Powered by i.TV
February 9, 2012
 
CONNECT    

Millionaire goes friendless

by Bob Sassone, posted Oct 8th 2009 12:39PM
Who Wants To Be A MillionaireWhen you think about, the "Phone-A-Friend" lifeline on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has always been lame.

In theory it sounds good: if you don't know the answer you call a friend to see if they know. You even get to choose a few friends for your list so you can have people with different specialties/knowledge. So why did it fail so often? Friends that contestants called either got the question wrong, weren't that sure of the answer at all (forcing the contestant to use another lifeline to narrow it down more, like 50/50), or they couldn't even get their answer out before time ran out and the call was cut off. It always made me nervous.

Notice I used the past tense there. "Phone-A-Friend" is being dropped from the show.

Buzzerblog is reporting that Millionaire will soon get rid of this lifeline, which means that the only lifeline still around from the start of the show is "Ask The Audience." "50/50" is gone, and now they've added an "Ask The Expert" and the "Double Dip." Yes, the show has become a bit more complicated than the show we first saw Regis host in the late 90s.

Will you miss "Phone-A-Friend?"

(Link is the Google cache version until Buzzerblog is back up.)

Add a Comment

*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

38 Comments

Filter by:
Anti-RobynM

Wow, i just lost alot of iq points reading all your pathetic no life comments. My faith in society just deteriorated even more.

However, i do agree that getting rid of Phone a friend is a mistake.

November 19 2009 at 12:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

If they get rid of Ask the Audience, I'm going to ask Disney to relieve Michael Davies of his duties from the show, and I will replace him, and adopt the UK format of the show, if I have to.

October 22 2009 at 6:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
TarHeelRED01

I don't like the 'ask the expert' lifeline because 70 % of the time the so called 'expert' isn't an expert. The 'expert' needs 2 have ample knowledgeability and at least be reliable and be able 2 avail the contestant in answering the question.

October 11 2009 at 2:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Whirldly

I've been a phone-a-friend & I still enjoy the show. It is very challenging, it should be, that's what makes it a game. They shouldn't get rid of this lifeline. For those who use it well it pays off, for those that don't it's entertaining.

October 11 2009 at 4:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mike

WHO REALLY CARES ?

October 11 2009 at 1:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sage

Jeopary rocks. No friends, no double dipping, no polling the audience, etc. Okay, Alex is a little weird.

October 11 2009 at 12:43 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joe

They could add "Phone An Enemy" to the show.

October 11 2009 at 12:22 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Paula

I can understand getting rid of phone-a-friend but wouldn't you think that a friend giving the wrong answer and causing you to loose the money would cancell the friendship?

October 10 2009 at 8:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jtree

They can remove the whole show! another waste of life. It wasn't bad when Regis was on it, and they had smart interesting people had to earn their way on, now they just let anyone on so they can have diversity, It was a big concern why some people couldn't or not enough of some people on the show. It's disgusting, being rewarded for not doing anything.

October 10 2009 at 4:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
csi8299

Why ask us, the worthless audience? It's been my experience the producers, directors and programmers don't give a rat's a$$ what we think. So let them do as they please while I throw in A DVD !

October 09 2009 at 7:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

Follow Us

From Our Partners