History Main / WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire

!!Some notable parodies of ''Milliomaire''[='s=] tropes include:

Then ABC decided to try out an American version of a British show called ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'', and quicker than you could say "A Creator/MarkGoodson/Bill Todman Production", a new era in the old format was born.

Of course, when a show is successful, everybody else wants to FollowTheLeader. Many games, specifically in primetime, shamelessly borrowed many of the elements that made ''Millionaire'' so unique and successful.

The oversaturation of ''Millionaire''-styled game show clones largely withered away during TheNewTens, as most contemporary game shows since that point have largely reverted to more conventional formats (including modernized revivals of classic formats).

* A discussion of overdramatic, big money quiz shows is not complete without the UrExample from Creator/{{CBS}}, ''Series/The64000Question''. Based on ''Take It or Leave It'' -- a popular radio quiz from the 1940s, the show offered the chance for contestants to win up to $64,000 by answering questions regarding a single specialized subject. The contestant's money doubled with each correct answer, starting with $64 (the original top prize of the radio version), up towards $512, then to $1,000 and beyond. Beginning at $4,000, contestants only played one level per-episode, and at $8,000, the contestant answered questions from a SoundProofBooth. The questions also got more demanding too, often requiring multiple answers. The show made a huge deal out of all of these aforementioned features, as well as having security guards on set and an IBM sorting machine for "randomizing" the questions, to play up the drama. The series was a massive hit, to the point that its big winners became instant celebrities, ''Question'' overtook ''Series/ILoveLucy'' as the #1 show of the 1955–56 season, and other big-money game shows of the era, such as ''Series/TwentyOne'', took numerous stylistic cues from ''Question''. It also had a competitive spin-off series, ''The $64,000 Challenge''.
** There was one other feature that ''Question'' and several other game shows of the era shared: dishonesty. At the time, sponsors held a [[ExecutiveMeddling high degree of influence over the production of television programs]], and it was in their best interests to keep viewer interest (and in turn, ratings) high. It was common for shows to play up contestants with personalities and stories that would be memorable to the audience, so that viewers would be encouraged to continue following their journey every week. Revlon CEO Charles Revson frequently meddled against contestants he didn't like, such as Joyce Brothers -- who was forced into having boxing be her category. However, she beat the producers at their own game by studying the subject extensively, and became the only woman to win the $64,000 grand prize. Oh, and that IBM sorting machine? It was just a prop.
** However, several other shows went the extra mile and resorted to {{Kayfabe}}. After its sponsor was unimpressed by how the contestants performed in early episodes, ''Twenty-One'' became outright scripted -- with contestants being told to answer certain questions in specific ways, to win or lose specific matches, and coached on how to portray themselves on-air. The most infamous example was that of Herb Stempel, who was portrayed as a scrawny underdog and spent six weeks as champion. That is, until ratings were falling and they decided to bring in a new champion they felt would be more appealing: university professor Charles Van Doren -- who became a celebrity after "winning" $129,000 on the show.
** Stempel attempted to expose the fraud, but it wasn't until a SmokingGun exposing coaching on another quiz show, ''Series/{{Dotto}}'', that he was taken seriously. The scandal was a GenreKiller for the big-money game show, with networks preferring more low-stakes games and more control over productions; it took until the 1970's for shows such as ''[[Series/{{Pyramid}} The $10,000 Pyramid]]'' to break the five-figure barrier again, while the 1986 ''Series/TheOneMillionChanceOfALifetime'' was the first to break the seven-figure barrier as an annuity (but as mentioned, besides the bonus round, it was otherwise a typical game show of the era). In the 1990's, Michael Davies, an Creator/{{ABC}} executive was actively considering reviving ''Question'', until he caught wind of ''Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?'', and decided to pursue a U.S. version of that instead. CBS filmed a pilot for a revival in 2000 to capitalize on ''Millionaire'' (with a top prize of $1,028,000), but it didn't make it to air (and as mentioned, the network ultimately decided to order a big-money version of ''Series/WinningLines'' -- another series from the studio behind ''Millionaire'').

* ''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 DM100, and each wrong answer costed DM100. 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.

* ''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 Mark, and each wrong answer costed 100 Mark. 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.

