Charles Ingram | Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Wiki 15 & 18 September, 2001 (original) 21 April, 2003 (first broadcast) Money won £1,000,000 (later stripped) Charles Ingram, a former British Army major from Derbyshire, was a contestant on series 10 of the UK version of the show on the shows scheduled for broadcast on 15 & 18 September, 2001. After originally winning £1,000,000, the prize was cancelled after it was revealed that he had cheated his way through most of the questions. As a result, the episodes that he appeared in were not actually broadcast until 21 April, 2003. Contents Put these words in the order they occur in the title of the Agatha Christie thriller.

• A: Nile • C: Death • D: The From the 8 remaining contestants, 7 got it right, but Charles (with a time of 3.97 seconds) was the fastest to correctly answer C-B-D-A, making it into the Hot Seat. Charles's Run to the Million Edit On the first night of his game, when he got into the hot seat, he got through the first four questions without using any lifelines. On the fifth question, he still didn't use a lifeline, but took a while to answer. On both questions 6 and 7, he used a lifeline on each of them. He used two of his lifelines early on. After 7 questions, he won £4,000 but then the show ran out of time, so he had to return the next day to continue. £100 (1 of 15) - Not Timed On which of these would you air laundry? • A: Clothes dog • D: Clothes pig £200 (2 of 15) - Not Timed What name is given to a person who is against increasing the powers of the European Union?

• A: Eurosceptic £300 (3 of 15) - Not Timed What is butterscotch? £500 (4 of 15) - Not Timed Which of these is the nickname for a famous Scottish army regiment? • A: Black Cat £1,000 (5 of 15) - Not Timed The Normans, who invaded and conquered England in 1066, spoke which language? • A: German £2,000 (6 of 15) - Not Timed In 'Coronation Street', who is Audrey's daughter? • D: Sally Ask the Audience Results: A: 4% • B: 89% • C: 3% • D: 4% Charles did not know, so he used his first lifeline, He asked the audience , which gave a resounding 4-89-3-4 vote. Charles went with the audience, and won £2,000. £4,000 (7 of 15) - Not Timed The River Foyle is found in which part of the United Kingdom?

• C: Northern Ireland • D: Wales Charles did not know, so he decided to phone his friend Gerald, who was 99% sure it was Northern Ireland. He went with him and won £4,000. Then, the klaxon called time and Charles would return on £4,000 with 1 lifeline still available. Having watched and recorded several episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? , the Millionaire team thought that if you used two of your lifelines by the end of the night, you've usually struggled up to that point and you're expected to last only a couple of questions and be gone. The host Chris Tarrant thought that Charles chances of winning £32,000 were the chances of going to the moon in a rocket. Since he only had one lifeline left Chris expected Charles to get to £16,000 and be on his way. He was in for a big surprise... Meanwhile, Charles and his wife Diana Ingram , who accompanied Charles in the audience called one of the Fastest Finger Contestants. Tecwen Whittock , who would appear on the next show that night.

It is here, it is alleged, where Tecwen joins the Ingram's scam to cheat to the million, and this is where the "Major Fraud" begins. Diana Ingram later claimed she alone had spoken with him and purely to wish him good luck. Night 2 Edit On the next night, before starting the game, Chris asked Charles if he had a strategy. Charles said that he was a little defensive on the last show so he's going on the counter-attack. In fact, this reply, given the actual facts of what happened on the previous night, is incomprehensible. It appears that Ingram was simply setting the scene for what he was about to do. In saying that he was 'too defensive' on the previous night, Ingram also said that he had been too negative and had talked himself out of the answers which 'I knew'. However, this is simply false. In regard to the question concerning who is Audrey's daughter in Coronation Street, Ingram said outright "I have never watched it...I don't know the answer". He certainly didn't, as he claimed, talk himself out of that answer. He didn't know it, and he said so.

The second question on which Ingram used a lifeline, had him saying exactly the same thing. The question was 'In which part of the UK is the River Foyle?' Ingram's response was 'I have never heard of it.' Again, it should be noted, he never talked himself out of the answer. He said conclusively that he didn't know the answer, and this is why he needed to use his 'phone a friend' lifeline. Ingram's claim that he was going to be more positive, it seems, was simply an attempt to forewarn that should his answers or behaviour be deemed erratic, it was because he was being more 'attacking'. What everyone did not know was that his real strategy was to cheat. On nearly every question that night, he would try to say all four choices by giving a humourous comment on each of them. Then Tecwen, who's the FFC seat right behind Charles, would cough immediately after Charles said the correct answer. During the later questions, Charles chose to play it safe and check around all the answers multiple times leading to more constant coughing from Tecwen. £8,000 (8 of 15) - Not Timed Who was the second husband of Jacqueline Kennedy?

• A: Adnan Khashoggi • C: Aristotle Onassis • D: Rupert Murdoch Charles immediately thought it was Aristotle Onassis, and Tecwen coughed immediately after Charles said his name. After two coughs, Charles was confident and went for it. £16,000 (9 of 15) - Not Timed Emmenthal is a cheese from which country? • A: France • C: Netherlands • D: Switzerland This is the only question of the night that Charles knew the answer to without getting help from Tecwen. £32,000 (10 of 15) - Not Timed Who had a hit UK album with 'Born To Do It', released in 2000? • C: A1 • D: Craig David Charles and Tecwen did not know the answer to the question, so the plan was out the window. Charles used the 50:50 and was left with A1 and Craig David. Charles needed help, but none was coming. Knowing that her every move was being recorded, Diana Ingram, who was in the audience, took a huge gamble and coughed twice, hinting that the second answer is correct.

After believing for a long time that it was A1, Charles changed his mind and went with Craig David. £64,000 (11 of 15) - Not Timed Gentlemen v Players was an annual match between amateurs and professionals of which sport? • A: Lawn tennis • C: Polo • D: Cricket As the cheats play for more money, the coughs become more constant. Charles checked all the answers and two coughs from Tecwen told Charles it was Cricket. £125,000 (12 of 15) - Not Timed 'The Ambassadors', in the National Gallery, is a paiting by which artist? • A: Van Eyck • C: Michelangelo • D: Rembrandt It took two coughs from Tecwen for Charles to be certain that it was Holbein. At this point, the gaps between Tecwen's coughing and Charles being certain of an answer started becoming shorter. The team believed that if Charles chose to walk away at that moment, they wouldn't have caught him, because they wouldn't have lots of evidence that he was cheating.

