Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a televisiongame show which offers very large cash prizes for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by the British production company Celador. The maximum cash prize (in the original British version) is one million pounds; in the American version, the top prize is one million U.S. dollars. Most international versions offer a top prize of one million units of the local currency, though the actual value of the prize varies widely, depending on the currency's exchange rate.
The programme originated in the United Kingdom, where it is hosted by Chris Tarrant. It is based on a format devised by David Briggs, who, along with Steve Knight and Mike Whitehill, devised a number of the promotional games for Chris Tarrant's breakfast show on Capital FM radio. The original working title for the show was Cash Mountain.
When it first aired in the UK on September 4, 1998, it was a surprising twist on the gameshow genre. Only one contestant plays at a time (similar to some radio quizzes), and the emphasis is on suspense rather than speed. There is no time limit to answer questions, and contestants are given the question before they must decide whether to attempt an answer.
Ironically, given the large prizes that it offers, the show is named after a 1956 Cole Porter song[citation needed] from the film High Society which emphasized the desirability of love over material possessions: "Who wants to be a millionaire? I don't. / And I don't 'cause all I want is you."
In 2000, a board game based on the hit television series of the same name, titled Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, was released by Pressman Toys.
In March 2006, Celador announced that it was seeking to sell the worldwide rights to the show, together with the UK programme library, as the first phase of a sell-off of the company's format and production divisions. Dutch company 2WayTraffic is now in the process of acquiring Millionaire and the rest of Celador's programme library.
Contents
1Stage
2Rules
3Lifelines
4Origin
4.1Disputed claims of creation
5Miscellaneous
6National variants
6.1United Kingdom
6.2Other countries
7Million winners
7.1Australia
7.2Bulgaria
7.3Chile
7.4Colombia
7.5Croatia
7.6Ecuador
7.7Germany
7.8Hong Kong
7.9Hungary
7.10India
7.11Israel
7.12Italy
7.13Japan
7.14Kazakhstan
7.15Latvia
7.16Middle East and North Africa
7.17Netherlands
7.18Philippines
7.19Portugal
7.20Russia
7.21Slovenia
7.22South Africa
7.23Sweden
7.24Spain
7.25Ukraine
7.26United Kingdom
7.27United States (prime time and syndicated versions)
8See also
9External links
9.1Original United Kingdom version
9.2National variants
9.3Miscellaneous
9.4Internet Movie Database pages
Stage
The show is filmed in front of a studio audience who are arranged in circular tiers around a pit in which the action takes place. At the beginning of each show, the host introduces a group of ten contestants (5 in the Taiwanese version, 6 in the Bulgarian, Finnish and Icelandic versions and 8 in the Armenian, Macedonian, Latvian and Nigerian versions), giving their names and where they are from. Each contestant brings along a friend, partner or relative (not to be confused with the phone-a-friend explained later), who sits in the audience and, if the contestant progresses, is periodically shown on camera looking pleased, excited, nervous etc.
Rules
The contestants first have to undergo a preliminary round, called "Fastest Finger First", where they are all given a question and four answers from the host, and are asked to put those four answers into a particular order. (In the very first series of the British version, and until the end of the 2003 season in the Australian version, "Fastest Finger First" required the contestants to answer one multiple choice question correctly as quickly as possible.) The contestant who does this correctly and in the fastest time goes on to sit in the chair (the "hotseat") and play for the maximum possible prize (often a million in the local currency, though this depends on its value). This segment was cut after Meredith Vieira took over the US version as it moved to daytime TV.
Once in the hotseat, the contestant is asked increasingly difficult general knowledge questions by the host. Questions are multiple choice: four possible answers are given and the contestant must choose the correct one. On answering the first question correctly, the contestant wins £100 (in the UK – other countries vary the currency but have the same basic format).
Subsequent questions are played for increasingly large sums (roughly doubling at each turn). During the first few questions, choice D is often a joke answer. The complete sequence of prizes is as follows:
£100
£200
£300
£500
£1,000
£2,000
£4,000
£8,000
£16,000
£32,000
£64,000
£125,000
£250,000
£500,000
£1,000,000
These prizes are not cumulative; for example, for answering the first three questions correctly the contestant wins £300, not £100 + £200 + £300 = £600.
