SPOILER ALERT: Particulars comply with for Season 4, Episode 2 of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” which aired July 30 on ABC.
Ken Jennings and Matt Damon have now been added to the checklist of all-time biggest “Who Desires to Be a Millionaire?” winners. On Wednesday evening’s episode of the ABC gamer, the duo made all of it the way in which to the tip — successful $1 million for Water.org, a charity championed by Damon to advertise world entry to secure water.
Right here was the ultimate query: “Which of those phrases is used to explain one of the stunning auditory results on Earth, the sound made by the leaves of bushes when wind blows by them?” The proper reply was “susurrus.” Jennings had a fairly good concept that was the reply — and was additional emboldened when he and Damon used the present’s “50/50” lifeline.
“It’s not my first time on ‘Millionaire’ and my first time I didn’t win,” Jennings informed Selection. “I believe I left round 100k, so this was very thrilling. I’ve by no means truly seen the confetti drop.”
What made the distinction this time? “I believe what we’ve realized is that Matt Damon is value 900,000 additional {dollars} after I play ‘Millionaire,’” he mentioned.
After all, making the win additional candy was the way it performed into the continuing fake feud between Damon and host Jimmy Kimmel. “Pay attention, Matt Damon has an I.Q. of, I believe it’s been measured within the 70s,” Kimmel quipped.
Matt Damon, Jimmy Kimmel, Ken Jennings, “Who Desires to Be a Millionaire?” (Disney/Christopher Willard)
Disney
In all truthfulness, it was Kimmel who got here up with the thought of pairing Jennings with Damon. Based on Jennings, he bumped into Kimmel at a most cancers analysis fundraiser at UCLA. Kimmel, who was emceeing, “pigeon holed me,” Jennings recalled. “He mentioned, ‘Wouldn’t or not it’s humorous if we may get an actual A-lister on Millionaire, in case you had been the form of the ringer.’ And Jimmy Kimmel is a beautiful man. What I assumed was, ‘no, that will not be humorous. That might be a ton of stress on me, the ringer.’ However as a result of I really like Jimmy, what I mentioned was, ‘sure, that will be humorous, like we must always try this.’ I hoped he would overlook, and he didn’t overlook. And for some motive Matt Damon mentioned sure!”
Jennings had by no means met Damon, however they hit it off backstage previous to the “Millionaire” taping. “After all, I liked his work, and I all the time had the impression he’s all the time very plausible taking part in the good man in a film,” he mentioned. “‘Good Will Searching,’ in fact. But additionally ‘Rounders,’ ‘The Martian,’ even the Jason Bourne motion pictures. You’re like, ‘this man looks like only a regular man who’s secretly actually good,’ and it turned out to be true.”
Promos for this season of “Millionaire” performed into Kimmel’s decades-long late-night “beef” with Damon, and Kimmel had enjoyable skewering the star — together with the lengthy beard he was sporting due to his function within the movie “The Odyssey”: “Ken and what seems to be a yak are within the sizzling seat,” Kimmel mentioned on the present. “Now, the place had been you on January 6? What’s happening with the beard? Are you ready till the FBI reads your manifesto earlier than you shave? I can’t consider you retain getting employed to be in motion pictures. It’s actually outstanding. Nicely, since that is for charity, I’m going to permit it begrudgingly.”
Later, Kimmel joked that he planed to storm “Jeopardy” and play with somebody that Jenning hates. “‘ve by no means seen anyone pull something like this earlier than, the place they’d sneak onto a sport present and simply begin taking part in,” Kimmel joked. “The way it occurred, I don’t know. Guidelines had been undoubtedly damaged. Legal guidelines had been most likely damaged and however you already know what? You possibly can’t put something previous him. He’s a sneaky little bastard.”
Ultimately, Kimmel got here by with a vital “Ask the Host” lifeline. For the $500,000 query, the contestants had been requested which star’s first declare to fame was coming into a Steve Martin look-alike contest. The reply was Invoice Nye — and Kimmel knew it.
“I don’t have the solutions to the questions, however right here’s what I believe: I do know the reply to this one,” Kimmel informed them. “It’s simply one in every of this stuff the place I simply learn an enormous story about this man. I used to be on the radio in Seattle when this man began out, he was on native tv, and the reply, my closing reply, is Invoice Nye, the Science Man.”
Jennings mentioned that wound up being the toughest query for him and Damon. “Neither of us had heard the very fact about Invoice Nye in a Steve Martin look alike contest, and that was the one the place I assumed we’d simply must exit right here as a result of we’ve by no means heard this, and a number of the solutions look interesting and believable,” he mentioned. “And boy, I’ve by no means been happier in my life to listen to Jimmy Kimmel say, ‘you guys, I truly know this one chilly.’ That’s what you need to hear from a late evening authority.”
From there, they cruised to the $1 million query. “That stack of questions was on the simple facet,” Jennings mentioned. “I believe we simply acquired fortunate, as a result of that’s all rigorously regulated and randomized. However we acquired very fortunate that we had a stack that performed to our strengths. It didn’t actually have any form of wild card switcheroo, imply trick questions. And after I noticed that final query pop up, I assumed, ‘I believe I do know this phrase. After which as quickly as ‘susurrus’ popped up, that was such a aid. You’re not conscious of how a lot stress there’s on you till you assume, ‘Oh, I acquired away with one right here once more. I believe we’re gonna win the million!’”
The one lifeline the duo didn’t use was “Telephone a Good friend,” however what viewers didn’t see — because it was minimize for time — is that they really did. Imitating what very first “Millionaire” winner John Carpenter did earlier than answering his $1 million in November 1999, Jennings and Damon referred to as their lifeline — “Jeopardy!” champ Brad Rutter. However fairly than ask for Rutter’s recommendation, Jennings and Damon informed him they had been about to reply the $1 million query.
“We acquired to do the, ‘Hey, Brad. We’re gonna win 1,000,000 {dollars}!’ factor that that John Carpenter made well-known,” Jennings mentioned.
Jennings and Damon be part of simply two different celebrities who’ve received “Millionaire”: Chef David Chang (with an help from ESPN’s Mina Kimes) and the crew of Ike Bariholtz and his father Alan Barinholtz.
The brand new season of “Who Desires to Be a Millionaire” premiered final week, first with Drew Carey and Aisha Tyler paired within the sizzling seat. This week, after the Damon/Jenning win, “The Day by day Present’s” Jordan Klepper and Ronny Chieng joined in. Different upcoming pairing embody Joel McHale and Jim Rash; Tramell Tillman and Zach Cherry; Adam Devine and Anders Holm; and Helen Hunt and Dan Bucatinsky.
“I don’t know easy methods to quantify it precisely in print, however there’s undoubtedly some humorous stuff,” Kimmel mentioned of this season. “There have been some actually onerous questions that knocked some individuals out, who I anticipated to do effectively. After which there have been a pair individuals who I didn’t anticipate to do effectively, who did very effectively… the truth that there are two of them and so they must decide is fascinating, as a result of there’s no tie breaker. They do have to come back to an settlement on what they’re going to do, what their reply is, and what lifelines they’re going to make use of. And generally that causes friction, and it’s enjoyable to be part of.”