If Charles chose to go higher, which he did, chances are a lot more coughs would be caught on tape and therefore a lot more evidence for the Millionaire team. So far, Tecwen didn't cough lots of times, but he would start coughing a lot more constantly as greed took over and Charles kept going. £250,000 (13 of 15) - Not Timed What type of garment is an Anthony Eden? • A: Overcoat • C: Shoe • D: Tie This was another question where Tecwen did not know the answer, so he decided to ask one of the Fastest Finger Contestants next to him if he knew. The contestant Tecwen asked was Tom Lucy, who started becoming suspcious after Tecwen asked him. Tom thought that Tecwen turned towards him and asked him just for something to say but once Charles made it to the million, as Tom knew the answer to both the £250,000 and £1,000,000 questions, he knew exactly what was going on for sure. Tom/Tecwen conversation caught on tape: Tecwen: What's that? Tecwen: That's what I thought.

Tom: Geez...I wish I was up there. Tecwen: You ever worn one of them? Tom: I haven't but Anthony Eden wore them - very popular in his days. Armed with the answer, Tecwen was ready. On this question, it took three coughs this time instead of two for Charles to choose hat. At this point, the two men were starting to over do it. £500,000 (14 of 15) - Not Timed Baron Haussmann is best known for his planning of which city? • A: Rome • C: Berlin • D: Athens On this question, Charles nearly blew the scam. Right off the bat, he thought it was Berlin as he believed Baron Haussmann had a German name. This was wrong, leading Chris Tarrant to reply "Charles ten minutes ago, you thought it was A1." He forgot to slowly say all the answers, not giving Tecwen a chance to help. Tecwen then took a huge risk by coughing and loudly whispering 'No!'. He broke the code by creating a signal that meant that Charles was about to give an incorrect answer.

But Charles continued to think it was Berlin, so Tecwen made a new signal, a nose-blow, trying to tell Charles that it was the all-stop signal. When Charles rules out Paris, Tecwen coughed hinting that it was correct, stopping Charles mid-sentence. Charles once again thought it was Berlin, and Tecwen once again did his all-stop signal. All the noise Tecwen was making started drawing the attention of a contestant named Larry Whitehurst who started to wonder if he was sending Charles a signal. Larry did not know the answer but carefully listened as Charles was checking around all the answers; and when he said Paris, he heard Tecwen's cough which made him suspicious. After saying Paris two more times, and hearing two more coughs from Tecwen, Charles finally went with Paris. This made a total of four coughs and two nose-blows in a single question, nobody aware that Charles was cheating except for Tom, Larry and future contestant Robert Brydges . £1,000,000 (15 of 15) - Not Timed A number one followed by one hundred zeros is known by what name?

• A: Googol • C: Gigabit • D: Nanomole Larry knew the answer before the four choices came up, so he was really able to eavesdrop on the private conversation between Charles and Tecwen. Tecwen once again turned to his left and asked Tom if he knew the answer. Tom: It's a Googol. Tecwen: That's what I thought. Tecwen now had the million pound answer. Charles thought it was Nanomole. He said that he never heard of a Googol, but Tecwen had, so he coughed. Larry was waiting for Tecwen to cough after Charles said Googol; and as soon as he did, Tecwen coughed and Larry had them red-handed. At the same time, Larry did not want him to cough, but he did because he wanted to confirm his suspicion. Charles then visited all the answers again to check with Tecwen. Although he never heard of a Googol, he was actually thinking it was, even though he just thought it was a Nanomole. As he says Googol again, Tecwen coughs a second time.

Chris Tarrant reminded him that he was going for the one he never heard of, just because he never heard of it. Then, Charles checked all the answers a third time and on Googol, Tecwen delivered. After saying Googol one last time, Charles finally played Googol. Charles asked Chris not to go for a break, but he did. After coming back, Chris recapped exactly how Charles approached the million pound question. He tore up the cheque for £500,000... and announced that he just won a million pounds and said he was the most amazing contestant they've ever had... that is, until they discovered he cheated. After the show Edit After the show was over, the team started searching for evidence. They took all the tapes from the cameras and put them all up on a screen. Before long, they noticed that all the coughs were linked to the questions and finally figured out what was going on. The following week, Charles received a call from Celador Productions . He was told that there were suspicions of the activities he took part in during the recording and the suspicions were referred to the police. Therefore they wouldn't be airing the show or rewarding him with his cheque.

Charles obviously said he wasn't doing anything suspicious and said goodbye. During the phone call, Charles didn't feel upset at all. He just thanked them for telling him and hung up, not the upset reaction the Millionaire team was expecting. Post-WWTBAM Edit With that, the game was up, for Charles, Diana and Tecwen. They had no other choice but to resort to one idea: they didn't do it. Charles said he swore that he did not cheat and he didn't recall hearing any coughing. Diana claims she never met Tecwen, but throughout the night, she was looking in his direction. The jury was shown the tape of Charles's million pound run and heard all of Tecwen Whittock's coughs in isolation better than one could hear it in a broadcast. The jury found the trio guilty and the judge said to give up any hopes that they were entitled to the million. Trial aftermath Edit The Ingrams were both sentenced to 18 months in prison while Tecwen was sentenced to 12. The sentences were all suspended, something which surprised many people in view of the amount of money involved.

The Ingrams had to pay total court fees of £115,000 rather than receive the million pounds. The trio appeared on one talk show after another and their story remained the same: they didn't do it. Their reputations were ruined. They risked everything to cheat to a million and lost it all. Charles now repairs computers for a living. Robert Brydges , one of the Fastest Finger Contestants who caught Charles red-handed, started writing a book called The Third Millionaire after he, two weeks later, indeed became the show's true third millionaire. Months after the recording, Charles run was finally aired along with a couple of interviews from the team with Chris Tarrant as the host. A documentary was also aired called Who Wants to be a Millionaire Major Fraud , featuring Charles run to the million, interviews from the team and FFC's who suspected cheating and the coughs in isolation just like the jury heard them at the trial.

