Will this ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ reboot stick?
Will this ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ reboot stick?
ABC is dusting off the unscripted property for another go. Will it nail the landing?
How would you survive in the hot seat? That’s a question I’ve asked myself ever since the first season of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” first came on TV way back in 1999. Regis Philbin sat in the host chair back then, and though Jimmy Kimmel now holds that responsibility, almost everything about the show is the same.
On Wednesday, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” returns for its fifth season fall premiere. It’s not breaking any new ground whatsoever, but I’m not really interested in that. As pure nostalgia plays go, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” is a great one, and it’s the title I’m most excited to stream this week.
Anyone who has watched even one episode of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” before knows how it goes. The host asks contestants a series of questions with escalating difficulty and value if the player answers correctly. The grand prize of $1 million awaits any player who gets all their questions right, and the contestant gets three “lifelines” to aid them with questions that are true stumpers.
ABC has tweaked the format of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” over the years, but it mostly follows the same tried-and-true structure the show has always used. Sitting in the players’ chairs nowadays are pairs of celebrity guests who are playing on behalf of the charity of their choice.
The Season 5 fall premiere will feature Michael Keaton and Jon Lovett, as well as Will Forte and Taran Killam in the hot seat. I don’t have any special love or hate for any of these celebs, but it is undeniably fun to see if you can beat them in a random trivia game. It makes me personally feel as if knowing the difference between distinct species of elephant better than a guy I once saw on “Saturday Night Live” makes me the superior human being.
And no, maybe there’s nothing truly special or remarkable about “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” Yes, it’s a bald-faced play for nostalgia views by ABC, and a convenient way to fill a primetime time slot in an era where streaming services are stealing viewers by releasing a new prestige TV show every week.
But that’s OK, because the show is still entertaining to watch. “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” is something of a middle ground between a true lean-back show that you don’t really have to pay attention to, and a lean-forward show that demands your attention at all times. With “Millionaire,” I can tune in and tune out at will and always know what’s going on. And when a contestant truly gets close to the grand prize, it’s still must-see TV.
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” Season 5 will air episodes on ABC on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET. They’ll stream on Hulu the day after they air live on Wednesday nights.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, celebrities play to win a million dollars for a charity of their choosing. Contestants have 15 questions to win a million dollars in this classic game show.