) I guess the next on will be Poland then...
Old Millionaire episodes on streaming services
Dec 13, 2020 14:24:27 GMT -5
RegisFan, greenorcs, and 1 more like this
Post by Sonicfan49 on Dec 13, 2020 14:24:27 GMT -5
Do you think we will ever see old episodes of Millionaire dumped onto a streaming platform sometime in the (hopefully near) future?
I say this because as someone very interested in archiving the history of this show, it's not very easy to find old episodes. And when I say old, I'm not even referring to just classic Regis era stuff, I mean practically anything before the Harrison days. The only fully documented eras of Millionaire we have, in terms of publicly available video, is Super Millionaire (of all things), and the Harrison era (seriously, huge ups to TruelyMostWanted for this, you are next level awesome), and this season of Kimmelaire (since it's streamable... yeah, we can't even stream season 1 episodes any longer). A significant chunk of Regis classic Millionaire and especially Meredith era stuff is missing. Hell, funny enough, the biggest reason we have most of the archives that we do have on classic Millionaire (at least Regis and early Meredith stuff) is only because they were re-run on GSN. Yeah, remember GSN? Back before it was just the Steve Harvey Feud channel? But even then that was forever ago. Classic Millionaire hasn't been on GSN since 2012. And even then, that's still a ton of Millionaire that leaves out. Pretty much everything between 2004 and 2015 has not been re-aired, in any capacity. The August and November 1999 series were never re-aired. The 10th Anniversary stuff hasn't been re-aired, in any capacity, either. And I only see half of the episodes from it documented anywhere, and that was in an era where PVR's became much more common.
Don't get me wrong, I don't blame the community at all. We should not be the ones responsible for archiving some of the biggest moments in television history. The fact that we have YT channels like WWTBAMclassics to fill in as many gaps as possible and the fact that we still see trickle of notable contestants and episodes in all their glory is a testament to how passionate this community is. Even though we have all the big winners documented now, that wasn't always the case! Only recently have we managed to surface some of the less remembered $500k winners from the Regis era. Only over the last few years, has the missing Toutant episode that was never re-aired at any point resurfaced. Ogi Ogas, one of the most memorable Millionaire contestants ever, only resurfaced in video form in the last few years. And how about some of the notable members of the 218/225 drop club? Only recently can we finally say we have every single Regis-era member of that club covered. And how many Meredith era contestants in that do we have video of? Zero. Just a partial, camera clip of Bob Edgeworth after he used the 50-50 on the $500k question and got it wrong. Rod Martin and Ava Johnson? Nowhere to be seen. And there are a lot of $250k winners from Syndie (which basically might as well be a million dollar win with how stupidly hard the questions are) that have never seen the light of day since being aired. There's also that one guy who llamaed out that game wearing a fake stache and glasses that completely hid his identity. And then there's one particular contestant I have been fixated on for so many years. I will get to this at the end.
It's sad to say, but this even goes beyond video. WWTBAMBored, thankfully, is amazing and has us covered for everything that's been on the show as far back as 2007-08. But before that? The Millionaire Wiki is our best source as people transcribe from videos and lost archives, but there is a huge gap between the end of primetime and the Bored era, the majority of it entirely unaccounted for as sites dad did hold these archives have since been seemingly lost (wwtbambiz, some angelfire/geocities stuff). Remember how I mentioned the Meredith era 218/225 drop contestants? Bob, Rod, and Ava? Not only do we not have videos, we don't even have transcripts of their runs! We just know they exist! Same with a lot of the Syndie 250k contestants. And that's part of my point here, it would be one thing if we had a J! Archive or TPiR Guide type of thing to make up for the lack of video archive, or even a Wheel Wiki type where we have summaries of at least all the notable stuff, but we don't, and that's why the videos we do have are so d**n important and why I really want to see it being streamed or rerun in its entire capacity. There are so many memorable contestants that we have lost to time and I don't want them to just be faded memories.
