Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

I have watched Who Wants To Be a Millionaire since it first started in 1998 and is now usually shown only on Saturday evenings and is one of the very few things worth watching on Saturdays. The problem is that it usually clashes with the only decent Saturday evening programme, Casualty. What I normally do is set the video for Millionaire and watch it another evening.

Chris Tarrent has hosted it from the start and his catchphrases like "We don't want to give that" have become very well known.

Four people have won £1 million since it started and no doubt there will be more millionaires in the future.

When visiting my grandmother my wife and I watch this show! My wife and grandmother find the show intriguing . Myself, I get bored half way through the show. All the um's and the contestant talking to himself becomes tedious. Just make a decision already! Like Homer says boring! I like the faster paced contestants, who stick with a decision. At least the viewers would not have to wait until tomorrow to see the results. The final sound to signify the end has to be redone. It has got to be the most annoying sound. Do they do that on purpose? the first questions are so easy and anyone that uses a life line on those questions should not even be on the show. My wife gets so mad when they do that. My grandmother can hardly wait to see the next winner. It is like a soap opera for her. 6 or 7/10

This was unmissable tv in the early 2000s, but got ruined by really tedious celebrity specials and Chris Tarrant's annoyingly matey style. However, after a much needed 5 year break i think Jeremy Clarkson was an inspired choice to revive its fortunes - love him or loathe him, the guy has breathed new life into the show, and for the first time since about 2005 Millionaire is watchable again.

As a Bangladeshi born American living in California, where we are really friendly like Canadians, I initially found Jeremy Clarkson to be the embodiment of insufferable British smugness. He is repugnantly superior, patronizing, and dismissive of his fellow human beings. Just his presence makes the show offputting.

However I love how he used "volte-face" in a sentence and traveled the world and even relishing plane crashing in Mali. I love that in a person - intellect.

So once you get used to the British bluntness you may start to appreciate the show more.

The selection of questions are generally quite good.

I watched this show from about it's third episode and from then on I've been transfixed. Of course now its gone on to America where it will probably become most famous but it started right here in the UK where its still the best, in the US the questions are far too easy. The worlds greatest game show ever !