Who Wants To Be A Super Millionaire? (ABC, 2004)
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is one of the most successful game shows that there has ever been… and it all started here! There have been variations of the show all around the world, and I planned to review the American version. Whilst having a look at some editions on YouTube, I realised that they had made a special variation on the famous format.
The American version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire launched on ABC in 1999 and was originally hosted by Regis Philbin. This version actually produced a million winning contestant before the British version did. The show did become very popular, and the decision was made to take the idea to the next level. How many people would like to become a super millionaire? 
In America in 2004, there was a special series that lasted 12 editions called Who Wants To Be A Super Millionaire? which had some slight changes to the format. Again, contestants had to answer 15 questions correctly and had three lifelines available, but there was a lot more at stake. After qualifying by playing the Fastest Finger First round, if contestants went all the way they would win a remarkable $10,000,000! 
This meant that the money amounts on offer went up very quickly. The first safe point at question five was worth $5,000, and if they get the tenth question right they are guaranteed $100,000. When they get to the 11th question, there is now a change in the game. Firstly, the amounts that are now on offer are huge, and two new lifelines that were never used in the UK version come into play. 
These were The Three Wise Men, where a trio of panellists (including a former contestant) could consult one another on what they thought the answer was for 30 seconds, sort of a deluxe Phone A Friend. There was also the Double Dip, where contestants could make two guesses at what they thought the answer was, although if they used this they couldn’t walk away from the question and they then couldn’t use any of their other remaining lifelines. 
The contestant who progressed the most was Robert Essig, who got as far as the 12th question and won $1,000,000. It was a little odd to think that this wasn’t the top prize in this version, and although he didn’t play it, he saw the 13th question which was worth $2,500,000. We can only imagine what the level of difficultly was for the final question that was worth an eight-figure sum. 
There was a contestant who went even further though. In the regular version, for a while, $10,000 was added to the top prize for every time it wasn’t won, meaning that Kevin Olmstead went on to win a massive $2,180,000 for getting the final question right, the biggest game show win at the time. He was rather pleased about it. And indeed, just about everyone else watching was. Super Millionaire was definitely an interesting variation on the format, and unlike the UK, it seems that the American version is still going on TV.
ADAM'S NOSTALGIC MEMORIES 