Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

In today's Sun, there's an article revealing the next WWTBAM jackpot winner. Tonights edition which was apparently
taped on the Thursday just gone, has just ended a short while ago, with the current contestant on £250,000 and two
lifelines remaining. Next week, and the week after, there are WWTBAM celebrity specials, which essentially means
we won't see the current (non-celeb) contestant actually winning the million pound jackpot for 3 whole weeks.

My main problem with this, is not necessarily about tabloid newspapers revealing the next big winner, but the fact
that the program is still recorded about 2 or more days in advance. Why can't they broadcast WWTBAM live, or
at least tape the show on the day of it's broadcast? That way, jackpot winners cannot possibly revealed in
advance by the press, tabloid or otherwise, and the program isn't spoiled for the majority of it's viewers.

Because it might get more viewers now?

Sadly, because if everyone knows someone's going to win the million, the viewing figures will bump up quite a bit. It's in ITV's interest for the papers to find out.

Broadcasting 100% live will screw up the integrity of the game, especially so far as Phone A Friend is concerned. Nothing to stop your friend watching it with a big pile of encylopedias or whatever. Do also take note of Major Ingram and the coughing thing, the point being of outside help to get the higher questions.

Add to this of course that the entire format has now been mlked well and truely for more than its worth and I lost all interest after the first million pound winner and when the show insisted on for months at a time. You can have too much of a good thing. The apple cart was upset as it were once they started doing all these specials fairly regularly - mother's day, valentine's day, something else's day, this day, that day, the other day and so on. Enough already.

it'll never be live - to prevent people on contestants phone a friend lists looking up the answers to questions before they're asked.

Not to mention the fact that as there is no time limit a contestant could take the whole show pondering over one question and it couldn't be edited out

I agree with you, yet apparently it's been recommissioned for a further 2 years. This is practically the only quiz show on prime time ITV1 and I think it's time they tried something else, otherwise how are they going to find the next big thing to replace Millionaire ?

Although once the backbone of the schedule in the 80's and 90's the humble gameshow finds no place in today's line-up. It's all soap and drama during the week which is even encroaching into the weekend (Emmerdale on Sundays). Poor

Well they did it live once. You could phone up and vote for "Ask the Audience".

Indeed. Doing it live all the time would extend the life of the show by quite a bit, I'd think. I'd certainly tune a lot more.

Must be quite complicated to do it live, especially when you see what goes on inbetween the contestant winning 'fastest finger' and actually going up to the hot seat.

That part seems totally pointless to me. Why go up to Tarrant then the hotseat, why not both go straight to the hotseat, or better, have a little chat first at the opening where Tarrant stands.

He asks "Wanna play for a million?" then answers himself "of course you do, lets go..."

It lasts about 3 seconds and just seems pointless. The contestant could go up to Chris, the audience stop clapping, and they get to know the contestant a bit first - their job, hobbies, etc. Then Chris asks "So you're ready to play for a million?" and they get on with it.

I'd prefer it live. As for phone a friend maybe they can bring 5 friends along with them and they stay in a little room away from the studio so they cant hear whats going on. Only thing is we could be there all day waiting for the contestant to choose an answer.

The hotseat isn't on the stage when the fastest finger round happens. Look for the jump cut as Chris puts his arm around the contestant and walks towards it.