Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (American game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (often informally called Millionaire)[a] is an American television game show based on the format of the same-titled British program created by David Briggs, Steven Knight and Mike Whitehill and developed in the United States by Michael Davies. The show features a quiz competition with contestants attempting to win a top prize of $1,000,000 by answering a series of multiple-choice questions, usually of increasing difficulty. The program has endured as one of the longest-running and most successful international variants in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
- David Briggs
- Steven Knight
- Mike Whitehill
- Mark Gentile (1999–2002)
- Matthew Cohen (2002–10)
- Rob George (2010–13)
- Brian McAloon (2013–14)
- Rich DiPirro (2014–17)
- Ron de Moraes (2017–19)
- Julia Knowles (2020)
- Joe DeMaio (2020–21)
- Keith Strachan (1999–2010, 2020–21)[1]
- Matthew Strachan (1999–2010, 2020–21)[1]
- Jeff Lippencott (2010–19)
- Mark T. Williams (2010–19)
United States
English
22 (5 on ABC, 17 in syndication)
- ABC: 388[2]
- Syndication: 3,010
- Michael Davies (1999–2010, 2020–21)
- Paul Smith (1999–2007)
- Leigh Hampton (2004–10)
- Rich Sirop (2010–14)
- James Rowley (2014–19)
- Jimmy Kimmel (2020–21)
- Mike Richards (2020)
- ABC Television Center
- New York, New York (1999–2012)
- Metropolis Studios
- New York, New York (2012–14)
- Connecticut Film Center
- Stamford, Connecticut (2014–16)
- Caesars Entertainment Studios
- Las Vegas, Nevada (2016–19)
- Sony Pictures Studios
- Culver City, California (2020–21)
39–48 minutes (1999–2002; 2004 and 2009 specials; 2020–21)
19–25 minutes (1999; 2002–19)
- Valleycrest Productions
- Celador (1999–2007)
- 2waytraffic (2007–19)
- Embassy Row (2020–21)[3]
- Kimmelot (2020–21)
August 16, 1999 –
June 27, 2002
September 16, 2002 –
May 31, 2019
ABC
April 8, 2020 –
March 21, 2021
The original US version premiered on ABC on August 16, 1999, as part of a two-week daily special event hosted by Regis Philbin. After this and a second two-week event aired in November 1999, ABC commissioned a regular series that launched on January 9, 2000, and ran until June 27, 2002. Philbin hosted the entire run of the original network series as well as two additional special event series that aired on ABC in 2004 and 2009.
A daily version of Millionaire produced for syndication began airing on September 16, 2002, and was initially hosted by Meredith Vieira. Cedric the Entertainer took over the show in 2013 following Vieira's departure, with Terry Crews replacing him in 2014. The final host of the syndicated series was Chris Harrison, who took over from Crews in 2015 and hosted until the show was canceled, with the finale airing on May 31, 2019.[4] On January 8, 2020, seven months after the cancellation was announced, ABC renewed the show for a twenty-first season, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel (who is also a co-executive producer of the show) with celebrity contestants. The twenty-first season premiered on April 8, 2020, and its success led to the show being renewed for another season.[5]
The show has had numerous format and gameplay changes over its runtime and, since its debut, twelve contestants have answered all questions correctly and won the top prize. As the first US network game show to offer a million-dollar top prize, the show made television history by becoming one of the highest-rated game shows in the history of US television. The US Millionaire won seven Daytime Emmy Awards, and TV Guide ranked it No. 6 in its 2013 list of the 60 greatest game shows of all time.
Broadcast history[edit]
ABC[edit]
The US version of Millionaire was launched by ABC as a half-hour primetime program on August 16, 1999.[69] When it premiered, it became the first US network game show to offer a million-dollar top prize to contestants.[2] After airing thirteen episodes and reaching an audience of 15 million viewers by the end of the show's first week on the air, the program expanded to an hour-long format when it returned in November.[70] The series, of which episodes were originally shown only a day after their initial taping, was promoted to regular status on January 9, 2000,[71] and, at the height of its popularity, was airing on ABC five nights a week.[72] The show was so popular during its original primetime run that rival networks created or re-incarnated game shows of their own (e.g., Greed, Twenty One, etc.), as well as importing various game shows of British and Australian origin to America (such as Winning Lines, Weakest Link, and It's Your Chance of a Lifetime).
