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. (1998–2007). (2007–). (2008–) Films and television Television series Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (see ) Audio Original music Scores composed by and Miscellaneous Theme park attractions (U.S.) Running time 30–150 minutes (per episode, depending on the version) First aired 4 September 1998 ( 1998-09-04) Distributor Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (abbreviated WWTBAM and informally known as simply Millionaire) is an international television franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill.
In its format, currently owned and licensed by, contestants tackle a series of multiple-choice questions to win large cash prizes, with the format being a twist on the game show genre – only one contestant plays at a time, similar to radio quizzes; contestants are given the question before attempting an answer, and have no time limit to answer questions; and the amount offered increases as they tackle questions that become increasingly difficult. The maximum cash prize offered in most versions of the format is one million of the local currency. The debuted on 4 September 1998 on the network and was aired until its final episode on 11 February 2014; a revived series of seven episodes to commemorate its 20th anniversary aired from 5 to 11 May 2018. The revival received mostly positive reviews from critics and fans, as well as high viewing figures, leading ITV to renew the show for another series. Since its debut, international variants of the game show have been aired in around 160 countries worldwide. Contents.
History The format of the show was created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight, who had earlier created a number of the promotional games for Tarrant's on radio, such as the. Tentatively known as Cash Mountain, the show took its finalised title from a written by for the 1956 film, starring. Since the original version launched, several individuals have claimed that they originated the format and that Celador had breached their and took the production company to court, but each claim was later settled out-of-court on an agreement/settlement.
In March 2006, original producer announced that it was seeking to sell the worldwide rights to Millionaire, together with the rest of its British programme library, as the first phase of a sell-off of the company's format and production divisions. The idea to transform the UK programme into a global franchise was conceived by British television producer Paul Smith. He laid out a series of rules that the international variants in the franchise were to follow: for example, all hosts were required to appear on-screen wearing suits, as Tarrant did in the UK; producers were forbidden from hiring local composers to create original music, instead using the same music cues used by the British version; and the lighting system and set design were required to adhere faithfully to the way they were presented on the British version. However, some of Smith's rules have been slightly relaxed over the years as the franchise's history has progressed. Millionaire and all of Celador's other programmes were ultimately acquired by Dutch company. Two years later, purchased 2waytraffic for £137.5 million. The format of the show is currently owned and licensed by; however, the U.S.
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Version is distributed not by Sony but by 's in-home sales and content distribution firm,. Gameplay Rules A group of contestants on each episode play a preliminary round called 'Fastest Finger First'.
All are given a question by the host and four answers which must be placed within a particular order; in the original version and pre-2003 episodes of the Australian version, contestants have to simply answer a multiple-choice question. If any contestants are visually impaired, the host reads the question and four choices all at once, then repeats the choices after the music for this round begins. The contestant who not only answers correctly, but in the fastest time, goes on to play the main game.
In the event that no one gets the question right, another question is given; if two or more contestants answer correctly but with the same time, they are given a tie-breaker amongst them to determine who will move on. This round is only used when a new contestant is being chosen to play the main round, and can be played more than once in an episode amongst those remaining within the group seeking to play the main game.
In celebrity editions, the round is not used; celebrities automatically take part in the main game. Once a contestant enters the main game, they are asked increasingly difficult general knowledge questions by the host. Each features four possible answers, in which the contestant must give the correct answer. Doing so wins them a certain amount of money, with tackling much tougher questions increasing their prize fund.
During their game, the player has a set of lifelines that they may use only once to help them with a question, as well as two 'safety nets' – if a contestant gets a question wrong, but had reached a designated cash value during their game, they will leave with that amount as their prize. While the first few questions are generally easy, subsequent ones after them will prompt the host to ask if the answer they gave is their 'final answer' – if it is, then it is locked in and cannot be changed. If a contestant feels unsure about an answer, and does not wish to play on, they can walk away with the money they have won, to which the host will ask them to confirm this as their final decision; in such cases, the host will usually ask them to state what answer they would have gone for, and reveal if it would have been correct or incorrect. Original format During the British original, between 1998 and 2007, the show's format focused on fifteen questions. Chris Tarrant was host of the original British version, from its debut in September 1998, until its final episode in February 2014 debuted in Britain on 4 September 1998, with episodes broadcast on the network. When it began airing, the show was hosted by, and became an instant hit – at its peak in 1999, one edition of the show was watched by over 19 million viewers.
