Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (American game show)

*Who Wants to Be a Millionaire*
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Genre	Game show
Created by	David Briggs; Steven Knight; Mike Whitehill;
Developed by	Michael Davies
Directed by	Mark Gentile (1999–2002); Matthew Cohen (2002–10); Rob George (2010–13); Brian McAloon (2013–14); Rich DiPirro (2014–17); Ron de Moraes (2017–19); Julia Knowles (2020); Joe DeMaio (2020–21);
Presented by	Regis Philbin; Meredith Vieira; Cedric the Entertainer; Terry Crews; Chris Harrison; Jimmy Kimmel;
Composers	Keith Strachan (1999–2010, 2020–); Matthew Strachan (1999–2010, 2020–); Jeff Lippencott (2010–19); Mark T. Williams (2010–19);
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	23 (6 on ABC, 17 in syndication)
No. of episodes	ABC: 388; Syndication: 3,010;
Production
Executive producers	Michael Davies (1999–2010, 2020–present); Paul Smith (1999–2007); Leigh Hampton (2004–10); Rich Sirop (2010–14); James Rowley (2014–19); Jimmy Kimmel (2020–present); Mike Richards (2020);
Production locations	ABC Television Center; New York, New York (1999–2012); Metropolis Studios; New York, New York (2012–14); Connecticut Film Center; Stamford, Connecticut (2014–16); Caesars Entertainment Studios; Las Vegas, Nevada (2016–19); Sony Pictures Studios; Culver City, California (2020–present);
Running time	39–48 minutes (1999–2002; 2004 and 2009 specials; 2020–present); 19–25 minutes (1999; 2002–19)
Production companies	Valleycrest Productions (1999–present); Celador (1999–2007); 2waytraffic (2007–19); Embassy Row (2020–present); Kimmelot (2020–present);
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	August 16, 1999 –; June 27, 2002
Network	Syndication
Release	September 16, 2002 –; May 31, 2019
Network	ABC
Release	April 8, 2020 –; present
	Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (often informally called Millionaire)^[a] is an American television game show based on the format of the same-titled British program created by David Briggs, Steven Knight and Mike Whitehill and developed in the United States by Michael Davies. The show features a quiz competition with contestants attempting to win a top prize of $1,000,000 by answering a series of multiple-choice questions, usually of increasing difficulty. The program has endured as one of the longest-running and most successful international variants in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise.

The original US version premiered on ABC on August 16, 1999, as part of a two-week daily special event hosted by Regis Philbin. After this and a second two-week event aired in November 1999, ABC commissioned a regular series that launched on January 9, 2000, and ran until June 27, 2002. Philbin hosted the entire run of the original network series as well as two additional special event series that aired on ABC in 2004 and 2009.

A daily version of Millionaire produced for syndication began airing on September 16, 2002, and was initially hosted by Meredith Vieira. Cedric the Entertainer took over the show in 2013 following Vieira's departure, with Terry Crews replacing him in 2014. The final host of the syndicated series was Chris Harrison, who took over from Crews in 2015 and hosted until the show was canceled, with the finale airing on May 31, 2019.^[4] On January 8, 2020, seven months after the cancellation was announced, ABC renewed the show for a twenty-first season, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel (who is also a co-executive producer of the show) with celebrity contestants. The twenty-first season premiered on April 8, 2020, and its success led to the show being renewed for a twenty-second season, which premiered on October 18, 2020.^[5] On May 3, 2024, ABC renewed the show for a twenty-third season after a three-year hiatus, which premiered on July 10, 2024.^[6]

The show has had numerous format and gameplay changes over its runtime and, since its debut, twelve contestants have answered all questions correctly and won the top prize. As the first US network game show to offer a million-dollar top prize, the show made television history by becoming one of the highest-rated game shows in the history of US television. The US Millionaire won seven Daytime Emmy Awards, and TV Guide ranked it No. 6 in its 2013 list of the 60 greatest game shows of all time.

^ ^a ^b "CREDITS – Matthew Strachan | Composer & Songwriter". Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
^ Cite error: The named reference Gameshow Hall of Fame was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire". Embassy Row. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
^ Otterson, Joe (May 17, 2019). "'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' to End After 17 Years in Syndication (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on June 16, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
^ "Jimmy Kimmel to Host Celebrity-Driven 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' for ABC". The Hollywood Reporter. January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
^ Cite error: The named reference 2024Reboot was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[Strachan-1] "CREDITS – Matthew Strachan | Composer & Songwriter". Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.

[Gameshow_Hall_of_Fame-2] Cite error: The named reference Gameshow Hall of Fame was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire". Embassy Row. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.

[5] Otterson, Joe (May 17, 2019). "'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' to End After 17 Years in Syndication (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on June 16, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2019.

[Kimmel-6] "Jimmy Kimmel to Host Celebrity-Driven 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' for ABC". The Hollywood Reporter. January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.

[2024Reboot-7] Cite error: The named reference 2024Reboot was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1]

[2]

[3]

[a]

[4]

[5]

[6]