The thing is, there is certainly a market for game shows being streamed and rerun. Notable Jeopardy episodes get added to Netflix every now and again. The GSN of old and BUZZR would not exist if there wasn't a market for it. BUZZR pretty much airs every single Fremantle show from under the sun - shows like Match Game, classic Feud, Classic Concentration, classic Price is Right, Password, Supermarket Sweep... hell, speaking of Price is Right, an entire channel was set up this month on Pluto TV to air 24/7 Barker-era Price episodes. The same was done with Deal or No Deal, a show which wasn't anywhere near the stratosphere of the popularity of Millionaire. Hell, I just mentioned Supermarket Sweep - we have a few episodes on Netflix (and Prime Video, I think)! Yes, Supermarket Sweep! As awesome as it was, again, nowhere near what Millionaire was. Hell, over in the UK, you have Challenge airing classic UK Millionaire reruns to this day. I used to give Fremantle so much crap years ago for being copyright hawks, but at least they actually care enough to give people a means to access their old shows. Come on Disney, you have your own streaming services! Disney+, Hulu, you're launching Star! Seriously, the solution to this is right under your own noses! Hulu would be the perfect platform for the show, and considering it's the 20th anniversary and Disney seems to be on good terms again with Sony (given the revival of the show)!
Unfortunately, this is Disney we're talking about. Their track record with preserving their IP's is, uhhh... not good. We're talking about a company which sits on an absolute goldmine of content, worth more than the GDP of most countries, and does nothing or butchers it entirely (see: Star Wars). The pessimistic part of me just thinks they don't care. Which is a shame, because Millionaire is quite easily a top 5 game show of all time. It's a huge part of history and it would be dumb just to pretend it never happened and it would be a shame if that sort of negligence would be why we lose what was a huge part of the childhoods of so many people. Long-running TV shows that aren't even relevant to this time period like Unsolved Mysteries have gotten their day in the streaming sun, why not Millionaire?
Which brings me back to that one mystery contestant. Her name is Michelle Glover and her episodes aired in May of 2005, as part of the old walk in and win weeks at Disney (May 18-19, 2005, to be specific). She did so poorly, that she didn't even llama out. She straight up dipped and walked away with $300. I am not joking. I remember watching this with my own eyes because it left such an impression on me. This person, who was not well equipped at all to handle Millionaire (as was the case for most walk in and win contestants) and completely buckling under the lights, just caved. It was so painful to watch someone struggle through that badly. Again, I remember watching this with my very own eyes when it first aired. Not only has that episode never aired in any capacity since, the video of it is straight up impossible to find. And believe me, I have looked. I have even gone beyond the depths of page 3 on Google searching. I have contacted practically any trader out there who claims to have a tape of this run (attempting to entice them with a glut of Supermarket Sweep and Win Ben Stein's Money and other Millionaire episodes I have compiled). It apparently exists, and I have been on a years long crusade to get my hands on this and get a chance to relive this. I am not kidding when I say that this run deserves to be framed and preserved forever. This run is my white whale. It is my golden snitch. It is my Pepe Silvia. It is my Toronto Maple Leaf Stanley Cup win (and I say this as a Leafs fan). Needless to say, I would do things I cannot mention in explicit detail to get my hands on this run and make sure it is preserved. Yes, I may have a screw loose, or two, or fifteen, but Michelle's run... it just refuses to leave my head. You know what would make this much easier? Y'know, the streaming services. That way, I can just find the episode I wanna relive that no one else wants to. And even though you guys probably don't have a missing episode that consumes you as much as it does for me... you know you'd love to relive these notable moments yourself!
Seriously, Disney. Do us a solid for once. Realize that what you have with Millionaire here in the US, was not just a game show. It completely revolutionized television. It took the whole country and world by storm. It's an important part of history that deserves to be relived and preserved. I personally have a hard drive of 130 classic primetime Regis episodes out of the 364 that were produced and aired over the years, thanks to WWTBAMclassics for practically 90% of it (you never know when the copyright gods will smite you, so I take no chances by having a copy locally). While it's only a good third of the episodes, it's something. But for syndicated... yeah. Just 51 episodes out of the thousands of the Meredith era. See how much is missing? The community as a whole shouldn't be the ones responsible for making sure the show gets the respect it deserves. I would instantly sub to whichever platform had Millionaire. If limited box sets were made, I would pay thousands for them. The show means that much to me and I know how much it means to the community here. Disney, I know this is gonna fall on deaf ears, but please.
