) I guess the next on will be Poland then...
Post by Dave Summer on Dec 26, 2023 17:21:08 GMT -5
As we all know, the Hungarian version of Millionaire (more commonly known as Legyen Ön is Milliomos!) was cancelled in 2019, and we still didn't hear any news about it here. It is not the biggest discovery why it was turned down, but I could talk to some people who were involved in the stream when it was aired, so I would like to post what they said:
1. Firstly, we should not forget about the Golden Era of Milliomos in Hungary between 2000 and 2008. When István Vágó (rest in peace) was hosting the show, the feeling, the athmosphere, everything was whispering like it's something cool and new is about to happen. I have to admit that I wasn't even born when they introduced the quiz game, but when it was the biggest sensation of the Hungarian Television, well, I grew up on Milliomos! I have my first memories related to the show and István Vágó as well. He exactly knew how to control the game. In his final interview about the quiz shows and oldschool television he mentioned that back then he had to prepare as if it was the final exam of the university. And being in aware of the fact that he was a chemical engineer before becoming a quiz show host, he mastered his skills of making the contestants nervous and creating suspense after making their final answer, although he was a bit too strict sometimes.
After Gábor Cserey won the top prize of 40 million HUF in 2006 (now it would be equal to 104,832 EUR or 115,758 USD), the show's audience started to disappear. Well, the show was popular with the older generation (most likely with people who were older than 50), after Gábor winning the TPM, the audience slowly was decreasing. This tendency was significant until 2007 when Risk mode was introduced. They won some views back, but it was not the same as between 2000 and 2006. And I dare to mention that the Rave style was not in favor of the audience, at least the productive team hated it. It didn't fit Vágó at all.
And after 2008, it started getting worse...
After Gábor Cserey won the top prize of 40 million HUF in 2006 (now it would be equal to 104,832 EUR or 115,758 USD), the show's audience started to disappear. Well, the show was popular with the older generation (most likely with people who were older than 50), after Gábor winning the TPM, the audience slowly was decreasing. This tendency was significant until 2007 when Risk mode was introduced. They won some views back, but it was not the same as between 2000 and 2006. And I dare to mention that the Rave style was not in favor of the audience, at least the productive team hated it. It didn't fit Vágó at all.
And after 2008, it started getting worse...
2. In 2009, Sándor Fábry became the host of Milliomos! It was about celebrities playing quiz show, but the flow and feeling was not the same, neither the audience was as engaged as before. In 2010, Felpörgetve was announced to be aired in Hungary (that is the bad, Hungarian rip-off of the Australian Hot Seat). It literally killed the engaged audience, and they aired it only once a month. It was bad, not original, forced and hard-to-follow. In my opinion, Sándor Fábry shouldn't have hosted Milliomos, but it's only my point of view. He is a cool comedian and he has an astonishing sense of humour, but as a quiz show host, I'm so sorry to say that, but he failed.
3. When the revival of Milliomos was announced in 2012, we all hoped that it is going to be something revolutionary. But we couldn't be disappointed more than ever we were. Sándor Friderikusz was introduced as the new host, and he completely killed the mood and the flow of the show. He was a talk-show host before and his knowledge was questionable in terms of eligibility to host any kind of quiz shows, but he was named as the next presenter of Milliomos! They returned to the basic Rave Format, but they reduced the contestant count from 10 to 5, and there was a short introduction text about every players narrated by a producer. It was the crash of Millionaire in Hungary, and after March 2013, the show was cancelled. I admit that I wished it would be cancelled, but only because the host. Friderikusz acted like a comedian who always wants to be in the center of attention, and his annoying personality freaked a lot of my friends out. (Fun fact: currently, Friderikusz hosts a podcast on YouTube. He started if after he retired from being a television host)
4. At the end of 2018, TV2 announced that they claimed the rights of Millionaire from RTL, and then then simultaneously started advertising the revival of Millionaire! Gábor Gundel-Takács was named as the next host of Milliomos and they also raised the top prize money from 40 million to 50 million HUF (currently 131,004 EUR or 144,721 USD). Gundel-Takács was hosting a lot of quiz show before Millionaire (and still hosting them), so we knew that it is going to be more successful than Fábry and Friderikusz were combined.
Unfortunately, the show lived only for 42 episodes, and since February 28th, 2019 we didn't see any more Hungarian airs of Legyen Ön is Milliomos! It was being said that the audience was not that big they expected. But it has an even deeper and more obvious reason why it was cancelled after less than 2 months.
Unfortunately, the show lived only for 42 episodes, and since February 28th, 2019 we didn't see any more Hungarian airs of Legyen Ön is Milliomos! It was being said that the audience was not that big they expected. But it has an even deeper and more obvious reason why it was cancelled after less than 2 months.
5. As I mentioned, I had the chance to have several conversations with former producers about the show. The had almost the same opinion about the cancellation of the show, but they explained it differently. Most of them agreed that due to nowadays' requirements, the Golden Era of quiz shows is over. The biggest mistake of Milliomos from 2009 was that their target was the younger generation instead of the more experienced older generations. They forced themselves to push the limits over the comfort zone which was a big fail. The show became monotonous, boring, too simple and didn't focus on the main part of the game: the quiz. Well, István Vágó said that "...there is not any other quiz show that are as host-centered as the Millionaire is!", which is kind of weird, but true. But Fábry and Friderikusz tried to pull the audience toward themsleves instead of make them pay attention for the quiz and create the suspense. Gundel-Takács created it well too, but it was not the same.
Furthermore, the huge success of reality shows and random game shows pushed the valuable contents to the backgrounds. We cannot really watch any kind of quiz shows, enjoyable entertainment or anything that we can learn anything meaninful from (news is an exception lmao). Most of the producers said they hate their works since they shoot reality shows. They hate to see those stupid celebrities whose IQ are way lower than their age divided by 5 (it's not a joke, most of them said this word by word).
Furthermore, the huge success of reality shows and random game shows pushed the valuable contents to the backgrounds. We cannot really watch any kind of quiz shows, enjoyable entertainment or anything that we can learn anything meaninful from (news is an exception lmao). Most of the producers said they hate their works since they shoot reality shows. They hate to see those stupid celebrities whose IQ are way lower than their age divided by 5 (it's not a joke, most of them said this word by word).
6. And finally, I asked them about the future of the quiz shows. That was where they split up. More of them (difference is so tight) said that there is no way that quiz shows and educational contents will have another massive success in the next 20-30 years. But the rest of them were hopeful. One of the former producers of Milliomos said that he still waits for the announcement about the revival of Milliomos! He is still waiting patiently. For almost five years! That's incredible. I wish I could host it, but I don't have the competence for being any kind of host...
To sum up, in Hungary (and I thing all over the world) the invasion of reality shows is massive. I turn on the TV, and there are only two possibilities to choose from (on the main commercial channels of course): reality shows or soap opera. Nothing else! I wish that quiz shows, especially WWTBAM, would return. I hope that one day we will get positive news about it!
What do you think about this one?
All the bests for everyone,
Dave Summer
