Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Hot Seat (Network 10) Review
(Based on Episode 1 & 2. If there is a change later, this page will be updated.)
(Warning: This post uses terms you may not get unless you are a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire fan. Also, just a big disclaimer that I am not a reviewer and I got sidetracked a lot and not a recommendation to watch or not to watch Paramount/Network 10.)
Millionaire Hot Seat (HS) is a spin-off of the famous Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (WWTBAM) program from 2008-2009, first shown in Italy (also making many other spin-offs, like 50-50 and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire The Tournament) as “Extraordinary Edition”, before being the big program in Australia as Channel Nine’s challenge to Channel Seven’s Deal or No Deal.
Millionaire Hot Seat is basically “What if we took the soundtrack from WWTBAM and put it in a completely new game show?”
6 players are put in a random order (or asked to take a test to be able to choose their own seat) and the first player is sent to the “Hot Seat”. The rules are simple; answer questions just like WWTBAM, but the players are against the clock with the same amount of time as the US version (15 seconds for the first 5 questions, 30s for the next 5, 45 for the rest), but a main change; the Top Prize Question is also 45 seconds*. The main shtick? There is only one lifeline, and that’s how the other 5 players come into play: Pass.
Pass is where the player goes to the back of the line, and give it to the next player. Main things:
Just like the other lifelines in WWTBAM, you can only use it once. So if you passed and made it back, get ready to answer questions with no help!
Then you have been passed to, you can’t pass again. You don’t want a loop and the game can’t take much extra time from it being 30 minutes (unless the culture of the country makes it a 60 minutes show due to talking to contestants a lot)
If you have a Pass, you will be using it automatically if you run out of time; do it without and you are treated like you have a wrong answer and your out buddy.
So what does happen when you get a wrong answer? Well, they have exactly 15 questions per show. So the big NONO to getting a wrong answer is one, your out of the game. But two, you lower the jackpot. Most versions have a big deep cut when you lose money at the start (¤1,000,000 tends to drop to ¤250,000, ¤100,000 turns to ¤30,000), but tends to treat the pain after. This also makes an odd thing; the Top Prize Question can be on Question 10. That’s what the * was for; if it’s on Q10, it’s on 30 seconds, since that is what the question is normally for.
Also, if you get to the fifth question correct (unless it’s from the UK, as far as I can tell), you get that amount if you are in the hot seat for the final question or as the last man/person standing; the second safety net is gone.
So that is the main rules of HS; how is it?
IDK. It’s a format I want to work, but this version is very budget-friendly to the companies; after all, this is mainly a Daytime show,,, unless you are the hour-long versions. They mainly air in Weekly Primetime. ANYWAY, the point is that (at least) 5 people leave with nothing at all, and even then the winner might only win ¤1,000 instead of ¤10,000/¤32,000 (The money tree is mainly dead btw; Q1-4 and Q6-9 are worthless due to how the format works. so complain about the weird jump of $1,500, $2,500, $4,000, $6,000, $10,000 as much as you want, but only one of those values actually matters.)
This format has some issues however;
it’s super based on the other players and luck (you might be the best but you might be player four and the two other players are already out and you can only win a very smaller amount compared to the original Top Prize). But I look at The Wheel and HS’ replacement Tipping Point (Australia) and I can see worse formats (though I do like does, heck the longest running game show in Australia is Wheel of Fortune.)