The documentary was followed up by a special called The Final Answer , where it was announced that Celador Productions, the company that made Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, planned to make a movie based on the fraud called Millionaire: The Movie , but over a decade has passed since the Major Fraud and the movie has not yet been seen. Since 2004, James Plaskett has been arguing with author Bob Woffinden in favour of innocence for all 3 of them. His first essay being called 'Is The Coughing Major Innocent?' Trivia Edit To date, Charles Ingram is the last UK contestant to be stripped of his prize money, the previous three contestants were Neil Muir , Sheridan Booth and Andrew Lavelle - who were all stripped of their prize money for having criminal records. Charles Ingram's Run was not repeated on Challenge, due to the 'Major Fraud.' was happening. He also cheated because of Tecwen and Diana's Help throughout the 15 questions. The only way to see his entire run without the 'Major Fraud.' episode, is to see the YouTube Source under the Trivia Article. Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

TV Programme product reviews and price comparison Who holds the world 100m record for running barefoot on ice? a) Nico Surings c) Tom Waes d) Michael Santali Tarrant, of course is the perfect host for the British show and has made a few quid out of it, but as we have found with the Pakistan cricket team, money and greed over integrity and honesty wins every time, television notorious for not being all it seems. When the posh lady won the first million pound jackpot in the late 1990s it all seemed too neat. Some quick Googling by a diligent broadsheet journalist revealed uncomfortable connections between Judith Keppel and the shows producers' and the questions she was asked to win the prize; the fact she was connected to royalty and didn't need the money making it even more confusing why she was on. Most contestants on the show up until that point had been balding white middle aged mortgage payers, only on to pay off their debts, one of the first quiz shows not to specifically pick contestants based on how cute and annoyingly outgoing they were. Keppel stood out like a sore thumb at a rubber tool convention.

Full name Judith Cynthia Aline Keppel, she was 'friends' with Jasper Carrot, the brummie comedian part director of Celador who made the show, and Judith's husband writing jokes for the brummie comedian in a professional capacity. Judith's million pound question was: 'Which king was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine? But, rather coincidentally, Judith had recently visited the very-and obscure- grave of Eleanor and got the question correct, something she could have rather innocently bought up at a dinner party with her husbands friends, even Tarrant shocked she went for it risking the whole half-a-million. I don't believe she was in on any possible fix but the excellent film 'Quiz Show', starring Ralph Fiennes documents the very same scenario from the earlier American version of the format from the 1950s, the $64,000 Dollar Question', as equally big back then, the production team feeding him the answers to maximize the audience.

The Millionaire controversy was stoked because the BBC were showing the final episode of their long running if rather tedious comedy 'One Foot in the Ground' that night, victor Meldrew's infamous death expected to draw a huge audience on the same night the million would be won. But Keppel's run was carried through to clash with the sitcom and so claims of fix ringing out across the spectrum. Although ITV were cleared after an investigation her connections to the television industry did not sit well. A: Henry I D: Henry V Judith correctly answered B. The other huge controversy was that of Charles and Diana Ingram, again posh types from military stock, the couples cunning plan to slip a plant into the audience so to cough once for answer A and two for answer B etc coming to grief when a smart production assistant tumbled the ruse, spotting 19 different coughs at strategic times. The real mystery was Tecwen Whittock, the man with the frog in his throat, but never actually convicted with the Ingram as fraudsters, some believing Celador were in on the act for yet another publicity stunt to maximize ever increasing advertising revenues.

Whittock had been 'cough free' on other ITV quiz shows appearances previously and so his excuse of a dry throat condition kicked out of court. The issue for me is how did the Ingram's get to know this guy before they won through to the final chair and so be able to organize these stings weeks before? As a joke, Benylin Cough Syrup paid good money to have an advert spot during the recorded broadcast. To get on the show in the early days it quickly became an expensive exercise, many professional players ringing up the premium line over and over again until they secured the next call back stage by getting the question right. You can now enter the show via the internet, phone, text and the website, or through audition, which I have know idea about, but it still costs a £1 or more. Like with those fantasy football games, the more teams and phone calls you make the more chance of getting on the list and winning through. In the old days an average of £91 pounds of calls was calculated that would guarantee you a studio seat to go for the hot seat.

To demonstrate how contrived TV is I was intrigued to learn that Dragons Den star Leroy Roots, he of the Reggae Reggae Sauce success, had not only won a Mobbo Award in 1999 for his obvious music skills but never actually applied to go on Dragons Den to pitch money for his sauce. He was a typical laidback Caribbean bloke that was quite happy to flog just enough of his grandmother's recipe on the local market to break even and no ambition to make a million from it, which he has. But it turns out he was effectively headhunted for the show by a persistent BBC production assistant, who thought his sauce, look and musical background would work well on the show, perhaps even suggesting the guitar serenade. How many more entrepreneurs are all they seem? My point here is that Millionaire, although set up to accept random contestants through the phone and internet entry, doesn't want too many ogres in the hot seat and the new series feels like it has gone back to more traditional cheesy quiz candidates, lots of shiny teeth and bright colored clothes. Are those same production assistants going out to find more televisual characters to sit in the chair to boost the ratings and so advertising revenue?

A friend of mine worked at the call-centre that helped pick the contestants for the show by taking the original premium line calls. A tip he game me - if I was to try and enter - was to speak clearly and use your best phone voice, this the first clue to how good the contestant will look on TV, the phone method too ambiguous and not great for attracting sexy contestants, which the show at least wants one or two of. Secondly, for some unknown reason, there was a distinct lack of ethnic minority and female contestants on the show in the old days, meaning it was stuffed full with those boring white aged men looking to pay off the mortgage and not going for the 16 grand so not really appealing to the audience for them to get behind. Most viewers wanted them to stuff up the question and lose their house they got that bored of them. The show was never reprimanded for its failure to include minorities and women over the years but it is noticeable that the new series is much younger and female and has had some ethnic and foreign nationals on every week so far. I would hate to think the producers were somehow blocking people getting on the show and so action had to be taken to make it more representative.

EXCLUSIVE: PAL OF CHEAT MAJOR WINS MILLIONAIRE - Mirror Online Celebs EXCLUSIVE: PAL OF CHEAT MAJOR WINS MILLIONAIRE A CLOSE friend of Who Wants to be a Millionaire cheat Major Charles Ingram has won #250,000 on the show. Share Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email A CLOSE friend of Who Wants to be a Millionaire cheat Major Charles Ingram has won £250,000 on the show. James Plaskett, 45, wrote a 12,000-word essay casting doubt on the convictions of Ingram, his wife Diana and coughing accomplice Tecwen Whittock, who were fined and given suspended jail sentences for conspiracy and deception. When chess master Plaskett appeared in the latest TV show, the studio audience watched him take up to 20 minutes to answer some of the questions. But makers Celador said Plaskett, who refused to enter into any banter with host Chris Tarrant, was not suspected of any improper behaviour. After Plaskett posted his essay about Ingram on the internet, the pair became firm friends.