After viewing a question, the contestant can "walk away" and "take the money" that they have already won, rather than attempting an answer. If the contestant answers a question incorrectly, then they lose all the money they have won, except that the £1,000 and £32,000 prizes are guaranteed: if a player gets a question wrong above these levels, then they drop down only to the previous guaranteed prize. This means that the player can always attempt the £2,000 and £64,000 questions without fear, since they are guaranteed the previous amount even if they get the answer wrong.
The game ends when the contestant answers a question incorrectly, decides not to answer a question, or answers all fifteen questions correctly, thus winning the top prize of £1,000,000.
In the United States, since the fall of 2004, the $32,000 level has been reduced to $25,000, the $64,000 to $50,000 and the $125,000 to $100,000.
Lifelines
If at any point the contestant is unsure of the answer to a question, he or she can use one or more "lifelines". After using lifelines, contestants can either answer the question, use another lifeline, or walk away and keep the money (except for the Double Dip lifeline).
Fifty-Fifty (50/50): The contestant asks the host to have the computer randomly eliminate two of the incorrect answer choices, leaving the contestant with a choice between the correct answer and one incorrect one from which to select.
Contestants who verbally debate between two answers, then elect to use the 50/50, will very often wind up with those two answers left, assuming one was correct. The American primetime host, Regis Philbin, often explained that the wrong answer left behind is usually the second best answer. On the other hand, the syndicated host Meredith Vieira frequently tells the computer to "randomly take away two wrong answers" when the 50/50 is used (although some more superstitious players seem to believe that the computer heard them while they were thinking aloud). The official line is that, in early series of the UK version, the eliminated answers were pre-selected by the question setters, but all versions of the show now eliminate random wrong answers, in the interest of fairness.
Ask the Audience: The contestant asks the studio audience which answer they believe is correct. Members of the studio audience indicate their choices using an audience response system. The results of the audience's vote is immediately displayed on the contestant's and host's screens.
In the syndicated U.S. version, the question was also asked through AOL Instant Messenger to those who have signed up to answer questions for this lifeline. The contestant saw the audience and AOL responses as two different bar graphs displayed on his or her screen. This was discontinued beginning with the 2006-2007 season.
Phone-A-Friend: Contestants may call one of up to five pre-arranged friends. The contestant must provide the five friends' names and phone numbers in advance. The friends are alerted when their contestant reaches the hotseat, and are told to keep the phone free and to wait for three rings before answering. The contestant has thirty seconds to read the four choices to the friend who must select an answer before the time runs out. Phone-a-friends often express their certainty as a percentage ("I am 80% sure it's C.") In the event that a contestant has a disability which affects his or her ability to use this lifeline without assistance, the contestant will have the option of having the host read the question and answer choices to the friend, and obtain an answer from them. Phone-a-friends may not be called on cellular phones, and individuals participating as phone-a-friends may do so only twice during any given broadcast season of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
In February 2004, the U.S. launched a short-lived spinoff known as Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire. On this particular version, two new lifelines were introduced, but they were only available after a contestant cleared the $100,000 question (the tenth question in this version):
Three Wise Men: The contestant asks a sequestered panel chosen by the sponsor which answer they believe is correct. The panel, consisting of three people, one being a former million-dollar-winner of the show, has thirty seconds to select an answer but does not need to reach a consensus—each member of the panel may provide a different answer. This lifeline is also used in the Russian version of the show though it can be used on any of the 15 questions.
Double Dip: The contestant can give two answers for a question. However, once a contestant elects to use the Double Dip lifeline, the contestant cannot walk away from the question. The contestant must indicate and confirm that he or she intends to use this lifeline before giving a first answer. If the first answer is incorrect, the contestant gives another answer—but if the second answer is also wrong, then the contestant will leave with only $100,000. If the first answer given is correct, the lifeline is still considered to have been used. Using a Double Dip after a 50/50 essentially gives the contestant a free shot at the question. The 50/50 eliminates all but two of the choices, and the Double Dip gives two chances to select the correct answer, ensuring a correct answer. The combination of 50/50 and Double Dip has never been used on the show, though.
