More Lifelines, More Excitement, and More Suspense on “Millionaire” Starting September 13
Who Wants to be a Millionaire comes back for its ninth season on September 13th. Fans of the show get ready…the season debut of Millionaire is going to be a real game changer. The show will essentially remain the same Millionaire you know and love but with some new twists and turns added to bring you more suspense, more excitement, and more strategy than ever before.
Millionaire will also be adding a brand new Lifeline. Not only that, the road to winning $1,000,000 is going to be a bit shorter. All of this means becoming the first person to beat the game since 2003 is an even greater possibility. New twists, turns, risks, challenges, and fun comes September 13th on the new season of Millionaire.
That’s all we can say for now, but it sounds very exciting. More information will be available in weeks to come. Now here’s the fun part for you all. What do you think will happen? I’m actually relatively stumped still. To give you a look at other versions of the show and their various changes, take a look at the clips below. The may offer some insight and hints into changes. For instance, the British version uses a 12 step money ladder instead of 15 like we do. Other versions offer a new lifeline if you remove the second milestone, putting yourself at major risk for extra help. Travis Penery recently went over the new UK format. Maybe we’ll be seeing a change closer to this? What do you think will happen?
Photo courtesy of Valleycrest Productions Ltd.
Again, what do you think will happen?
My guess – making it like the new British edition (12 Qs, Switch coming back for the top tier, no clock on the top tier) except the Expert will still be in place of Phone a Friend. I’d welcome these changes.
What I really wish they’d do is get rid of the terribly obscure question tat they keep using. If you watch an episode today and then watch a first-run Regis-hosted episode, you’ll immediately notice that these questions are not of the same difficulty at all. I’m not saying that the show should be dumbed down – but for questions under the top tier, how about asking things that people might actually know!
I took the audition test earlier this summer & passed the Scantron portion. The questions on that test mirrored the old style of questions – straightforward, things you might actually know. However, watching at home, I have trouble past $12,500. This just doesn’t make sense to me! :(
A new lifeline? Oooh! And I guess they borrowed the 12 question format…hopefully they can make the money tree look less awkward.
I hope it turns out well, I barely watch the show anymore, because I know that barely anyone gets in the high tier and does well. I hope the new lifeline doesn’t force you to lose the second milestone.
As I scrolled down, I thought they must’ve had the first nudist-edition of Millionaire.
I dislike the UK format. I’d rather keep the clock then go to that. I like the fifteen questions, and I don’t like the “fast track”, because really it doesn’t make anything much faster. They can make the money tree less awkward if they want without taking out levels, and they can definitely take the clock out for the top five questions if they want. But I don’t want the twelve-question format, because really at this point a single lifeline is all we have left of the original format, which in my opinion was fine.
A fourth lifeline is welcome by me, however. If it’s Switch the Question (and it’s probably going to be that), then that’s fine.
As long as we don’t get the UK graphics and music.
Proving that WWBAM has “jumped the shark”…yet again!
No…that phrase has jumped the shark. Millionaire has “opened a can of FRESCA” yet again.
Alex says it’s a brand new lifeline, so I doubt it’s Switch the Question.
I can’t figure out what they can do that’s that new. Unless they do something like a Freebie with 1 wrong answer being taken away which wouldn’t really be new. Double dip needs to be an earned lifeline if there is one, it really doesn’t make the game more exciting before the later stages, and I mean… this scares me more than anything else.
I’m thinking they may have a 12 question format but have the milestone on every fourth level, because that would be sensible and easy to play with the current ladder to do and I can’t believe Davies would do anything as stupid as that British tree.
Ahhh…I’ve been waiting for some form of Millionaire news lately and now here it is. Thanks Alex for posting. I am very excited about this. Ya know, I thought they were done changing the show for a while but I guess not. As long as if they don’t have another Tourney of Ten than I am fine. I liked it but it spoiled the true feeling of someone winning the million the right way. Also, I don’t know if any of you noticed but September and October had an unusually high amount of big winners when it is usually saved as Alex mentioned for sweeps in November. I’m happy with the big winners anytime especially when they are out of place, but November aside from the Tourney did not have the greatest contestants. I have a theory about this. They wanted to give away the big money so they could either make it look like they had smart contestants on the leader board and also they had to have everyone above 25,000 dollars because they did not want anyone getting a free guess at the million and anyone below 25,000 would look dumb. I also like the fact that they got rid of phone a friend. It made the show go faster and yes, many people who are Millionaire fans would think I betrayed the ship. Granted, it did offer its funny moments but it just took too much time.