WHERE IS THE WWTBAM? The clock makes the freedom of answering questions gone, you can’t walk away, the pause of suspense is cut to make it fast (unless you are, once again, a hour-long show) and THE LIFELINES. Look at the Shuffle format and how many people HATED IT. Which makes a big point:
Music (The Shuffle format fell on this a lot)
I swear I will get to the Network 10 version at some point. But, unless it’s versions that basically don’t exist on the internet (at least the original versions of HS from 2024 and before, before version 2 from 2026), they run on (some of) the music made for the Australian version from the person who made the new question music: Ramon Covalo. While some original cues made it (e.g. Lights Down, Final Answer/Lock It In, correct answer, e.t.c.), a lot of the music was changed. Like the Shuffle format (and every remix but the US Clock format, but it has it own problems), the fans who loved WWTBAM hates it. The Strachan music was too good. In fact, some versions use those music instead of the normal HS question beds. But in most versions pre-2025, they had a huge issue, and I can blame Portugal for this; WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CORRECT ANSWER MUSIC. Most versions (other versions uses it for the first 5 questions) use the using to show the results for FFF (Fastest Finger First, the last part is removed for the US) for almost every question. It’s a every annoying cue to hear all the time (though the same would had apply to the Q1-4 Correct cue as well. If you want another painful cue from the original version of WWTBAM, the over used cue originally meant for walking away during Q6-10).
The UK version ditches the normal music and makes it’s own music (like the Dark Rave graphics from 2018), (p.s. I HATE HOW Q5 CORRECT CUE IS REPLACED BY THE Q10 CORRECT CUE IN THE UK THAT OTHER VERSIONS TAKE NO-) from Paul Ferrer, who does The Wheel mentioned earlier as well as The Weakest Link, The Chase and many smaller game show like 1000 Heartbeats. This music is smaller in size than normal, where the 5 questions sections (1-5, 6-10 and 11-15) each have their own music than unique cues for all of them, and takes no classic cues. I will explain more, but first, I need to go talk about the main thing:
The Great Australian Revival (Episode 1)
On February 2nd, 7:00pm/19:00, Network 10 showed us the brand-new version (on a brand new channel!) after Deal Or No Deal (yes it’s the Channel 7 and 9 Power Hour lol). It does not open up with an intro, instead it does the host entrance first. Rebecca Gibney comes in, introduces us to the show and the contesta- WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MUSIC?
OK, time to go instantly out of order now and talk about music again
The “Meet The Contestants” music is shit. Unlike every over versions, this is simply not fitting at all. It’s main issue is the fact that it’s doesn’t have a clear way to know who is next. The in-game music itself is.. odd. First, the Lights Down is always the one for Q6/11 in normal gameplay (sometimes Q10/15, not to be confused by the Q1 cue that makes it’s revenge against Q6/11 for stealing it’s place in the limelight in the Rave era by taking it’s spot in the newer versions in the UK or Olga v3), used for all questions in Q1 and Q6 onwards. It’s just like the Vietnamese HS version, which works. Oddly, this time… there is only one question music. One. ???
I should mention right now that the music is very much a Indian music remix thing (not a stereotype, it’s a thing the main version does) for all new music here (go see KBC India on YT and hear it for yourself). The music bed in question is basically a remix of the Classic/Strachan Question 6 music, and it fits I guess. A video game soundtrack issue kind of thing then (some older versions only use one piece of music for a set of 5 questions for all of them, e.g. Special Editions or the PS1 versions). The Correct Answer also has the same issue; only one cue… which makes the same issue as the original Australian HS 20 episode run: The big win feels like nothing. It’s not “YOU JUST WON ¤50,000!!!!!!!!”. a big smile and claps, like the Classic Q10 cue did, but just watching on with no smile, and at most saying “good job.” At least the UK Hot Seat made a “Big Win” Cue to make the same feeling as the Classic Q10 cue did. Though a big disappointment for that version is the “Final Answer/Lock In” cue. and the Australian version fix that by using the Classic version… and always using Q10/15? Honestly, more consistent cues are fine; I got used to this change very quickly. I talk about this in a bit.
So where were we?
