History Main / WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire

* Another show that followed in ''Millionaire'''s footsteps was the Arabian game show ''Waznak Dahab (Your Weight In Gold)'', which was broadcast by Abu Dhabi TV between 2002 and 2003. Contestants faced 18 general knowledge questions with three possible answers, each worth a specific value of gold (from 100 grams to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin their body weight]]--the minimum jackpot is 50 kilograms). Unlike ''Millionaire'', however, contestants were not allowed to walk away on any questions and there were no predefined "safety nets"; they had to use "gold cards" (which were earned via a preliminary round consisting of 5 true-or-false questions) in order to exchange a question for a new one or set the value of the current question as a "safety net". The concept of setting the value of a question as a "safety net" was later adopted by UK version of ''Millionaire'' when it was revived in May 2018.

* In 2000, the Australian version of ''Series/SaleOfTheCentury'' underwent a retool to try and compete with the local version of ''Millionaire''; retitled ''Sale of the '''[[Trope2000 New]]''' Century'', the show gained a larger, darker set and dramatic music, as well as a few major gameplay changes (starting with ''four'' contestants) and "Millionaire Challenge" editions.

* ''Show Me The Money''; a show for ABC from the creators of ''Deal or No Deal'' and hosted by ''Creator/WilliamShatner'' of all people. Contestants answered open-ended questions to potentially win just over $1,000,000 (up to $1,150,000 to be exact, although the odds of this were 1 in 924, and that's assuming '''no mistakes''' are made). Instead of lifelines, the contestant was given common themes with three possible questions, and could switch to another question but was not allowed to return to a previous one. 12 cash amounts and one "[[{{Zonk}} killer card]]" were hidden in scrolls randomly distributed among 13 "Million-Dollar Dancers". The contestant won money on correct answers but lost money on wrong answers, possibly resulting in a negative score. If the killer card was picked, the contestant had to [[OneHitPointWonder answer a single question correctly to continue]], otherwise the game was over and the contestant left with nothing. It was also possible for the game to end immediately if it was [[NonStandardGameOver impossible for the contestant to finish with a positive score]].

* ''Series/AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader'': A million-dollar quiz where a single player answers up to 11 questions from grade school textbooks, using {{Lifelines}} known as "Cheats" to gain answers from an appropriately aged classmate.

* ''Gra w ciemno'' (''Clueless'') created by Polish TV network Polsat (a primary rival of TVN, the channel that bought the licence to ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?''): The major difference from WWTBAM are sealed envelopes instead of a traditional money ladder. Each envelope has a check inside worth an unknown value, ranging from 0 to 100,000 (in Polish zlotys). There are also traps like -50% and -100%. If the player got a -100%, they would lose the game and end with 0. If they got -50%, then the player would walk out with half of what they have. The contestant begins the game by choosing several numbered envelopes from a board of 50. Next, the host poses 5 multiple-choice questions that the contestant tries to answer. For each correct answer, the player gets to keep one envelope but for every incorrect answer, they have to destroy the envelope by shredding it in a paper shredder. After the five questions, the host starts offering the player various amounts of money to tempt them to trade their kept envelope(s) for cash. Not knowing how much money is in each envelope makes the decision very difficult and changes the show into a mind game of bidding and bluff between the player and host (much like ''Series/LetsMakeADeal'', but trickier). The show ran from 2005 to 2007 and became very popular, prompting Polsat to sell the format to other countries, including Spain, Czech Republic, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. An English-language edition is yet to appear.

In 1999, things were looking bleak for the American GameShow genre. There were no prime-time network game shows, and the only shows around on the networks and syndication were holdovers from the 1970s and 1980s — ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'', Whoopi Goldberg's ''Series/TheHollywoodSquares'' revival, the new (and lamest) ''Series/MatchGame'' revival, and evergreens ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' and ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}''. Cable games weren't faring much better--most of the networks had either cancelled them (Creator/{{Lifetime}}, [[Creator/{{Freeform}} FOX Family]]), were shying away from game shows (Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}), or had completely rid themselves of them (Creator/USANetwork). Even Creator/{{GSN}} was at a low point, with several originals being either cancelled or not very good at all, and having just come out of their "Dark Period" where they lost the rights to almost every [[Creator/MarkGoodson Goodson-Todman]] show.

In 1999, things were looking bleak for the American GameShow genre. There were no prime-time network game shows, and the only shows around on the networks and syndication were holdovers from the 1970s and 1980s — ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'', Whoopi Goldberg's ''Series/TheHollywoodSquares'' revival, the new (and lamest) ''Series/MatchGame'' revival, and evergreens ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' and ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}''. Cable games weren't faring much better -- most of the networks had either cancelled them (Creator/{{Lifetime}}, [[Creator/{{Freeform}} FOX Family]]), were shying away from game shows (Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}), or had completely rid themselves of them (Creator/USANetwork). Even Creator/{{GSN}} was at a low point, with several originals being either cancelled or not very good at all, and having just come out of their "Dark Period" where they lost the rights to almost every [[Creator/MarkGoodson Goodson-Todman]] show.

