The Remote Island

Sped-Up "Millionaire" Changes for the Better

Posted by Ben Kallen

 

The daily version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire began its new season yesterday with some changes -- and we have to say, we like 'em.

There are new lifelines, including a chance to get help from a celebrity "expert" instead of just calling your idiot brother-in-law. (Although there are some kinks to be worked out in this area -- such as how to get Bill Nye the Science Guy to stop talking long enough for you to ask him the question.)

But the best part is that the questions now come with a time limit. We used to watch this show with a finger on our TiVo's "30-second skip" button to get past the seemingly interminable periods between the questions and answers, plus all the really dumb early questions and the chatting in between. (The good part was that you could watch the whole show in eight minutes.) But now it moves along twice as fast, zipping through the filler and putting the emphasis where it really belongs: on letting the viewers prove how smart we are just because we know what a tangelo is. 

Now, if we could only get Wheel of Fortune to dispense with that "buy a vowel" nonsense....


Comments

John said:

I've been watching Millionaire since 1999 and I have to say I am just NOT used to this whole new format. It's definately interesting but it's just very weird. What is millionaire without 50/50?! I don't hate it but it'll take some time for me to get used to all of it.

September 24, 2008 12:50 PM

About Ben Kallen

Ben Kallen is an entertainment, health and humor writer who's been lectured to by Sidney Poitier, argued with by Lea Thompson and smiled at by Jennifer Connelly. He's the coauthor of The No S Diet and author of The Year in Weird, along with hundreds of magazine articles. He lives near the beach in Los Angeles, just like the gang from Three's Company.

in

Archives

  • May 2009 (163)
  • April 2009 (356)
  • March 2009 (396)
  • July 2008 (226)
  • June 2008 (240)
  • May 2008 (25)
  • about the blogger

    Bloggers


    Lindy Parker has worked as a ghostwriter, editor, dance instructor and a purveyor of dreams, one beer at a time. She loves Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and also, straight-to-video releases with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It's possible she reads more teen fiction than she should. She hails from Los Angeles, her hometown and soul mate, but she lives in Brooklyn, the fling she'll never forget.

    Olivia Purnell left Ohio for sunny Los Angeles; then found that she couldn’t ignore New York City’s call, and brought herself to Brooklyn where she has worked with GenArt, BlackBook, the School of American Ballet, and finished an M.A. in Creative Writing from N.Y.U. She loves one-liners with sting and hates the stench of the subway in the summer. That said, she can’t get enough of either.

    Jake Kalish is a freelance journalist and humorist whose work has appeared in Details, Maxim, Stuff, New York Press, Spin, Blender, Men's Fitness, Poets and Writers, and Playboy, among other publications. He is also the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights.

    Contributors


    Ben Kallen is an entertainment, health and humor writer who's been lectured to by Sidney Poitier, argued with by Lea Thompson and smiled at by Jennifer Connelly. He's the coauthor of The No S Diet and author of The Year in Weird, along with hundreds of magazine articles. He lives near the beach in Los Angeles, just like the gang from Three's Company.

    Nicole Ankowski has lived in Ohio, Oakland, and on the high plains of South Dakota, but is now proud to call Brooklyn home. She wrote for alternative weekly papers in the first two states, and tried to learn Lakota in the last. (The vowels can be tricky.) She just earned her MFA in Creative Writing and has been published in Beeswax literary journal. She is unable to resist good writing or bad TV.

    Send tips to remoteisland@nerve.com