05Jan2012
“Millionaire” Launches “Cruise In and Win” Week January 9th
Starting next week Who Wants to be a Millionaire will give contestants, audience members, and a home viewer a chance to win a Disney cruise. Millionaire is launching a special "Cruise In and Win" week starting January 9th and going through January 13th. The special week will work the same as recent prize weeks; one question will have the cruise attached to it. If the contestant can answer the question, they'll win a three night preview cruise on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship. They'll also get the dollar value behind the question. Audience members can also win, but most importantly you can be getting away from the cold and snow. Click here to learn more about the week and how you can win.
Read MoreView Comments (4)15Dec2011
“Millionaire” Launches “Broadway Giveaway Week” December 19th
Who Wants to be a Millionaire will celebrate Broadway next week with a special "Broadway Giveaway Week". Starting December 19th contestants will be asked one question each game about Broadway. If they answer it correctly they will win tickets to a performance of Mary Poppins or The Lion King for themselves and a member of the studio audience. In addition the two lead actors from Mary Poppins, Steffanie Leigh (Mary Poppins) and Gavin Lee (Bert), will kick off the week with a charity game. Their charity, The Actors Fund, is guaranteed $5,000 no matter what. Earlier this year Meredith Vieira had the chance to appear on Mary Poppins and play a chimney sweep in two dance numbers. Click here to take a look at a Backstage Pass video showing her experience.
Read MoreView Comments (2)13Dec2011
Ratings Report: “Fear Factor” Debuts Strong; “You Deserve It” Continues to Drop
We've got a few network game shows on television for the first time in a while so we've got an interesting ratings report. NBC debuted the newest season of Fear Factor after a five year break. It picked off right where it left off in terms of success. It's not all good for game shows, though. ABC's charity based quiz show You Deserve It inexplicably drop again. Syndication perked up for nearly all for the week ending December 4th. Click here to learn about all the ratings and what they mean.
Read MoreView Comments (20)08Dec2011
Ratings Report: “Family Feud” Near Doubles Year-to-Date; “You Deserve It” Slides
November sweeps is over. The period is historically very important for syndicated shows for the ad buying process. All game shows came out ahead. Who came out the best, though? Far and away the biggest winner is Family Feud. Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire also all saw increases year to date. Really the only bad news is for ABC's You Deserve It, which is just not having a good run. If you're a fan of the show I'd watch it while you can. No show can last with these ratings. Click here to read all the ratings and tell us what you think.
Read MoreView Comments (11)07Dec2011
“Millionaire” Ends Its “Club Millionaire” Viewer Appreciation Program
Seemingly out of no where, Who Wants to be a Millionaire has axed their giant gimmick for the season: Club Millionaire. Club Millionaire offered viewers points if they answered a Club question online, and points could be redeemed for discounts, prizes, and sweepstakes. One of the sweepstakes promised winners a chance to appear on the show. An email went out to club members yesterday that the program would end on December 6th. A letter was sent to members and posted online. The Club's website now forwards to the show's main site. Click here to read a copy of the letter sent to club members and discuss why you think the program is gone.
Read MoreView Comments (14)29Nov2011
Local News Anchors Play “Millionaire” for “Play It Forward” Charity Week
All this week you may be lucky enough to see some very familiar faces play Who Wants to be a Millionaire for charity. Local news anchors from across the country are teaming up and trying to win $1,000,000 for charity during "Play It Forward" Week. Yesterday Lionel Bienvenu and Lisa Hidalgo from Denver’s 7News won $26,550 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado, so congratulations to them. Tune in today to see Greg Warmoth and Vanessa Echols, anchors of WFTV’s Channel 9 Eyewitness News Daybreak in Orlando, play. Each team is guaranteed $5,000 to donate. I'm personally excited because my home town local anchors, Peggy Finnegan and David Johnson of WPXI are playing this week and given the trailer it looks like they win very big. Check out all this week. Click here to see a behind the scenes Backstage Pass video.
Read MoreView Comments (6)21Nov2011
“Millionaire” Holds a “Double Your Money” Week Starting Today
Starting today contestants will get a chance at winning $50,000 on a single question on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The show is bringing back "Double Your Money" week all this week. One of the questions will be randomly chosen to be the "Double Money" question. If you get it right the dollar value behind the question is doubled and added to your bank. That means one question could be worth as little as $200 or as much as $50,000. If you Jump the Question, though, you don't get the doubled money. Click here to see a clip of the last Double Your Money week.
Read MoreLeave a Comment17Nov2011
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” Designers Play “Millionaire” Today
If you're a fan of ABC's uplifting reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, you may want to pay attention to today and tomorrow's Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Designers Michael Maloney and Paige Hemmis from ABC's hit show will be appearing on Millionaire today and tomorrow playing for charity. They are playing for "Jusst Sooup", a Delaware based charity that will be featured on a special episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition this Friday, November 18th. Meredith Vieira will appear on the episode to give the winnings to the charity. Click here to see a Backstage Pass look at the episode.