He wrote: "The Ingram controversy revived a programme that was in danger of stagnating. "The publicity could not have been purchased for tens of millions. After the court case, Celador rushed out a documentary and sold it worldwide. "Now they are planning to make more money and have commissioned a screenplay about the case. So while the lives of two families have been ruined, the beneficiaries of this whole affair have been Celador." In the show, recorded last month, Plaskett told Tarrant he knew the answer to the £8,000 question, thanks to Ingram. When asked for the name of the county which houses the ancient Avebury stone circle, he said he knew it was Wiltshire because he'd seen it on the way to visit the major. The reference to Ingram's name sparked a round of coughing from the amused audience, but the entire sequence was cut from the final version watched by seven million viewers. A spokeswoman for Celador said: "We have to show the bits which make the most interesting programme. We've moved on from the coughing major and we're not interested in doing anything to bring it all up again. "We were aware that James Plaskett is a friend of Charles Ingram.

It doesn't disqualify him from taking part in the show. He is one of about 40 people who persistently ring up to try to get on the programme. We are satisfied he wasn't doing anything untoward. One show source said: "Chris thought he was an eccentric and a bit of a crackpot. "It was strange for him to be handing over a cheque for so much money to someone who had so openly criticised the company." Plaskett, who lives with his family in Spain, plans to use his winnings to move back to the UK. He had been on the show twice before but failed to get past the "fastest finger first" round. Last night he was unavailable for comment. nicola.methven@mirror.co.uk Most Read Most Recent Most Read Most Recent Who Wants To See Millionaire? Not that many, actually | Daily Mail Online Who Wants To See Millionaire? Not that many, actually by TARA CONLAN, Daily Mail Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? may be down to its last 'lifeline'. Audiences for the ITV1 quiz have halved since it regularly pulled in 14million viewers and the number of episodes has been cut back to just one a week.

The channel's schedules had become increasingly dominated by up to five episodes a week. But viewers' appetites have waned over the past year as the show's novelty value has worn off and the number of big winners has grown. When the programme ran just a few times a year it was a huge ratings success. But the first episode of the new autumn series shown on Saturday attracted just 7.6million viewers. In the previous series figures dropped as low as 7.1million. Even host Chris Tarrant has admitted that showing too many episodes of the show may have led to overkill. He said recently: 'We do not want to carry on being over-exposed. 'It's a fantastic show but has gone past the "I've got to get home to see Millionaire" because viewers knew if they missed it, like buses there would be another one along the next night.' The U.S. version of the show has also lost its lustre with viewers and in June it was cut from the ABC network's regular schedule. Only two years ago, it had helped ABC top the ratings - as the British version did for ITV1 - but will now be shown just a few times a year after audiences dropped 28 per cent.

A spokesman for the UK programme's producers Celador said: 'We are recording as far as the New Year and then hopefully through to April. Although it will be once a week we are also producing a series of specials, too. 'We're not concerned, it's still in a very strong prime- time slot on Saturday nights. Having seen what's happened in other countries where it's been over-exposed we're pleased that ITV has taken a long-term view on it.' An ITV1 spokesman said: 'We never comment on scheduling matters'. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? has been dogged by various controversies about cheating since it was first shown in 1998. Jackpot winner Charles Ingram appeared in court last month charged with conspiring to swindle the show. The 38-year- old Army major, his wife Diana and friend Tecwen Whittock were accused of rigging an elaborate plot to win the £1million prize in September last year. He became the second jackpot winner - following Judith Keppel, a distant cousin of Camilla Parker Bowles, in November 2000 - after answering all 15 questions correctly.

The charges centre on claims that a member of the studio audience assisted Major Ingram by coughing to indicate the correct choice from the multiple choice answers. The three are due back in court in October. The programme also hit the headlines in April after it emerged that some of the people used by contestants on the 'phone a friend' lifeline were not friends at all but winners of other game shows. Daphne Fowler - who has won Sale of the Century, Brain of Britain and Fifteen to One - was asked by a man she had never met to become one of his 'phone friends' in return for a share of his winnings on the quiz. Mrs Fowler, who refused, said she was offered just £200 in return for providing the correct answer. There has even been controversy over the programme's sponsors. Ministers were accused of wasting taxpayers' money promoting the Education Department's internet service learndirect on the show. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Series) - TV Tropes Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share Series / Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

× WMG "Is that your final answer?" TV Game Show , originating in the United Kingdom (where it had been hosted since its inception by Chris Tarrant, until he left in 2014) in 1998 and now sold to multiple countries. Celador , its former production company, claims that the format has been aired in 100 countries worldwide. Regis Philbin and Meredith Vieira were the American hosts on ABC and in syndication, respectively. In early 2013, Vieira announced her departure from the show; Cedric the Entertainer succeeded her on 2 September 2013, and Terry Crews succeeded him in September 2014. Chris Harrison hosted the 2015 season, and is remaining for the 2016 season. The game generally starts with a "Fastest Finger First" (or just "Fastest Finger" in the United States) round, wherein about ten contestants have to place four answers in order; (e.g., "List these U.S. Presidents in chronological order, starting with the earliest"). The contestant who gives the correct order in the fastest time moves to the main game.

In the main game, the contestant must answer 15 (since changed to 12 in the UK version, or 14 in the U.S. version) multiple-choice questions, worth increasing amounts of money to win up to £1 million (or local currency equivalent). They start with three "Lifelines", which are one-time-only helps they can use if they're unsure about a question. Possible Lifelines include: "Ask The Audience": The audience votes for the correct answer. Audiences of the Russian version are infamous for deliberately giving the wrong answer out of spite, especially to certain aggravating celebrities. In the Brazilian version, the audience consisted of people waiting for their turns to play. "Phone-A-Friend": The contestant is given thirty seconds to speak to someone (whom they chose beforehand) on the phone. Discontinued in October 2009, since it had become "Phone-A-Google-User" in practice. The British version fixed this problem by bringing in the contestant's three friends backstage and isolated them in Sound Proof Booths until they were called.

