Had ABC not overexposed Millionaire...

[holcombz]

How much longer do you think the show would have lasted in primetime?

[pylguy]

It's a tricky question but what I have seen from tv guides of the time it was of 4-5 times a week, it is obvious that people just got tired of the same format, then with the beginning of reality/talent show millionaire just got left behind.

Maybe if ABC Millionaire was just on 1- 2 time a week people would look forward to watching it, instead of knowing it was on every other night and taking it for granted. Unlike the UK version I have always found Classic US Millionaire to be much more entertaining. More people where willing to take risks in order to be the first Millionaire winner in the world.

Even if ABC hadn't overexposed it, I don't think it would have lasted much longer than it did. People simply just got tired of million dollar gameshows and wanted something fresh, enter reality shows like The Mole and The amazing race, which basically combined reality and game in one show.

Millionaire had a good 5 years in both USA and the UK. Millionaire is a format which is really adaptable, countries thought the world have had every different takes on the format like Australian Hot Seat Millionaire, UK Fast Track Millionaire and US Shuffle Millionaire.

I still long for the days when Millionaire was fresh and exciting.

[RegisFan]

Millionaire probably would have lasted 1-2 more years in primetime had it not been so criminally overexposed. It wouldn't have lasted forever, but I think it would have kept its momentum a lot longer.

I think that it would have lasted much longer, though, as a limited series. Sometimes I wonder if we'd still be seeing annual editions of the show today had it kept its original limited format. It would work great as a seasonal show. Look at Wipeout on ABC. As a yearlong show, its ratings suffered. As an annual summer series, it's been going strong since 2008.

[holcombz]

May 8, 2013 18:32:48 GMT -5 RegisFan said:

Millionaire probably would have lasted 1-2 more years in primetime had it not been so criminally overexposed. It wouldn't have lasted forever, but I think it would have kept its momentum a lot longer.

I think that it would have lasted much longer, though, as a limited series. Sometimes I wonder if we'd still be seeing annual editions of the show today had it kept its original limited format. It would work great as a seasonal show. Look at Wipeout on ABC. As a yearlong show, its ratings suffered. As an annual summer series, it's been going strong since 2008.

Agree with the concept of having it as an annual summer series. I follow tv ratings closely and this resembles Wipeout perfectly

[kplewisvox]

Problem is, of course, with other networks putting up full-fledged series with million-dollar prizes, it wouldn't have been long before ABC was forced to turn Millionaire into a series.

[doctorwho]

I'd have given it another year or so at most. It would have run out of steam eventually, but ABC's milking of the show's popularity was what killed it IMO. Although it could have been worse. IIRC, they had already started planning the 5-a-week show before the primetime version got cancelled. (can anyone back me up on that?)

I kind of like the idea mentioned above of bringing it back to primetime seasonally. It probably wouldn't happen, what with all the changes in the past few years, but hey, we can dream.

[RegisFan]

I'm fairly certain you're right about the syndicated series originally being planned to run concurrently with the primetime series. I do think that would have been a little strange for the casual viewer, especially considering how much exposure Millionaire was already getting by that point in primetime.

[FinalAnswer19]

I had never heard that! That's so interesting. Although that was my favorite format, I feel like that would have been way too much overkill! As if what they did to the primetime format wasn't bad enough...

[thirdmariobro]

The problem is that American and British television are so different. America television of the time was incredibly hellbent on grabbing every foreign television fad, latching onto it, and riding it to the ends of the Earth. But not everyone did that. Look at Survivor. It debuted roughly the same time as Millionaire, and yet it's still here. CBS nurtured their imports, while ABC milked them dry. Millionaire could have been here today as well. The BBC was able to use the show conservatively and help maintain it's value as "event TV" for 14 years. The funny thing is that event TV has in recent time become nearly the sole thing keeping network/broadcast television relevant as the internet still isn't quite there in terms of live simulcasting, at least on the scale required for a sporting event with 30-50 HD cameras running to an HD truck.

By that logic, I feel one day Millionaire will return in the form that people loved it best. Simple formats draw viewers. The classic version of millionaire was something everyone could understand. Event TV still has value. Maybe one day we'll see the real deal return. I miss it so.

[GSK]

Jul 27, 2014 23:20:19 GMT -5 thirdmariobro said:

The problem is that American and British television are so different. America television of the time was incredibly hellbent on grabbing every foreign television fad, latching onto it, and riding it to the ends of the Earth. But not everyone did that. Look at Survivor. It debuted roughly the same time as Millionaire, and yet it's still here. CBS nurtured their imports, while ABC milked them dry. Millionaire could have been here today as well. The BBC was able to use the show conservatively and help maintain it's value as "event TV" for 14 years. The funny thing is that event TV has in recent time become nearly the sole thing keeping network/broadcast television relevant as the internet still isn't quite there in terms of live simulcasting, at least on the scale required for a sporting event with 30-50 HD cameras running to an HD truck.

By that logic, I feel one day Millionaire will return in the form that people loved it best. Simple formats draw viewers. The classic version of millionaire was something everyone could understand. Event TV still has value. Maybe one day we'll see the real deal return. I miss it so.

We certainly do need the original classic version of Millionaire back, especially since its closest English-language counterpart ended its run earlier this year.

[cpu112]

I wish they would bring back the orginal millonaire

[milliondollarsav]

Me too. I have a feeling that Millionaire's going to be cancelled when the new season's over.

[thirdmariobro]

I do as well. I really hope not. American TV is fickle. Rare is it that something is allowed to stay the course and ride the ups and downs. Look at the Price is Right. Minus a few flashy changes here and there, it's fundamentally the same format it was in 1975. I feel we're on the cusp of a Millionaire nostalgia wave. They'd be fools to ignore it.

[cpu112]

The US constantly keeps changing its format !
In the UK it changed once and that was only because celador sold millionaire to sony.

[OMDolton99]

Jul 30, 2014 7:12:01 GMT -5 cpu112 said:

The US constantly keeps changing its format !
In the UK it changed once and that was only because celador sold millionaire to sony.

Hmmm, I know. I think what it was that killed UK Millionaire was the fact that they didn't really change the format much in 14 years. It just eventually got to the point where it was just the same old show every so often and I think if they had changed the format even slightly (I dunno, maybe different lifelines or something?) it would have kept it fresh and it would still be going today. Shows like these are like machines; every so often you need to replace/upgrade a part otherwise it breaks down.