# WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? Tv show **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 1999, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112 "1999-08-18T02:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 1999, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/1 "1999-08-18T02:05:00Z")
I don’t like their choice of host. Plus, the questions are extremely simplistic, that even a deaf person would know them without resorting to the three cheats. Hope they do something about this…ack. ---
**Author:** ![Babar714](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Babar714](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babar714)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 1999, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/2 "1999-08-18T03:27:00Z")
Then watch Ben Stein. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 1999, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/3 "1999-08-18T03:30:00Z")
It will only last for a short while. The questions appear to follow the rule of the old “$64,000 Question.” They are progressive…the small money questions are simple. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 1999, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/4 "1999-08-18T03:38:00Z")
I wonder how many will give the wrong answer just to get away from Regis? ---
**Author:** ![Bluepony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Bluepony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bluepony)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 1999, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/5 "1999-08-18T03:55:00Z")
The host is an pompous, insufferable windbag. There is a lot of hype with that background theme music and garish laser light show. The real lame part is that it’s given in “multiple choice” format so familiar in driver’s exams or high school quizzes. THEN, if you’re too stupid to pick out the right answer from four choices, you get to ask the host to reduce it down to two options so you can use your lucky penny. OR you can (I don’t believe this) \* call someone \* on the telephone and have them give you the answer. One lady called her brother in Dallas to ask what the capital of Iraq was. My god we have been bombing the shit out of that country for the last ten years on CNN!!! Then when her brother replies “Baghdad”, she says “Hey, Bob this is really important, are you sure about this answer?” All this time Regis is hyping up the moment like he just asked her a three-part question on French existentialist philosophers. The moron finally says to Regis that she will have to trust her brother and go with Baghdad. Oh boy was I on the edge of my seat! I just hope this show is short-lived and hopefully will not be shown in other countries for the sake of our national pride. * * * “…send lawyers, guns, and money…” ``` Warren Zevon ``` ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 1999, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/6 "1999-08-18T10:43:00Z")
It may be our fault, because I think the show started here in Britain. The sponsors were prepared to pay for the TV coverage, but they decide to have an expensive phone line for prospective contestants. By a combination of enthusiastic punters and the fact that nobody’s won the big prize, the sponsors made a profit - and got their media exposure. No wonder other countries took an interest… ---
**Author:** ![middsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@middsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middsy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 1999, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/7 "1999-08-18T11:13:00Z")
The show was first shown in England, and in contrary proved a massive success getting something like the 3rd best viewing figures for the week, I agree that it is a very basic format but simple is effective in this country, and I can only hope you have a better host in the U.S. than we have here, Mr Chris Tarrant, a right arse! He winds everyone up through his flat sense of humour and the way in which he attempts to scare people into thinking they have guessed the wrong answer when they were only answering to their profession! I’m not a great fan! ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 1999, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/8 "1999-08-19T05:29:00Z")
Well, I’m going to watch again tonight to see how far the current guy gets and if the questions get any harder. I mean, he’s won 64G on a series of questions that _I_ knew the answers to – every one – and I’m no rocket scientist. I’m afraid it might be a bit of a set-up, though – you know, one question is “which of these words doesn’t begin with the letter ‘s’?” and the next one is “recite pi to the 22nd digit.” ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 1999, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/9 "1999-08-19T01:29:00Z")
Yeah, that was funny yesterday on the show [830pm PDT] when they couldnt answer what university the Unabomber taught at. So they used Two lifelines just to find out it was Berkeley. Lol. No, really? ---
**Author:** ![Jahender](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d9b06d/32.png) [@Jahender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jahender)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 1999, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/10 "1999-08-19T14:00:00Z")
This show blows. Enough said. * * * The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don’t have it. George Bernard Shaw ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 1999, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/11 "1999-08-19T16:01:00Z")
Oh shoot, Imissed how far the puzzle guy went yesterday. anyone remember? Say, anyone notice how plastic Regis’s teeth look? They don’t look natural at all, no one has teeth that white. If I didn’t have to lipread to know whenhes talking i probably wouldnt notice. Why don’t these players have someone at home at a computer with an encyclopedia ready for a call in? When people call their friends everytime their friends just seem to be surprised they got a call. ---
