Who wants to be a Millionaire with Gay Byrne ?

Lucozade man

Does anybody here know why was it axed after one season? Was is popular? Did it have faults? I dont know cause i lived in new zealand at the time.

seanybiker

It was fairly crap. Well that was my opinion anyways. Gay was brutal

CoalBucket

Lucozade man wrote: »

Does anybody here know why was it axed after one season? Was is popular? Did it have faults? I dont know cause i lived in new zealand at the time.

Gay Byrne

dougal

seanybiker wrote: »

It was fairly crap. Well that was my opinion anyways. Gay was brutal

Yep Gaybo was at his brutal condescending best!

Minstrel27

The questions were impossible, Gay Byrne was the host and the whole controversy surrounding this

Wikipedia wrote:

Lunula controversy
In June 2001, contestant Shane O'Doherty was asked, as the 13th (£250,000) question, in what part of the body the lunula was. He used his phone-a-friend lifeline to ring a physician, who said it was in the heart, which was the answer he then gave. The required answer was the fingernail, and so O'Doherty's winnings fell from £125,000 back to the guaranteed £32,000. In fact, a lunula is any crescent or moon-shaped structure, including both the white base of the fingernail and the segments of the semilunar heart valves.[2] O'Doherty protested that, since both answers were correct, he should not have been eliminated. He threatened to sue the producers, and the controversy generated media debate for two weeks. Eventually he was allowed to return to the show. He was asked another question, and opted to pass and keep the £125,000 he had previously accrued.[3] The replacement question was also criticised as flawed; it described John Pius Boland as an "Olympic gold medallist" even though the medals received by winners at the 1896 Olympics were actually silver.[4]

Farcical.

Oh_Noes

Gaybo was Gaybo, it's not like anyone was expecting anything new or different from him after watching him every single week for 40 years on the TV.

The problem was probably that the national lottery couldn't afford to fund six figure prizes being given away several times a show on a weekly basis. I think that's reserved for winning streak.

I always thought from watching it that this might be the case because the Irish one seemed to have slightly harder questions than the US/UK version so less people got up into the high numbers. No one won a million on it, I don't even think they ever even got to 500K

truedublad

Its very hard to compete with Chris Tarrant, he's an ideal presenter for Millionaire. Gaybo wasn't a patch on him and I would think this had a serious part to play on the decision to axe it so soon.

padd b1975

Oh_Noes wrote: »

Gaybo was Gaybo, it's not like anyone was expecting anything new or different from him after watching him every single week for 40 years on the TV.

The problem was probably that the national lottery couldn't afford to fund six figure prizes being given away several times a show on a weekly basis. I think that's reserved for winning streak.

I always thought from watching it that this might be the case because the Irish one seemed to have slightly harder questions than the US/UK version so less people got up into the high numbers. No one won a million on it, I don't even think they ever even got to 500K

Yeah think you are right there, the most I can remember is a guy winning 250000 punts as far as I recall but not 100% sure.

Degag

Minstrel27 wrote: »

The questions were impossible, Gay Byrne was the host and the whole controversy surrounding this



Farcical.

Surely he should have have won the 250k and allowed to come back to have a chance at 500k since his answer was actually correct?

The reason i have heard it was cancelled was money problems regarding sponsers etc. Don't think The National Lottery ever had any involvement but am open to correction.

Niles

I seem to remember early on in it's run there was a case where a contestant went home with nothing, the question was along the lines of "what is a female rabbit called?" or something like that. To be honest I might have been stumped myself...

The King of Moo

Degag wrote: »

Surely he should have have won the 250k and allowed to come back to have a chance at 500k since his answer was actually correct?

The reason i have heard it was cancelled was money problems regarding sponsers etc. Don't think The National Lottery ever had any involvement but am open to correction.

I think this is the reason. I'm fairly sure that Eircell were the sponsor, and there was lots of talk from the beginning that they wouldn't be able to keep paying winners if one person got to a million.

The King of Moo

Niles wrote: »

I seem to remember early on in it's run there was a case where a contestant went home with nothing, the question was along the lines of "what is a female rabbit called?" or something like that. To be honest I might have been stumped myself...

There were some very strange questions, like another controversial one like the one mentioned earlier about the lunula. It was about the definitions of government green and white papers and apparently the "correct" answer wasn't entirely correct.
Though I also remember another woman going home with nothing when she got one of the first questions wrong. It was "Complete this quote from 'Julius Caesar': 'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me..."
Granted I wouldn't expect her to be a Shakespeare expert, but I don't think there's an excuse for giving the answer "...a few bob."!!

Minstrel27

a few bob? LOL. She deserved nothing.

hotmail.com

All to do with not getting a sponsor. They just couldn't afford the prizes without a big sponsor.

The programme did really well in the ratings, getting something like 1.2 million viewers on it's opening night.

I remember too that the questions were really poor compared with the English version.

Clareman

I seem to remember the questions being a lot more difficult that the UK version. The UK version survived by the fact that they could get a few shows out of 1 contestant with come editting and "easier" questions, on RTÉ they had a new person nearly every show, coupled with the massive revenues they were getting with people texting in to try to get on the show. Ireland didn't have the same population to get the text revenue, they also have to pay licensing costs to the owner of the show format.

