Millionaire is Coming Back Home to ABC

I think millionairenut summarized my feelings towards Nikki Glaser perfectly, so I won't add anything onto what he's already said. I think the reason they kept in her banter's because that's what the folks at ABC consider to pass as 'entertainment' nowadays. I mean, I'm sure some folks found it interesting, but for folks like us who just wanna see the game, it was definitely a drag. The fact that we blew a third of the program on two questions means that the show has managed to hit its consistent (and in my opinion, dreadfully slow) pacing mark of 10 questions above $1,000 per show (2 from Nikki and 8 from Jane).

Jane Fonda, I think we can all agree, was great. Not too much banter, not too much deliberation. I found her constantly asking for her 'plus one' (that's what I'm calling the in-studio friend the contestants bring on) after the $32,000 mark somewhat cringy, but then again, she's not used to the game, so I'll give her a pass.

What annoyed me about her run was her walking away at the quarter million dollar question after 50:50 left her with what was obviously a wrong answer (provided you understand that time zones work and where Iceland is in relation to New York and North America in general) and what was obviously the correct answer (I suppose this proves that the 50:50 in this version may actually be random, because if I was in charge of which answers to remove, I would've removed Reykjavik and kept Rio de Janiero; keeping Iceland made the question ridiculously easy, at least in my opinion) and even after her plus one was decently sure that it was Lima and not Reykjavik. I mean, I don't know. I get that "we all have gaps in our knowledge" and it was a lot of money to lose for charity if she had gotten it wrong, but it still felt like a fairly easy question for a quarter million and I felt she should've gone for it. I think this is just my disappointment at still not having seen a $500,000 question and beyond and the consequent missing out on 'good television', but still. I don't know. Maybe in her head, Iceland is where Newfoundland is and thus much closer to New York in her head (which would make it conceivable that they share the same time zone). 

It kinda felt like 'bichon frise' guy from British Millionaire. (TANGENT ALERT) For those who don't know what I'm referring to, this guy got a question asking what a 'bichon frise' was for a quarter million, did AtA which got him a 93% majority for dog, 7% for another answer, and left two answers at 0%. He then did 50:50, which left him with dog and wind (an answer that got a whopping 0% in the AtA poll). He then phoned his friend who also told him he thought it was a dog (but advised him to take the money). In the end, in spite of what the first two lifelines told him, he listened to his friend, let his nerves get the best of him, and walked. Lo and behold, the correct answer was dog. He would've become the second quarter million pound winner (and maybe the first half million, if he had the guts for it) in the UK version. He, coincidentally, is my pick for most disappointing contestant ever (or one of them, at least). 

Going back to Kimmel Millionaire, as I said earlier, I have decided to not judge this version until we see a civilian version, since comparing this to Regis Millionaire or British Chris Millionaire (my two points of comparison, since they're both hour long primetime versions with plenty of sample points) would be an apples to oranges comparison, in my opinion. 

Two points of inquiry I'd like to make, though. First, while I'm glad that Kimmel Millionaire has taken a lot of cues from Clarkson Millionaire (set, lights, etc.), I'm beginning to find myself missing the money graphic (straps, I think they're officially called) that appears on the bottom of your screen after it is revealed a contestant gets the answer correct. I wish they didn't go along with the new British version on this and do away with it as well. Like, I don't know, to me, they make me excited. Not that this diminishes the quality of Kimmel's version in any way. I absolutely wouldn't mind having it back. 

Second, I know this is also the practice in Clarkson Millionaire, and I'm hoping someone can answer this for me, but why is it that after Ask the Host is used, the answer isn't revealed to the host (who then reveals it to the contestant) but rather revealed automatically to both host and contestant at the same time? I can't think of a good reason why they do that. I personally like the lifeline (although I'd prefer if Ask the Audience came back once they can start filming with audiences again), but I've never liked that bit with the reveal. It's always felt very gimmicky in a way and... I don't know. I don't like it.

Anyways, that was a lot I had on my mind there with the third episode of this new version. I'm happy it's being moved to 8 PM instead of 10 PM. I think that'll help it gain some traction (and for as long as there are no more contestants like Nikki Glaser, it should gain traction). I look forward to seeing what this run of episodes has in store.

Michael Davies said that Jimmy Kimmel gets over this asking the computer to reveal the correct answer after these first episodes. I was happy to hear this.

China says hello. 3,250 miles across, all one time zone.

Question, would I eligible to go on the show if they did a civilian edition after playing the app?

Thank you.

Millionaire is a family show and should be on earlier in the evening. Audiences were staying up fairly late to watch the show and participate in the app game.

Yeah, a great episode.