* ''Series/FiveHundredQuestions'': Creator/MarkBurnett brings ABC another spiritual successor to ''Millionaire''; one person attempts to answer, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 500]] [[TitleDrop trivia questions]] in groups of 50. After 50 questions, money earned is kept and a new set of categories is presented. Normal questions allow 10 seconds to answer with no multiple choice options. A right answer with no incorrect guesses earns $1,000; failure to come up with the answer puts a strike on the board -- three strikes and you're out, but the next right answer removes the strikes. Unusually for this format, an opponent stands waiting to take over, playing against the contestant in "Battle" questions and choosing the category when there are two strikes in an attempt to force a third. The ''Millionaire'' influence is strongly felt in the set, lighting, and music.

* ''Child Support'': A contestant answers trivia questions in a "money ladder" fashion, with the top prize being $200,000. If they get a question incorrect, the lifelines come in the form of children being asked the same question in a different room, and should they get the question right, the contestant is "saved", but does not go up the money ladder and the top prize is now one tier lower. If neither gets it right, the contestant walks away with nothing; there are a few "milestones" where the contestant has the option to stop and go home with what they have. The overall feel of the show -- dark lighting, dramatic music, dramatic pauses, and the basic format give one a whole lot of "Millionaire" vibes.

* ''It's Your Chance of a Lifetime'': FOX brought this out in June 2000 to try and give ''Greed'' a companion. The only differences between this show and its forefather were: an opening question to pay off a credit card bill, only nine questions in your stack instead of 15, and wagering on each question to determine its value. Aside from that, probably the closest imitator of the bunch, as well as the shortest-lived -- only lasting a single, week-long event before getting canned ([[WhatCouldHaveBeen though it was supposed to be a full weekly series]]; but FOX's then-new president hated game shows so he stopped it from happening). The series was originally created by Australia's Seven Network (where it was known as the ''Million Dollar Chance of a Lifetime'', unrelated to the U.S. syndicated game show of the same name) after a rival acquired the rights to ''Millionaire''.

%%* In Spain, a particular category of daily game shows (often referred to as "bote" [jackpot] shows) became well-known for dangling a ProgressiveJackpot behind a NintendoHard bonus round, and having no winnings cap. Two of the best-known examples have been ''Pasapalabra'' (whose bonus game, ''El Rosco'', requires the contestants to answer 25 questions related to letters from the alphabet, using time earned in the first half of the show) -- where getting a FlawlessVictory has awarded jackpots as large as €2.19 million euros, and the Spanish version of ''Series/{{Boom}}'', where a team known as Los Lobos pulled off a ''two-year'' streak as champions during which they amassed €6.5 million in prizes, including a €4.1 million jackpot.

** While they have not been held again since (later primetime specials have been more in line with the daytime shows but with more celebrity guests, now known as ''The Price is Right At Night''), the daytime show has since held annual theme weeks -- typically during sweeps -- featuring pricing games played for large cash prizes (Big Money Week) or luxury and sports cars (Dream Car Week). In most cases, these prizes are assigned to games known for their [[NintendoHard difficulty]], such as 3 Strikes, Pay the Rent (which, coincidentally, [[PropRecycling recycled]] the aforementioned $1,000,000 sign for its introduction), and Plinko.

* ''Das Quiz mit Jörg Pilawa'' (''The Quiz with Jörg Pilawa''): A straight-up {{Expy}} from the German free-to-air network [=ARD1=], premiering in 2001 (two years after RTL acquired the rights to ''Millionaire'' and shortly after Jörg Pilawa, the presenter, left ''Die Quiz Show'' -- the German version of the aforementioned ''It’s Your Chance of a Lifetime''). Distinctions include: teams of two instead of a solo person play (with each question played by one member, then the other gets to decide whether to agree or to use a Veto to reject and change the answer; roles switch for every next level), a money tree with twelve levels (in which the players themselves choose two safety nets before starting the game) for a grand prize originally at 500,000 DM (then €300,000 from 2002 to 2010, down to €50,000 for the 2020-2021 revival) and instead of lifelines are four "Vetos", each of which can be used to override a given answer; one Veto can alternatively switch the current question out. The show was also vastly popular among German viewers; [[HomeGame DVD, video and board game versions]] have also been released.