Now after my conspiracy theories about last season, I will now say I think it’s good for the change. Something to keep the show fresh and upbeat. However, for the most, I do agree with what Ryan Z said. He hit it right on the head for me. The UK format I think is okay but I would not care for it here. If it does happen though, it is not the end of the world by any means. I’ll still watch the show every day. Like I’ve said before the clock is good to keep and I prefer the 15 question format over the 12. However, if they were to do the 12 format, I would not mind it a lot. It would make things go faster, but I would hope they get rid of the first few questions in the lowest tier than rather them taking out middle tier and upper tier questions. Even though the lower tier questions ease the contestant into the show, it just drags the show on and it is a bit of a waste. I hope they keep the money chain the same and the lifelines they have now the same. And I am fine with the addition of the new lifeline, it sounds fun and whatever it is, it sounds like a nice strategy addition. It probably is not switch the question, which I liked, because Alex said it was going to be new. Brandon, the Double Dip is a great lifeline like you said and it adds incredible excitement to the game in the upper tier. Also Brandon, I’m also kind of stumped as to what they would do that would be new. If they did that lifeline that allows you to take away the second tier milestone in place of a new lifeline or a lifeline of your choice, I think that would be create great and exciting decisions. I would prefer a that you could choose a lifeline of your choice or if it was a new lifeline, it could be a clock stopper or you add time to your clock. If they got rid of the clock in the upper tier, I could go either way on that. The music with clock is so intense in the upper tier as is now. They may change and do this and that, but I don’t want them to touch two things, the music package and the graphics set like Ryan Z said. Those I think are perfect as they are and the UK music is not that great. I don’t mean to be a complainer though. Whatever the changes are, I hope I am impressed with season 9 and pleased especially with the Nov., Feb., and May sweeps stunts and special shows, the ratings go up, and Meredith for more seasons to come. She has to at least stay for a 10th season! That’s a milestone indeed. She is great!
One more thing, Neville, I agree with you about the obscure questions. They should not use those as much. They completely stump everybody especially the audience and not so much the expert, but it ruins the contestants momentum especially when he or she has all their lifelines.
Great, I bet it’s more crap other shows can knock off and add to their shows to make it “more exciting, and suspenseful than EVAR!”. Thanks Mr. Davies!
This is going to look like a very interesting season of millionaire. I will definitely be watching.
I don’t think the milestone removal thing can work with the US because we’ve gotten to the point where our contestants are the most conservative almost anywhere. It would probably just result in even more higher tier walk aways. now if it were the $5,000 milestone being removed, that would be quite the change.
Very few people want the first few questions gone. They really are necessary, and if you don’t know that a lightning bug is the same thing as a firefly, too bad for you. The disparate number of questions to the milestone is the thing I find most irritating about the UK version, and if it were 4 instead of 5 that means the 2nd milestone would probably be higher which would possibly increase risktaking. $50,000 and $25,000 is a big difference to me.
it would be interesting to see a new dimension like super millionaire. in the new dimension the contestant gets to choose their path to the million. we could have a phone a friend in the studio to phone. cant wait.
Wow, this is cool! Can’t wait to see what the changes are. We can speculate all we want, but I’m not sure the US will follow the UK. Didn’t the Aussies do a Hotseat game that never caught on here?
Can’t wait for September.
Perhaps they’ll add a “Stop the Clock” lifeline for the upper tiers?
I think this is the one. Nothing is more ridiculous to me than giving someone answering a half-million dollar question 45 seconds to answer.
None of this is really exciting me, to be honest, because I don’t know how it could fundamentally change the problem the show has: too few people making it to the higher levels.
