Classic Game Show: "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

I feel so old when I hear that shows like "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" have been on for 10 years. OMG! But it's one of the best shows of the past 25 years. "Millionaire" has become a part of America. It's amazing. It seems everyone in the country (and the world) knows the question "Is that your final answer?" The fact that it was (and is) such an international phenomenon is a testimony to how successful the show has become and, most likely, will continue to come! In America, Regis Philbin became even more successful than he was before. It's amazing! The show itself was awesome. A simple premise...answer 15 multiple-choice questions correctly and win $1 million! The questions are easy enough that the normal person at home would be answer them at least until the $8,000 level (this is no super difficult "$64,000 Question" stuff), but still hard enough that the individuals that make it to the top truly are seen as intelligent. It's also fun to see normal people win a lot of money on TV, a simple, common solution that still works. The money was also an awesome factor. It was the first show to give a true chance to give away a million bucks. Other shows had before ("The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime", for example), but it was the first to do it so easily and one of the first (if not the first) to give it all in a cash payout. The lifelines were also amazing. Phone-a-Friend, 50/50, and Ask the Audience were PERFECT to include in the show. Audiences also love to see people that need help being helped. The original primetime was killed because of the overexposure of the program (there were MANY weeks where the show was on for 5 days a week, FAR too many for a normal primetime show) and the constant special editions (after the first celebrity version was a hit, they went TOO FAR!!!). It survived in syndication though and has since been consistently the #3 game show in syndication (after "Wheel" and "Jeopardy!"). Meredith has made a perfect transition. And, with various changes (the change to Switch the Question to the current Double Dip and Ask the Expert [no more 50/50] and the addition of new graphics and the TV screen in the back of the studio) and no millionaires since 2003 (WE NEED A NEW ONE!), "Millionaire" is still one of the most successful game shows on television. It literally changed television game shows for the better (there are still $1 million game shows being produced almost every season for primetime) and left as mark that will never be removed. That's MY final answer!!!

Kevin $