The show is so over the top that it's hard to take it seriously.
The problem is that they do indeed take it seriously, by putting the money in the stratosphere and presenting every single decision as serious business.
So it's not like the UK, where you see a contestant for a month, generally get to know them, and feel that they've "earned" the shot at the really big bucks.
Or like the Aussies, who don't take it too seriously most of the time, and have money amounts and the atmosphere to match.
All the while, every time a contestant mentions a dream prize and ends up being offered it later in the game, it gives the feeling that the entire thing is a pre-produced... well, sham. Every time I see a hyperactive contestant, four hyperactive supporters, and then the contestant asking their non-hyperactive significant other sitting in the audience for help, I get the feeling that it's become a well-rehearsed farce.
The contestants themselves... I can take or leave. The producers, on the other hand, are pitching a circus tent, sending in nothing but clowns, and then asking them to do trapeze acts and lion taming.