Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?/Funny

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.




In General...

  • When a contestant gets the answer wrong on the first question.
    • Unless (starting with syndicated Season 9 of the US version) it's actually hard.


Regis Philbin

  • During one of the Celebrity Millionaire episodes, Norm MacDonald asked Regis if using a 50:50 after he said what he was deciding between would leave those exact choices, like there's some guy in the back trying to sabotage him. Regis assured him that the two choices had been locked in for months [1]...but when Norm chose the 50:50 he was left with the two answers he was stuck between. Although the audience erupted into laughter, MacDonald gave Regis an absolutely majestic "WHADDID I TELL YA?" look. The whole ordeal can be seen here.
  • During the Super Millionaire spin-off period that started at $1,000 and ended at $10,000,000, Regis accidentally introduced a $20,000 question as if it was worth $20,000,000, and Hilarity Ensued.

Regis: Here we go for $20,000,000! (catches his mistake) A 20--?! I'm sorry! (audience cheers) Noooo, I take it back! "Rich jumped up!" "Really?!" Twenty thousand dollars...


Meredith Vieira


British Version

  • One contestant's Phone-A-Friend remained silent until saying "Hello?" at the 29th second.
  • A Fastest Finger question asked "Starting with Stop, put the traffic light sequence in order according to the British Highway Code", the answer being red, red and amber, green, amber (C-B-D-A). Nobody got it right. Even funnier is what host Chris Tarrant said to the audience before revealing the correct order — "If any of them gets this question wrong, don't let them drive you home."


German Version

  1. (this was back when the two choices eliminated by the 50:50 were not random, but were pre-selected by the writers, usually as the two choices the player was most likely to eliminate as incorrect)