Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Australian game show)

Infobox Television
show_name = Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?


caption =
show_name_2 = "Millionaire"
genre = Game show
creator =
director = Peter Ots
creative_director =
developer =
presenter = Eddie McGuire
starring =
voices =
narrated =
theme_music_composer =
opentheme =
endtheme =
composer =
country = AUS
language = English
num_seasons = 9
num_episodes = 298 (as of 26 November 2007) [cite web|first=Samuel|last=Gordon-Stewart|title=Salute To Eddie!|url=http://samuelgordonstewart.com/2006/04/salute-to-eddie|date=2006-04-04|accessdate=2007-10-20]
list_episodes =
executive_producer =
producer =
supervising_producer =
asst_producer =
co-producer =
editor =
story_editor =
location = Melbourne, Victoria
cinematography =
camera =
runtime = 47 minutes
network = Nine Network
picture_format =
audio_format =
first_run =
first_aired = 18 April 1999 – 3 April 2006
22 October 2007
last_aired = present
preceded_by =
followed_by =
related = "1 vs. 100" (2007)
website = http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/section.aspx?sectionid=6033&sectionname=millionaire
imdb_id = 0197194
tv_com_id = 19304

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is an Australian television game show which currently offers a maximum prize of $5,000,000 for correctly answering 16 successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The show is based on and follows the same general format of the original version of the show from the United Kingdom, and is now part of the international "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" franchise.

As of 26 November 2007, there have been 298 episodes, 641 contestants, 6,945 questions and the show has given away $29,205,000 cash.

History

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" debuted in Australia on 18 April 1999 on the Nine Network and was hosted by Eddie McGuire.

Beginning with an eleven question format starting at $1000, this was later changed to 15 and offered a top prize of $1 million. However, in the 2007 revision of the show, the new maximum prize money on offer is $5 million. The show ran in the Monday 8:30 pm time slot between 1999 and 2006 except for a brief two week period in 2004 where a shortened half hour edition was put up against Seven's "Deal or No Deal" in the 5:30 pm time slot leading into the 6:00 pm evening news. [cite news|first=Ross|last=Warneke|title=No big Deal for Nine|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/23/1087844999417.html|work=The Age|date=2004-06-23|accessdate=2007-10-22]

This was the very first country to have a fastest finger round where two people answered the fastest at the same time. As a result, another question was asked but neither of them got it right, so another question was asked. The fastest finger later on, instead of giving out one answer, two answers had to be given out to avoid any random guessing from happening. Laster on after that, the contestants playing the fastest finger had to answer all four but in the correct order.

On 9 February 2006, it was announced that McGuire would become the new CEO of the Nine Network, [cite news|first=Jesse|last=Hogan|title=McGuire CEO show live on air|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/mcguire-ceo-show-rolls-on/2006/02/09/1139379610820.html|publisher=The Age|date=2006-02-09|accessdate=2007-10-22] filling a vacancy created by the departure of David Gyngell in May 2005. [cite news|title=Gyngell resigns from Nine|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/Business/Gyngell-resigns-from-Nine/2005/05/09/1115584894573.html|work=APP|publisher=The Age|date=2005-05-09|accessdate=2007-10-22] As a result of this, McGuire had to sacrifice his on-air commitments. However, unlike the "The AFL Footy Show" where McGuire was replaced with Garry Lyon and James Brayshaw, the network could not find a suitable replacement. [cite news|first=Robert|last=Fidgeon|title=Millionaire host – you decide|url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,18771553-2902,00.html|work=Herald Sun|date=2006-04-12|accessdate=2007-10-22] The final episode aired on 3 April 2006. [cite news|first=Joel|last=Gibson|title=No McGuire, no Millionaire|url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,18771553-2902,00.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=2006-04-04|accessdate=2007-10-22]

Return of "Millionaire"

On 29 January 2007, McGuire returned to the working in front of the camera, hosting the Australian version of the quiz show, "1 vs. 100". This was followed up with McGuire announcing on 18 May 2007 that he would be resigning as CEO of the Nine Network, and would be taking on a new position in programming services, as well as more on-screen roles. [cite news|first=Dan|last=Harrison
title='I wasn't given the flick'|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/i-wasnt-given-the-flick/2007/05/18/1178995363893.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=2007-05-18|accessdate=2007-10-22] With the resignation officially taking effect on 30 June 2007, McGuire continued hosting "1 vs. 100" until poor rating forced the hiatus of the program in October 2007. [cite news|title=Eddie's quiz 'boned' by Nine|url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,22502696-7642,00.html?from=public_rss|work=The Courier-Mail|date=2007-09-29|accessdate=2007-10-22]

