Fresh from their success with WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE ITV hyped up their new quiz show in August 2000 which helped make it the third most watched programme of the week on its debut broadcast . Unfortunately due to its format it quickly slipped out of the top ten most watched programmes the following week and by the third edition it wasn't even making the top twenty . If I remember correctly it flopped so badly that ITV cut its run prematurely , changed the presenter from Kirsty Young to Kaye Adams and scheduled the show from peak time viewing to the tea time slot . The fact that I am the first person to comment on the show several years after it was first broadcast shows you how fondly remembered it is .

The problem with the show is that it revolved around specialist knowledge which probably alienated the TV audience , not so with WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE where we get smug satisfaction in seeing a contestant sweat to a question we know . It's the opposite in this case and I clearly remember the first edition revolving around a contestant answering questions on technology . Now I have trouble switching on a computer so there's little in the way of me shouting out the answers . Do you know you invented the world wide web ? Neither do I . There's also another problem and that's the amount of money on offer . In WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE a contestant can win one million quid by answering 15 questions . If I remember rightly it would take 200 correct answers for someone on this show to win £1,000,000

The game show genre features TV series with contestants competing against each other in various challenges, tasks, or quizzes to win prizes or rewards. Game shows are designed to engage viewers by presenting exciting and often competitive scenarios that involve participants using their knowledge, skills, and strategies to outperform their opponents and win.

Bill Barretta and Pat Sajak in Wheel of Fortune (1983)

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2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Stage 8, Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

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