Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Philippine game show)

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? logo (TV5 version)
Genre	Game show
Created by	David Briggs
Developed by	Viva Television (2000–2002) TV5 (2009–2015)
Presented by	IBC: Christopher de Leon TV5: Vic Sotto
Country of origin	Philippines
No. of seasons	IBC: 7 TV5: 14
No. of episodes	IBC: unknown TV5: 220 (final)
Release
Original network	IBC (2000–2002) TV5 (2009–2015)
Original release	IBC: November 13, 2000 (2000-11-13) – December 14, 2002 (2002-12-14) TV5: May 23, 2009 (2009-05-23) – November 22, 2015 (2015-11-22)
Chronology
Related shows	UK version US version
External links
Website

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (also known as WW2BAM) is a Filipino game show based on the original British format of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The main goal of the game is to win 2 million Philippine pesos (earlier 1 million) by answering 12 multiple-choice (previously 15) questions correctly. There are four lifelines: 50:50 (fifty-fifty), Phone A Friend, and Switch and Double Dip. The latter two replaced Ask the Audience, which was used until the 2010 seasons and of Phone-a-Friend until the 2012 season and reused for the 5th Incarnation replacing the People's Pick lifeline instead.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was broadcast from 2000 to 2002 on the government-sequestered Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation, produced by Viva Television,^[1][2] and was hosted by actor Christopher de Leon.

On May 23, 2009, the game show returned under a new home over TV5,^[3] with actor-host-comedian Vic Sotto as the new host.^[4][5]

The show aired its season finale on October 7, 2012 to give way to another game show hosted by Sotto, The Million Peso Money Drop (the Philippine version of The Million Pound Drop Live created by Endemol).

However, the show returned on air September 15, 2013 for a new season together with Pinoy Explorer and Wow Mali! Pa Rin in exchange to the now defunct talent show Talentadong Pinoy. This incarnation ended on January 11, 2015 in preparation for the launching of Move It: The Clash of the Street dancers on January 25, 2015.

The show returned on May 10, 2015 at 7pm, replacing Move It: The Clash of the Street dancers which held its Grand Finals two weeks before the launch of the new incarnation.

Gameplay

Originally, the contestants must first play a preliminary round, called "Fastest Finger First", where they are all given a question and four answers from the host and are asked to put those four answers into a particular order. The contestant who does so correctly and in the fastest time goes on to sit in a chair in the center of the set, known as the "Hot Seat", and play for the prize.

Once in the Hot Seat, the contestant is asked increasingly difficult general knowledge questions by the host. Questions are multiple choice: four possible answers are given (labeled A, B, C, and D), and the contestant must choose the correct one. Upon answering a question correctly, the contestant wins a certain amount of money. After questions, the host will ask the contestant "is that your final answer?" When a contestant says "final" in conjunction with one of the answers, it is official, and cannot be changed. For the first few questions, there is a possibility for the contestant to leave with no money if they fail to reach the guaranteed amounts.

2000–2002: Viva/IBC Version

The first version of the show was hosted by actor Christopher de Leon. The first season of the original Millionaire, which began on November 13, 2000, had its 15th question prize of ₱1,000,000. In 2001, the final question's prize was doubled to ₱2,000,000.

The show lost its popularity soon after its original studio in Parañaque City (Viva Television Studio, the same one used by the Philippine version of The Weakest Link) was destroyed by a fire, and after the show moved to Riverbanks Center in Marikina City. Its last original episode was aired December 14, 2002.

No one has ever won the game by way of answering all fifteen questions correctly in this incarnation. There have been two contestants who went the closest: DLSU professor Amelita Lopez-Forbes and actress Sharon Cuneta, who each answered 14 questions correctly and won a million pesos in separate instances in 2001.

The money tree used in the IBC version is as follows (bold values indicate guaranteed amounts):

• Money Tree (2000)

1. ₱1,000
2. ₱2,000
3. ₱3,000
4. ₱5,000
5. ₱10,000
6. ₱20,000
7. ₱30,000
8. ₱40,000
9. ₱50,000
10. ₱100,000
11. ₱200,000
12. ₱300,000
13. ₱400,000
14. ₱500,000
15. ₱1 MILLION (top prize)

• Money Tree (2001–2002)

1. ₱1,000
2. ₱2,000
3. ₱3,000
4. ₱5,000
5. ₱10,000
6. ₱20,000
7. ₱30,000
8. ₱40,000
9. ₱50,000
10. ₱100,000
11. ₱200,000
12. ₱300,000
13. ₱500,000
14. ₱1,000,000
15. ₱2 MILLION (top prize)

2009–2015: TV5 Version

Joey de Leon (right) plays as a contestant with Vic Sotto (left) as host

In April 2009, plugs about the "comeback" of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? started airing on TV5 and is the first show taken from IBC 13. Vic Sotto was also announced to host the show. A promo is being sponsored by the network in connection to its comeback.^[6]

On January 9, 2010, Sharon Cuneta, who appeared in the previous incarnation became the first winner of the series after she correctly answered the final question worth ₱2,000,000. Then followed by Karl Jonathan Aguilar last September 18, 2011.