* ''Joker'': A Turkish format in which each player is tasked to answer 12 multiple-choice questions to reach the highest level possible on a six-level money tree. They are given seven "jokers" to begin, each of which allows the contestant to remove one incorrect option. Getting a question right moves the player up one step on the tree, but an incorrect answer takes away three jokers (or moves the player down as many steps as required jokers). Jokers can be won back through two bonus {{Speed Round}}s, the second of which works similarly to ''Series/NameThatTune''.

* While ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' subverted many of the ''Millionaire'' clones by being a unique (at the time, anyway) game based more on luck and intuition instead of knowledge, it still managed to hit all of the non-quiz features (i.e. single player, big money, padding, dark and glitzy set, the soundtrack, etc.). Its popularity (along with a Writers Guild of America strike) helped trigger a second major wave of big money primetime game shows on U.S. television (many of which ended up meeting this trope), and helped establish a few newer cliches, including a noted dependency on contestants who are [[NoIndoorVoice intensely energetic]], and padding the show by bringing out family members and[=/=]or discussing the contestant's personal backstories. Many of the presentation elements in the Creator/{{NBC}} version were used by subsequent international versions: a lot of the early international versions (such as those in Australia, France, Italy, and Spain) were daytime shows with a brighter and more energetic tone. An exception was the British version hosted by Noel Edmonds, which had a starker look and feel with a warehouse-styled studio.
** The show has its roots in a Dutch lottery game show, ''Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt for Millions''): initially, it was a fairly straightforward Millionaire clone from 2000 to 2002, except that the majority of the game was a quiz competition that whittled an audience to one player (with different types of questions and buy-outs along the way), who would play a BonusRound of 7 general knowledge questions for a top prize of 10,000,000 gulder (with each question adding a 0 to the prize, a la Grand Game on ''Series/ThePriceIsRight''). This round was later replaced by the briefcase game that [[AdaptationDistillation formed the basis]] of the ''Deal or No Deal'' format. Some early versions of ''Deal'' (including an unsold pilot of the U.S. version filmed for Creator/{{ABC}}) maintained a downsized series of quiz rounds to determine their player, but some picked a contestant at random from a pool of potential players on-stage instead (who open the boxes or briefcases during the game, and stayed on the show until they were picked to play). By contrast, the U.S. version and those based upon it tended to use pre-selected contestants, and had the briefcases staffed by a crew of [[LovelyAssistant models]] instead.

* ''Series/{{Greed}}'': One of the first major imitations; co-created by Dick Clark for FOX and hosted by Chuck Woolery of ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' fame, it featured teams playing to split up to ''two'' million dollars. The first four questions played out like ''Millionaire'', but with each question answered sequentially by the team members, a designated captain given the responsibility to accept the guess or veto it in favor of their own, and the third and fourth questions having five options instead of four. The final four questions require teams to select four correct answers out of a selection of six, then seven, then eight, and finally ''nine'' options, which is as difficult as it sounds. Plus, a "Terminator" round is played after each question, allowing a randomly-selected team member to challenge someone else for a chance to win their share of the prize money (at the expense of eliminating the loser).
** A ''Super Greed'' sweeps stunt doubled the prize amounts of the final three questions, thus requiring only seven questions to win the two million, and upping the top prize to ''four'' million. Unsurprisingly, this was the only way a team managed to win the two million dollar prize.

* ''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 -- [[http://web.archive.org/web/20120305215645/http://www.fortunecity.com/business/shares/1385/id2.htm full details here]]). 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''.

* While ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' subverted many of the ''Millionaire'' clones by being a unique (at the time, anyway) game based more on luck and intuition instead of knowledge, it still managed to hit all of the non-quiz features (i.e. single player, big money, padding, dark and glitzy set, the soundtrack, etc.). Its popularity (along with a Writers Guild of America strike) helped trigger a second major wave of big money primetime game shows on U.S. television (many of which ended up meeting this trope), and helped establish a few newer cliches (including a noted dependency on contestants who are [[NoIndoorVoice intensely energetic]], and grinding the game to a halt to bring out family members and[=/=]or discuss the contestant's personal backstories). Many of the presentation elements in the Creator/{{NBC}} version were copied by subsequent international versions: a lot of the early international versions (such as those in Australia, France, Italy, and Spain) were daytime shows with a brighter and more energetic tone. An exception was the British version hosted by Noel Edmonds, which had a starker look and feel with a warehouse-styled studio.