I say this because as someone very interested in archiving the history of this show, it's not very easy to find old episodes. And when I say old, I'm not even referring to just classic Regis era stuff, I mean practically anything before the Harrison days. The only fully documented eras of Millionaire we have, in terms of publicly available video, is Super Millionaire (of all things), and the Harrison era (seriously, huge ups to TruelyMostWanted for this, you are next level awesome), and this season of Kimmelaire (since it's streamable... yeah, we can't even stream season 1 episodes any longer). A significant chunk of Regis classic Millionaire and especially Meredith era stuff is missing. Hell, funny enough, the biggest reason we have most of the archives that we do have on classic Millionaire (at least Regis and early Meredith stuff) is only because they were re-run on GSN. Yeah, remember GSN? Back before it was just the Steve Harvey Feud channel? But even then that was forever ago. Classic Millionaire hasn't been on GSN since 2012. And even then, that's still a ton of Millionaire that leaves out. Pretty much everything between 2004 and 2015 has not been re-aired, in any capacity. The August and November 1999 series were never re-aired. The 10th Anniversary stuff hasn't been re-aired, in any capacity, either. And I only see half of the episodes from it documented anywhere, and that was in an era where PVR's became much more common.
Don't get me wrong, I don't blame the community at all. We should not be the ones responsible for archiving some of the biggest moments in television history. The fact that we have YT channels like WWTBAMclassics to fill in as many gaps as possible and the fact that we still see trickle of notable contestants and episodes in all their glory is a testament to how passionate this community is. Even though we have all the big winners documented now, that wasn't always the case! Only recently have we managed to surface some of the less remembered $500k winners from the Regis era. Only over the last few years, has the missing Toutant episode that was never re-aired at any point resurfaced. Ogi Ogas, one of the most memorable Millionaire contestants ever, only resurfaced in video form in the last few years. And how about some of the notable members of the 218/225 drop club? Only recently can we finally say we have every single Regis-era member of that club covered. And how many Meredith era contestants in that do we have video of? Zero. Just a partial, camera clip of Bob Edgeworth after he used the 50-50 on the $500k question and got it wrong. Rod Martin and Ava Johnson? Nowhere to be seen. And there are a lot of $250k winners from Syndie (which basically might as well be a million dollar win with how stupidly hard the questions are) that have never seen the light of day since being aired. There's also that one guy who llamaed out that game wearing a fake stache and glasses that completely hid his identity. And then there's one particular contestant I have been fixated on for so many years. I will get to this at the end.
It's sad to say, but this even goes beyond video. WWTBAMBored, thankfully, is amazing and has us covered for everything that's been on the show as far back as 2007-08. But before that? The Millionaire Wiki is our best source as people transcribe from videos and lost archives, but there is a huge gap between the end of primetime and the Bored era, the majority of it entirely unaccounted for as sites dad did hold these archives have since been seemingly lost (wwtbambiz, some angelfire/geocities stuff). Remember how I mentioned the Meredith era 218/225 drop contestants? Bob, Rod, and Ava? Not only do we not have videos, we don't even have transcripts of their runs! We just know they exist! Same with a lot of the Syndie 250k contestants. And that's part of my point here, it would be one thing if we had a J! Archive or TPiR Guide type of thing to make up for the lack of video archive, or even a Wheel Wiki type where we have summaries of at least all the notable stuff, but we don't, and that's why the videos we do have are so d**n important and why I really want to see it being streamed or rerun in its entire capacity. There are so many memorable contestants that we have lost to time and I don't want them to just be faded memories.
