) I guess the next on will be Poland then...
Vrei să fii miliardar? (2000-2003)
Sept 8, 2021 7:49:57 GMT -5
omran.dk, Admiral Sven, and 1 more like this
Post by TeddilaHD1999 on Sept 8, 2021 7:49:57 GMT -5
Hello, WWTBAM fans from all over the world! This is my very first post on this forum. I am starting this thread on the first Romanian version of WWTBAM: Vrei să fii miliardar?, which was broadcast on Prima TV. Also, today is the 21th anniversary of the very first season of the show.
Vrei să fii miliardar? had its premiere on 8th September 2000 on Prima TV. The show also made Virgil Ianțu become a Romanian television host, who back then was mostly known as a member of The Fifties, a rock band. Like every WWTBAM versions from all over the world, it was a huge success in Romania, revolutionising the Romanian television, as well as the quiz show genre from there. TV Mania, one of the largest TV guides from Romania, awarded Vrei să fii miliardar? the best quiz show three times: in 2001, then in 2002 and finally in 2003 (yes, it won even if it was cancelled in the autumn of 2003). It was this show that made Prima TV a serious competitor to Pro TV and Antena 1. While other Romanian channels provided quiz shows such as Lanțul Slăbiciunilor (Romanian version of The Weakest Link, broadcast on Pro TV), Deștept și Bogat (broadcast on TVR1), none were as successful as Vrei să fii miliardar? (though Lanțul Slăbiciunilor did briefly dethrone Vrei să fii miliardar? when it came to ratings in March 2002).
The show saw the billion being won only twice: first by Mihai Popa on 15th April 2001, then by Oltin Tudor Hurezeanu on 8th April 2002. Six contestants also faced the billion question, but walked away with 500,000,000 old lei. Four of them were: Dan Ghenea, Gheorghe Bărbieru, Victor Răileanu and Eduard Turcu. Sadly, I don't know the remaining two contestants that became peunltimate prize winners.
Vrei să fii miliardar? had a total of 5 seasons:
There were plans to launch a sixth season in the spring of 2004, but in the end, the show was cancelled due to unknown reasons. Eventually, the show would be revived and being broadcast in 2011 on Kanal D, this time, with a different name: Vrei să fii milionar? (our currency saw a redenomination in 2005, thus the change of the name. 1 billion old lei is now just 100,000 new lei.)
Sadly, despite being a very popular show, there are no more than 19 videos of this version being uploaded on YouTube. Only three videos are complete, the rest are just partially recorded. There is no doubt that Prima TV still has the VHSes of the episodes (while celebrating their launch on 17 December, they do provide short footages of the very first episodes of the show.), so far, they have not uploaded anything on their YouTube channel, nor reruns on TV.
A playlist with what is so far available on YouTube.
Vrei să fii miliardar? had its premiere on 8th September 2000 on Prima TV. The show also made Virgil Ianțu become a Romanian television host, who back then was mostly known as a member of The Fifties, a rock band. Like every WWTBAM versions from all over the world, it was a huge success in Romania, revolutionising the Romanian television, as well as the quiz show genre from there. TV Mania, one of the largest TV guides from Romania, awarded Vrei să fii miliardar? the best quiz show three times: in 2001, then in 2002 and finally in 2003 (yes, it won even if it was cancelled in the autumn of 2003). It was this show that made Prima TV a serious competitor to Pro TV and Antena 1. While other Romanian channels provided quiz shows such as Lanțul Slăbiciunilor (Romanian version of The Weakest Link, broadcast on Pro TV), Deștept și Bogat (broadcast on TVR1), none were as successful as Vrei să fii miliardar? (though Lanțul Slăbiciunilor did briefly dethrone Vrei să fii miliardar? when it came to ratings in March 2002).
The show saw the billion being won only twice: first by Mihai Popa on 15th April 2001, then by Oltin Tudor Hurezeanu on 8th April 2002. Six contestants also faced the billion question, but walked away with 500,000,000 old lei. Four of them were: Dan Ghenea, Gheorghe Bărbieru, Victor Răileanu and Eduard Turcu. Sadly, I don't know the remaining two contestants that became peunltimate prize winners.
Vrei să fii miliardar? had a total of 5 seasons:
- Season 1 premiered on 8th September 2000 and had its finale on 18th June 2001. It had a total of 156 episodes. It was broadcast four times a week (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday).
- Season 2 debuted on 14th September 2001 and concluded on 31st December 2001, with a total of 64 episodes. Again, it was broadcast four times a week (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday).
- Season 3 was broadcast between 16th February and 31st May 2002, with a total of 52 episodes. Originally, it was broadcast three times a week (Saturday, Sunday, Monday), but from 12nd April 2002 onwards, it reverted to the original formula the first two seasons had of broadcasting.
- Season 4 began on 26th August 2002 and ended on 31st December 2002, with a total of 92 episodes. This time, it was broadcast five times a week (From Monday to Friday). On the other hand, the running time saw a reduction: each episode from the previous three seasons ran 60 minutes, this time, every episode from the fourth season ran only 30 minutes.
- Season 5, the last one, premiered on 4th February 2003 and concluded on 1st July 2003, with a total of 22 episodes. It adopted a weekly format, being broadcast every Tuesday. (Yes, I know the last episode, which was uploaded on YouTube, has the date set as 22 May 2003. The uploader, himself being the final contestant of the show, confirmed that 22 May 2003 was, in fact, the day when the filming took place.
There were plans to launch a sixth season in the spring of 2004, but in the end, the show was cancelled due to unknown reasons. Eventually, the show would be revived and being broadcast in 2011 on Kanal D, this time, with a different name: Vrei să fii milionar? (our currency saw a redenomination in 2005, thus the change of the name. 1 billion old lei is now just 100,000 new lei.)
Sadly, despite being a very popular show, there are no more than 19 videos of this version being uploaded on YouTube. Only three videos are complete, the rest are just partially recorded. There is no doubt that Prima TV still has the VHSes of the episodes (while celebrating their launch on 17 December, they do provide short footages of the very first episodes of the show.), so far, they have not uploaded anything on their YouTube channel, nor reruns on TV.
A playlist with what is so far available on YouTube.
