Millionaire is Coming Back Home to ABC

What can i say except you guys seem to be the next one that...
ah just watch the teaser (part of ABC's shows in October 2020) xD

Looks like it’ll be a celebrity, too!

No sign of our civilian contestants in that promo. Interesting...

My reaction to the trailer, I think, can best be summed up with this:


Man, twice by two different TV companies in two different countries in the span of about a month. That's gotta be a record. I mean, it's great that someone won. It would be greater if I didn't find out about it WAY before it actually happened. 

I kind of understand why they do it, though. Let's face it, we (the superfans of the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? format and game show nuts in general) are in a very small minority of viewers. The average viewer (especially American viewers, dare I say) aren't particularly inclined to tune in unless something interesting happens. They are not as interested in being teased and left in suspense as we are (and the American version was never particularly suspenseful anyway, at least in comparison to the British original). I make a specific example of American viewers because I think American viewers of Millionaire are infinitely more interested in seeing people winning big than they are for the entertainment/informational value of just watching the show (I think British viewers, while they do enjoy really big winners, don't care as much as the Americans or don't necessarily need it for the show to be exciting to them). That's why, to them, spoiling big winners matters less to them than it does to us and that's why, in the grand scheme of things, as deeply annoying as this is to me and a few others, it kind of makes sense to spoil it.

Am I miffed? Yes. Do I understand why ABC/ITV/Stellify/Embassy Row does this? Yes. Do I think it's a good idea? No, but what the heck do I know? I'm naturally biased against anyway. 

I think Adam Martyn (another British Millionaire fan, sort of like Ben Crowl), in his video covering the ITV/Stellify leak of Donald Fear's win, explains my feelings towards this trend (and explains it in general) perfectly. 

I think teasing the question versus the result is the way to go. I know audiences have shorter attention spans now than they did 20 years ago, but it’s disappointing that there’s literally no suspense going into it. If the celebrities have full-time experts still, that’s even less drama.

Whatever we think of this, I want to remind all of you that this is not a 2020 thing, because spoiling big wins have been going for decades.

Judith Keppel's win was spoiled to win the ratings against the series finale of One Foot in the Grave. Of course, ITV was accused of fixing, but this did not happen. So, her win was spoiled, and we're talking 20 years ago.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1118212.stm

'The Millionaire win - filmed the Sunday before broadcast - had been leaked to the press, and the resulting publicity helped ITV to a ratings victory over BBC One.

ITV broadcaster Carlton said a member of the audience, which had been sworn to secrecy, broke the story against its wishes.

The ITC ruling follows a formal apology from the BBC itself after a source from within the corporation expressed concerns over the fact that Mrs Keppel's win coincided with Victor's death.'

Keep in mind, social media wouldn't exist for a few more years. Don't you think it's even harder to keep information under the wraps now than it was back then?

I also have found an article after Kevin Olmstead's big win.

nypost.com/2001/04/11/millionaire-winner-has-it-twice-as-nice/

'ABC has said another person will win $1 million this week on “Millionaire,” which airs again tomorrow, Friday and Sunday at 8 p.m. on WABC/Channel 7.'

This was correct, and that turned out to be Bernie Cullen, whose big win aired just five days after Kevin Olmstead's did. So, this didn't just start with Donald Fear and it hasn't just continued with this celebrity.

That said, here are my thoughts on this.

Pros

- A celebrity finally wins the jackpot in the U.S. This has been done in other versions, especially Japan, but never here.

- Somebody does win the top prize, and the first to correctly answer every question since Nancy Christy in 2003, even longer than going from Ingram Wilcox to Donald Fear.

- It gives us, both the Millionaire diehards and the casual fan, something to look forward to next month.

- We only know that someone will go all the way. We do not know who or when. Somebody thought Calum Hind would do it before he walked on the 14th question. In retrospect, it was a brilliant move by ITV to announce it by having audiences wait all week until the last contestant of the series, to boost the ratings, I'm sure.

Cons

- What is it with the U.S. version's love of celebrities playing? Will there be any civilians at all? Will it be a mixture of both next month? Lots of people want to play.

- I do see the side of this being underwhelming and the surprise being spoiled, as some also know what is coming, and the argue of the drama and the tension being reduced.

- Audiences are now led to believe that if someone making it to the last question is teased, they won't win, while someone will only win if it gets leaked.

- I wasn't the person who broke the drought and won the top prize.

So, I can see both sides to this. Either way, I will be tuned in next month, just like I watched every UK episode last week.

Whomever this person is, can they please not be as annoying as Nikki Glaser was?

I have some nice Info...
According to this article, Jimmy Kimmel taped a total of 17 Episodes of WWTBAM.

Soo worst-case:
17 episodes over 17 weeks straight

eu.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/09/17/jimmy-kimmel-2020-emmys-late-night-talk-summer-vacation/5794373002/