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 No. 1 in the ratings against all other television shows, with 28,848,000 viewers. In the next season (2000–01), three nights out of the five weekly episodes placed in the top 10 and all five ranked in the top 20. However, the show's ratings began to fall during the 2000–01 season, so that at the start of the 2001–02 season, the ratings were only a fraction of what they had been one year before, and by season's end, the show was no longer even ranked among the top 20. ABC's reliance on the show's popularity led the network to fall quickly from its former spot as the nation's most watched network.
As ABC's overexposure of the primetime Millionaire led the public to tire of the show, there was speculation that the show would not survive beyond the 2001–02 season. The staff planned on switching it to a format which would emphasize comedy more than the game and feature a host other than Philbin,[73] but in the end, the primetime show was canceled, with its final episode airing on June 27, 2002.[74]
On May 8, 2003 (the same day that Nancy Christy became the second top-prize winner on the syndicated version), ABC broadcast footage from Charles Ingram's run on the British version of Millionaire as a special episode of Primetime Thursday with Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer, called "Who Wants to Steal a Million?"; the documentary was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on April 21, 2003, as a special episode of Tonight with Trevor McDonald that was presented by Martin Bashir, who was filling in for Trevor McDonald, called "Major Fraud", as in which some of the footage from that particular episode is used. During that program, Ingram was interviewed by Diane Sawyer, who was solely hosting the episode upon Charles Gibson's night off.[75] Both of these were broadcast from the set at Elstree Studios in London.
Syndication[edit]
In 2001, Millionaire producers began work on a half-hour daily syndicated version of the show, with producer Buena Vista Television (BVT) serving as distributor. Although it was initially conceived as an accompaniment to the ABC network series, this did not come to fruition due to ABC's decision to cancel the game show in 2002. Despite this, there was still significant interest in having Millionaire on the air in some form and enough stations were interested in carrying the syndicated daily series that it was cleared for launch in the fall of 2002. On September 16, the new daily Millionaire premiered.[24][74]
Right away, it found itself having similar ratings issues to its former network counterpart. Slow progress in the ratings led to some stations dropping the series outright several months into its first year, while others relocated Millionaire to less than desirable timeslots such as late night. With the series potentially looking at a second cancellation notice within twelve months, a series of moves involving the syndicated series’ largest affiliate, the ABC network, and their flagship station resulted in the show getting a reprieve.
When BVT initially sold Millionaire into syndication, the largest market station to come on board was WCBS-TV in New York, the flagship of the CBS network. Looking to bolster its offerings in the two hours between the end of CBS' daytime schedule and its first evening newscast of the day, which had been an ongoing problem for the station for years, Millionaire was one of two major additions to WCBS' lineup for the 2002–2003 season. The station gave it the 4:00 p.m. weekday timeslot that had housed Weakest Link,[76][77] a syndicated version of another network primetime quiz show (in this case, produced by NBC) that had launched in January 2002.
The timeslot, at the time, was a fairly competitive one. WABC-TV had been airing The Oprah Winfrey Show, which had consistently been the most popular daytime talk show, there since December 1986. WNBC at the time carried Judge Judy, which was the second-highest rated program in daytime syndication behind Oprah. Millionaire was unable to cut into the audience for either program, despite having the other major WCBS acquisition, the talk show Dr. Phil, as its lead in. WCBS again decided to switch its lineup.