Bring back Murphy's Micro Quizim I say

MayoForSam

Clareman wrote: »

Bring back Murphy's Micro Quizim I say

Nah, if you want to do a quiz show on a REAL shoestring budget, it would have to be 'Quicksilver' with host Bunny Carr and Norman Metcalfe playing on his organ.

"Stop the lights!"

Prizes started at 1p and worked their way up in 5p increments.

A few re-runs would be quite in keeping with the times we live in.

Nolanger

Usual RTÉ, can do anything new so copy the Brits, badly.

patentseven

"QUICKSILVER", Jeez that would be too much to hope for, priceless.
For 1p "where is the Boston City Marathon held"?
While Norman Metcalfe plays "I left my heart in San Francisco".

Go Harvey Go

Eircell/Vodafone did indeed sponsor the show, and Tyrone Productions produced it under license from Celador (in much the same way that Screentime ShinAwil produces the Voice of Ireland under license from Talpa, and Dragons' Den under license from Sony Pictures Television):

http://www.tyroneproductions.ie/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire/

Ronan Keating and Claudia Carroll teaming up to play for charity - who'd have thunk it?

Anyway, after Vodafone pulled out, RTE tried to get the National Lottery on board, but failed:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irish-millionaire-tv-show-dropped-26232215.html

I presume they eventually dismantled the custom-made set.

And yes, the questions were indeed poor. Here's another one that kicked up a media storm:

The Mirror, 27 October 2001 wrote:

A CONTESTANT on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is to sue the RTE show, it emerged yesterday.

Declan O'Malley is demanding another chance to play the game, claiming he dropped out with £16,000 after being asked a question with TWO possible answers.

Angry Declan, of Drumcondra, Dublin, had used up one lifeline on the show when he was asked by Gay Byrne: "A bronze statue of an Irish statesman and writer stands in front of Trinity College.

"Is it Oliver St John Gogarty, Thomas Moore, Thomas Davis or Edmund Burke?"

Declan said yesterday: "I thought it was Edmund Burke but I phoned a friend who said he thought the answer was Thomas Davis.

"That really threw me, so I decided to go 50/50 and they took away two answers.

"But the two that were left were Thomas Davis and Edmund Burke.

"If I got the wrong answer I was going to drop from £16,000 to £1,000. I had no option but to pull out."

He added: "Both answers were potentially correct given that Edmund Burke stands outside the railings in front of Trinity College and Thomas Davis stands some way up on Dame Street, also in front of Trinity College."

Declan's solicitor has agreed that he does have a case and he is now demanding another chance to win the £1 million top prize.

A spokeswoman for the makers of the show, Tyrone Productions, said yesterday he had no case.

She added: "He will not be reinstated. If he wishes to take legal action then that is his choice.

"We have absolutely no doubt that the question was perfectly correct.

"We have no problem with the question. First of all Thomas Davis was never an Irish statesman.

"Secondly the Thomas Davis statue could not be described as being in front of Trinity as there are three objects in its way.

"First there is the statue of Henry Grattan then about 100 yards up the road there is a row of trees.

"A further 100 or so yards there is the statue of the Three Trumpeters and then finally Thomas Davis.

"The statue is sooner in front of the Bank of Ireland than Trinity College."

But Declan believes he has been badly treated by the producers of the show.

He said: "They are in breach of their own rules.

"I have told my solicitor to fight this."

IvySlayer

At least the questions required thinking, rather than Winning Streak were you press a button and win a fecking car

lertsnim

I hated the Irish version of the show. Gay Byrne is a proper twat. "Now say thank you to the audience"

Go Harvey Go

lertsnim wrote: »

"Now say thank you to the audience"

Nothing like Chris's "Well done, everybody."

Nor did Gay come up with anything like "But we don't want to give you that!"

Paully D

Going back a long time now so my memory may be off, but didn't he ask one contestant to "hurry up" when he/she was thinking? :pac:

Hitchens

Niles wrote: »

I seem to remember early on in it's run there was a case where a contestant went home with nothing, the question was along the lines of "what is a female rabbit called?" or something like that. To be honest I might have been stumped myself...

D'oh! :pac:

FloatingVoter

Paully D wrote: »

Going back a long time now so my memory may be off, but didn't he ask one contestant to "hurry up" when he/she was thinking? :pac:

On or off camera - it wouldn't surprise me. He doesn't suffer fools gladly which is an essential requirement for any host of this franchise. Actually, its the only TV show Ryan Tubridy could do well.

Shifty Shellshock

I think it was scrapped cos Gay was offering a million quid to everyone in the audience

ricero

Weakest link was still worse with eamon dunphy. Us irish cant do gameshows, best of leading it to the brits

Fred Swanson

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IvySlayer

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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I remember they had 100, 200, 300, 500, 1000, that bit was particularly tedious to watch, especially as Gay would have a chat about their personal lives between each question.