In 2004, the syndicated U.S. version introduced another new lifeline:
Switch the Question: This lifeline becomes available only after the contestant has correctly answered the $25,000 question. If the contestant has not indicated final answer on the revealed question, this lifeline entitles the contestant to switch out the original question for another question of the same value. Once the contestant elects to use this lifeline, he or she cannot return to the original question. In addition, any lifelines used by the contestant while attempting to answer the original revealed question prior to the question switch will not be reinstated. This lifeline has also been used in occasional specials of the UK show, but referred to as Flip. It is now used in the American, Arabic, French, Greek, Israeli, Indonesian, Indian and Norwegian versions of the show.
Origin
The game has similarities with the 1950s show The 64,000 Dollar Question. In that show the money won would also double with each question, and if the wrong answer was given all the money was lost. Contestants would get a free car as a consolation prize if they had reached at least $8,000.
In the 1990s, future Who Wants to be a Millionaire? executive producer Michael Davies attempted to revive Question as The $640,000 Question for ABC, before abandoning that effort in favor of the British hit.
Disputed claims of creation
Since the show launched, several individuals have claimed that they originated the format and that Celador have appropriated their intellectual property.
Sponsored by the Daily Mail, Mike Bull, a Southampton-based journalist, took Celador to the High Court in March 2002 claiming authorship of the Lifelines. Celador settled out of court with a confidentiality clause.
In 2003 Sydney resident John J Leonard also claimed to have originated a format substantially similar to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (although it had no LifeLines). He has to date been unable to raise the minimum quarter of a million pounds a non-UK resident needs to finance legal action against Celador in the High Court. In an effort to finance his case he published a detailed account of how he created the show.[1][2]
In 2004, Alan Melville and John Baccini sued Celador over a similar claim. On that occasion Celador reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with both men.[3]
The series also established a catchphrase with "Is that your final answer?" This question derived from a rule requirement that the player must clearly indicate his or her choice before it would be made official (since the nature of the game allowed the player to think aloud about the options before committing to an answer.) Many parodies of the game show capitalized on this phrase. (In the game, players could preempt the question by themselves stating "final answer" or some variant, and this is common during the early questions of each round; sometimes it is not even enforced during the early questions, although after realizing that some contestants could manage to answer the first few questions incorrectly, the "final answer" rule is employed throughout the entire show). Another hallmark of the show is the use of dramatic pauses before the host acknowledged whether or not the answer was correct. The pauses tended to become more tense the higher the amount of money on the line. Occasionally, if it is time to go for an advert break, Chris Tarrant will take the final answer but not announce if it is right until after the break.
There is also a Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
All payouts on this version are made via credit card. The prize values are: 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 8,000, 16,000, 32,000, 64,000, 125,000, 250,000, 500,000, 1,000,000, 2,000,000, 3,000,000, 5,000,000 Has a smaller set then any other verson
Formerly hosted by Eddie McGuire (April 18, 1999 - April 3, 2006), Australia's Millionaire aired once weekly on Nine Network. It was virtually identical in format to the British original. McGuire hosted a daily edition of the show in 2004, but the expanded format was cancelled after just 2 weeks. Rob "Coach" Fulton became the show's first millionaire on Monday, October 172005. Just four weeks later, on Monday November 142005, Martin Flood became the second million dollar winner. Several big wins by "professional" game show contestants who spent thousands of dollars ringing the competition line to get on the show led to a rule change in 2003 – only one phone call per person per week is now permitted. The show is now on hold until they can find a new host (McGuire was made CEO of the Nine Network early in 2006, although he has since returned to the air as host of Nine Network's game show 1 vs. 100, adding uncertainty to the future of the Australian version of Millionaire). Thanks to TV ads, rumor has it that Paul "Fatty" Vautin of "The Footy Show (NRL)" may be the new host. Vautin has denied this. New Zealand residents are allowed to enter, as the show is aired there as well.
Uses the Cologne (Germany) set, which may cause problems for contestants who would like to ask the audience if the question happens to be about Austrian trivia.
There was one winner in 2002 but eventually it was discovered that he was the father of a woman hosting a show in Nova Television, so he had to return all the money back.
Prize Progression (w/o the final): 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500, 3,000, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000, 50,000. It was earlier filmed in Romania.
