PT Millionaire Returning

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gsn309
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PT Millionaire Returning

#1 Post by gsn309 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:30 pm

I've been away and probably will be again.. but thought you'd all like this:

BC-US-TV-MillionaireBack 04-22 0151
BC-US-TV-Millionaire Back Again,0132
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" returning to US TV in August,
complete with host Regis Philbin
NEW YORK (AP) -- ABC television is reviving "Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire" this summer, following renewed interest following the
success of the Oscar-winning movie, "Slumdog Millionaire," about
a young contestant on a version of the show in India.
ABC says a decade after "Millionaire" became a smash hit, it
will return to prime time as an 11-night event. It premieres Aug.
9, concluding Aug. 23.
The quiz show burst on the U.S. scene in August 1999. Host Regis
Philbin coined an instant catch phrase by asking his contestants,
"Is that your final answer?"
Ratings slid when ABC aired the show too often, and it was
canceled as a series in 2002. A syndicated daytime version has
aired in the U.S. since then, with Meredith Vieira as host.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-04-22-09 1722EDT

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tubadave
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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#2 Post by tubadave » Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:33 pm

You just beat me to it.....was about to post this link:

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/04/abc_ ... ime_ru.php


EDIT: Here's the entire TV Week article:


ABC is bringing back the primetime version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in August, nearly 10 years to the date after the iconic game show changed the face of American television.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Regis Philbin has agreed to return as host of the primetime revival, which—like the 1999 original—will unfold as a two-week, 11-night event. Michael Davies of Embassy Row once again will serve as executive producer.

“Millionaire” will air Sunday through Thursday nights at 8 p.m., starting Aug. 9. The show will take a rest on Friday and Saturday. Its grand finale will be Sunday, Aug. 23.

Word that ABC was considering a 10th-anniversary return of “Millionaire” first surfaced in January. The network didn’t have a deal in place with Mr. Philbin, however, delaying a final decision on whether to move forward.

Odds of a “Millionaire” return also grew stronger with the success of “Slumdog Millionaire,” the Indian drama about a young contestant on the show that won this year’s Academy Award for best picture.

ABC alternative co-chief John Saade said executives at the network, including scheduling head Jeff Bader, have been talking about a “Millionaire” anniversary revival “for a long time.”

“Anyone who remembers the original remembers how special it was. It really felt like an event,” Mr. Saade said. “It broke every conventional rule of the time. It elevated the game show to this single-person, high-stakes drama.”

In addition to paying homage to one of the network’s most successful series, ABC executives consider the August “Millionaire” run a low-risk means of offering original summer programming. There are no plans to bring the format back as a regular series.

However, if “Millionaire” achieves even half the success it earned a decade ago, it seems logical ABC might want to revive the show every few months as a stunt to augment its regular lineup.

“Right now, it’s to celebrate its 10th anniversary,” Mr. Bader told TelevisionWeek. “If it works, I’m sure we’d consider bringing it back again. Right now, we’re focused on this as an event.”

Mr. Bader said reviving “Millionaire” now “should be an enhancement to our summer schedule,” and that the event also could be “a good promotional base” for ABC to promote its new fall lineup.

While some industry observers criticized ABC’s handling of “Millionaire” during its original run—the show aired as often as six times per week at one point—it’s worth noting the franchise remains a potent player for ABC parent Walt Disney.

“It’s still on and doing very well in syndication,” Mr. Bader noted. “For the Disney Co. it’s still a huge asset. It’s never gone away.”

Mr. Saade said the primetime version will be a hybrid of the original “Millionaire” and the tweaked version that now airs in syndication. “The idea is to stay as true to the essence of the original as possible,” he said.

He also added that ABC was “thrilled to have Regis back in primetime.”

Disney-ABC Domestic Television continues to produce and distribute the Meredith Vieira-hosted “Millionaire” in the U.S. The international “Millionaire” format, however, is now under the control of Sony Pictures Television, which bought rights holder 2Way Traffic last year.