"50:50": Two wrong answers are eliminated; originally, this removed the two most obviously-wrong answers , but later changed to removing two wrong answers at random... well, maybe random. Replaced by Double Dip in 2008 with the introduction of the Clock format but later reintroduced in 2015, replacing the remaining Jump the Question from the now-retired shuffle format. "Switch The Question": Allowed contestants to change a question that baffled them for a new question of the same value. Only available in special episodes of the UK version, but permitted for all contestants on the American version from 2004 to 2008, provided the player answered the tenth question (then reduced to $25,000 from $32,000) correctly. "Double Dip": Used only on Super Millionaire at first, but later replaced 50:50 in the American version in 2008. Contestants are allowed to make two guesses at the same question, but once this lifeline is used, they are locked into answering the question and cannot walk away, nor can they use any further lifelines on that question.

"Ask The Expert": After winning $1,000 (later $5,000) on the US version, the contestant earned this lifeline. Ask the Expert was basically an enhanced Phone-A-Friend, but with a (sometimes) genuinely-smarter person. In early 2010, this lifeline replaced Phone-A-Friend and was available from the outset. "Three Wise Men": Used only on Super Millionaire, this allowed a panel of three experts (one of whom was a former Millionaire contestant) to deliberate and provide an answer within 30 seconds. Was a precursor to Ask the Expert, noted above. In the Brazilian version, the panel was made of six college students. "Jump the Question": Used only on the new shuffle format implemented on the American version in September 2010, the player skips to the next question and does not earn its resulting payout (the payout goes out of play in the first round (the shuffle round) and the question value is merely passed up in the second round (Classic Millionaire)). A contestant received two jumps up until the 2014-15 season. The remaining Jump will be replaced in the 2015-16 season.

"The Cards": Instead of the "50:50", the Brazilian version had each player being allowed to ask for help from cards. 4 cards were left face down for the player to pick one. If the picked card was a King, no wrong answer would be removed; if the card was an Ace, one wrong answer would be removed; if it was a Two, two wrong answers would be removed and; if the card was a Three, all three wrong answers would be removed. "Crystal Ball": Allows the contestant to reveal the cash value of one question in the shuffled portion of the game. It first appeared during the 2012 Halloween Week episodes in America, and is set to return for a week in January 2013. "+1": Replaces the second jump in the 2014-15 season. Allows a player to call down a friend that came with them from the audience to help them out on a question—basically, a mix of Ask The Expert and Phone-A-Friend.

"Ask an Audience Member": Introduced in 2007 on the German version and exported to a myriad of other versions since, this lifeline is available to any contestant who chooses to play the "risky" variant of the game, at the cost of the 10th question "safety net". When used, all audience members who are sure that they know the answer are asked to stand up and the contestant picks one of them to give their answer. To incentivize help, if the answer the audience member provides is correct, they are awarded a small cash bonus. Under the classic rules, the contestant can stop at any time and keep whatever money they've earned up to that point. If they pass the 5- or 10-question mark (2- and 7- mark in the current UK version), they are guaranteed to get that amount of money, even if they answer wrong on a later question. If they get an answer wrong, they lose their money, except for whatever was guaranteed. See below for the changes in the US Shuffle format. Britain has had four top-prize winners to date.

A fifth, Charles Ingram, lost his money after it was proved that a friend gave him the answers by "strategic coughing" in a very famous case. Ironically, the first-ever winner was a middle-aged woman who was already quite wealthy. The first American winner famously did it without using a single lifeline in the process , with the exception of Phone-A-Friend ï¿½ which he only used to inform his father that he was about to win the Million . He also got a little good natured ribbing over the fact that he worked for the tax bureau . The American version was a massive hit in the beginning, spawning a huge revival in game shows in general and big money, prime time quiz shows in particular (including many other imported shows). Ratings eventually tanked , however, with most people pointing their fastest fingers at ABC for milking the show to the point of overexposure (at one point, it was aired four nights a week). It still lives, however, in a more normal (for a game show) weekday afternoon syndication format, but the show's popularity and viewership has dipped quite a bit since then.

In Hungary, after the departure of the original host (the new one is a well-known humorist, turning the whole show into a sort of comedy), the format was temporarily changed to a fast-paced version: Six players played a single series of 15 questions, there were no lifelines and there was a time limit of 15 seconds for questions 1-5, 30 seconds for questions 6-10 and 45 seconds for questions 11-15. Each player could "pass" once a game, which rotated the next player into the same question, and that player couldn't pass that one even if he/she hadn't passed yet. Giving a wrong answer eliminated the player and called in the next one with a new question at the same level. The total number of questions couldn't exceed 15, meaning the highest possible prize decreased as well. This version ran once a month with one normal and one Celebrity Edition game per show. The Australian Millionaire Hot Seat has a similar format. However Hungary later abandoned this comedy version in favor of going back to the original set-up, though again with a new host. The US version underwent a massive alteration of its format for its ninth syndicated season.

The first ten questions were played for amounts ranging from $100 to $25,000, except that the value of each question was randomized, was only revealed once the question is answered correctly, and was added to a bank. Additionally, question difficulties and categories were also randomized. Missing a question drops the player down to $1000, and bailing out forfeits half the banked money. The final questions in the second round, named Classic Millionaire (worth $100K, $250K, $500K, and $1,000,000 of course), were played in the traditional manner, including walking away with whatever they've earned up to that point. The lifelines were also changed for this, only Ask the Audience remains alongside two instances of a new lifeline called Jump the Question which lets the player skip over a question, at the expense of not being able to collect the money behind it. For its 2014-15 season, one of the Jumps were replaced by "Plus One", which is basically Phone-a-Friend except you have to bring the friend with you.

In an act of desperation, the 2015-16 season returned to the classic structure, using a 14-question progression and reviving 50:50 in place of the jump. The Brazilian version was originally called "Jogo do Milhão" (Million Game). However, the Brazilian network broadcasting it (SBT) had to rename it because the word 'Jogo' suggested gambling. (Many assume it was an exaggeration from Moral Watchdogs ) The Brazilian version became known as "Show do Milhão" (Million Show) ever since. In that version, each contestant who got the chance to answer the million real (Brazilian currency) question was traditionally given twenty seconds before deciding between risking all the money they've got so far (R$ 500,000.00) or playing it safe by keeping the money and not answering the final question. The player can stop at any time they desire and those who do so keep all the money they earned to that point. The prize was usually (if not always) delivered as gold bars.

