‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ Returning to ABC for 25th Anniversary

May 3, 2024

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ABC will open up the lifelines once more this summer.

The network has greenlit a new season of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire that will air starting July 10. The new run will coincide with the game show’s 25th anniversary on ABC; it premiered on Aug. 16, 1999.

Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted the last Millionaire revival on ABC in 2020 and 2021, will return to the host’s chair once again. The show will feature pairs of celebrities playing to win up to $1 million for charities of their choosing.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is part of an ABC summer lineup that also includes The Bachelorette (July 8), Celebrity Family Feud (July 9), Claim to Fame (July 10), Press Your Luck (July 13), Judge Steve Harvey (July 16) and a new game show called Lucky 13 (July 13), co-hosted by Gina Rodriguez and Shaquille O’Neal. The network will also air the ESPY Awards on July 11.

Adapted from a British game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was hosted by Regis Philbin and became an instant phenomenon after it debuted on ABC (it’s responsible for establishing the aesthetic of dramatic lighting and music featured in scores of game shows since then). It drew huge ratings — peaking at 35.9 million viewers for an episode in May 2000 — and aired as many as five nights a week at one point during its initial run. It eventually became too much of a good thing, however, and a sharp drop in viewers led to its cancellation as a regular series in 2002.

ABC revived Millionaire for a 10th anniversary run of episodes in 2009 and then again in 2020, with Kimmel stepping in as host for the most recent run. A syndicated version of the show also ran from 2001-19.

Sony Pictures Television’s Embassy Row and Kimmelot produce Millionaire, with Michael Davies and Kimmel executive producing.

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