While most of the contestants were predominantly members of the general public who had applied to take part, the show later featured special celebrity editions during its later years, often coinciding with holidays and special events. On 22 October 2013, Tarrant decided to quit the show after hosting it for 15 years. His decision led ITV to subsequently make plans to cancel the programme at the end of his contract, with no further specials being made other than those that were already planned. Tarrant's final episode was a special entitled 'Chris' Final Answer', which aired on 11 February 2014. Four years later, ITV revived the programme for a special 7-episode series, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the British original. This series of special episodes was hosted by and aired every evening between 6 May and 11 May 2018. The revival received mostly positive reviews from critics and fans, and, as well as high viewing figures, led to ITV renewing the show for another series with Clarkson returning as host.
International versions. TV studio of, the version of the show.
The basic set design used in the Millionaire franchise was conceived by British, and is the most reproduced scenic design in television history. Unlike older game shows whose sets are or were designed to make the contestant(s) feel at ease, Millionaire 's set was designed to make the contestant feel uncomfortable, so that the programme feels more like a than a typical quiz show. The floor is made of beneath which lies a huge dish covered in mirror paper.
The main game typically has the contestant and host sit in 'Hot Seats', which are slightly-modified, 3 foot (0.91 m)-high Pietranera Arco All chairs situated in the centre of the stage; an computer monitor directly facing each seat displays questions and other pertinent information. The lighting system is programmed to darken the set as the contestant progresses further into the game.
There are also spotlights situated at the bottom of the set area that zoom down on the contestant when they answer a major question; to increase the visibility of the light beams emitted by such spotlights, oil is vaporised, creating a haze effect., a professor at, stated that the show's lighting system made the contestant feel as though they were outside a prison while an escape was in progress. When the U.S.
Millionaire introduced its shuffle format, the Hot Seats and corresponding monitors were replaced with a single podium and as a result, the contestant and host stand throughout the game and are also able to walk around the stage. According to Vieira, the Hot Seat was removed because it was decided that the seat, which was originally intended to make the contestant feel nervous, actually ended up having contestants feel so comfortable in it that it did not service the production team any longer. Also, two video screens were installed–one that displays the current question in play, and another that displays the contestant's cumulative total and progress during the game.
In September 2012, the redesigned set was improved with a modernised look and feel, in order to take into account the show's transition to, which had just come about the previous year. The two video screens were replaced with two larger ones, having twice as many projectors as the previous screens; the previous contestant podium was replaced with a new one; and (LED) technology was integrated into the lighting system to give the lights more vivid colours and the set and gameplay experience a more intimate feel.
Catchphrase Millionaire has made out of several lines used on the show. The most well-known of these catchphrases is the host's question 'Is that your final answer?' , asked whenever a contestant's answer needs to be verified. The question is asked because the rules require that the contestants must clearly indicate their choices before they are made official, the nature of the game allowing them to ponder the options before committing to an answer. Regularly on tier-three questions, a dramatic pause occurs between the contestant's statement of their answer and the host's acknowledgement of whether or not it is correct.
Many parodies of Millionaire have capitalised on the 'final answer' catchphrase. In the United States, the phrase was popularised by Philbin during his tenure as the host of that country's version, to the extent that listed it in its special 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catchphrases, which aired in 2006. On the Australian versions, McGuire replaces the phrase with 'Lock it in?' ; likewise, the Indian version's hosts have used varying 'lock' catchphrases. There are also a number of other non-English versions of Millionaire where the host does not ask 'Is that your final answer?'
Or a literal translation thereof. Besides the 'final answer' question, other catchphrases used on the show include the contestants' requests to use lifelines, such as 'I'd like to phone a friend'; and a line that Tarrant spoke whenever a contestant was struggling with a particular question, 'Some questions are only easy if you know the answer.' Reception Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Has been credited with single-handedly reviving interest in, and breaking new ground for, the television game show. It revolutionised 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 most popular game shows in television history, and is credited by some with paving the way for the phenomenon of reality programming.
Awards, accolades and honours In 2000, the honoured the UK version of Millionaire by ranking it number 23 on its 'BFI TV 100' list, which compiled what British television industry professionals believed were the greatest programmes to have ever originated from that country. The UK Millionaire also won the 1999 for Best Entertainment Programme, and four for Most Popular Quiz Programme from 2002 to 2005. The original primetime version of the U.S. Millionaire won two in 2000 and 2001. Philbin was honoured with a Daytime Emmy in the category of in 2001, while Vieira received one in 2005 and another in 2009, making her the second woman to win an Emmy Award for hosting a game show, and the first to win multiple times. Ranked the U.S. Millionaire No.