The Russian version was originally called "O Schaslivchik!" (Oh, lucky man!), but was renamed to a literal translation of its English name soon. For a period of time it was hosted by a Russian parodist Maxim Galkin, but most of the time it was (and still is) Dmitry Dibrov. The Russian version also was notorious in that the prize was one million rubles , which is, like, 30 times less than one million dollars. Later the prize was increased to the current sum of 6 million rubles, but it's still 5 times less. After Chris Tarrant decided to leave the original UK version in 2013, ITV announced its cancellation and the final show aired in January 2014. Game Show Tropes : All or Nothing : In classic editions, the first two or five questions. In these editions, the questions are generally going from easiest to hardest, and the first question always has one answer that is hilariously wrong. Averted altogether in the shuffle format, where missing any of the first ten questions drops the contestant down to $1,000, and the difficulties are randomized in the first round (hence the universal minimum payout).

Celebrity Edition : Most (if not all) of the versions of Millionaire have had episodes set aside for celebrities to play the game, usually for charity. In the Australian version, the celebrity splits the cash with a designated home viewer, and they were also done live . Confetti Drop : A snowstorm of confetti is released when someone wins the top prize or at the end of the last show of a run. In some countries, this is accompanied by fireworks. Consolation Prize : Most editions offer a smaller amount if one fails on a question past a checkpoint (usually questions five and ten, or two and seven in the UK's newer format). The 2010 US version offers $1,000 for missing any of the ten first questions, and $25,000 for missing any of the last four. The filming of episodes can't be properly structured. They have to wait for the current question to finish up before they're allowed to go to a commercial break (though there are a few very extreme exceptions.) Every now and then, this results in a commercial break right after a contestant finished their run, but there wouldn't be enough time left in the episode to bring out the next contestant.

Meredith (as well her successors) usually takes the last few minutes to call a selected member of the audience and give them a chance to answer the next question that would have been asked to the former contestant. Whether they guessed correctly or not, they walked away with a copy of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire video game for the Nintendo Wii , but would also earn $1000 if they got it right. In the Brazilian version, players who gave an incorrect answer to any question (other than the million real one) got half the money won from the previous questions. Early Installment Weirdness : It took a while before the original British version worked out the few minor kinks in the system: In the first three series, each episode was only half an hour long (although at least one episode in the second series was an hour long) Most notably in the first series, the Fastest Finger First round consisted of answering a normal question rather than a 'put these in order' question. Also in the first series, the sound used to lock in an answer on at least the first upper tier question was a different, much more ominous sound effect.

By series two, the "three downward tones" used for the final answer in the middle tier were used in the upper tier, too. As mentioned below, a Hint System was in place on the lower tier of questions in the first series. By the next series, any hapless contestant stuck on the first five question was left to burn their lifelines. On the first episode, Phone-a-Friend used an actual phone, although all indications point to the usual studio speakerphone effect already being used. By the second episode, the pretense was dropped. Game Show Appearance : A foreign version was the setting (and point) of the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire . Its success, in fact, helped to fuel the 10th-Anniversary specials on ABC. The production company behind Who Wants To Be a Millionaire was part of the movie project. Home Game : Board and video. Coincidentally, the latter was the first video game to reach a million sales in the United Kingdom. ABC also offered an interactive component through its "Enhanced TV" service, which allowed users to play along with the show live on the internet. The show enjoys happily promoting the Facebook version of the game.

Let's Just See What WOULD Have Happened : Usually done if a contestant decides to walk away. In most cases, the contestant made the correct decision by walking away. Potential Tear Jerker if done on the last question and the guess was right. A notable example was on the Celebrities Week, when everyone was playing for charity. This happened to Norm MacDonald , who was solemnly told that he would've gotten the million for his charity. Lifelines : Trope Namer . Losing Horns : Type A, in a sense, whenever you go for a question worth at least $1,000 and miss. The piece played for a $32,000 loss is particularly jarring, and should you be unfortunate enough to miss the $1,000,000 question, the show takes this Trope up to about 13 , resulting in an ominous shortened version of the theme song. Interestingly, starting in 2010, the US version had to use new music for legal reasons, and now uses the same theme no matter what question in the stack is answered incorrectly. Even the last question. Personnel: The Announcer : Present only in the Japanese version.

Game Show Host : Chris Tarrant in the original UK version. Silvio Santos in the Brazilian version. Regis Philbin in the ABC version, Meredith Vieira (or substitutes) on the US syndicated run from 2002 to 2013; beginning in 2013, the show became a revolving door, with Viera giving away to Cedric the Entertainer, and then Terry Crews, and for 2015-16, Chris Harrison of The Bachelor fame. Studio Audience : Actively used when a contestant uses Ask The Audience. Product Placement : Those 15 Capital One checks, Netflix Movie Week, and Ask The Expert's Skype service. AT&T sponsored Phone-A-Friend during the ABC era, and AOL sponsored an secondary Ask the Audience poll conducted through an AIM bot. There was also a "tax free" week sponsored by H&R Block, where prize values were adjusted so that their advertised winnings would actually be what they win after taxes. In the UK, Barclays Bank's logo appeared on the 15 cheques, something which disappeared almost immediately after a rival bank started sponsoring the programme.

(For what it's worth, product placement in the UK was entirely forbidden until 2011.) Progressive Jackpot : One on occasion during Regis's era on the American version, the grand prize would increase by $10,000 for every person who failed to reach the million dollars. The prize reached $2,180,000 until it was won, although one other contestant during the jackpot phase came back due to a faulty question and went on to win the jackpot of $1,860,000 he was playing for the first time. Retired Game Show Element : Several of the lifelines in the US version, along with the clock. Who Wants to Be "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" : Trope Namer ï¿½ the show's success revived the Game Show genre and inspired a boatload of imitators, including an adaptation of fellow Celador production Winning Lines and eventually Philbin's own follow-up Million Dollar Password . Provides examples of: Abandoned Catchphrase : The first season had the host recite the catchphrase "Is that your final answer?" after every single question. This was later shortened to "Final answer?", then to just "Final?".

Two possible reasons for doing away with the original catchphrase: (1) Viewers got a little fatigued hearing the same phrase over and over again, (2) Regis Philbin, the original host, was getting more than a little sick of having people say the phrase to him everywhere — see also Never Heard That One Before. A Day in the Limelight : Regis actually played a charity question to wrap-up the 10th-Anniversary specials. Meredith took the hosting duties for this occasion — the chairs were reversed, Meredith hosting in the usual contestant position. Inverted in the daytime version, when Regis came back to host the week after Thanksgiving 2009. Regis won the money by answering which of four answers was NOT a million-dollar winning answer on the US version of Millionaire. This episode was also famous for being the first time on the American show when a contestant attempted the million-dollar answer and missed it. All Gays Love Theater : In the Celebrity Millionaire episode with Norm MacDonald, the $500,000 question was about a play Samuel Beckett wrote.