I hope they bring back the “Switch The Question” lifeline.
I’ have an idea for a good lifeline: “Ace In The Hole”- the contestant gives the producers the category they think they are the best at (not too broad though- like, you couldn’t use TV as the category but a specific show would be OK). They come up with a third-tier question in that category. They get the lifeline at the 2nd milestone, and can use it to switch the question in play for their specialty category- but if they do that, they can’t walk away, and they can’t use another lifeline if they have it (It’s your best subject, so you should know it!). It sorta combines Switch the Question with Double Dip- and it does bring some strategy into the 3rd tier.
Brandon, you do have a point. Plus, I would rather have people guessing more in the upper tiers than walking away. If they guess more, it creates better television in my opinion. CarShark, about your second paragraph, you are right sometimes. There are times on the show where the people are bad and don’t get to 25,000 dollars and above. Personally, I’d love to see more big winners too. But the show can’t be giving money out the door either. Some people say that they would rather see entertaining contestants with personality but the problem is that they are not the brightest people SOMETIMES. I would rather have smart people or a mix of both entertaining and smart. I ABSOLUTELY DREAD conservative contestants who don’t have a good lifeline/walking strategy. I stress this the most: If someone has a double dip going for 100,000 dollars, you always take that chance even if you have no idea. The odds are only 50% but you can double your money and you only lose half if wrong. When contestants don’t do that, they blew an opportunity. But I am biased to gambling more so there ya go. There was a time this season in January that it was almost unbearable to watch, the contestants were nice and all but there was about a 2 week stretch where no one made 25,000. But usually what goes around comes around, CarShark. You can always expect on Millionaire if this stretch is bad than soon it will get really good. It is all in moderation. Infact, after that January period, things picked up in February and March. And especially from the end of April to the end of May. That was a very high money period of the season. And than June settled down again. It is all cyclical.
I realize this is petty and insignificant but I really do hope they keep the preview question for tomorrow’s show on Millionaire. Ya know, the thing that comes on the last commercial break in every show. I think it is good and I hope they don’t get rid of that. I don’t know why they would but it adds a nice touch to the show. It gives a nice preview of how the next show will be. If they show a high tier question, 25,000 or above, than you know for sure it will be a good show instead of just relying on the 30 second promo videos for the week. Infact, sometimes they surprise you. One time they showed a 7,500 dollar preview question and the guy won 50,000 dollars and another time, and this just happened recently too, they showed a 10,000 dollar preview question and the guy won 100,000 dollars.
David, that sounds like an excellent idea! The producers should hire you.
I know I ask this a lot with all shows, but any set changes? Also, they should remove the double dip. I never liked that one.
Statistically, Double Dip gives you slightly better odds than a 50:50 (58% vs. 50% – I know, not a big difference, but just saying! haha)
As for the “new” lifeline, I doubt it is Switch The Question, because again, it’s not techincally “new.” A clock stopper lifeline looks more feasable; even an alteration on Phone-A-Friend possibly, where an in-studio guest plays a question.
Still, I’m looking forward to the new season!
Actually, if you have no earthly idea, Double Dip is still a 50-50 shot.
You have a 25% shot of getting it right on the first try, and a 75% chance of getting it wrong.
On the second shot, which would only happen 75% of the time, you have a 1 in 3 chance.
1/4 + (3/4) x (1/3) = 1/4 + 1/4 = 1/2.
Hmmm, interesting. A 58% chance for double dip? I thought it was still 50%. But thanks anyways Bob for correcting my statement. It isn’t a big difference but it helps. Which proves to me also and it should for others that Double Dip is better because not only are your odds better and you control what you pick, but 50:50 left the 2 most obvious answers even if the contestant did not say what he thought out loud. If you did say what you thought out loud, it was almost a given that those would be the 2 left if you used 50:50. Meredith claimed it to be “random” but I highly doubt it was. Almost every time, the best looking answers were left. I doubt it was just coincidence. Occasionally, they took away what the person thought or 1 of the 2 good looking answers but that was usually if the show wanted to give away more money or something similar to that.
