Regis Philbin hosts "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"

It's hard to believe "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" has been handing out cash prizes for 10 years now. To celebrate the milestone, ABC has returned to prime time the series that put game shows back on the map.

For the special 12-episode run, ABC started by putting Regis Philbin back behind the desk and went on to do something especially unique. They've condensed the entire season into a little over two weeks of airtime, which for fans means a "Millionaire" marathon.

Regis got the ball rolling on Sunday, Aug. 9, giving away cash prizes before an audience made up almost entirely of past contestants on episodes airing Sunday through Thursday. The excitement picks up again this week with the same grueling schedule, going out with a big finale on Sunday, Aug. 23.

Perhaps the most exciting (and generous) aspect of this anniversary party, aside from airing new episodes every day, is the celebrity contestants. Each episode this season wraps up with a surprise celebrity who will play for one $50,000 question, with the proceeds going to their charity of choice.

ABC has already gotten the return of past contestants well underway. Last week viewers saw Joe Trela, who was the third contestant to win $1 million, Robby Roseman, who was truly the biggest loser when he went home empty handed after answering only one question (obviously, he answered incorrectly) and Kevin Olmstead, who was lucky enough to play in 2001 after about five months without a top winner. The drought caused producers to throw in some bonus prize money and Olmstead wound up winning an escalated jackpot of $2.18 million, making him "Millionaire's" biggest winner.  

Week 2 kicks off with an appearance by the infamous (and very lucky) John Carpenter of Hamden, Conn., who was the original "Millionaire" winner back in 1999. Carpenter made his mark on the show when he used his "Phone a Friend" lifeline to tell his father he knew the answer and would be coming home $1 million richer.  

This will be Carpenter's third "Millionaire" comeback. He played in the show's "Champions Edition," in which he won another $250,000, half of which went to charity. He also appeared on "Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire," which was a spinoff of the original show and aired in February 2004. The format was basically the same as the original "Millionaire," but with higher stakes (the final question was worth $10,000,000).

Sadly, nobody ever reached the "Super Millionaire," grand prize. The biggest winner the spinoff saw was Robert Essig, who made it to $1,000,000 in 12 questions. He also attended the season premiere last week. Strangely enough, the episode that made Essig a millionaire was the very same show on which Carpenter appeared. Fortunately for the new crop of contestants, past winners are there to watch, not to play.

With all these twists and turns to the game show, ABC has decided to hold on to some much loved elements from the Meredith Vieira-hosted daytime version (the show switched to daytime after Regis originally left in 2002 and has seen seven successful years of syndication). Specifically, the "Ask the Expert" lifeline, with which contestants can chat with a well-known intellect via webcam about a particularly tough question.

Unfortunately for contestants, the experts aren't always able to provide $1 million answers. But these smarty-pantses have proven to be extremely helpful in many binds.

Some of the experts making anniversary appearances include Bill Nye (the nerdy star of "Bill Nye the Science Guy," who made numerous expert appearances on Vieira's set); George Stephanopoulos, Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts of ABC News; Wolf Blitzer (CNN's "The Situation Room"); journalists Gwen Ifill and Connie Chung, and "Jeopardy's" legendary top winner Ken Jennings.

And as for Regis Philbin, money seems to follow him everywhere. Before his return to "Millionaire," Philbin was busy working on another high-stakes game show, CBS's "Million Dollar Password," which is an updated version of the 1970s game show more simply titled "Password." While this show is on hiatus, Philbin still has roots on the morning show that has been his home for the past 26 years and is known nowadays as "Live with Regis and Kelly."

Though it could be merely coincidence, many are attributing the recent surge in "Millionaire" madness to the overwhelming success of Oscar-winning film, "Slumdog Millionaire," in which the main character is a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

Over the past decade, the American "Millionaire" has given away more than $132 million in winnings, and celebrities have won $13.5 million that has gone to charity.