On 20 August, it was announced that Nine's nightly quiz show "Temptation" would be rested for the remainder of the year and replaced with nightly half hour editions of "Millionaire" to be aired between 7:00 and 7:30 pm [cite news|first=Fiona|last=Connolly|title=Temptation axed for McGuire|url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22276288-5006014,00.html |work=The Daily Telegraph|date=2007-08-20|accessdate=2007-10-22] However, with the return of David Gyngell to the CEO role in September [cite news|title=David Gyngell to run Nine again|url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22480754-5006014,00.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=2007-10-25|accessdate=2007-10-22] he immediately announced that a new version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" would be broadcast live to air from 7:00 pm for 90 minutes on Monday night and that "Temptation" would be run on Tuesday to Friday nights from 7:00 pm. [cite news|title=Nine boss David Gyngell puts Eddie McGuire to work|url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22536082-5006022,00.html|work=Herald Sun|date=2007-10-05|accessdate=2007-10-22]

Rule changes

With the program's return comes an additional lifeline which is obtained once a contestant reaches the second safe level of $32,000. The lifeline is called "Switch the Question" (also known as a "Flip"), where the contestant may dismiss the current question, see the answer, and to play a new one worth the same dollar amount. However, they will not have any lifelines used on the discarded question returned to them.

The lifeline first appeared in the UK program in a number of celebrity editions, and most recently in its 300th episode in 2002. It is also used the American syndicated version of the program which began in 2004. The idea was taken from the UK show "The People Versus".

In the past, contestants that use the phone a friend lifeline had to give out three phone numbers to choose from. However, in some cases, their friends sometimes were ready to look up the answers (such as asking people around for them, or going online for the answers). In the 2007 version, since the show was live, whenever a contestant was in the studio, their three friends would be seated in another studio room (in a Channel 9 studio in their nearby city) and not see or hear any questions or answers. This prevented any unfair advantage as they can watch the show live and look up the answers online.

Also, if McGuire believes the contestant is taking too long to make a decision, the contestant may be put on a shot clock of 60 seconds. If the shot clock expires, the contestant is forced to walk away with their current winnings.

Another notable change is the elimination of the preliminary Fastest Finger First rounds, similar to the syndicated US show. McGuire simply calls out the contestant's name and he or she comes into the set and immediately sits in the hot seat, as opposed to before when 10 contestants had to answer a question correctly in the fastest time to get into the hot seat.

Notable contestants

Celebrities

* Molly Meldrum
* Red Symons
* Shane Warne
* Pauline Hanson
* Alicia Molik

$1 million winners

To date there have only been two winners of the million dollars:
* Rob "Coach" Fulton, 17 October 2005 [cite news|title=Our first quiz show millionaire|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/first-tv-quiz-millionaire/2005/10/17/1129401202678.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=2005-10-19|accessdate=2007-10-20]
* Martin Flood, 14 November, 2005 (Used the 50-50 lifeline in the final question) [cite news|title=Second Aussie 'Millionaire' winner emerges|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/11/14/1131951103121.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=2005-11-15|accessdate=2007-10-20]

$500,000 winners

* Trevor Sauer: September 4, 2000
* William Laing: October 16, 2000
* Dave and Denise Moser: June, 2001 (Used the 50-50 and Phone a Friend lifelines in the final question)
* Maria McCabe: April 8, 2002 (Used the 50-50 and Ask the Audience lifelines in the final question)
* Ian "Molly" Meldrum: April 28, 2003
* Andrew Lockett: September 8, 2003
* Scott Smith: October 4, 2004
* Shane Warne and Trevor Sauer: February 14, 2005
* Clifford Plumpton: June 27, 2005
* Yael Blinco: November 21, 2005 ("Mummy Wants To Be A Millionaire" special)

Some $250,000 winners

* Paddy Spooner: April 28, 1999
* Brett McDonald: July 3, 2000
* Kay Balzer: October 18, 2004

DVD

On 27 October 2004, a "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" interactive multiplayer DVD game was released. [cite web|title=DVD details|url=http://www.sanity.com.au/product/product.asp?sku=937693&affiliate=798|publisher=Sanity|accessdate=2007-10-20]

References

External links

* [http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/section.aspx?sectionid=6033&sectionname=millionaire Official website]
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