Millionaire is Coming Back Home to ABC

[RegisFan]

Scheduling update:

Sunday’s episode was one of Wednesday’s marathon episodes that got preempted by news coverage. The other two marathon episodes will air on Sunday, 1/17, and Sunday, 1/24, but at the show’s NEW time slot at 8/7c.

[millionairenut]

I’m hoping the new time slot will help, but I think they’d be better off with another time slot on another day.

[RegisFan]

Tonight’s contestants were both extremely chatty. It definitely felt like the question count could have been higher. That’s a problem that arises with two back-to-back high energy contestants.

Looking forward to the ratings to see if the earlier time slot helped out at all.

[trevor]

If it does, my lack of optimism wasn’t well-founded after all...

[arman]

Sadly, the time slot didn’t help much, in fact, it sort of made things worse.
Millionaire had 2.68m according to preliminary ratings.

ABC’s ratings were bad overall, but it did do better than NBC’s shows and (obviously) CW’s. 

FOX obviously won the night. 

[WWTBAMFan02]

So that just leaves the Sunday night slot as a huge problem, not the timeslot. I just hope they reschedule the marathon they were going to do a couple of weeks ago. I wonder what the ratings would've been like, had they not been pulled.

[RegisFan]

The marathon would have to include only repeats at this point, so I’m not sure what we’d learn from that. The season ends this Sunday.

[WWTBAMFan02]

Futon Critic lists that Episode 13 will air on the 31st, where the season finale would've taken place. That would leave at least two episodes left to air. We'll just have to wait and see.

[RegisFan]

I thought there was one more episode, but I couldn’t find it in any TV listings. Looks like channel guides still consider 1/31 to be just out of reach. That should change in a day or two.

[Sonicfan49]

It is 100% the fact that it's on a Sunday that's killing it.

I don't think that Millionaire will get the axe though. Its performance seems to be in line with most of ABC's game shows (Pyramid, Match Game, Press Your Luck) when it's actually in a good time slot, and game shows are generally relatively inexpensive to produce compared to most TV genres. We just may see it become a totally-contained-within-one-season-a-year type of deal.

They just need to outright not have celebrities in the hot seat anymore.

[millionairenut]

It was good to see some tension tonight with the civilian contestant, even if she didn’t use her lifelines the best.

Speaking of lifelines, credit to Ray Romano for using them, unlike Cedric. I liked the flashback touch from the last time he was on, and the story he told.

Also, Ray mentioned the producers don’t like too much chit chat. Well, who are the ones who booked a bunch of celebrities to allow that to happen on the first place? Civilians can be chatty, too, but usually the celebrities drive a lot of that.

[RegisFan]

I’d love to know what notes the production team gives to the celebrities regarding chit-chat. Most of them seem to do their own thing, regardless.

Tonight’s episode was great. The throwbacks to Ray’s run in the original version (and the continued reverence for Regis) were great! Ray is also genuinely funny, unlike some of the hyperactive or overly sarcastic celebrities we’ve seen this season. That helps a lot.

One more episode to go this season!

[arman]

Millionaire pulled 2.89m according to preliminary ratings. Doubt it will go over 3m, but I expect it to be around 2.93-2.95m

[millionairenut]

It looks like this was the season finale. I really enjoyed it.

For Ray’s last question, I correctly guessed the right answer. It’s a different part of the world, but I know the Chinese gift one another money in a red envelope for New Years. So, I was thinking along those lines. I think I vaguely might’ve heard the correct answer before, or am I just making that up? Anyway, that was what drew me to the correct answer.

I’m glad we got to close the show with a civilian contestant, and I’m happy for her. Although, I wish contestants wouldn’t check in with their help on literally every single question. I would only do it if I didn’t know, or if I couldn’t figure it out on my own if I wasn’t 100% sure.

I was able to get the last question of tonight’s show right, as I knew the choices before they came up since I remember reading about it when it happened. The penultimate question I would’ve needed a 50:50 on, which really does beg the question on the best strategy to use for trading in a lifeline. Oftentimes, the 50:50 isn’t needed for this Millionaire reboot, but I potentially would’ve benefitted from the 50:50 lifeline because I immediately ruled out two choices in the penultimate question. It really made me consider what the best strategy would be if I was in the hot seat.

Anyway, a good, solid episode in the season finale. I would say it was one of my favorites this season, and I just hope the ratings were strong. I didn’t miss a single episode this season, and I really want my shot in that chair. Let’s hope it’s revived.

[RegisFan]

I agree, the season finale was a strong episode. The contestants were enjoyable, Jimmy was on point, and the production was solid all around (lights, music cues, graphics). This episode made the strongest case yet for Jimmy being a better host with civilian contestants, which makes sense given the stakes.

Overall, I enjoyed the season and hope that ABC renews the show for a third season. I don’t think I’m saying anything too surprising here, but here’s what I’d like to see if the show comes back:

1) No celebrities. It’s been fun and all, but there’s no drama or tension with celeb contestants and this game is built around high stakes.

2) No permanent companion assistance for the first ten questions or guaranteed safety net, for the same reasons mentioned above.

3) Overhaul the intro graphics and use the proper theme song. For a show that’s always been a bit groundbreaking with its intros, the US version is anemic compared to what we’re seeing internationally right now.

4) Keep the set and music as-is. They’re perfect.

Fingers crossed for a renewal! If you want the show back, engage with ABC on social media and let them know!