Back in August 1999, the hit UK quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Made its debut on ABC and the world of game shows would never be the same. The premise is simple, answer 15 general-knowledge questions correctly and earn yourself one million dollars. The late Regis Philbin served as host and made the show must-see television every night it was on.
The show would go from primetime to syndication and see five different main hosts during its original time on air. The history of Millionaire is a long one, so from its rise and fall to its recent comeback, here’s a crash course in the story of the legendary quiz show.
Beginnings
Originally premiering on ITV in the United Kingdom in September 1998 with host Chris Tarrant, the show was unlike anything the world had ever seen from a game show. The set looked like a spaceship out of a sci-fi movie, the lighting and music cues created drama in and of itself, the tension was palpable from Tarrant as he revealed the answers, and the intimacy of it all instantly captured the imagination of anyone who watched it across the nation.
At the time, the game started with ten contestants all in with the chance to play in the hot seat for the million. To determine who will play they are given a “Fastest Finger First” question where, on their keypad, they must enter the correct order of the answers given in the fastest time. Whoever is correct, the fastest plays on for the top prize. There they must answer fifteen multiple-choice questions correctly in order to win. If they get stuck, they are given three “lifelines” to help them out. 50:50 eliminates two out of the four possible answers, Phone A Friend where the contestant can call someone they know to help answer, and Ask the Audience where the audience is polled in real-time on what they think the answer is. Each lifeline may only be used once and once they reach either the 1,000 or 32,000 marks, they cannot leave with any less than that should they get a question wrong.
Hearing that the show was to debut in his native UK, producer Michael Davies asked his relatives to record the first episode and send it to him in the US. After receiving a tape from eight different relatives, he was enthralled with what he saw and began work on an American version. After initially getting rejected by ABC, Davies later pitched the show again to the network with Regis Philbin attached to host, and was greenlit.
American Success
When the show hit the US, the American people felt the same way the British did and quickly became a huge success launching Philbin, who was primarily known for daytime, into a primetime legend. It first aired in August 1999 as a two-week event airing each night, and reached 15 million viewers by the end of the first week and returned for another two weeks in November, now expanded to an hour-long show.
Due to the success of the show, ABC would air Millionaire three nights a week and get monster ratings doing it early into its run. Though, the ratings would begin to slump in due time as audience fatigue would set in after the network’s overexposure of the show. Constantly airing in primetime, products, games, a Disney theme park attraction, and Regis would even have his own line of ties. Eventually, the show would end in primetime airing its last episode in June 2002. The show did however return for a special 10th Anniversary run on ABC in 2009, with Philbin returning as host, using most of the daytime format that was on at the time.
Syndication
Three months after the show ended in primetime, the show entered syndication in September 2002 with new host Meredith Vieira. Gone was Fastest Finger First and the show returned to a half-hour. Vieira's run would see a shift in 2008 where the show would adopt a clock format where contestants would have to answer within a short time limit. Towards the end, Vieira’s tenure would see another change in format where the first ten questions were “shuffled” between different money amounts and categories of questions. Vieira would end her time on Millionaire at the beginning of 2013 and was succeeded by Cedric the Entertainer would host for one season to be followed by Terry Crews who would also host for one season.
Downfall
After sluggish ratings, Millionaire was nearly canceled after the 2014-15 season until a new host and format were introduced. Chris Harrison took over the proceedings and a new 14-question format made the show more similar to when it debuted in syndication. While Harrison and the show would continue for four more years and see an uptick in ratings, the ultimate demise would come after ratings would fall. By the end of the show’s 18-year run, it was almost unrecognizable from what started in primetime, and even its start in syndication. The hot seat had long been removed, the iconic lighting and music cues gone. The intimacy just wasn't there. Syndicated Millionaire was canceled in May 2019 and would air its final episode at the end of the month.
Revival
In January, just a mere seven months after the cancellation of the show in syndication, ABC announced a primetime celebrity revival of Millionaire to be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. Filmed in mid-March without an audience and premiering in April, well-known faces from Eric Stonestreet to Anderson Cooper played the game for charity. The new version borrows heavily from the recent UK revival with Jeremy Clarkson, which premiered in May 2018, using a similar set, graphics, and even a new lifeline Ask the Host. Once again produced by Davies, the show will return for a second season this fall with people who work on the front lines during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
For those who watched when Regis reigned, this Kimmel-front version was a welcomed revival. While no one could touch Philbin’s knack for hosting, most everything that made the original and more returned. From the hot seat to the legendary music, it felt what the show should be like in the new decade. However, they opted not to go for a Fastest Finger First round but did include a new element that allowed the celebrity contestant to bring “the smartest person they know” to help them for the first 10 questions.
The show would see 13 million-dollar winners during its initial primetime and syndicated run with its last in 2009. While we wait for its return this fall, it’s safe to say Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is back for generations old and new.