* ''Series/TheWall'': A pachinko-based quiz for NBC hosted by [[Series/AtMidnight Chris Hardwick]]; a player must choose where they want to drop one or more balls from on the board -- which land into slots with different dollar amounts -- based only on seeing the options for the next question. The question itself is answered by a partner in a SoundProofBooth behind the wall, with correct answers adding the money to their bank, and wrong answers deducting it (hence, where you play the balls depends on your confidence, as higher values are placed towards the right end of the board). The bank can fluctuate wildly between over $2,000,000 (the last round features a $1,000,000 space!), or down to nearly nothing (because your balls turned into a {{Whammy}} by landing into said space). However, in a mechanic partially lifted from the aforementioned "Guardian Angel" on ''Set for Life'', the partner has to secretly choose between taking whatever the contestant won, or a ConsolationPrize buy-out based on the number of questions they answered correctly. Unlike ''Set for Life'', however, the partner is not given any information on their team's progress. As usual for an NBC game show, its loaded with padding and melodrama, ''especially'' during the aforementioned endgame; you could make a drinking game out of how many times the show and its promos mention things like "life-changing money". The set, while dark and glitzy, does admittedly have SceneryPorn in the form of the Wall itself.

* ''Series/TheOneMillionChanceOfALifetime'' both subverted it (because it premiered in 1986) ''and'' played it straight; you had the dramatic fanfares, the massive confetti drops, the family in the audience. But there weren't any lifelines, and no money ladder; rather, champions had to be on for three days and play the bonus round on their third day to get the million -- which wasn't even a lump sum but rather an annuity and, for the second season, an annuity worth $900,000 in total plus $100,000 in various prizes, including two cars. Indeed, it was more of a normal game show which just happened to have a really big set and top prize (apparently it started as a 1979 pilot called ''The Letter Machine''. The British version, ''All Clued Up'', similarly went in a low-stakes direction).

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'' featured several in-universe NBC game shows that had the stereotypical big money aesthetic, such as ''Homonym'' -- an unfair quiz show where contestants are given a word and asked to give the definition for one of its homophones (with the contestants always being driven to frustration when the host is actually looking for "the other one"; an ad for the show in another episode also lists ''Homonym'' as being on [[WolverinePublicity from 8:00 to midnight every day]]), and ''Gold Case'' -- a pilot for a ''Deal or No Deal'' [[BitingTheHandHumor clone]] where one of the briefcases contains a grand prize of $1 million in gold bars. Unfortunately, the producers forgot that gold bars [[NoticeThis are quite heavy]].

* ''Series/TheAdamAndJoeShow'' featured a ''Franchise/StarWars'' parody where Chewbacca took part in "the galaxy's top rated game show" called ''Who Wants To Be Killed On Air?'' -- get a question wrong, [[DeadlyGame prepare to die!]]

* One of the games on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' is "The Millionaire Show", which is basically ''Millionaire'' with some goofy quirk -- everyone's German, or they're hillbillies, or they're old people, etc.

* ''Multi Millionär (Multimillionaire)'': Simply a more forboding, casino-themed ''Millionaire'', down to the logo. A contestant would be chosen at random from 36 around the "roulette wheel" stage. A one-minute SpeedRound started things off where each right answer awarded 100 [=DM=], and each wrong answer or pass costed 100 [=DM=]. The player needed a positive score to move on to the front game, which was basically a 13 ''Millionaire''-style-question gauntlet, except it was always double-or-nothing and leaving was not an option after a question appeared. Questions came in "cards" from deuce to ace, and options in the four "suits". Viewers could call in to be chosen as a helper should the studio contestant needed them, and possibly win a tenth of whatever they won. The show was broadcasted live on the German private network [=RTL II=] in 2001, hosted by the equally omnious musician Phil Daub (who, since 2013, has voiced the computer for ''Celebrity Series/BigBrother'').

* ''Multi Millionär (Multimillionaire)'': Simply a more forboding, casino-themed ''Millionaire'', down to the logo. A contestant would be chosen at random from 36 around the "roulette wheel" stage. A one-minute SpeedRound started things off where each right answer awarded 100 [=DM=], and each wrong answer costed 100 [=DM=]. The player needed a positive score to move on to the front game, which was basically a 13 ''Millionaire''-style-question gauntlet, except it was always double-or-nothing and leaving was not an option after a question appeared. Questions came in "cards" from deuce to ace, and options in the four "suits". Viewers could call in to be chosen as a helper should the studio contestant needed them, and possibly win a tenth of whatever they won. The show was broadcasted live on the German private network [=RTL II=] in 2001, hosted by the equally omnious musician Phil Daub (who, since 2013, has voiced the computer for ''Celebrity Series/BigBrother'').

* ''Multi Millionär (Multimillionaire)'': Simply a more forboding, casino-themed ''Millionaire'', down to the logo. A contestant would be chosen at random from 36 around the "roulette wheel" stage. A one-minute SpeedRound started things off where each right answer awarded 100 [=DM=], and each wrong answer costed 100 [=DM=]. The player needed a positive score to move on to the front game, which was basically a 13 ''Millionaire''-style-question gauntlet, except it was always double-or-nothing and leaving was not an option after a question appeared. Questions came in "cards" from deuce to ace, and options in the four "suits". Viewers could call in to be chosen as a helper should the studio contestant needed them, and possibly win a tenth of whatever they won. The show was broadcasted live on the German private network [=RTL II=] in 2001, hosted by musician Phil Daub.