7 on its 2001 list of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time, and later ranked it No. 6 on its 2013 '60 Greatest Game Shows' list. GSN ranked Millionaire No. 5 on its August 2006 list of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time, and later honoured the show in January 2007 on its first, and so far only, Gameshow Hall of Fame special. Ingram cheating scandal. Charles Ingram became infamous for cheating on the programme with a method that staff had not anticipated Although the show employed many ways of preventing cheating, no one working on the British original was prepared for a unique style employed by one contestant –.
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In September 2001, Ingram took part on the game show for two days, joined by his wife Diana and college lecturer. After his first day, he devised a plan to help him win the £1 million cash prize the following day – for each question he faced, Ingram would read out the answers for a question, whereupon Whittock, who sat amongst the contestants who would play Fastest Finger First, would cough whenever the correct answer was spoken out. As Ingram drew close to the top prize, production staff backstage became suspicious over the amount of back noise Whittock was creating with his coughing. In addition, they also became concerned that Ingram showed no sign of having specialist knowledge on any subject he faced in his questions, in contrast to previous contestants. After the episode had been filmed, an investigation was ordered. Ingram was informed that he was suspected of cheating, and thus was not allowed to take his winnings; his reaction to this news further justified suspicions he had cheated. When the footage was reviewed, staff began to notice the pattern between Whittock's coughing and Ingram's behaviour when he chose an answer.
After suspending the broadcast of both episodes Ingram featured in, police were called in to investigate the matter further. In April 2003, Ingram, Diana, and Whittock, were taken to court on the charge of using fraudulent means to win the top prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? During the trial, the defence claimed that Whittock had simply suffered from allergies during recording of the second episode, but the prosecution refuted this by revealing footage that showed his coughing stopped, upon Ingram leaving the set and Whittock subsequently taking his turn on the main game. The trial concluded with all three being found guilty and receiving suspended sentences.
After the trial, ITV aired a documentary about the scandal, along with Ingram's entire game, complete with Whittock's coughing sounds. As a joke, cough syrup paid to have the first commercial shown during the programme's commercial break. Other media Merchandise Three board game adaptations of the UK Millionaire were released by Upstarts in 1998, and a junior edition recommended for younger players was introduced in 2001.
Version also saw two board games of its own, released by in 2000. Other Millionaire board games have included a game based on the Australian version's Hot Seat format, which was released by UGames; a game based on the Italian version released by; and a game based on the French version which was released by TF1's games division.
An electronic tabletop version of the game was released by in 2000. Six different DVD games based on the UK Millionaire, featuring Tarrant's likeness and voice, were released by and between 2002 and 2008. In 2008, released a DVD game based on the U.S.
Version, based on the 2004–08 format and coming complete with Vieira's likeness and voice, as well as a quiz book and a 2009 desktop calendar. The UK Millionaire saw five video game adaptations for and 's consoles, produced. Between 1999 and 2001, produced five games based on the U.S. Network version for PCs and the PlayStation, all of them featuring Philbin's likeness and voice. The first of these adaptations was published by, while the later four were published by 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, one was sports-themed, and another was a 'Kids Edition' featuring easier questions. Two additional U.S.
Millionaire games were released by in conjunction with in 2010 and 2011; the first of these was a game for 's console and handheld system based on the 2008–10 clock format, with the Wii version offered on the show as a consolation prize to audience contestants during the 2010–11 season. The second, for 's, was based on the shuffle format and was offered as a consolation prize during the next season (2011–12). Ludia also made a game based on Millionaire available to players in North America 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. Disney Parks attraction. The building housing the California version after its 2004 closure A theme park attraction based on the show, known as, appeared at (when it was known as Disney-MGM Studios) at the in and at in. Both the Florida and California Play It!
Attractions opened in 2001; the California version closed in 2004, and the Florida version closed in 2006 and was replaced by The format in the Play It! Attraction was very similar to that of the television show that inspired it. 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. However, the main game had some differences: for example, contestants competed for points rather than dollars, the questions were set to time limits, and the Phone-a-Friend lifeline became Phone a Complete Stranger which connected the contestant to a Disney cast member outside the attraction's theatre who would find a guest to help. After the contestant's game was over, they were awarded anything from a collectible pin, to clothing, to a Millionaire CD game, to a 3-night.
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