Who wants to get rid of this dull program? (Who Wants to be a Millionaire?)

Member Name: tgoldring

Product:	Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Date:	09/02/02 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Large prize

Disadvantages: Dated format, Dull format, Boring presenter

'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' has been around since 2000, during which time it has seen its popularity soar. However, in my opinion, it is now gone way past its sell by date. In other words, its really stale now as a gameshow concept.

For those (minority?) of people who have never watched (or heard of) the show, here's a brief synopsis:

There are 10 contestants in all, but only one plays for a million pounds at a time. In order to choose one of them, a round is played, called "fastest finger first". This consists of 4 selections, which must be rearranged into the correct order. The quickest completion of the correct answer goes through and play for a million.

To win the million pounds, there are 15 questions. (Almost) each is worth double the previous amount, e.g. £1000, then £2000, then £4000, and so on. There are 3 landmarks that once a contestant reaches, they cannot loose that amount of money: £1000, £32,000 and of course £1,000,000.

If a contestant becomes stuck on a question, they have 3 other options - 'phone a friend', '50/50' and 'ask the audience', which they can use once each.

And that's it.

Now for my opinions. Firstly, the presenter, Chris Tarrant, is frankly boring. He has no real charisma, and just sits there smiling like a lemming as the contestant ponders his or her answer.

Secondly, the shows format is now becoming really dated. It is the same every night, and after the first series (which I admit finding fairly enjoyable), the show has plunged downhill in my opinion. I know the saying 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', but even so, the format is so repetitve now that it is just plain dull to watch.

Thirdly, the questions. Once the contestant reaches £1,000, the questions start to get challenging. However, the 5 before the £1,000 landmark are just an insult to people's intelligence. They really are ridicul
ously simple, and any educated person would be able to figure them out, even if it was from cancelling out the stupid other options that the contestant is faced with. Th si round of the game is pointless - why don't the producers change it so that you begin on £1,000, rather than having a boring start? This part of the program is a disgrace. Even Tarrant and the studio audience seems to think so, as Tarrant flies through the questions in an even more boring fashion than usual, and the audience (thankfully) don't applaud.

Well, thats what I think. A dull, dated show that needs replacing. Unfortunately, I can't see this happening any time soon as, although viewing figures are decreasing, they are still pretty high. Nevertheless, I certainly won't be watching the show any more.

Thomas

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