Hollywood Immortal Chapter 324 325: I Can Totally Do This, Ratings Skyrocket

[Chapter 325: I Can Totally Do This, Ratings Skyrocket]

After much anticipation, the ti finally ca: 9 PM on November 12th. Countless Arican viewers waited in front of their TVs as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire premiered on the UPN Network right on schedule.

"Ladies and gentlen, dear viewers, hello!

I'm Stephanie Carter, your host for today's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Okay, maybe so of you don't know yet, but that's about to change. Starting with this show, you'll definitely get to know ."

Stephanie Carter didn't follow the usual script. She cracked a joke at the start, earning warm applause from both the studio audience and contestants.

"Knowledge is power, knowledge is money. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is a quiz show where contestants have to answer 15 questions correctly to win a $1 million cash prize.

Ladies and gentlen, you heard that right.

Answer 15 questions correctly, and that $1 million prize is yours.

For each question, contestants have 15 seconds to choose the right answer from four options. Get it right, and you move on; get it wrong, and you're out.

When contestants face tough questions, they can use one of three lifelines: eliminate two wrong answers, ask the studio audience, or phone a friend."

The rules were explained, and both the studio audience and TV viewers got excited.

...

"Wow, really?"

"Just answer 15 questions correctly and win a million bucks? If I, a grad school whiz, took a shot, I'm practically a lock! No way, I've got to sign up for the next episode."

"Hey, Mia, check out the questions. If they're not too hard, you should audition next ti."

After all, answering questions to win money required no sweat and no risk -- just pure brainpower. And the prize, a million dollars, was irresistible.

Even in Arica in the '90s, when the dollar hadn't seriously depreciated yet, that kind of purchasing power could change soone's life.

...

Soon, the first contestant took the stage.

"Hello sir, please introduce yourself," Stephanie said from center stage, standing up.

"Hi, I'm Baggins Okell, 25, from Harvard University, currently pursuing a PhD in finance."

The first contestant was a sharp-looking, high-IQ guy -- seed like a strong competitor. Just after his intro, he got enthusiastic applause, and ho viewers got even more interested.

"Ready? Let's start.

The first question: Which team won this year's NBA championship? Choose one from these four:

a: Chicago Bulls

b: Houston Rockets

c: Los Angeles Lakers

d: New York Knicks

Mr. Okell, you have 15 seconds. Which team took ho this year's NBA championship?" Stephanie asked with a smile.

The audience and viewers were stunned in unison.

"This question is way too easy," the studio crowd whispered.

"Yeah, anyone following sports news would know this."

But...

Baggins Okell, the Harvard PhD student, surprisingly gave the wrong answer.

...

Glasses dropped everywhere.

"No way."

"He missed such an easy question!"

"He picked d: New York Knicks? Has he never watched sports news? Doesn't he know who won the NBA championship? Has studying fried his brain?"

Both ho and studio audiences were shocked.

Even if you didn't know the answer, you could have asked the audience lifeline.

Many shook their heads and sighed, strengthening the belief that "I can totally do this!"

...

Contestants kept arriving throughout the night, trying to answer questions. But no one made it all the way through all 15 questions; most fell around 7 or 8 questions.

The contestant who got the furthest answered 14 questions but, unfortunately, missed the last one.

His final question was: Who was the first President of the United States?

Obviously, he didn't know. Having exhausted all three lifelines, he blindly guessed and got it wrong.

"Is this guy an alien?"

"Did he waste all those years learning history?"

"Not even knowing the first U.S. president? That's crazy."

The studio and viewers were furious, venting their frustration.

...

The questions on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire were actually pretty straightforward.

There wasn't any overly complicated or deliberately tricky question. But the topics were broad: geography, history, sports, science, humanities, literature, famous people...

The show wasn't testing how specialized your knowledge was, but how broad your knowledge base could be.

So even simple, well-known facts could trip contestants up.

This created a strong illusion for viewers: I can totally do this!

Though no contestant won the million-dollar prize on the first episode, the show was a hit -- and a massive one at that.

...

The next day, at 11 PM, Linton got a call from Chris.

"Boss, good news! Our Who Wants to Be a Millionaire scored sky-high ratings."

"How high?" Linton asked, surprised. He knew that before his acquisition, UPN's highest-rated news program never cracked 1%.

"Average rating: 3.5%; peak rating: 4.1%."

"That's incredible. Have the numbers been verified?"

"Don't worry, they've been confird."

"Great! Keep up the montum. Step up promotion and make this our flagship show."

"Thanks, boss. You're brilliant. Thankfully, we only sold ads for the first episode so far. With these ratings, advertising prices will soar for upcoming episodes."

"Keep it up. We'll celebrate soon."

*****

spatreon/Sayonara816.