (or failure to give a second answer before time expired) ended the game and dropped the contestant's winnings down to the last milestone achieved. On Super Millionaire, where Double Dip was available with 50/50, it was theoretically possible for a contestant to use 50/50 and then Double Dip to get the answer correct by elimination.
• Ask the Expert (2008–2010): Similar to the Three Wise Men lifeline from Super Millionaire, this lifeline allowed the contestant to call an "expert" via live face-to-face audio and video connection sponsored by Skype. The expert could be anyone from a celebrity to a previous Millionaire contestant; experts included Bill Nye, Ogi Ogas, Alan Thicke, Jay Thomas, and Ken Jennings. The lifeline was originally available after the contestant got the fifth question correct, then moved to the beginning of the game after Phone-a-Friend was removed. Unlike Three Wise Men, there was no set time limit and the contestant and expert were allowed to discuss the question. If a video link to the expert was unavailable, the expert joined the show via phone instead.

Millionaires

Eleven contestants have answered the final question correctly and won the top prize (nine on the ABC version, two on the syndicated version). An additional two contestants won $1,000,000 without answering the final question: Robert "Bob-O" Essig on Super Millionaire, and Sam Murray in the Tournament of 10. Only one contestant, Ken Basin, has answered the $1,000,000 question incorrectly.

ABC

Seven contestants correctly answered all 15 questions and won the top prize of $1,000,000 on the ABC version. Two contestants won more than $1,000,000 during a period in which the top prize grew by $10,000 on each episode until the top prize was won. A tenth contestant, Robert Essig, won $1,000,000 after answering the twelfth question during the original Super Millionaire series of episodes, but did not reach the final question for $10,000,000.

• John Carpenter (November 19, 1999)
• Dan Blonsky (January 18, 2000)
• Joe Trela (March 23, 2000)
• Bob House (June 13, 2000)
• Kim Hunt (July 6, 2000)
• David Goodman (July 11, 2000)
• Kevin Olmstead (April 10, 2001; $2.18 million jackpot)
• Bernie Cullen (April 15, 2001)
• Ed Toutant (September 7, 2001; $1.86 million jackpot)
• Robert Essig (February 23, 2004; answered 12 questions correctly on Super Millionaire)

Syndication

Two contestants on the syndicated version have correctly answered all 15 questions and won the top prize of $1,000,000. During the Million Dollar Tournament of 10, Sam Murray, who had previously supplied correct responses for eleven questions, risked his winnings on a special $1,000,000 question.

• Kevin Smith (February 18, 2003)
• Nancy Christy (May 8, 2003)
• Sam Murray (November 11, 2009; only contestant to correctly answer his question during the Million Dollar Tournament of 10)

Spin-offs

Special editions

Various special editions and tournaments have been conducted which feature celebrities playing the game and donating winnings to charities of their choice. During celebrity editions, contestants were allowed to receive help from their fellow contestants during the first ten questions. Additionally, other special weeks have been conducted featuring two or three family members or couples competing as a team, as well as both a "Champions Edition" (where former big winners returned and split their winnings with their favorite charities) and a "Zero Dollar Winner Edition" (featuring contestants who previously missed one of the first-tier questions and left with nothing).

Other themed weeks featured college students, teachers, and brides-to-be. In addition, the syndicated version once featured an annual "Walk In & Win Week" with contestants who were randomly selected from the audience without having to take the audition test.

In February 2001, there was a Tax-Free Edition in which H&R Block calculated the taxes of winnings so the contestants could earn stated winnings after taxes.

Special weeks have also included shows featuring questions concerning specific topics, such as professional football, celebrity gossip, movies, and pop culture. During a week of episodes in November 2007, to celebrate the 1,000th episode of the syndicated Millionaire, all contestants that week started with $1,000 so that they could not leave empty-handed, and only had to answer ten questions to win $1,000,000. During that week, twenty home viewers per day also won $1,000 each.

Progressive jackpot

By January 2001, no contestant had won $1 million in the 71 shows that aired over a period of five months. The top prize was then changed from a flat $1 million to an accumulating jackpot that increased by $10,000 for each episode the top prize was not won. $710,000 was initially added to the jackpot for the previous 71 shows that produced no millionaire.

On April 10, 2001, Kevin Olmstead answered the final question correctly and won $2.18 million, making him the biggest winner in television history at the time. The top prize for answering the final question correctly returned to $1 million following Olmstead's win and has remained unchanged since. After Ed Toutant's initial appearance, in which he answered a $16,000 question containing an error, he was invited back for a second attempt to answer all 15 questions for $1.86 million, the jackpot at the time of his original appearance. Toutant completed the task and won the jackpot; his episode aired September 7, 2001.

Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire

In 2004, Philbin returned to ABC for 12 episodes of a spin-off program titled Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire in which contestants could potentially win $10,000,000. The program aired five episodes during the week of February 22, 2004 and an additional seven episodes later that year in May.