ABC last aired a primetime edition of “Millionaire” five years ago, in 2004.
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tlynn78
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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#3 Post by tlynn78 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:33 pm

This is wonderful news! More chances!


t.
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Weyoun
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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#4 Post by Weyoun » Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:47 pm

Best of luck to all of you now back in the pool.

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Rexer25
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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#5 Post by Rexer25 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:53 pm

I think that BBs need to go to every news site and blog that is reporting this and demand that the phone game be brought back.
Enough already. It's my fault! Get over it!

That'll be $10, please.

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#6 Post by themanintheseersuckersuit » Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:26 pm

T-girl makes her 10,000 post and PTBAM comes back.....coincidence or not?
Suitguy is not bitter.

feels he represents the many educated and rational onlookers who believe that the hysterical denouncement of lay scepticism is both unwarranted and counter-productive

The problem, then, is that such calls do not address an opposition audience so much as they signal virtue. They talk past those who need convincing. They ignore actual facts and counterargument. And they are irreparably smug.

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#7 Post by silvercamaro » Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:53 pm

Hooray!
Now generating the White Hot Glare of Righteousness on behalf of BBs everywhere.

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#8 Post by ghostjmf » Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:12 pm

Woo. And also Hoo.

Bring Back The Phone Game!

(Even if I don't have a chance in heck of passing the callback round any more than I did last time.)

I finally saw "Slumdog Millionaire". I don't recall the main character ever answering "so how did you get on that show?", though he was asked. And he did work at a call center. Lotsa phones. Even if he was the chai-wallah & not even a call answerer.

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#9 Post by ghostjmf » Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:23 pm

Is it too much to ask for them to ditch the clock?

We the letter-writers could point out that "Slumdog Millionaire" would never have "happened" (OK, I know its a movie; well, a book, then a movie) if the show had had the clock.

They can keep the new lifelines (PT last-previous incarnation had a double dip that when linked to 50/50 would have drilled down to the right answer, & also had no penalty for getting the dip choices wrong. Or something like that. Its been a while. They could keep the new double dip rules. And I like having an expert who sometimes really is one, rather than a panel of experts who mostly were clueless except in their fields of wisdom, except for the few who were former contestants).

But they have to lose the freaking clock.
Last edited by ghostjmf on Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#10 Post by Snaxx » Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:32 pm

BB reunion at a NYC taping!

(Just a suggestion)

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#11 Post by Millionaire Fan » Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:36 pm

This is awesome. I wonder if they'll use the old money tree and the old lifelines. Also I think they should increase the top prize to $2,000,0000

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#12 Post by MarleysGh0st » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:18 pm

Phone Game?

Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game! Phone Game!



Please?

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#13 Post by takinover » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:36 pm

Cool.

Selfishly I am hoping for 1) a return of quality PT gameshows and 2) an at home contest like WWTBAM had in the early days.

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#14 Post by clem21 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:48 pm

Hey if they do Phone Game can I audition again???? :lol:
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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#15 Post by MarleysGh0st » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:49 pm

clem21 wrote:Hey if they do Phone Game can I audition again???? :lol:
Sorry, no.

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#16 Post by clem21 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:52 pm

MarleysGh0st wrote:
clem21 wrote:Hey if they do Phone Game can I audition again???? :lol:
Sorry, no.
Dammit! I woulda had a great hook...."I was on this show already a long while back but it's so good to be back here again...."
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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#17 Post by MarleysGh0st » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:57 pm

You do realize how serious this is for some of us, don't you?

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#18 Post by TheCalvinator24 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:05 pm

Absolutely the best of fortune to all eligible BBs.
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. —Albus Dumbledore

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#19 Post by clem21 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:06 pm

MarleysGh0st wrote:You do realize how serious this is for some of us, don't you?
You're damn right I do. And you do know that if you get in that Hot Seat I will skip my job, wait on line all day and make sure I get in that audience to cheer for you when you win the million! And you will!
"Some people never go crazy, What truly horrible lives they must live..."
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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#20 Post by MarleysGh0st » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:11 pm

clem21 wrote:
MarleysGh0st wrote:You do realize how serious this is for some of us, don't you?
You're damn right I do. And you do know that if you get in that Hot Seat I will skip my job, wait on line all day and make sure I get in that audience to cheer for you when you win the million! And you will!
I thank you and all the other BBs who have expressed the same sentiments.

