August 1999 - game shows had been out of primetime (for the most part) for close to 30 years. A new summer two-week tryout called Who Wants to be a Millionaire debuts and goes through the roof ratings-wise. Nobody had ever dreamed of winning a life-changing million dollars on a game show before - and the lights, music and general presentation had everyone talking, with "is that your final answer?" becoming a national catch-phrase. The show was a major network hit for over two years, finishing near the top of the ratings.
Since then, there have been numerous million-dollar game shows, plus a slew of "reality" shows offering six or seven-figure payouts.
Game shows, in one form or another, have been a regular fixture in primetime ever since.
My question: do you think the original magic of Millionaire can ever be recaptured in the future? Maybe 20 years from now if this current big-money craze we're going through dies down, can something be introduced that will have the same impact?
Maybe a million dollars wouldn't cut it in the future now that everyone is so used to that type of prize being offered - maybe it would have to be $10 million (although Millionaire did try that for a while).
Or, would that be the stage where that's too ridiculous an amount of money to even consider on a permanent basis? What would it take?
Any thoughts or opinions?