The phone a friend alteration would be neat. No one would be using a computer or being “unfair” as the producers of Millionaire call it. I am glad to hear that most of you are excited about the new season. I for sure am! I can’t wait till the next bit of Millionaire news comes out about the new season. Hopefully, it is soon because I am super excited but you guys at this website do a great job of getting Millionaire news and other funny and entertaining game show news across the blog. This is a great website and I highly praise it. Good thing I found it, otherwise I wouldn’t be informed about these things. Well, I might have found it on Facebook but other than that, I would have to wait instead of actually finding out earlier and it would stink to wait.
Nick: I think they are different odds because with Double Dip, your first choice is a 25% chance, second choice is a 33% chance. I guess if you add the percentages you get 58%.
Speaking of Facebook, that is a pretty active way to get information. They post stuff nearly every day.
Actually, that’s incorrect, because you only get the second chance 75% of the time. Thus, you have 25% (first chance) + 75% * 33.3% (second chance) = 50%. Double Dip is still a 50% chance, any way you look at it.
No shame in that mistake, though, since statistics is far from intuitive. If humans were born to have an intuitive understanding of statistics, there wouldn’t be any casinos or lotteries still in business.
Are they finally making the set HD? It was sad to see SD for the 10th anniversary and last season. I seriously hope this is in the works. It’s time.
I hope to God they don’t revert to the Hot Seat format!
Bob, you are right. I have not really thought about it yet until you mentioned it. The show does not have an HD set yet. They really should change it to HD. WOF and Jeopardy have. It’s time for Millionaire to follow suit. Joshua, I like the Hot Seat format but I surely DO NOT want them to go to that version. It is okay but there are flaws with it and it would just make a mess in my opinion. I like it though when Alex or someone else posts a video of it on here. I have to admit, it is dramatic and creates tension in ways even better than the clock because you are forced to guess but I don’t think it would work in America.
What I think should happen, short and sweet:
1. New lifeline = stop the clock (top tier only)
2. Bring back Phone-a-Friend. The reason they got rid of it is silly. Search engines have been around and have been used from the beginning.
3. Don’t DARE change the music/graphics to the new ones being used. There’s nothing really melodic or segmentally more thrilling about it.
/thread
Artemis, never thought about that before. I mean, I thought about the stop clock lifeline but I like your only in the top tier idea. And you’re right, they better not touch the set or music. The music is fine the way it is. It is quite intense especially within 5 seconds in the middle and upper tiers and it also very closely resembles the Millionaire tune we all know and love. If they go to UK music, I won’t be too happy and plus I don’t see how their music would work with the clock. One would think they are adopting our music since they are mostly switching to our version. It seems as if we are doing a format swap though. I can’t wait to see the UK’s version to see how that works out. Their new season starts sometime in August. I don’t mean to complain about small little things but ya gotta love the music we have now in our version and if they switch it, it won’t be the end of the world but it will be missed.
This is a little teaser of how the UK version will look and feel.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Plasmanoodle08#p/c/DEBDAC4C2BB09AB3/0/TcXANTwVRZo
I’d welcome changes to the show, but there is one lifeline problem that has been ignored in the discussion…Double Dip. Has anyone noticed that if a player chooses the right answer on the “first dip”, the lifeline is totally lost. I have a idea to improve the lifeline and preserve it, too.
Rules for the revised lifeline would be discussed before the game in order for this to work well. A contestant chooses to use the DD, but the clock does not stop. He/she then quickly (clock in mind) chooses their first answer. If it is wrong, the host immediately asks to to guess again, with the clock still running. If the player is correct the first time, the outcome is revealed and they move on, with the double dip still available (but only once more, since they intended to use it the first time)
This way, the lifeline is preserved, and the player has not, in any way, cheated the clock. Just a suggestion.
ANOTHER change to Millionaire? Sounds like the original game may be running out of steam, although to be fair, Wheel of Fortune has successfully re-invented itself over and over again, and it’s still hugely popular.
I just hope they don’t tinker with the show to the point that it becomes unwatchable. Meredith is a great host, but she can’t save bad production.