Sadly, I don't have the same confidence in that happening any more. Not through auditions. So. even though the odds are obviously long for an eleven-day series, no matter what method they use to select contestants, it would be at least a sliver of hope for myself and a number of other boring MAWGs, who still answer the question, "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" in the affirmative.

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#21 Post by hbomb1947 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:17 pm

Okay. First of all:

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This has been a long time coming. I expected this to happen after those reports in January, but it sure is nice to get confirmation.

BUT:

I wonder what is meant by the following cryptic language in the article:

Mr. Saade said the primetime version will be a hybrid of the original “Millionaire” and the tweaked version that now airs in syndication. “The idea is to stay as true to the essence of the original as possible,” he said.

So what parts of the "tweaked version" are TPTB planning on incorporating? And do TPTB believe that TOPG constituted part of "the essence of the original"?

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#22 Post by SportsFan68 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:30 pm

TheCalvinator24 wrote:Absolutely the best of fortune to all eligible BBs.

That's what I think too.
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-- America would be a better place if leaders would do more long-term thinking. -- Wilma Mankiller

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#23 Post by SportsFan68 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:33 pm

clem21 wrote:
MarleysGh0st wrote:You do realize how serious this is for some of us, don't you?
You're damn right I do. And you do know that if you get in that Hot Seat I will skip my job, wait on line all day and make sure I get in that audience to cheer for you when you win the million! And you will!
Pea stands on line too!

All y'all New Yorkers!
-- In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.
-- America would be a better place if leaders would do more long-term thinking. -- Wilma Mankiller

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#24 Post by hbomb1947 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:39 pm

SportsFan68 wrote:
clem21 wrote:
MarleysGh0st wrote:You do realize how serious this is for some of us, don't you?
You're damn right I do. And you do know that if you get in that Hot Seat I will skip my job, wait on line all day and make sure I get in that audience to cheer for you when you win the million! And you will!
Pea stands on line too!

All y'all New Yorkers!
Why would standing in line be necessary? Wouldn't TPTB make tickets available over the internet beforehand?

Nitpicking aside, I do look forward to a BB meetup on the Upper West Side in August. And if there is a BB to cheer for, that will be even better :)

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Re: PT Millionaire Returning

#25 Post by bazodee » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:45 pm

(1) I think the tweaks they are talking about relate to Lifelines. TPTB had quite a bit of discussion about the new lifelines incorporated into Super Millionaire in 2004, everything from lengthening the time for Three Wisemen to adding a sixth lifeline (switch the question).

(2) The phone game will return. All the legal issues were resolved when they allowed a means for hearing impaired people to play the phone game. They will not gear up for nation-wide auditions nor will they use auditioners currently in the pool from SyndiBAM. The buzz was generated in 1999 because anyone could get on the show by dialing a phone number one night and being in New York two days later.

(3) This will have a fairly major impact on the taping schedule for SyndiBAM which started in late July last year. One of the reasons for the early start in 2008 was Meredith's impending departure for Beijing. The studio is going to be pretty busy

(4) I predict that Anil Kapoor will be involved somehow, someway

(5) We're all assuming that people who have already appeared in the Hot Seat will still remain ineligible. But as soon as the game rules are posted, this will be the first thing I'm looking for.

(6) The oracle cannot see all things clearly at this point but remains confident that Mr. Marley will get into the Hot Seat. If he'd like to know the topic of his final question will be, he knows how to contact me

(7) You all should be practicing Fastest Finger. Forget about memorizing lists of dead Vice-Presidents' wives

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