No need to overexpose 'Super Millionaire'

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. production team for "Super Millionaire" has no plan to overexpose the show, which occurred when the original series aired four times weekly in 1999.

"Regis and I have both felt passionately for a long time that if the show came back, we were only really interested if it came back ... as a consecutive-night event that we could do two or three times a year," said Michael Davies, executive producer for the sequel to "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"

Regis Philbin will return as host of the game show, which will air on ABC Sunday through Friday, and then be over until possible new episodes during sweeps week in May, Zap2it.com reported

Philbin believes the appeal of game shows like "Millionaire" lies in the escalating tension as contestants reach higher prize levels, which may be lost in a weekly series.

"(A consecutive-night run) builds momentum that's really something to watch grow as the week progresses," Philbin said. "Each night brings another contestant that people are talking about, and sometimes that contestant is held over until the next night."

The original show, which earned high ratings for ABC during its early days, suffered from poor ratings after going into frequent airings.