The show returned September 15, 2013 with two options like the High-risk Money Tree has one safe haven amount of ₱20,000 and four lifelines are Fifty-fifty, People Speak and Switch, in addition to a new lifeline: Double Dip. While the Classic Money Tree has two safe havens are amount of ₱20,000 and ₱150,000 and Three Lifelines: Fifty-fifty, People Speak, and Switch. The Phone-a-friend lifeline was also removed during the fourth incarnation.

The third ₱2,000,000 winner by Eduardo Gaeilo Pajinag, Jr. on October 20, 2013.

• First incarnation (Season 1 to 4)
• Second incarnation (Season 4 to 7)
• Third incarnation (Season 7 to 9)
• Fourth incarnation (Season 10 to 13)

The show returned on May 10, 2015 with a brand new format. The program replaced the 15-question format with a new 12-question format. Money Trees were not named instead they are just identified as Money Tree 1 and Money Tree 2, respectively. To distinguished both Money Trees, the first one has two "Safe Havens" (Question #2 and #7) and it has 3 Lifelines (Phone-A-Friend, Switch and Double Dip). Meanwhile, Money Tree 2 have only 1 "Safe Haven" (Question #2) and 4 Lifelines (Phone-A-Friend, Switch, Double Dip and Fifty-Fifty). The "People's Pick" Lifeline from the preceding incarnations was removed and it was replaced by the return of Phone A Friend.

Top-prize winners

Sharon Cuneta (January 9, 2010)

On January 9, 2010, Sharon Cuneta once again played on the show and won ₱2,000,000, making her the first top prize winner in the Philippine franchise's history, three days after her birthday.^[7] References to her first appearance, especially the 14th question asked, were made during her game. All of the money she won was played for charity and was donated to the Hospicio de San Jose.^[8] Coincidentally, the 13th question in her game was about the orphanage's exact location. A translation of the 15th question can be seen on the right.

Karl Jonathan Aguilar (September 18, 2011)

On September 18, 2011, the Philippine version gained its second top prize winner in the person of IT specialist Karl Jonathan Aguilar.^[9][10] The final question involved the name of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum with the other options being made-up but similarly-sounding names. Of note, he did not use his lifelines up to the ₱600,000 question. When his last lifeline, Phone-A-Friend, was used during the final question, he was given one of the wrong answers. Also, the first fourteen were asked in the previous episode aired a week before. The translation of the ₱2 million question that Aguilar answered correctly can be seen at the right.

Eduardo Gaeilo Pajinag, Jr. (October 20, 2013)

The Philippine version show produced its third top-prize winner in the person of IT auditor Eduardo "Gaeilo" Pajinag, Jr. on October 20, 2013. According to him, he auditioned seven times before being accepted on his 8th audition.^[11] He is the first winner of the new money tree, the High-Risk money tree. The final question was about Jabberwocky, the poem written by Lewis Carroll where he used nonsense words. The other options were synonyms to "nonsense". After carefully deducing on his answer, to the extent that he mentioned where the dance group Jabbawockeez got their name, he ultimately went on to win the ₱2 million peso top-prize.

Who Deserves to Be a Millionaire?

For four episodes starting from December 12, 2009 to January 2, 2010, a special charity edition of the show was held called Who Deserves to Be a Millionaire?.^[12] Each episode comprised one celebrity and a representative from his/her chosen charity playing as a team. Rules stayed the same. The tradition returned on December 4, 2011. The Philippines was the fourth country to use the Deserves title and format; after Chile (2006), Nigeria and China (both 2007).

The following are the celebrities who played in this special edition and the prize that they each won:

• 2009:
  • Efren Peñaflorida for the Dynamic Teen Company (₱400,000)
  • Lucy Torres-Gomez (₱150,000; wrong on question 13)
  • Sen. Francis Escudero (₱250,000)
  • Ruffa Gutierrez (₱400,000)
• 2011:
  • Gloria Diaz (₱400,000)
  • Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta from Face to Face and Public Atorni (₱600,000)
  • Tessa Prieto-Valdez (₱400,000)
  • Aiza Seguerra (₱400,000)

References

External links

• List of programs broadcast by TV5
• List of programs aired by Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire page from TV5 website