Who Wants to Be a Millionaire [Paperback]

HYPERION (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2000

Question: What is the name of the only game show to give away $500,000.00, the largest one-time cash prize in the history of American television. You are correct! Answer: The hottest new TV sensation, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"

"After an avalanche of hype, ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a bona fide prime-time hit."--New York Post

ABC has definitely won the jackpot this time with the most talked-about TVquiz show of the summer, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, hosted by Regis Philbin. Nielsen ratings reported that 22.1 million viewers tuned into the broadcast, making it the most-watched show of the summer and the highest-rated prime-time series to hit the air in recent memory. Scheduled for a two week run during November 1999 sweeps, there are high expectations that it will be a weekly feature in January 2000. The basis for the show allows ten contestants each night to compete for escalating prizes that could ultimately total one million dollars! Now everyone can capture the excitement and entertainment of this overwhelmingly popular quiz show right in the palms of their hands. With this fun and challenging book readers can test their skill with multiple choice questions valued at different amounts of money--the toughest one is "worth" one million dollars! In addition, everything you ever wanted to know about the show is included, such as: how many people call the phone quiz, how the questions are protected, the truth about the lifelines, and stories about winners, losers, and life on the set. With the shows astounding success people want to know more. So whether you're looking to become the first million dollar winner or just want to find out more about the show that has swept the nation, Millionaire is your winning ticket.

Editorial Reviews

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

PICKING THE CONTESTANTS

The process of selecting contestants for the initial thirteen broadcasts began with an ad asking viewers "Who wants to be a millionaire?" and informing them that by calling a 900-number (some states required 800-numbers), answering three questions correctly in the fastest time, and being the top scorers in a playoff game, they could be on their way to New York City. The cost of the call was $1.50, and callers were restricted to two calls from the same phone each day. Revenues from these phone calls were to be used to defer the costs of producing the show.

In Britain this technique had been tremendously successful, but initially here there were substantially fewer calls than expected. "Calling a 900-number can have a real taboo about it," explains Supervising Producer Ann Miller, "and so many people have 900-blocks on their phones to prevent their kids from using it." (Callers now use a free 800-number to qualify.)

Players were asked to answer three general-knowledge questions increasing in difficulty. Each question required players to put four things in the proper order using their telephone keypad. One question, for example, told players to "put the following cities in order from east to west, traveling along Route 66: Albuquerque, Tulsa, Amarillo, Beverly Hills." Players who answered all the questions correctly were ranked on speed of response. About 7 percent of callers answered all three questions correctly. These players were then asked to select one of the available thirteen tape dates for which they wanted to qualify. (If you try calling in, Davies advises that you, "prepare yourself with a pen, paper, and chart for the answers before you make the phone call.")

There was a playoff for each tape date, held among the top scorers from each day who selected the same tape date. The playoff consisted of five questions of increasing difficulty, answered by placing the items in the correct order. Again, players who answered all the questions correctly were ranked based on the speed of their responses.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (January 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786885777
• ISBN-13: 978-0786885770
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,247,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Phone-a-Friend and tell them to buy this book!, December 5, 1999

By 

Jay Thomas (Stony Point, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Paperback)

An excellent book about one of the biggest phenomenons in the history of television. Great facts and great questions. Only complaints: more "writing" on show info (only 30 pgs or so - the rest is sample questions), and pictures would be nice.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Entertaining, March 12, 2000

By 

"rebelunion" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Paperback)

The book of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is rather well done and worth buying. The authors put in a good mix of both simple and challenging questions, and the book has an organized and easy to read layout. I liked the fact that the answers are in the back, and that the lifelines are located so that a reader doesn't immediately flip to the page with the answers.

In addition, the beginning of the book has interesting facts about the game show, including its development and how the show is run. It was a great idea to put the history of the show into the book, and this portion certainly made the book more enjoyable.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is a very pleasant book, and if you finish answering all the questions, there's always the online game at abc.com for you to try. Either way, both the online game and the book are entertaining enough to make you feel like you've won a million bucks.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too many questions !, February 11, 2000

By 

Joyce Knox (Glasgow, Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Paperback)

Out of the 200 pages in this book, 174 are all question pages.But the 26 pages of info are superb, from Regis first hearing of theBrittish show to ABC buying the rights from Britains ITV, it's all here. But there are no pictures which is a bit misleading from it's glossy cover, not so much an official guide but more of a quiz book. My advice, go and buy the Brittish guide, lots more show info and laden with glossy pictures.