I still think Regis knows how to host it, it's just a new twist to a format he is otherwise familiar with. I rarely get to see the daytime version, so I have no clue how Merideth adapted when the clock was first introduced. I just see no time for this rushed atmospehere in a primetime setting. I think there were some great tense moments with Millionaire, during it's early success.

I just hate how the questions are so wordy. It makes it so annoying for the contestants especially if they have to phone-a-friend and read the question and 4 choices. It eats away a lot of their time The questions are too long and need to be shortened. I remember how the questions in the early years of the shows were short and straight-to-the-point.

And the clock needs to go. It doesn’t fit Regis’ style. They could do it like the Australian version where if a contestant is taking too long, they use the clock.

The celebrities are unnecessary. Having celebrities on is not going to help ratings. It’s what killed the original version.

I have other gripes as well but I’m not going to mention all of them.

I just hate how the questions are so wordy. It makes it so annoying for the contestants especially if they have to phone-a-friend and read the question and 4 choices. It eats away a lot of their time The questions are too long and need to be shortened. I remember how the questions in the early years of the shows were short and straight-to-the-point.

And the clock needs to go. It doesn’t fit Regis’ style. They could do it like the Australian version where if a contestant is taking too long, they use the clock.

The celebrities are unnecessary. Having celebrities on is not going to help ratings. It’s what killed the original version.

Really? I thought the host (whoever it was) asked if it was the final answer. I guess that's changed.

Of course, when things happen like Regis losing it and cracking up on a $100 question and almost costing the contestant their game, it’s pretty bogus. I’ve never really liked the idea of all of the answers appearing at once and then the host reading them, but I understand why they had to do it that way out of fairness – all contestants must have the same amount of time on a question. It’s pretty evident that Regis sometimes has a hard time pronouncing the answers, so starting the clock after he finishes could potentially give a contestant much more time to ‘think’ about the question while Regis gets tongue-tied. At least some of them are smart enough to just plain out interrupt him.

It’s also pretty lame that because of Regis, the show is having to bend their own rules of gameplay. I can count at least 2 or 3 times since the 10th anniversary celebration started that they’ve had to lock in a contestant’s answer without them saying “final” because Regis had started cheering or told them they were correct before they said it. I won’t even try to count the amount of times that the clock had started up on it’s own after the use of a lifeline because Regis doesn’t bother (or forgets?) to say “start the clock.” One last thing I’ll say in regards to the rules of the game – they clearly state that a contestant must indicate that their answer is final because “at no time will the host ask if the answer is final,” which Regis seems to ignore. That’s really not a biggie, just throwing it out there.

All in all I really enjoy the show and Regis seems to be getting better at it, and I don’t mind the clock (as long as it’s played out correctly) because it keeps things moving and exciting. They could get rid of the celebrity at the end though and I wouldn’t shed a tear. That does seem to be a pretty big waste of time.

Philbin helps save ABC from record low ratings
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
Tue Aug 11, 12:35 PM PDT
Regis Philbin has saved ABC again — this time from embarrassment.

The first night of a two-week run of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" prime-time specials on Sunday was seen by 7 million people, Nielsen Media Research said. That's very different from summer 1999, when the show had audiences as big as 22 million the first time out.

Yet it was twice what ABC averaged in prime time last week. ABC's average of 3.48 million viewers was the second-lowest in the network's history, Nielsen said. Without Philbin, ABC would no doubt have a lower average than the 3.46 million it had the same week in August 2008, its low-water mark. Philbin was credited by some for "saving" ABC with the original "Millionaire" when the network was in a ratings trough.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" gave ABC its biggest summer audience on a Sunday for a nonsporting event in two years.

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