**Author:** ![bernard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bernard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernard)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 1999, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/12 "1999-08-19T16:07:00Z")
I find some of the questions difficult because: 1. they are based on pop culture of which I know little (for example, I had NO idea what Rodman’s nickname was). 2. some of them are very US based. I am not originally from the US so those can be difficult. Concerning having somebody sitting at home waiting, keep in mind that they don’t know if they will be actually selected as a contestent. Although, I agree it seems to be me that IF I thought there was the remotest chance I would be on the show I would have somebody waiting. Yeah, the show isn’t the best, but my wife loves it and therefore so do I. ---
**Author:** ![bernard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bernard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernard)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/13 "1999-08-20T05:31:00Z")
Feel free to flame me into the next millenium for being utterly stupid but wasn’t one of the questions on Tuesday: Which right does the First Amendment to the US Constitution protect? A: Right to bear arms B: Freedom to assemble C: Right to free speech D: Right to freedom of the press And the women decided to not answer and take her money. Regis then said the answer was A the right to bear arms. Isn’t that the second amendment? Isn’t the first amendment C, right to free speech? What is she had of answered correctly? I wonder if they would have said she was wrong. Keep in mind, I am a non-American I don’t know what all the amendments are off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 1999, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/14 "1999-08-19T18:54:00Z")
Bernard, I believe the question was something like “which of these does the first amendmant NOT cover” which is which is the right to bear arms; the other three are all included in the first amendmant. The thing that bugs me about this show is it’s so obviously rigged. I mean it’s obvious that they’re given the answers and told to hem and haw and take as much time as possible so they don’t give out a million damn dollars every night. Seriously, do you really need 5 minutes to figure out Boo Radley is a character from “To Kill a Mockingbird?” You either know it or you don’t. And the “Is that your final answer?” garbage was really driving me nuts too. How many times would they let you change it? All day I bet. Anything to kill time. Yet, I did want to see how the guy did the next day. Only because I was drunk while I was watching it and screaming “I’m a drunken college drop-out and even I know that!!!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bernard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bernard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernard)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 1999, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/15 "1999-08-19T19:09:00Z")
Oh, not cover… that makes more sense now. Because I remember thinking that it could be C or D. Now that you tell me that the 1st covers B, C & D … well, it all makes sense now. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 1999, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/16 "1999-08-19T19:36:00Z")
The thing that bugs the crap out of me (besides how annoying “Reeg” is) is the way he waits like five seconds, just staring at the guy, before he says whether the contestant is right or wrong. Just TELL him! I was disappointed in Puzzle Guy, but I’ll be watching tonight to see how the young guy does. Since I continue to watch it, I guess I must like it. ---
**Author:** ![gary\_horaczek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@gary\_horaczek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gary_horaczek)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/17 "1999-08-20T21:57:00Z")
Besides the host the main problem appears to be the wording of the questions and the choices offered ( the question about the Iron Horse for example ). * * * garyh ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/18 "1999-08-21T05:26:00Z")
They blew their own “Great Lakes” question. Now _that_ bothers me. It was a major mistake on a big money question who’s source could be any mediocre encyclopedia. I’m starting to feel like they jumped into this show with very little research (about how to put together the show). ---
**Author:** ![nene227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ab992/32.png) [@nene227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nene227)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/19 "1999-08-21T12:32:00Z")
Okay, last night the guy whose annual income for the past 3 years has been $11,000 won…$250,000!!! Only in America! We watch the show just to laugh at it. And the question about Robert Frost - I thought the guy was going to recite the entire poem. I think that game show is set for a short run - can’t believe it will last long. I know this is off the subject…but Middsy or Glee…I take it you’re from England. When we were there in 1994 for a holiday, we got hooked on a morning show, I think it was called “The Breakfast Show”, or something. They had a game on there called “Get Your Knobbly Nuts Out.” Do they still have that show? It was hilarious. We couldn’t do any site seeing in the morning until we watched that crazy thing. We left the day they were giving away that house - if I’m correct, I remember it being painted hideous colors! We LOVED that show, and got hooked on others while we were there - British TV rocks! ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112/20 "1999-08-21T16:49:00Z")
It is a short season. Final show is Aug 27th or 28 whichever is Sunday. I didn’t get to see the Friday show cause I got called to the police station. nuts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-tv-show/7112.md?page=2)