CTV network aired the United States (primetime) version for most of its run. But the Canadian Edition was taped on the ABC set in New York. A Canadian audience was flown to the city for the shows, so the contestants could ask the audience for help on the Canadian-themed questions. Following the airing of the two specials, CTV did announce that additional episodes of the Canadian Edition would be produced in Toronto, but they never came to fruition as the US ratings took a huge downfall. The syndicated American version can be seen in Canada on local Citytv or A-Channel stations, depending on region, in the evening, as well as through American channel feeds. It is also shown on ASN during the daytime.
Georgia suffers frequent power cuts—sometimes as frequently as every five minutes—so it can take a day to record a whole episode. Another obstacle is the studio, which is very basic—the lift carries only five people at a time, so getting the host, contestants, crew and audience into position is a laborious task.
The 600th show was screened on October 62006. The show is produced in Cologne. The prize structure goes like this: €50, €100, €200, €300, €500, €1,000, €2,000, €4,000, €8,000, €16,000, €32,000, €64,000, €125,000, €500,000, €1,000,000
The rules of the new series have changed and there is now an option after the first milestone (€1000) to switch to another question but in doing so, one lifeline of the player's choice is sacrificed.
The first series debuted on April 29, 2001, and was popular enough for a second series to begin airing on July 22, 2002. The first millionaire was the team with famous composer Wong Jim and actress Fung Po Po. The Hong Kong-produced version is also shown in China, and it therefore had to pass Chinese government censors. The program generated high enough ratings that at one point, the channel was showing fresh episodes every day of the week. Asia Television, the broadcasting network, was swamped with commercials during the hour the program aired.
1 crore = 10 million in Indian numerals. It is considered one of the most successful shows on Indian TV and is watched around the world by Indian diaspora, as well as by people from Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Mauritius, Fiji, East Africa, the UK, the US, etc. After the first episode had been broadcast, Star TV received 20 million phone calls from fans across the world.
A limited 85 episode series was ordered. The show was abruptly canceled before the order was completed due to host Amitabh Bachchan falling sick. As a result, one contestant was left with his game uncompleted until the show returned in 2007.
In Indonesian milyar means "billion" – million being juta. There have been two contestants who left with 500 million rupiahs (but have not tried for the billion-rupiah prize).
Prize Progression: 100,000, 500,000, 1,000,000, 1,500,000, 3,000,000, 5,000,000, 10,000,000, 20,000,000, 50,000,000, 100,000,000, 200,000,000, 500,000,000, 1,000,000,000, 2,000,000,000, 3,000,000,000. The "Switch the Question" lifeline is present in this version and is awarded after the first lock-in.
Ran until mid-2002, when the sponsoring mobile phone company withdrew. Without a sponsor, the show was deemed unviable – and the expensive set put into storage. The biggest winner was Roger Dowds, who won $250,000 in 2001.
Prize Progression (w/o the final): 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, 50,000, 100,000, 150,000, 250,000, 500,000, 750,000, 1,000,000, 1,500,000, 2,500,000, 5,000,000, 7,500,000, 10,000,000. The rules are the same as the original. Presenter Mino Monta uses the English phrases from the original show, such as "Fainaru ansah" (Final Answer?) in the quiz. The Phone-a-Friend lifeline is also done differently-- four supporters of the contestant are off-stage, and when the contestant picks that lifeline, they are the ones who hear the question and four possible answers (therefore, there is no "Phone-a-Friend" list that most other versions' contestants use). They are also there to split up the cash prizes of ¥2,500,000, ¥5,000,000, ¥7,500,000, and the grand prize of ¥10,000,000 among the contestant if the contestant leaves with any of these prizes (as it is illegal in Japan for a game show to give away a cash prize of more than ¥2,000,000 to one contestant alone).
Here there are two versions of the game in different languages. The prize tree goes like this: 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 40,000, 80,000, 150,000, 300,000, 600,000, 1,250,000, 2,500,000, 5,000,000.
Prize Progression (w/o the final): 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 125, 250, 500, 1,250, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000. The show is filmed in the Lithuanian set. 20,000 lats is 2 million santims (equivalent of cents)