Contestants again answered a series of 15 multiple choice questions for higher dollar values.

Question number	Question value
1	$1,000
2	$2,000
3	$3,000
4	$4,000
5	$5,000
6	$10,000
7	$20,000
8	$30,000
9	$50,000
10	$100,000
11	$500,000
12	$1,000,000
13	$2,500,000
14	$5,000,000
15	$10,000,000

Contestants were given the standard three lifelines in place at the time (50/50, Ask the Audience, and Phone a Friend) at the beginning of the game. However, after correctly answering the $100,000 question, the contestant earned two additional lifelines: Three Wise Men and Double Dip. The "Three Wise Men" lifeline involved a panel of three experts, one of whom was always a former Millionaire contestant and at least one of whom was female. When this lifeline was used, the contestant and panel had thirty seconds to discuss the question and choices before the audio and video feeds were dropped.

After Super Millionaire ended, the Double Dip replaced 50:50 on the syndicated version. In addition, Switch the Question was also eliminated from the syndicated version and replaced with Ask the Expert, a modification of Three Wise Men.

Super Millionaire produced only one millionaire, Robert "Bob-O" Essig, in February 2004. He answered 12 questions to win $1,000,000, but left the game before reaching the $10,000,000 top prize.

Tenth Anniversary Special

File:WWTBAM10thAnniv.jpg

Logo of the 2009 ABC primetime version.

To celebrate Millionaire's tenth anniversary, the show returned to ABC primetime in August 2009, with Philbin hosting, for an eleven-night event. The Academy Award-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire and the 2008 economic crisis helped boost interest of renewal of the game show.

The episodes featured game play based on the previous rule set of the syndicated version (including the rule changes implemented in the seventh season) but used the Fastest Finger round to select contestants. The end of each episode also featured a celebrity guest playing a question for a chance at $50,000 for a charity of the celebrity's choice but still earning a minimum of $25,000 for the charity if the celebrity answered the question incorrectly. The celebrity was allowed to use any one of the four lifelines.

The finale of the tenth anniversary special on August 23, 2009, featured a contestant named Ken Basin, an entertainment lawyer, Harvard Law graduate, and former Jeopardy! contestant, who went on to play the first $1,000,000 question in the Clock format era. Basin was given a question involving Lyndon Baines Johnson's fondness for Fresca. Using his one remaining lifeline, Basin asked the audience, which supported his own hunch of Yoo-hoo rather than the correct answer. He decided to answer the question and lost $475,000, the first and so far only time in the U.S. version that a $1,000,000 question was answered incorrectly.

After the show’s broadcast, Basin posted an entry in his blog about his experience in the show, including why he went for Yoo-hoo. He explains that he remembers seeing a photo of LBJ meeting The Beatles and drinking a Yoo-hoo, a photo which he has not been able to find since.

Million Dollar Tournament of 10

Beginning in Season 8, in response to the show's lack of a top-prize winner since Nancy Christy in 2003, the syndicated program introduced the "Million Dollar Tournament of 10”. For the first 45 episodes of season 8, each contestant's progress was recorded, and the top ten performing contestants were seeded based on how far they progressed and, in the case of a tie, how much time they banked.

In November 2009, the top ten seeds returned one at a time at the end of each episode to answer a single question valued at $1,000,000 without the use of any lifelines. Contestants were given the opportunity to risk previous winnings in the event of an incorrect answer or walk away with their winnings from their prior appearance if they chose not to answer the question. Correctly answering the question placed the contestant in the running for the $1,000,000 prize, while incorrectly answering the question reduced the contestant's previous winnings to $25,000.

In the event that more than one contestant correctly answered the $1,000,000 question, only the top seed won the top prize.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!

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

A version of this game called Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It! was a former attraction at the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida and at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California. The game was very similar to the television version—when a show started, a "Fastest Finger" question was given, and the audience was asked to put the four answers in order. The person with the fastest time was the first contestant in the Hot Seat for that show.

Video game adaptations

Several video games based on the various different gameplay formats of Millionaire have been released during the show's run.

Jellyvision and Disney Interactive released five different adaptations of the original primetime series (three with general trivia questions, a sports-themed edition, and a "Kids Edition" featuring easier questions) between 1999 and 2001 for personal computers and Sony's PlayStation console. All five of these games featured the likeness and voice of Regis Philbin.

Versions based on the 2011 rule changes have been released—and offered on the show as prizes to audience contestants—on Nintendo's Wii console and Microsoft's Xbox 360. A Facebook game loosely based on the new rules debuted in the summer of 2010.

External links

• Official website
• Original online game
• Video-based game
• 10th Anniversary Play-at-home game rules
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US – 1999–2002) at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US – current) at IMDb
• Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire (US) at IMDb