More chat means less contestants means less monies to give away I suppose

Fred Swanson

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vitani

Gaybo would have been perfect on 'The Weakest Link'. He could have been as patronising as his little heart wanted. Dunphy was surprisingly tame as a host.

grey_so_what

Paully D wrote: »

Going back a long time now so my memory may be off, but didn't he ask one contestant to "hurry up" when he/she was thinking? :pac:

I remember that Paully D........It was a lady and she got very shirty with Gay telling her to hurry up and she took him on saying she was allowed as long as she wanted........Gay was less than pleased, I remember laughing at his expression when she said that!.......:D

lertsnim

She spent the whole episode humming and hawing meaning nobody else could get a go

flazio

I remember that Celeb special was actually more entertaining then the equivalent UK special. Watching Daniel O Donnell sweat it out was hilarious. (at least after a few Christmas tipples it was)
Speaking of nostalgia, how long ago is it now since TV3 and the The National Lottery came up with a Deal or No Deal show with Keith Barry? That didn't last long at all.
The worst thing about The Weakest Link was the prize money was in Euros long before we started using the currency in our pockets, so we hadn't a clue how much they actually won.
Having said how crap we've been on recreating UK game shows (another example being Family Fortunes) I recall the recent Mastermind series being quite decent in fairness to it.

Skid X

One of the things I remember is the actor Simon Delaney appearing as a contestant (on the regular version). He got the IR£32,000 question wrong, so he only won IR£1,000.

He was in Bachelors Walk at the same time (or possibly shortly afterwards). The writers then wrote a scene for the show where his character sang the song 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' at a Wedding. The lyrics to the song being 'Who wants to be a Millionaire - I don't ...'

I thought it was nicely done, although I don't think many people got the joke at the time.

ButtersSuki

Was there another guy who went home penniless on the first question which was what is a female deer called? He gave "doe" as per the song (doe, a deer, a female deer etc) but the "correct" answer was hind. Both hind and doe were options and both are generally/commonly accepted.

Have that in my head for some reason.

Always remember Gay asking incredibly patronising and condescending questions like "tell me now, how much difference would €1000 make to your life?".

TheIrishGrover

Hitchens wrote: »

D'oh! :pac:

No, that's a deer, a female deer

Frank Black

lertsnim wrote: »

She spent the whole episode humming and hawing meaning nobody else could get a go

Why - Couldn't they just do a bit of editing or was it filmed live?

padd b1975

lertsnim wrote: »

I hated the Irish version of the show. Gay Byrne is a proper twat. "Now say thank you to the audience"

Tarrant used to say that all the time, although his ego is as big as Gaybo 's.

What kind of loon brings a bodyguard when they go angling??



Chris Tarrant does!

Go Harvey Go

Frank Black wrote: »

Why - Couldn't they just do a bit of editing or was it filmed live?

I don't think it was filmed live.

The editors, therefore, would have more than likely kept the humming and hawing in in order to fill that episode's time slot.

padd b1975 wrote: »

Tarrant used to say that all the time, although his ego is as big as Gaybo 's.

AFAIK, Chris didn't - and still doesn't - actually tell the contestant(s) to thank the audience when they successfully help him/her/them out.

And he almost always mocks the audience when they fail - something I don't believe Gay ever did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drbqHte5GS8

Skid X

Paully D wrote: »

Going back a long time now so my memory may be off, but didn't he ask one contestant to "hurry up" when he/she was thinking? :pac:

If I remember correctly it was because she had taken over an hour on a single question (obviously they heavily edited her deliberations - an hour of TV with no question answered would be ridiculous)

I know you should take your time on a big question, but there comes a point where anyone would lose patience.

flazio

That millionaire question actually came up on The Chase recently, the Chaser was Anne and she got it right and the contestant wrong. The Chancellor is the only person allowed to take a sip during the budget speech. Very appropriate considering the day that's in it.

dublinman1990

I would remember a few design flaws with the set as it look very basic as compared to the UK version or US version. Even, the music for the Irish series didn't sound the exact same as the UK edition did.

I do remember the atmosphere of the Audience of the Irish version as being very tame to non-existent.

Fred Swanson

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dublinman1990

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Yep.

http://millionaire.itv.com/home/

Loughc

dublinman1990 wrote: »

Yep.

http://millionaire.itv.com/home/

Flog. Dead Horse.

Dermighty

Minstrel27 wrote: »

a few bob? LOL. She deserved nothing.

She deserved the stocks for that answer!

death1234567

Forget about who want's to be a millionaire and bring back "The Box" with Keith Duffy.

AnonoBoy

I'm pretty sure it was 9/11 that killed the Irish version off.

The sponsor had offices in the twin towers and after they were gone they couldn't find a replacement.

Or at least that's what I heard.

Go Harvey Go

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I'm pretty sure it was 9/11 that killed the Irish version off.

The sponsor had offices in the twin towers and after they were gone they couldn't find a replacement.

Or at least that's what I heard.

Get outta here.

flazio

I'm sure if Eircell/Vodafone had offices in the World Trade Towers we would have heard about it. I think it was once Vodafone took over Eircell running, they pulled the plug on the sponsorship. Shame they couldn't have done a dual sponsorship like what you get with the Champions League (This Program is brought to you by "Company 1" and "Company 2"