The thing is, there is certainly a market for game shows being streamed and rerun. Notable Jeopardy episodes get added to Netflix every now and again. The GSN of old and BUZZR would not exist if there wasn't a market for it. BUZZR pretty much airs every single Fremantle show from under the sun - shows like Match Game, classic Feud, Classic Concentration, classic Price is Right, Password, Supermarket Sweep... hell, speaking of Price is Right, an entire channel was set up this month on Pluto TV to air 24/7 Barker-era Price episodes. The same was done with Deal or No Deal, a show which wasn't anywhere near the stratosphere of the popularity of Millionaire. Hell, I just mentioned Supermarket Sweep - we have a few episodes on Netflix (and Prime Video, I think)! Yes, Supermarket Sweep! As awesome as it was, again, nowhere near what Millionaire was. Hell, over in the UK, you have Challenge airing classic UK Millionaire reruns to this day. I used to give Fremantle so much crap years ago for being copyright hawks, but at least they actually care enough to give people a means to access their old shows. Come on Disney, you have your own streaming services! Disney+, Hulu, you're launching Star! Seriously, the solution to this is right under your own noses! Hulu would be the perfect platform for the show, and considering it's the 20th anniversary and Disney seems to be on good terms again with Sony (given the revival of the show)!
Unfortunately, this is Disney we're talking about. Their track record with preserving their IP's is, uhhh... not good. We're talking about a company which sits on an absolute goldmine of content, worth more than the GDP of most countries, and does nothing or butchers it entirely (see: Star Wars). The pessimistic part of me just thinks they don't care. Which is a shame, because Millionaire is quite easily a top 5 game show of all time. It's a huge part of history and it would be dumb just to pretend it never happened and it would be a shame if that sort of negligence would be why we lose what was a huge part of the childhoods of so many people. Long-running TV shows that aren't even relevant to this time period like Unsolved Mysteries have gotten their day in the streaming sun, why not Millionaire?
Which brings me back to that one mystery contestant. Her name is Michelle Glover and her episodes aired in May of 2005, as part of the old walk in and win weeks at Disney (May 18-19, 2005, to be specific). She did so poorly, that she didn't even llama out. She straight up dipped and walked away with $300. I am not joking. I remember watching this with my own eyes because it left such an impression on me. This person, who was not well equipped at all to handle Millionaire (as was the case for most walk in and win contestants) and completely buckling under the lights, just caved. It was so painful to watch someone struggle through that badly. Again, I remember watching this with my very own eyes when it first aired. Not only has that episode never aired in any capacity since, the video of it is straight up impossible to find. And believe me, I have looked. I have even gone beyond the depths of page 3 on Google searching. I have contacted practically any trader out there who claims to have a tape of this run (attempting to entice them with a glut of Supermarket Sweep and Win Ben Stein's Money and other Millionaire episodes I have compiled). It apparently exists, and I have been on a years long crusade to get my hands on this and get a chance to relive this. I am not kidding when I say that this run deserves to be framed and preserved forever. This run is my white whale. It is my golden snitch. It is my Pepe Silvia. It is my Toronto Maple Leaf Stanley Cup win (and I say this as a Leafs fan). Needless to say, I would do things I cannot mention in explicit detail to get my hands on this run and make sure it is preserved. Yes, I may have a screw loose, or two, or fifteen, but Michelle's run... it just refuses to leave my head. You know what would make this much easier? Y'know, the streaming services. That way, I can just find the episode I wanna relive that no one else wants to. And even though you guys probably don't have a missing episode that consumes you as much as it does for me... you know you'd love to relive these notable moments yourself!
Seriously, Disney. Do us a solid for once. Realize that what you have with Millionaire here in the US, was not just a game show. It completely revolutionized television. It took the whole country and world by storm. It's an important part of history that deserves to be relived and preserved. I personally have a hard drive of 130 classic primetime Regis episodes out of the 364 that were produced and aired over the years, thanks to WWTBAMclassics for practically 90% of it (you never know when the copyright gods will smite you, so I take no chances by having a copy locally). While it's only a good third of the episodes, it's something. But for syndicated... yeah. Just 51 episodes out of the thousands of the Meredith era. See how much is missing? The community as a whole shouldn't be the ones responsible for making sure the show gets the respect it deserves. I would instantly sub to whichever platform had Millionaire. If limited box sets were made, I would pay thousands for them. The show means that much to me and I know how much it means to the community here. Disney, I know this is gonna fall on deaf ears, but please.