After seeing the choices, Norm said: Norm: Well, I'm not gay, so I don't know that much about Broadway musicals... (audience laughs) Artifact Title : After the switch to the Euro, a few countries in Europe ended up with only six-figure top prize amounts (Greece and Portugal changed their top prizes to ï¿½250,000; for example), but the titles weren't always modified to reflect this change. Inverted in Belgium where the show originally was called "Who wants to be a multi-millionaire?". The original top prize was 20 million BEFnote 1 USD was worth about 35 BEF. After the switch to the Euro, it became "Who wants to be a Euro-millionaire?". Similarly in France, the original top prize of Qui veut gagner des millions? ("Who wants to win millions?") was 4 million FRFnote With 1 USD being roughly 5-6 FRF. It was increased to 1 million Euros, i.e. 6,559,570 FRF. This actually became a point of controversy in some countries.

It was the popularity of the American version that inspired other countries to start doing the show themselves. "Becoming a Millionaire" did not mean winning 1 million dollars, it meant winning 1 million of that country's currency. Converting 1 million into US dollars (or even British Pounds) often resulted in a relatively very small amount, and contestants demanded that they be given the equivalent to 1M $US. The German version did change from 1M DM to 1M ï¿½ and even capitalised on this with the slogan "The million is now worth twice as much." Ascended Contestant : A few months before Meredith Vieira became the host of the syndicated US version of Millionaire, she was a contestant on the primetime version . Meredith was one of the last contestants out of the Fastest Finger circle, and made a joke about it when premiering the syndicated version, which nixed the Fastest Finger concept altogether. In an inversion, while Regis Philbin was the host for the primetime version, he ended up as a contestant on the 10th anniversary edition . Catch Phrase : "Is that your final answer?".

This is used as "insurance" to prevent any legal dispute if someone says an answer, gets it wrong, and then claims they were just deliberating out loud as the hosts try to encourage. During the first episode of the short-lived Irish version presented by Gay Byrne (that's his real name, and he was such a well-loved celebrity that nobody seems to have made a joke about it ï¿½ now that is respect), he said "Is that your final answer?", "Are you sure?", "No regrets?" in that order after every. Single. Question. Every single one. Even the first five (aka "piss-easy") questions. It was unbelievably annoying, but luckily he packed it in by the second episode. After a few American episodes, Regis' "Final Answer" insurances were edited out during the initial questions (because they usually were "piss-easy" and often included joke answers) to save time and keep the beginning of the game flowing. Also, from Tarrant, "But we don't want to give you that!"...which managed to mutate itself into the public consciousness.

Cheaters Never Prosper : The UK version had a rather infamous case with then-Major Charles Ingram, who conspired with his wife and fellow contestant Tecwen Whittock to cheat their way to winning £1,000,000 in 2001 via strategic coughing. Needless to say, they didn't get the prize (a hold was placed on the cheque, which was dated for the planned transmission date) and subsequently ended up being prosecuted for deception. All three were found guilty and received suspended jail terms - this in turn led to Ingram being thrown out of the Army and bankrupted. He did manage to eke out a career as a Z-list celebrity for a short while afterwards, but even that didn't last long. Subverted with Martin Flood on the Australian version. He was accused of cheating his way to his $1,000,000 win in a similar way that Charles Ingram did, but he was exonerated and got to keep his money. Commercial Break Cliffhanger : Played straight in the UK, Australia and Japan; averted in the US.

The closest the US came to playing this straight a rare occasion when a contestant switched out a high-level question and the replacement was only shown after commercials, but even then, the answer to the first question was shown before the break. Couch Gag : The first question almost always has a gag answer for D. Subverted in that, if it isn't an obvious gag, it's probably the correct answer. And if that's the case, usually it would occur in the second question. Cedric's debut was met with chants of "CED-RIC! CED-RIC! CED-RIC!" Robert "Bob-O" Essig received one of these after he answered his $1,000,000 question correctly on Super Millionaire. Regis got one during his charity question on the 10th Anniversary finale when he exclaimed, "I don't need any help!" Difficulty by Region : A question valued at £20,000 on the British version later showed up on the American version valued at $500,000 . Justified, in that the question specifically refers to something pertaining to Britain, something a British contestant is more likely to know than an American one.

Epic Fail : 2000: A contestant named Kati Knudsen was hell-bent on being the first woman to win the Million. This resolve never wavered, despite burning off all her Lifelines at the $8000 level. She even managed to claw her way to the $500,000 question. She then spent over an hour on the question (who was the most recently added member of the United Nations), saying "I'm pretty sure it's ___" on three of the four answer choices. Even Regis looked uncomfortable, and was practically begging her to stop (and probably would've physically removed her from the Hot Seat if he could have). Kati, not to be denied, plays the question, locks in an answer, and gets it wrong, dropping her to $32,000. Viewers could hear Kati cursing herself out as she left the stage. Rudy Reber was another contestant who whiffed on the $500,000 question.

His Phone-A-Friend seemed 100% sure that John Landis directed Michael Jackson 's "Bad" video, so he went with his answer and lost $218,000. It turned out the correct answer was Martin Scorsese , and his friend actually gave him the director of "Thriller" instead. Rudy: Aw, Durst, you dog! Faux Documentary : " The Audience Experience ". Getting Crap Past the Radar : There's definitely some unusual questions that seem like they shouldn't have been allowed to air, such as one about Wienergate and another about two guys breaking a world record for longest kiss. Add to that other Accidental Innuendo such as the infamous "Uranus" slip-up and the show doesn't seem quite as innocent. Golden Snitch : The amount of money won in the Australian Hot Seat version depends entirely upon the final question. You can't walk away, so you have 45 seconds to answer a question. If you get it wrong, you only get $1,000. Heads I Win, Tails You Lose : In the revised 2010 US edition, no matter what happens, the contestant will walk away with money.

For the poor saps who miss the first question, or aren't able to accumulate more than $1000 for losing, they come out ahead of the game by walking away with $1000. Winning more than $2000 just means they walk away with more. Heartbeat Soundtrack : Gradual, but the background music fades away as the contestant goes up the money ladder; the sole sound (aside from a held low chord) remaining at the last question is, as you might have guessed, the heartbeat. The pattern is inverted in the US Re Tool , which had to use new music for legal reasons. The percussion maintains the heartbeat-like rhythm for all three forms of the Round 1 music and the $100K question, but more instruments are added for the $250K, $500K and $1 million questions, making this motif less noticeable. Hint System : In the celebrity versions of the Regis run, if a contestant was stuck on a question valued at $32,000 or below, the remaining contestants in the Fastest Finger seats were allowed to help the player out, usually of the comedic *Cough* Snark *Cough* variety.