In April 2003, with the season in its final weeks, WCBS announced its addition of The People's Court to its lineup for fall 2003 after the revived series had aired since its 1997 debut on WNBC.[78] WCBS announced that The People's Court would be airing at 4:00 p.m. once it joined the station's lineup, which meant that Millionaire would be forced out of the timeslot after one year. BVT tried to negotiate with WCBS for another timeslot but the station had other obligations and thus could not accommodate them. This left BVT in a tough spot as far as New York was concerned, as all of the other stations had somewhat full daytime and Prime Access schedules as well. However, shortly after the first season came to an end, circumstances at the show's former network home allowed for a new option to become available.[78]
ABC announced in July 2003 that it would be ceasing programming the 12:30 p.m. timeslot and cancelling the serial that had occupied that slot since 1997, the General Hospital spin-off Port Charles. Since network flagship WABC now had a free space in its daytime schedule, they agreed to take on Millionaire for its second season. Although ABC's contract to air Port Charles ran until October 3, 2003, WABC was able to begin airing Millionaire at 12:30 immediately and moved the serial to late night.[79] ABC was impressed enough with the ratings improvement that the network, with one or two exceptions (WLS-TV in Chicago and KABC-TV in Los Angeles, though the latter would eventually add the series) picked up Millionaire for the other stations it owned.
Following the 2014–15 season, Millionaire was nearly canceled after a disagreement with BVT's successor, Disney-ABC Domestic Television, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, the owner of the format rights through its subsidiary 2waytraffic.[80] According to e-mails released in the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack, Millionaire's declining ratings prompted DADT to demand a dramatically reduced licensing fee for renewal, which SPE was hesitant to accept. The two sides eventually agreed on terms for renewal, which included a return to the original question format (but with fourteen questions) and cuts to the production budget, which resulted in the series leaving New York for Stamford, Connecticut (although this had been done in 2014) and later moving to Las Vegas.[81] Had the show not been renewed, SPE was going to place the show on extended hiatus for three years, after which it would reclaim full rights to the show and be free to shop the revived show to another network or syndicator. DADT, meanwhile, would keep the rights to the format changes made in the late 2000s and early 2010s.[82]
Despite its renewal, many of the stations airing Millionaire, especially the ABC-owned stations, added the talk show FABLife for 2015. When FABlife failed to gain an audience and was canceled at midseason, Millionaire was able to return to many of its former airing times for 2016; beginning that year, Millionaire and the viral video show RightThisMinute began being sold as a package to ABC stations.
On January 17, 2017, it was announced that Millionaire has been renewed through 2018.[83] Millionaire was subsequently renewed through the 2018–19 season on January 17, 2018.[84]
As the seventeenth season progressed, the future of Millionaire became uncertain. Its strongest group of stations, the ABC-owned stations, had announced that they would be picking up a new talk show hosted by former NBC News anchor and correspondent Tamron Hall for Fall 2019, making no announcement about the future of Millionaire with it; thus, it was speculated that the series would likely be facing its end. On May 17, 2019, the cancellation announcement came down, with Millionaire airing its final first-run episode on May 31, 2019.[85]
Just over a year later, another shakeup involving Disney properties gave the series life again. As part of their acquisition of 21st Century Fox's broadcasting assets in 2019, Disney became the syndicator for series that were previously distributed by Fox through its subsidiary 20th Television. This included syndicated reruns of the first twenty-five seasons of the TV series Cops. In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, first-run episodes were canceled by the series' current producer, Paramount Network, as were all reruns. Disney responded by immediately removing all of the episodes of Cops under its control from local stations. Many of the stations airing the rerun package were offered reruns from the final season of the syndicated version of Millionaire as a replacement and many took them up on the offer.[86]
GSN[edit]
Game Show Network (GSN) acquired the rerun rights to the US Millionaire in August 2003.[87] The network initially aired only episodes from the three seasons of the original prime-time run; however, additional episodes were later added. These included the Super Millionaire spin-off,[88] which aired on GSN from May 2005 to January 2007, and the first two seasons of the syndicated version, which began airing on November 10, 2008.[89] On December 4, 2017, GSN acquired the rerun rights to the Harrison episodes of Millionaire (seasons fourteen and fifteen), which began airing December 18, 2017.[90][91]