* ''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"; a banner ad for the show in another episode 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]].

-->'''Creator/JimmyKimmel:''' If you are too stupid to answer the questions in this round, we've got three ways to help you cheat. Number one, [[IntimateTelecommunications you can dial 1-900-ASS-PARTY]]; they may not have the answers, but it is a lot of fun. Number two, you could poll our audience, [[TakeThatAudience but they're really only good if it's a drug question.]] And, number three, you can ask me, [[SelfDeprecation but that's not usually much help either.]]

* 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.

* ''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.]]

* While ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' subverted many of the ''Millionaire'' clones by being a unique (at the time, anyway) game based more on luck and intuition instead of knowledge, it still managed to hit all of the non-quiz features (i.e. single player, big money, padding, dark and glitzy set, the soundtrack, etc.). Its popularity (along with a Writers Guild of America strike) helped trigger a second major wave of big money primetime game shows on U.S. television (many of which ended up meeting this trope), and helped establish a few newer cliches (including a noted dependency on contestants who are [[NoIndoorVoice intensely energetic]], and grinding the game to a halt to bring out family members and[=/=]or discuss the contestant's personal backstories). Many of the presentation elements in the Creator/{{NBC}} version were copied by subsequent international versions: a lot of the early international versions (such as those in Australia and Europe) were, by contrast, daytime shows that were brighter and more energetic. An exception was the British version hosted by Noel Edmonds, which had a minimalist aesthetic and dark, warehouse-styled studio.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} with Webvideo/MrBeast's $1,000,000 Dollar Challenge. It had the large cash prize, had more moments played for drama, and its final part had a darker atmosphere and had foreboding soundtrack, complete with confetti getting dumped on the winner. But it still didn't completely shed the goofiness of Mr Beast challenges; for instance, one of the qualifiers involved being the ''last to sit on a toilet'', and the finale had the coaches go home and cook a meal for their contestants.

* ''Series/TheAdamAndJoeShow'' featured a Star Wars 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!]]

* ''Power Of 10'': Players answered survey questions to win up to ''ten'' million dollars "by the [[TitleDrop power of 10]]". The aim was to accurately guess how a national sample polled on a question with the margin decreasing for each new question: a 40% range for the $1,000 question, 30% for $10,000, 20% for $100,000, and 10% for the final, $1,000,000 question. The $10,000,000 prize was for any player who could provide the ''exact'' percentage for that final question. Missing a question ($100,000 onwards) decreased the prize, also "by the power of 10".

* 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 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.

* 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 [[TitleDrop their weight in gold]] -- 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.

* Another show that followed in ''Millionaire'''s footsteps was the Arabian game show ''Waznak Dahab'', 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 at least 50 kilograms of gold). 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.

* ''Das Quiz mit Jörg Pilawa'' (''The Quiz with Jörg Pilawa''): A highly straightforward imitator 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.
** The star-studded SpinOff, appropriately titled ''[=StarQuiz=]'', seems to look even more similar to ''Millionaire'' - two teams of two celebrities play at a time, each of which would answer up to 11 individual questions on a money tree topping out at €150,000 (questioning alternates between the two teams) and would receive two helps: "Zweite Chance" (Second Chance, basically Double Dip from ''Super Millionaire'') and "Schieben" (Push, which merely discards the question).

!!Some notable parodies of ''Milliomaire''[='s=] tropes include

** The show was an adaptation of a format Endemol first premiered in Italy, ''Tutto x Tutto'' (literally "Everything x Everything", which will make sense in a moment. An unsold British pilot of this version was titled ''Show Me What You Got''). Unlike the U.S. version, there was no trivia: in the first round, the player played 4 minus signs and 4 plus signs on eight picks of money amounts from 12 scrolls, which performed said operation to their bank (basically trying to play the subtractions on low numbers and vice versa). In the second round, the player similarly played 4 multiplications and 4 divisions, with the scrolls determining the multiple or divisor (between 1 and 5). The endgame came down to a 50/50 shot between their bank being divided by the number of one last pick, or multiplied.