According to the Celebrity Edition rules, any player who made it to the Hot Seat was guaranteed at least $32,000 for his or her charity, so this playful hinting allowed the contestant to play his or her way up to that level while keeping all three lifelines for the final five questions. After that point, the game would be played straight. Used to a lesser extent early on in the British version's history - if a contestant got stuck in the first tier of questions, Chris would have the answer on his screen, leading him to give hints along the lines of "I don't know, but B looks good." Info Dump : More common in the earlier episodes, obviously. It sometimes occurred in the later questions when Regis had to remind the contestant how much they stood to win or lose if they succeeded or failed: Regis: You'll lose $218,000 if you get it wrong, back down to $32(000). No lifelines. Got $250(000). $500(000) if you get this.

Instant-Win Condition : If you made it to the top tier of questions in Super Millionaire with your 50:50 still intact, you could use it in conjunction with the Double Dip to guarantee yourself a correct answer. Several contestants have lampshaded this strategy, though none have been able to use it. One contestant during the timer era constantly interrupted Vieira's reading of the answers, so that he could bank up more time for later questions. This trick could have been averted entirely if they rejiggered the clock to start after she's read the "D" answer... For a little while, Ain't No Rule saying you can't phone a friend and have them look up the answer on the internet. This got fixed in an Obvious Rule Patch . Luck-Based Mission : Australia's Millionaire Hot Seat, which is the same format as the Hungarian version mentioned above. The US shuffle format to a lesser extent, since the first ten questions and their values are separately randomized. Manipulative Editing : When a contestant walked away with time remaining on the clock, you could sometimes see for a split-second how much time the contestant actually had left (a jump in the music also signified an edit). This was most notable during the Tournament Of Ten.

Mind Screwdriver : Cedric the Entertainer will joke around a lot before he tells contestants that they're right. Moon Logic Puzzle : A bad trend in recent American episodes: questions that ask what celebrities did before they became famous (or which of four celebrities had a specific job). These are almost always the hardest in Round 1 and frequently jumped or walked away from, and none have been answered correctly. Negated Moment of Awesome : During the US Celebrity Millionaire, Norm MacDonald was going for the Million and almost answered correctly, but was talked out of it by a nervous Regis, who was concerned Norm was merely recklessly guessing (he kinda was) and might potentially lose $468,000 to Paul Newman 's charity. Still, how awesome would it have been to see Norm win the Million, especially since it would've been a great Take That at everyone who had picked on Norm all week (Norm was the last contestant in the batch of shows) for supposedly being dumb?

Non-Standard Game Over : In the American version's clock format, running out of time normally meant you automatically walked with whatever you had, unless you were in the midst of a Double Dip, which treated running out of time as a wrong answer because of the inability to walk away. Nintendo Hard : The top tier of questions, as they should be. Taken Up to Eleven on the Australian Hot Seat version of the game. Even the American version, with the time limit, gave you your unused time back for the final question. The Australian version gives you a flat 45 seconds, no lifelines, and you cannot walk away with the amount you have. Similarly, if you get the answer wrong, you drop back down to $1,000, regardless of how much the final question is worth. Yes, if you get the million-dollar question wrong, you only receive $1,000. Obvious Rule Patch : The removal of Phone-a-Friend in the US version. It was obvious that these friends were often typing keywords into Google or other search engines to try to find the answer in the 30 seconds allowed. They often didn't even try to hide it.

Neither did the show when they invoked said Obvious Rule Patch and replaced it with giving the Ask the Expert lifeline throughout the game. The UK version fixed this problem by changing how this lifeline worked. Instead of the contestant having all three people on the telephone line, the contestant chose helpers ahead of time, who were brought backstage and isolated in Sound Proof Booths until they were called. Since the audience can see them when this lifeline is used, it pretty much eliminated any chance to Google for an answer. The U.S. version followed suit, except under the name "Plus One". The same goes for the substitution of Double Dip for 50/50, which seemed to leave only the answers most contestants were mulling over , a year and a half before that. Poor, Predictable Rock : During Celebrity Week 2012, A question came up about which choices would win against a certain pattern in Rock, Paper, Scissors. One of the (wrong) choices was rock, rock, rock. Replaced the Theme Tune : The British version remixed its own music in 2007, although it did not replace some of the shorter themes (like the "final winnings" tune) or the sound effects.

The American version kept the same music through the clock format of 2008-2010, but replaced all music and sound effects with the 2010-2011 season for legal reasons. Just as an example, the intro themes in the original soundtrack (albeit with sound effects), and the 2010 US soundtrack. Reverse Psychology : One of Meredith's hosting trademarks is trying to psych out contestants who just gave a final answer before telling them they're right. She never does this when the contestant gets a question wrong, however. Cedric the Entertainer puts more effort into it. Of course, feigning disappointment before telling a contestant they were right was also a Regis trademark, to the point of parody. Rules Spiel : In most versions. Scare Chord : The "out of time" chord that chimes if a contestant is still playing when the episode is finished is pretty unsettling-sounding and seems to come out of nowhere. In later American seasons, it more closely resembles a buzzer from a sporting arena. Sequel Difficulty Spike : The US syndicated version is much harder than the ABC version, with entire seasons going by without million-dollar winners.

Justified, considering ratings of the syndicated version aren't as huge as the network version once was (ABC's Executive Meddling didn't help matters), and thus can't offer as much money . The Canadian version bragged about this, even though it was done for the same reason. Super Millionaire was even harder than the syndicated version. You can expect the 11th and 12th questions for $500,000 and $1,000,000 to be at least as hard as the 14th and final questions valued at the same amount on the syndicated version, and on the final two questions, which have never been seen, you would be literally risking millions. Subverted Catchphrase : Terry Crews will sometimes ask contestants "Is that your final decision?" Sweeps : In the US syndicated version, many of each season's best and most memorable contestants as well as games that get into the very high-level questions are aired during sweeps periods. Before the show became a regular fixture on ABC, the first two two-week network runs were done during August and November (1999) Sweeps periods.

Question: What was the name of the "major" at the centre of the 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" controversy?
Answer: Charles Ingram