Read MoreView Comments (5)15Nov2011
Dave Ramos Wins $63,100 on “Millionaire”
We previously published that BuzzerBlog reader and Cleveland, Ohio, news and traffic reporter for WTAM Dave Ramos would be appearing on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. BuzzerBlog has a long history of having readers who go on to win tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars on game shows...some of them millions. Dave did not disappoint. Dave won $63,100. Dave reached round two and saw the $100,000 question but elected not to answer. Through Dave's three game show appearances he has made over $125,000. Congratulations to Dave. We're glad to see you win huge. Click here to see the last few minutes of his tense and entertaining game.
Read MoreLeave a Comment14Nov2011
BuzzerBlog Reader Dave Ramos Plays “Millionaire” Today
There are fewer things more exciting, in terms of this website, than seeing you reader get on the game shows we write about and win huge. We've got one coming today. Reader Dave Ramos, a news and traffic reporter for WTAM Radio in Cleveland, OH, is going to be a contestant today on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Dave is a big game show fan. He's been on Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right previously, where he won over $60,000 combined. Can he top that today? For the last five days someone has made it to Classic Millionaire. We're crossing our fingers that Dave becomes the sixth. Past-tense good luck to Dave. We can't wait to watch. Photo courtesy Valleycrest Productions Ltd. Click here to let us know what you thought of Dave. How'd he do?
Read MoreView Comments (5)04Nov2011
Watch: Sushil Kumar Wins Top Prize on Indian “Millionaire”
There are few betters events in game shows than someone beating Who Wants to be a Millionaire. It happens rarely so you tend to remember this moments. It's been ten years since someone's beat the game in America, so we know how great it is. India's version, Kaun Banega Crorepati, just had their very first winner of the top prize of 
5 crore. Sushil Kumar scored the top prize after using the risky Double Dip lifeline on his final question, forcing him to answer twice without the chance to walk away. This is the first time in the current format that someone has answered the jackpot 13th question and brought their prize from 1 crore to 5 crore. Click here to learn how it happened and see the winning moment.
01Nov2011
“Ghost Hunters” Win $57,600 for Charity on Halloween “Millionaire”
SyFy's Ghost Hunters, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, returned to Who Wants to be a Millionaire to face host Meredith Vieira for a second Halloween special. For the second straight year the duo won big money for charity. The Ghost Hunters made it to Round 2, Classic Millionaire, yet again and walked away with $57,600 for their charity, the Hasbro Children's Hospital. They made it to Round 2 with their Ask the Audience Lifeline remaining. Click here to learn how the rest of their episode went and to see a video from it.
Read MoreView Comments (1)28Oct2011
“Millionaire” Contestant Randy Rice Wins $1,000; Donates to Locks of Love
It's always nice to see a person fortunate to be on a show like Millionaire, where someone can win an ungodly amount of money, give back. That's what Tuesday's and Wednesday's contestants Randy Rice did. Randy, a barista from Farmingdale, NY, came to the show with long, blonde hair. It started as a bet that probably wouldn't happen: Meredith Vieira asked if he won the million if she could cut his hair, which he agreed to. However, it turned to an agreement to cut his hair if he can claim the $25,000 prize in Round One. Randy's foot long ponytail was sent to Locks of Love, which makes wigs for needly children who lost their hair due to medical conditions. Sadly, though, Randy crashed on the eighth question. He lost his bank of $51,500 and left with $1,000. Regardless, it's nice to see him do something for a good cause like this on television. Click here to see a preview of another upcoming Millionaire event.
Read MoreView Comments (2)26Oct2011
India’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” Crowns First Champion
The success of the movie Slumdog Millionaire re-opened many people's eyes to Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and specifically the Indian version. Their show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, has been on the air intermittently since 2000 and for the most part follows the clock format the United States began in 2008. It is hosted by major Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan. The show currently has a 5 crore jackpot, equal to over US $1.1 million. The show has announced they have given away their first 5 crore prize to Sushil Kumar, a computer operator. SET TV, the network that airs the show, says the episode will air November 2nd. We'll be sure to let you see the big win when it happens. In the meantime, you can watch a some of the Indian version and a news report from India about the big win by clicking here and reading more. It's a great production of the show.
26Oct2011
Nerd Find of the Day: 8-Bit “Millionaire” Soundtrack
We're lucky with the crowd we've gathered at BuzzerBlog. Yes, we get some of the hardcore game show fans, but a majority of our readers are genetic gamers. You either like video games, playing sports, or some form of competition. I have noticed a large overlap between game show fans and video game fans around here, though. Many developers are going to old school 80s nostalgia with graphics and music. Why not bridge the gap to our genre? A YouTube user, Nogrelvids, attempted to do this. He recreated the classic Who Wants to be a Millionaire soundtrack in 8-bit. It's both nerdy, impressive, but cool at the same time. Click here to listen to the impressive work he did.
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