Jimmy Kimmel to Host Celeb Edition of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"
by Ryan Schwartz
January 8, 2020


Get your lifelines ready: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is returning to ABC for a series of primetime specials, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. The limited run of episodes will put celebrity contestants in the hot seat, who will play for charity.

The first episode of the game show revival is set to air on Wednesday, April 8th.




The celebrity contestants can invite a guest — such as a family member, a beloved teacher or a famed trivia expert — to help them answer questions. What’s more, viewers at home will be able to play along with a new interactive mobile game that will allow them to compete to win the same amount of money that celebrities are playing for on the show.

Kimmel will serve as an executive producer on the new "Millionaire", along with original EP Michael Davies and "The Price Is Right" vet Mike Richards.

https://tvline.com/2020/01/08/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-revival-primetime-jimmy-kimmel-host/

(wishes the host for a past TV program named "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" named "Regis Philbin" would host a new program with the same name based on the format of the past one and some of the ideas for having a new one based on that format in the message above this one)

I heard about this and i'm surprised because the syndicated version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was cancelled last year and already ABC plans to bring back Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in a Celebrity Edition. The new format and the chance for people to play along with a special app is cool and that is what the syndicated version should've had if it hadn't gotten cancelled. Why did ABC choose Jimmy Kimmel to host this new version of Millionaire instead of Chris Harrison or Regis Philbin is also shocking to me because Jimmy Kimmel was first famous on Win Ben Stein's Money and then hosted Set For Life which also aired on ABC and got cancelled shortly after due to poor ratings Jimmy Kimmel thinks that he will become even more popular on ABC. But there is hope "but don't get your hopes up too high" that if this Celebrity Edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is a huge hit ABC might consider these episodes as the start of a new revival of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire with Jimmy Kimmel as the host in the future. Like the proverb says "There's always a light at the end of the tunnel" and it's true for Millionaire fans who longed to see it's return from Game Show Heaven
Bestie

Hi, Bestie! I am glad to see WWTBAM come back. But not with Kimmel and bits. I wish Chris was hosting it again.
DTK

This what would be much like the 20th Anniversary episode of WWTBaM itself but its great that Millionaire is back on TV for the Celeb edition on ABC.

(wishes the host for a past TV program named "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" named "Regis Philbin" would host a new program with the same name based on the format of the past one and some of the ideas for having a new one based on that format in the message above this one)

(brings-up the argument that Regis Philbin is just too old and wishes for somebody who is younger to host that same program and wonders if Meredith Vieira would be a good choice, and doesn't care if any fights get started over this even though he doesn't want to get into one himself)

I saw the first previews of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire revival on Youtube and I think ABC is desperate for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire to come back because with this celebrity edition premiering Wednesday I think Millionaire is destined to come back in the near future. Why they picked Jimmy Kimmel to host it rather than Chris Harrison i'll never know
Bestie

I saw the first episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire's celebrity edition today and weak is how I describe it. Sure they managed to get the original theme song and sound effects of the Regis Philbin version but the weak spot is Jimmy Kimmel and when I saw him he reminded me of Rick from Rick And Morty and acted like Rick too. I don't know how in the world Jimmy Kimmel was chosen when they could've had someone like Al Roker or Chris Harrison or even brought back Cedric The Entertainer to host this Millionaire revival. It also seems that the celebrities playing are from ABC sitcoms with the exception of Dr. Phil and the main reason why Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family was playing as the debut celebrity today was just so they could hype up the Modern Family finale which aired today. Just like when Family Feud was hosted by Louie Anderson in 1998 I have a feeling that Who Wants To Be A Millionaire will become the new Family Feud of game shows of the 2000's. So if you want to watch Millionaire the way it's meant to be stick with the reruns of Regis Philbin's version or the Chris Harrison version
Bestie

Al Roker is under contract to NBC and Cedric the Entertainer is under contract to CBS so I doubt those networks would let them host Millionaire on one of their main competitors.

I saw the first episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire's celebrity edition today and weak is how I describe it. Sure they managed to get the original theme song and sound effects of the Regis Philbin version but the weak spot is Jimmy Kimmel and when I saw him he reminded me of Rick from Rick And Morty and acted like Rick too. I don't know how in the world Jimmy Kimmel was chosen when they could've had someone like Al Roker or Chris Harrison or even brought back Cedric The Entertainer to host this Millionaire revival. It also seems that the celebrities playing are from ABC sitcoms with the exception of Dr. Phil and the main reason why Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family was playing as the debut celebrity today was just so they could hype up the Modern Family finale which aired today. Just like when Family Feud was hosted by Louie Anderson in 1998 I have a feeling that Who Wants To Be A Millionaire will become the new Family Feud of game shows of the 2000's. So if you want to watch Millionaire the way it's meant to be stick with the reruns of Regis Philbin's version or the Chris Harrison version
Bestie

Louie Anderson started hosting in 1999.

Jimmy Kimmel's celebrity Who Wants to be a Millionaire revival largely strips it of the appeal that first made it such a phenomenon to begin with (https://variety.com/2020/tv/reviews/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-jimmy-kimmel-review-1234575679/)

Celebrities playing for charity without a studio audience (due to the coronavirus shutdown) in celebration of Millionaire's 20th anniversary made the revival far less appealing than the Regis Philbin-hosted original.

