Best TV Show of
the Week
Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?
on ABC
By Ally Matteodo
To
celebrate the tenth anniversary Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?,
the popular game show has returned to prime time for a two-week event. Helping
to kick off the celebration, the Monday, August 10th episode (8:00
p.m. ET) has been named Best TV Show of the Week. Hosted by the
charming Regis Philbin, the show’s format is simple: after an elimination round,
the winner becomes the primary contestant and is placed in the “hot seat,” and
must answer 15 multiple-choice questions correctly, with the questions growing
progressively more difficult. If the contestant succeeds in answering all the
questions correctly, they win one million dollars. In addition, the person in
the “hot seat” is given a number of lifelines to assist them for the questions
they find most challenging, and each lifeline can only be used once. There are
four current lifelines; Phone-a-Friend, Ask the Expert, Ask the Audience, or
Double Dip (which allows the player to make two guesses at the answer).
During these difficult
economic times, it is always rewarding to see people garnering some extra cash
to help them along. Additionally, Regis is a warm and encouraging host with a
wonderful sense of humor, and it is a delight to watch him banter with the
contestants. One of the participants during this episode was Gary Cousins from
Flint, Michigan who won 4000 dollars, and another was a young lady named
Michelle Ribeiro from New York City, who wound up winning 16,000 dollars. The
questions ran the gamut of subjects, from the profound to the profoundly silly.
One of the questions asked of Jeff Davison was based on the TV show Seinfeld:
“Kramer constructs a miniature statue of Jerry from what type of pasta?” Near
the end of the episode, Regis’ celebrity guest was Vanessa Williams, playing for
her charity, the Young Performing Artist Project. She answered her question
correctly (“Which of the following is not a high-end brand of baby stroller?”
Answer: “Schobly”), and won 50,000 dollars for her charity. Not only does
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? promote knowledge, it also promotes a kind
and giving heart.
Best TV Show
of the Week
The Parents
Television Council -
www.parentstv.org