After the disaster that was the music for the contestants, the intro/transition plays (the last part of the international Olga intro) and the first player is in the hot seat. After some chit-chat, the money tree sho- wait. Is that the Portugal version? Anyway, just like the UK version, Pass is not in a lifeline container like normal, instead in a lozenge. The game is then basically like Normal HS other than the music (though the clock seems to run too fast…) It’s goes down to this: The host asks a question, and the answer choices, the clock starts, the contestants think about it, and chooses to answer or pass. Then then a answer is locked in, the host does some suspense (idk how the UK can’t have Jeremy Clarkson do it) and says if they are right. If they are wrong, a quick bye-bye is said and they are gone, and the game moves on. Simple gameplay loop and easy to understand once you watch a bit of the game. Just like what I said though, the final question is… anti-climatic. The question music is basically the same, if changed at all, the same final answer/lock in is used (though it’s is a good cue for this still, no points taken), and then plays the normal correct answer cue that makes my heart die because a cue doesn’t excite me like almost all other versions. weird.
So what is my review of it?
Well, all I really have to compare it to is game shows, and the issue with this is that this is episode one. I can see that after 100 episodes (how many they recorded for the first run), they might change it up, like how they added in Classic Q10 Correct cue after the original 20 episode Channel 9 run. But looking at the first episode of this right now, it’s a bit odd. The UK version has different music. The newer Channel 9 episodes (2017-end) has an extra half-hour via FFF, the other versions of HS I don’t really know as much, and the other WWTBAM versions are very much more Primetime than HS is.
So I think the best way to rank it against other games shows over here in the land down under.
First, the other Aussie game shows. I will start 5pm onwards because I often channel-hop more before Tipping Point Australia.
5pm: The Chase Australia (Channel 7) (TCA)
5pm: Tipping Point Australia (Channel 9) (TPA)
5pm: Jeopardy! USA (SBS) (JEO)
5:30pm: Letters and Numbers Reruns (SBS) (LANR)
6pm: Mastermind Australia (SBS) (MA)
6:30pm: Deal or No Deal (Aus) (Network 10) (DOND)
ABC Entertains 6:30pm onwards
6:30pm: Hard Quiz Reurns (ABC) (HQR) (the normal show I watch later in the week)
7pm: Millionaire Hot Seat (Network 10) (HS)
In turns of what I do watch, considering time and not leaving shows, I watch TPA, MA, DOND and HS right now (before, it’s was TPA, MA, HQR and DOND, since DOND was originally 7pm… wait no it originally was 6pm [Originally, it was The Project lead-in, then it was gone so pushed up to 7pm, then HS is here]).
In terms of shows I would watch, I would watch TPA, JEO, DOND and HS! Millionaire Hot Seat is a program I would watch instead of the others due to the issues with the others (TCA is quite slow, Hard Quiz is just a better MA and the reruns… no.
((Letters and Numbers ended in 2012. SBS IS RERUNNING AT LEAST 14 YEAR OLD PROGRAM.)))
But, of course this is my opinion. But I think if you like game shows, even when it has issues (e.g. The Million Pound Drop having an all or nothing question where everything can be lost just by one question because frick you, or a question game with any luck at all e.g. the only way The Wheel can give the full amount of money possible is if it wants to land on the gold space), then you have a fun time watching HS. It has it’s format problem and music problem, but other than that, it will be a fun watch during 7pm when everybody else is airing news or soap and don’t care either of it, like I do.
Episode 2
Watching it on the TV, it is SOO much better. The worst parts of the music just kind of disappears(!), and the good parts stay in, though I did remember an ad using the Lights Down cue for Q7/Q12 remix soooooooooo rip that. I should mention the studio. I miss the scrolling text (in both UK and Aus), but otherwise the studio is generally good, but I don't understand the FFF monitor being there without FFF, though I don't really like the clear chair from the UK version either. But this show, like most game shows, is best on the telly, and watching ep1 on PC kind of made it worse. But if you watch TV, just watch HS once and make your opinion there (maybe also after episode 100 as well, this will be updated if there are any updates (: )
If things are aligning correctly as well, I will look at Nine’s replacement for this program next…