It was OK ! I watched it last night .Certainly not as good as the original with Regis , and personally my favorite Millianaire were the ones with Meredith Viera ! :) I was a total fan of those! ;)But it served it's purpose yesterday. I was kind of upset, overwrought, exhausted, not feeling really well, down in the dumps over the Corona virus situation and some other personal matters, so I made a point to watch this and it did take my mind away from my problems and the world situation ;) .And as I said it was OK , I enjoyed it , not jumping up and down totally excited about it type of thing , but still enjoyed it ! I will watch it again !;)

WAs the show on last night. That is the actual game? I did see the hour special with flashbacks. John Carpenter had the same 4 scenes shown. I personally would like average joes to come on. The celebrity money is going to charity but what about the average Joe. I just hope Jimmy Kimmel doesn't holler like Cedric and Terry did. I don't like people who holler. Meridith and Chris I liked very much.

WAs the show on last night. That is the actual game? I did see the hour special with flashbacks. John Carpenter had the same 4 scenes shown. I personally would like average joes to come on. The celebrity money is going to charity but what about the average Joe. I just hope Jimmy Kimmel doesn't holler like Cedric and Terry did. I don't like people who holler. Meridith and Chris I liked very much.

I would prefer if they had everyday Joe and Janes instead of celebrities too! ;)

Jimmy Kimmel's Who Wants to be a Millionaire revival plummets in Week 2 (https://www.thewrap.com/masked-singer-singalong-chicago-finales-jimmy-kimmel-who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-ratings/)

The celebrity-studded game show (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/14412-who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire/page/2/#comments) was down 45% in the 18-49 demo over last week's premiere.

ABC Renews Jimmy Kimmel Hosted "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"
by Peter White
May 21, 2020


ABC has renewed the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" revival hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

The series will continue to feature celebrity contestants playing for charity.

https://deadline.com/2020/05/abc-renewals-stumptown-mixed-ish-2020-21-season-a-million-little-things-the-conners-the-goldbergs-the-rookie-the-bachelor-dancing-with-the-stars-renewed-1202940807/

My guess is that they ordered it as insurance in case they can’t start up production of scripted shows as quickly as they want to.

Ugh! Enough with the celebrities, I thought Millionaire was going to feature regular contestants if expanded.

Totally agreed. The celebrity editions bore me.

ABC Boss Addresses Status of Primetime "Millionaire?"
by Matt Webb Mitovich
January 11, 2022


Appearing at the Television Critics Association virtual winter press tour on Tuesday, Craig Erwich, president of ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals, answered some questions, even if vaguely, on ABC programming.

Erwich had no updates at this time on the primetime "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. The Season 2 finale aired back in late March.

However, he did say that more installments of Kimmel and Norman Lear’s "Live in Front of a Studio Audience" franchise are coming, but no details were shared for what TV series.

https://tvline.com/2022/01/11/oscars-host-2022-academy-awards-abc-greys-anatomy-season-20/

ABC Parks "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"
by Peter White
January 20, 2022


ABC has parked the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?".

While the game show has not been officially axed and its status is currently to be determined, there are no plans to make further episodes. The network has, however, left the door open for it to return in the future.

https://deadline.com/2022/01/pooch-perfect-canceled-abc-who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-parked-1234915782/

I Think ABC made a right decision to put WWTBAM on shelf but not canceling it

What I think will happen with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is ABC will replace Jimmy Kimmel with another star and be an improved version and they will try to make it more like the original Regis Philbin version but feature no celebrities. The main problem with this Who Wants To Be A Millionaire revival was ABC thought that having celebrities on the first season was such a good idea but when you have celebrities on a game show it does or doesn't work out so well like ABC has scored huge ratings with Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune and Celebrity Family Feud and they had hoped to do the same with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. The other problem was having Jimmy Kimmel host this version and what I think Jimmy Kimmel was chosen to host Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was that I truly think Jimmy wants be the king of ABC and he wants to get his name out so he can do more ABC shows besides Jimmy Kimmel Live and also with Regis's death in 2020 it made the ratings go down and it affected the show a lot. But when and if Who Wants To Be A Millionaire returns a good replacement host would be actor Richard Madden not only because he is young but his accent sounds very much like Regis's and he would be a terrific fit
Bestie

The other problem was having Jimmy Kimmel host this version and what I think Jimmy Kimmel was chosen to host Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was that I truly think Jimmy wants be the king of ABC and he wants to get his name out so he can do more ABC shows besides Jimmy Kimmel Live and also with Regis's death in 2020 it made the ratings go down and it affected the show a lot.
Bestie


I never watch Kimmel and the only time I hears about him is not because he's being funny but because he's bashing Trump or some other Republican, which seems to be all he has going for him. I never even knew he was hosting this show. Regis was great on the show. That other woman (whose name I can't recall and generally avoid) wasn't good either.

Good. I absolutely can't stand Jimmy Kimmel. He's not funny or smart!

Ed.

Good. I absolutely can't stand Jimmy Kimmel. He's not funny or smart!

Ed.

I never knew he was on the show but yeah, I agree, I can not stand him either

Regis was great on the show. That other woman (whose name I can't recall and generally avoid) wasn't good either.

Was it Caroline Rhea?

Was it Caroline Rhea?No, Meredith Viera