The Millennium Museum Revisited: "Who Wants To Be A Millenniumaire?"

Today is April 8th, 2020. We're still self-isolating thanks to the Coronavirus, and the news seems to get more depressing with each day. 

In news that isn't depressing, ABC is bringing back Who Wants To Be A Millionaire as a twentieth-anniversary event, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting. In that spirit, it's time to dig back into the Museum's back catalog and dredge up a very, very, very, very, very old post.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? originally ran on ABC from August 1999 to June 2002. It still runs as a syndicated show, but its original incarnation is this week’s Millennium Artifact.

The network version featured a “Fastest-Finger” round in which emcee Regis Philbin instructed eight potential contestants to put four items into order, and the one who did it in the shortest time reached the “Hot Seat.” Winnings accumulated from $100 all the way to $1 Million, with milestones at $1,000; $10,000; and $50,000. The show was notable for giving players a fighting chance with three Lifelines: Ask the Audience; 50/50, which removed two of the “wrong” answers; and Phone-A-Friend, in which AT&T connected the contestant to someone he or she “knew” would know the answer.

It became a hit almost overnight. The walls dripped with “Millionaire” everywhere you turned. Monochrome ties inspired by host Regis Philbin's one-color suit/shirt/tie combo were sold as “Millionaire Wear;” Pressman marketed a “board game” with playing pieces that mimicked the show's superimposed displays; Jellyvision (creators of “You Don't Know Jack”) teamed up with Disney Interactive to publish a computer game, which I have here; and Disney Theme Parks had the show as a feature at its California Adventure park. And, yes, Tiger Electronics put out a cartridge-based handheld game along the lines of its earlier “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” games.

McDonald's also had a “Millionaire”-themed promotion similar to its annual “Monopoly” game, in which certain meal combinations—usually Super-Sized items in those less health-conscious days—came with removable game tickets. The “Millionaire” promotion is not fondly remembered nowadays, thanks to seven employees of Simon Marketing, Inc., which handles most of the restaurant chain's games. These employees planned to steal the highest-winning tickets for themselves and their family members, but the FBI foiled the plan.

The “Millionaire” phenomenon really took hold when a one John Carpenter (no, not that one) became the show's first Million Dollar Winner...without lifelines. Well...he used his Phone-A-Friend at the very end to call his father, but only to announce that he was about to Be A Millionaire. After his victory, ABC ran the show every weeknight, with variations such as “Celebrity Millionaire.” Sadly, this relentless milking of the cash cow proved to be ABC's undoing, and, by 2002, the American public had grown sick of the show. Thereafter, it went into syndication as a half-hour afternoon show, but ABC celebrated its baby's tenth anniversary with a limited run in 2009.

I remember the “Millionaire” craze. Without question, it was the big thing in late ’99 up until early ’02…in fact, besides the CD-ROM game, I also have a pair of quiz books called Is That Your Final Answer?, which are filled with ridiculously easy questions and answers.

As with all things, Millionaire fell from grace, and I would argue that there were two reasons for this. First, it was all a bit “much;” that goes without saying. Viewers had gotten bored with the show after so much saturation.

But there’s another reason. Take a look at that date…2002. By then, we, the viewers, had lost patience with the show’s theatricality and grandeur, and maybe in the wake of the Enron scandal and the uncertainty that came with it, the era lost the "time of great wealth" aura it had gained. I'll explore that in a later issue when I review Harry Dent, Jr.'s book The Roaring 2000s.

I told you when I opened the Museum that we would be exploring the “Millennium Era” from the perspective of lost innocence thirteen years later. Indeed, it’s been a running theme in many of the latest entries.

This Millionaire feature marks the closing of the Museum’s second season. I leave you now with the question: “What does he mean by ‘lost innocence?’”

When I reopen the Museum in time for Series Three, we’ll answer that question. Until then, this is Mr. Millennium signing off. Good night, everybody!

August 4, 1999: Though "The Blair Witch Project" officially premiered on July 30th, 1999, it became a pop-culture sensation by this time. I bring it up here because July 30th was a weekday. :)

August 4, 2000: Robert Downey [Jr.] Is Drug-Free, Lawyer Says--Many years later, this seemingly-washed-up star experienced a second renaissance as "Iron Man," in which he played the alcoholic billionaire Tony Stark.