"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" was a quiz show, not a talent show, so it didn't need a big, flashy celebrity host.
Instead, the host was Letovan Dedeba. He was a popular host from Zane's UPN network who had been moved over to the new WB network. He was mature and steady, had a great, dry sense of humor, and a very fun, flamboyant style.
"Dear audience, hello everyone!" Letovan boomed, his voice filling the studio. "I am the host you are most familiar with—Letovan Dedeba! And even if you don't know me, it doesn't matter. I believe that starting today, you will!"
The audience laughed. They already liked him.
"'Millionaire' is a live-action show," he explained. "As long as a contestant can correctly answer 15 questions, they will win a cash prize of $1 million!"
"Folks, you heard me right!"
"Answer 15 questions correctly, and the $1 million cash prize is yours!"
"For each question, you'll have 15 seconds to think. Just choose the right answer from the four choices."
"And," he added, "if you get stuck, you can use 3 lifelines: 50:50, Phone a Friend, and Ask the Audience."
After hearing the rules, the audience at home and in the studio got very interested.
"Wow! Is this for real?!"
"Answer 15 questions and get $1 million? I'm a history professor. I could totally win this!"
"Let's see how hard the questions are. If they're not too hard, I'm signing up!"
You could get money just by answering questions! In 1998, $1 million was a ton of money. It was enough to change a person's entire life! The show's slogan was perfect: "Knowledge changes destiny; use knowledge to create wealth!"
Not long after, the first contestant came out.
"Hello, sir. Please introduce yourself," Letovan said. "Hello everyone! I am Collins Orwell. I'm 30 years old, from San Francisco, and I'm an accountant at a construction company."
The question-and-answer session began.
Question 1: "Which of the following four lakes is not one of the Great Lakes in the United States?" A: Lake Huron B: Lake Ontario C: Lake Champlain D: Lake Superior
The audience was stunned. "This is too simple!" a woman in the crowd whispered. "Yeah, my geography teacher taught us this in second grade! This is a freebie!"
And yet... the accountant got the answer... wrong!
He chose B: Lake Ontario. (The correct answer was C: Lake Champlain).
People's jaws dropped. "Darn it! How could he get such a simple question wrong?!" "He didn't know the Five Great Lakes? He could have just figured it out!"
Many people at home shook their heads, all thinking the same thing: "I'm sure I could do it!"
For the rest of the show, a few more people tried. Most of them were eliminated after 6 or 7 questions. One person got so close... he made it to the very last question.
The final question was: "Who was the champion of the first season of 'America's Got Talent'?"
And... he answered incorrectly!
The audience at home was pulling their hair out. "Man, are you an alien? Or do you just not watch TV?!" "How do you not know who won 'Got Talent'?!"
The questions on the show were all simple, but they were about everything—sports, geography, history, science... They didn't test if you were a genius; they tested if you knew a little bit about a lot. This gave everyone watching the illusion: "I could definitely win this!"
The first episode of "Millionaire" was a huge hit! Before it was even over, 100,000 people had commented on the official website. The online sign-up page for the show crashed because so many people were trying to get on!
The next day, when Zane arrived at the WB network, he got the ratings report right away. The average rating was 2.5%, and the peak was 3.2%.
This wasn't as high as "Got Talent"... yet.
But when Zane looked closer, he saw the real story. The show had started at a low 1.05% rating. But as it went on, the ratings soared! The growth was even faster than "Got Talent's" first episode!
Zane had expected it to be a hit, but seeing the numbers... he just couldn't stay calm. He was so excited!
"Boss, we're going to make so much money!" his assistant, Alexander, exclaimed. "With these numbers, it's just a matter of time before this show is a giant hit!"
Zane immediately nodded, a huge, happy smile on his face. He knew this show would be a massive, year-round moneymaker.
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