Reception[edit]
Since its introduction to the United States, GSN credited Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with not only single-handedly reviving the game show genre, but also breaking new ground for it.[2] The series revolutionized the look and feel of game shows with its unique lighting system, dramatic music cues, and futuristic set. The show also became one of the highest-rated and most popular game shows in US television history, and has been credited with paving the way for the rise of the primetime reality TV phenomenon to prominence throughout the 2000s.[2][70]
The US Millionaire also made catchphrases out of various lines used on the show. In particular, "Is that your final answer?", asked by Millionaire's hosts whenever a contestant's answer needs to be verified, was popularized by Philbin during his tenure as host,[74] and was also included on TV Land's special "100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catch Phrases", which aired in 2006.[120] Meanwhile, during his tenure as host, Cedric signed off shows with a catchphrase of his own, "Watch yo' wallet!"[44]
The original primetime version of the US Millionaire won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show in 2000 and 2001. Philbin was honored with a Daytime Emmy in the category of Outstanding Game Show Host in 2001, while Vieira received one in 2005, and another in 2009.[121] TV Guide ranked the US Millionaire #7 on its 2001 list of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time,[122] and later ranked it #6 on its 2013 "60 Greatest Game Shows" list.[123] GSN ranked Millionaire #5 on its August 2006 list of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time,[124] and later honored the show in January 2007 on its only Gameshow Hall of Fame special.[2]
Other media[edit]
Merchandise[edit]
In 2000, Pressman released two board game adaptions of Millionaire[125][126] as well as a junior edition recommended for younger players.[127] Several video games based on the varying gameplay formats of Millionaire have also been released throughout the course of the show's US history.
Between 1999 and 2001, Jellyvision produced five video game adaptations based upon the original primetime series for personal computers and Sony's PlayStation console, all of them featuring Philbin's likeness and voice. The first of these adaptations was published by Disney Interactive, while the later four were published by Buena Vista Interactive which had just been spun off from DI when it reestablished itself in attempts to diversify its portfolio. Of the five games, three featured general trivia questions,[128][129][130] one was sports-themed,[131] and another was a "Kids Edition" featuring easier questions.[132] In 2007, Imagination Games released a DVD version of the show, based on the 2004–08 format and coming complete with Vieira's likeness and voice,[133] as well as a quiz book[134] and a 2009 desktop calendar.[135] Additionally, two Millionaire video games were released by Ludia in conjunction with Ubisoft in 2010 and 2011; the first of these was a game for Nintendo's Wii console and DS handheld system based on the clock format,[136] while the second, for Microsoft's Xbox 360, was based on the shuffle format.[137]
Ludia made a Facebook game based on Millionaire available from 2011 to 2016. This game featured an altered version of the shuffle format, condensing the number of questions to twelve—eight in round one and four in round two. Contestants competed against eight other Millionaire fans in round one, with the top three playing round two alone. There was no "final answer" rule; the contestant's responses were automatically locked in. Answering a question correctly earned a contestant the value of that question, multiplied by the number of people who responded incorrectly. Contestants were allowed to use two of their Facebook friends as Jump the Question lifelines in round one, and to use the Ask the Audience lifeline in round two to invite up to 50 such friends of theirs to answer a question for a portion of the prize money of the current question.[138]
In September 2018, Sony Entertainment, in collaboration with Uken Inc., released a mobile edition of Millionaire for iOS and Android. The rules are similar to the 2015-2019 format of Millionaire, though this version features fifteen questions and a 30-second time limit for each question. Additionally, the money tree is based on the 2009-2010 tree on the syndicated version of the show. Players can unlock new cities and win prizes as they progress through the game.[139][140]
In December 2023, Sony Pictures Television released a mobile version of Millionaire for iOS based on the original 1999-2008 format of the show. This version also includes the addition of Switch the Question as a fourth lifeline which can be used from the start of the game. Players are also able to play a “Champions” edition of Millionaire, which features questions that have been used on-air since the show began.[141]
Album[edit]
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: The Album (Celador Records), by Keith Strachan, Matthew Strachan, and various artists, was released August 1, 2000, and features songs based on the show.[142]
