Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is a television game show.
When it first aired in the mid-1990s, it was a surprising twist on the 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.
It originated in the United Kingdom, where it is hosted by Chris Tarrant, and the following description is of the British version of the show. For differences in other countries, see the end of the article.
At the beginning of each show, the host introduces a set of ten potential contestants, giving their names and where they are from. The potential contestants have to undergo a preliminary round, called "Fastest Finger First", where they are all asked to put four answers in a particular order. The contestant who does this correctly and in the fastest time goes on to sit in the chair and play for a possible £1,000,000.
The contestant is asked increasingly difficult general knowledge questions by the host. To each question, they can choose from four multiple choice answers. Answering the first question correctly wins the contestant a small monetary prize, and the subsequent questions are played for increasingly large sums. If the contestant answers incorrectly they lose all the money they have won. However, 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.
The 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.
The game ends after the contestant answers a question incorrectly or decides not to answer the question, or when they have answered all fifteen questions correctly, at which point they win the top prize of £1,000,000.
If at any point the contestant is unsure of the answer to a question, they can use one of their three "lifelines": they can "phone a friend" (being given 30 seconds to talk to their chosen friend, who must be taken from a list nominated by the contestant beforehand), "ask the audience" (getting a bar chart of the audience's answers), or go for a "50:50" (when the computer will randomly remove two incorrect answers and leave the right answer and one wrong answer). Each of these lifelines can be used only once.
Variants on the format have been tried, such as celebrities playing for charity and couples games (where both partners must agree on the answer). Tarrant's catchphrases on the show include "Is that your final answer?".
Foreign Variants
Although it originated in the United Kingdom, the format of show has subsequently been exported to many countries around the world. As of early 2003 the producers' website lists the following territories as having licenced the show: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Caribbean, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Middle East, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland. Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, The Philippines, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Vatican City, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
Here are some details of the differences in some of those countries:-
- The Netherlands: Here the game is called Weekend Millionairs, and is hosted by Robert ten Brink.
- The United States: Here the show is hosted by Regis Philbin. It aired in prime time four nights a week on ABC. Since the fall of 2002, the show has gone into syndication, with Meredith Vieira as the host.
- Germany: The show, called Wer wird Millionär?, is aired by the commercial TV station RTL and presented by Günther Jauch. It is produced in Köln.
- Austria: In Austria the show is called Die Millionenshow. The Austrian state TV (ORF) also uses the Köln studio, which may cause problems for candidates who would like to "ask the audience" and the question happens to be about Austrian trivia. The current host, Armin Assinger, used to be a skier with the Austrian national team. Assinger has been criticized by some for his broad Carinthian accent.
- France: Here the show is called Qui veut gagner les milliards (Who wants to win millions?).
- Poland - here the show is called Milionerzy (Millionaires) and is aired on the TVN TV station. The host of the show is Hubert Urbański.
- Italy: The show originally started as "Chi vuol esser miliardario" (Who wants to be a billionaire), due to the high dollar-lira conversion rate (about 1:2000). With the Euro taking over, the show has been renamed "Chi vuol esser milionario" (an exact translation of the English one). Rules are virtually identical to the original format. The show is aired on Canale 5, a commercial TV station, and soon after a very similar show, with slightly changed rules, started on the state-run Rai 1 TV station.
- India: In India, the show is called Kaun Banega Crorepati, which literally means "Who wants to be a multi-millionaire?". It is produced by Star TV and is hosted by Indian movie superstar Amitabh Bacchan. It is considered to be 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, etc. After the first episode had been broadcast, Star TV received 20 million phone calls from fans across the world.
- Ireland: Originally, the top prize was one million Irish Pounds (1.27 million euro). However, with the change of currency at the start of 2002, it was reduced to 1 million euro.
- Australia: The local version is hosted by Eddie McGuire. It is virtually identical in format to the British original. Several big wins (though not the actual million dollars) to "professional" game show contestants who spent thousands of dollars ringing the competition line to get on the show has led to a changing of the rules regarding appearances - only one phone call per person per week is now permitted.
- Japan: Produced by Fuji TV, this version of the show is commonly known simply as Millionaire, not overly distorted by Japanese phonetics. The rules are the same as the original. Prize levels are denominated in Yen as follows: ¥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, ¥10,000,000.
It is interesting to note that because of the relative value of the pound compared to other currencies. The British show offers the largest prize money.
In an episode of the British show recorded in September 2001, Major Charles Ingram won the £1,000,000 prize. Before the show was transmitted, it was noted that there was a suspicious pattern of coughing heard during the recording. Following a trial at Southwark Crown Court lasting a month, Major Ingram, his wife Diana (who had previously won £32,000 on the show) and Tecwen Whittock were convicted of cheating the show on 7 April 2003. The two Ingrams were each given suspended 18-month prison sentences and fined £15,000, while Whittock, who had coughed when Ingram said the correct answer, received a 12-month suspended sentence and fined £10,000. Together with legal costs, it is estimated that the Ingrams will have to pay £50,000 in total.