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Milionerzy (pronounced mē-lē-ō-ne-zhi) (English translation: Millionaires) - a Polish game show based on the original British format of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The show is hosted by Hubert Urbański. The main goal of the game is to win 1 million polish zloty by answering 12 multiple-choice questions correctly. When a contestant gets the second question correct, he will leave with at least 1000 zł. When a contestant gets the seventh question correct, he will leave with at least 40 000 zł.

In June 2023, TVN announced plans to produce a special series called Milionerzy. 2 Miliony. The top prize in final episode will be 2 000 000 zł.

Players are given three lifelines which include fifty fifty (pół na pół), Ask the Audience (pytanie do publiczności) and Phone-A-Friend (telefon do przyjaciela, in 2017 rules called pytanie do przyjaciela meaning Ask-A-Friend, but host still says it's Phone-A-Friend). From September 2009 to December 2010 Phone-A-Friend was replaced with Ask the Expert (pytanie do eksperta). From March to December 2010, contestants could choose to play in Risk mode, which would give them a fourth lifeline, Switch the Question (zmiana pytania), but 40 000 zł will not be a guaranteed sum. From 3rd December 2020, it was used to replace Ask the Audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first edition (series 1-4) of Milionerzy was produced by Endemol and was broadcast from 3 September 1999 to 26 January 2003. This edition used old-standard 15-question format, with 1000 zł guaranteed after 5th correct answer, and 32 000 zł guaranteed after 10th correct answer. The second edition (series 5-10) was produced by Intergalactic and was broadcast from 19 January 2008 to 19 December 2010. A third edition (series 11 onward) premiered on 9th February 2017 and it was produced by Jake Vision.

From 2008 to 2010, it was shown every Saturday and Sunday at 6 PM (UTC+1) on the Polish commercial television TVN and from 2017, it's shown from Monday to Thursday at 8:55 PM (UTC+1).

Game series[]

Series No. of episodes Time of broadcast Length of episode Format
1 1 - 175 (175) 3rd September 1999 - 28th June 2000 ~25-45 minutes Standard
format
2 176 - 379 (204) 28th August 2000 - 1st July 2001 ~30 minutes
3 380 - 499 (120) 1st September 2001 - 30th June 2002
4 500 - 537 (38) 1st September 2002 - 26th January 2003 ~25 minutes
5 538 - 585 (48) 19th January - 22nd June 2008 ~42 minutes 12-question
format
6 586 - 615 (30) 6th September - 14th December 2008
7 616 - 641 (26) 7th March - 31st May 2009
8 642 - 658 (17) 6th September - 26th December 2009
9 659 - 673 (15) 7th March - 27th June 2010 12-question or
risk format
(player's choice)
10 674 - 688 (15) 12th September - 19th December 2010
11 689 - 746 (58) 9th February - 18th May 2017 ~25 minutes
(celebrity specials:
~42 minutes)
12-question
format
12 747 - 801 (55) 5th September - 7th December 2017
13 802 - 859 (58) 13th February - 24th May 2018
14 860 - 915 (56) 3rd September - 6th December 2018
15 916 - 970 (55) 25th February - 30th May 2019
16 971 - 1026 (56) 2nd September - 5th December 2019
17 1027 - 1042 (16) 2nd - 26th March 2020
18 1043 - 1097 (55) 1st September - 3rd December 2020
19 1098 - 1144 (47) 15th February - 6th May 2021
20 1145 - 1198 (54) 1st September - 2nd December 2021
21 1199 - 1243 (45) 14th February - 1st June 2022
22 1244 - 1289 (46) 1st September - 1st December 2022
23 1290 - 1334 (45) 27th February - 1st June 2023
24 1335 - 1389 (55) 4th September - 7th December 2023
25 1390 - 1435 (45) 4th March - 31st May 2024

Money tree[]

From series 5 (19.01.2008-26.12.2009, 09.02.2017-present) (In series 9 and 10 (07.03-19.12.2010), the contestant could choose the risk mode) of Milionerzy, there are twelve questions which go like this:

Question
No.
Correct Answer
Value
Walk Away
Value
Miss Answer
Value
Amount Lost for a
Wrong Answer
Miss Answer
Value (risk, 2010)
Amount Lost for a
Wrong Answer (risk, 2010)
1 500 zł 0 zł 0 zł 0 zł 0 zł 0 zł
2 1000 zł 500 zł 500 zł 500 zł
3 2000 zł 1000 zł 1000 zł 0 zł 1000 zł 0 zł
4 5000 zł 2000 zł 1000 zł 1000 zł
5 10 000 zł 5000 zł 4000 zł 4000 zł
6 20 000 zł 10 000 zł 9000 zł 9000 zł
7 40 000 zł 20 000 zł 19 000 zł 19 000 zł
8 75 000 zł 40 000 zł 40 000 zł 0 zł 39 000 zł
9 125 000 zł 75 000 zł 35 000 zł 74 000 zł
10 250 000 zł 125 000 zł 85 000 zł 124 000 zł
11 500 000 zł 250 000 zł 210 000 zł 249 000 zł
12 1 000 000 zł 500 000 zł 460 000 zł 499 000 zł

In series 1 - 4 (03.09.1999-26.01.2003) of Milionerzy, there were fifteen questions which went like this:

Question
No.
Correct Answer
Value
Walk Away
Value
Miss Answer
Value
Amount Lost for a
Wrong Answer
1 100 zł 0 zł 0 zł 0 zł
2 200 zł 100 zł 100 zł
3 300 zł 200 zł 200 zł
4 500 zł 300 zł 300 zł
5 1000 zł 500 zł 500 zł
6 2000 zł 1000 zł 1000 zł 0 zł
7 4000 zł 2000 zł 1000 zł
8 8000 zł 4000 zł 3000 zł
9 16 000 zł 8000 zł 7000 zł
10 32 000 zł 16 000 zł 15 000 zł
11 64 000 zł 32 000 zł 32 000 zł 0 zł
12 125 000 zł 64 000 zł 32 000 zł
13 250 000 zł 125 000 zł 93 000 zł
14 500 000 zł 250 000 zł 218 000 zł
15 1 000 000 zł 500 000 zł 468 000 zł

Milionerzy. 2 Miliony[]

In June 2023, the broadcaster announced plans to produce a special series called Milionerzy. 2 Miliony (running along the same lines as the Wer wird Millionär – 3-Millionen-Euro Woche). The top prize in its final episode is 2 000 000 zł - an amount that represents the highest prize (nominally, in zł) offered so far in Polish quiz shows.

During the first eight episodes, contestants enter the game in the traditional format - with twelve questions and one million złoty to be won, but with the difference that a flexible second safety net (introduced in 2018 in the UK) - before asking a question for a given amount, the host asks whether this amount - after answering the question correctly - is to become the guaranteed sum; the contestant can therefore set the second safety net according to his or her own preference.

Any person who answers correct at least 7 times advances to the final episode. The finalists again take part in a Fastest Finger First. The winner of the elimination episode decides whether to keep their winnings from the elimination episode and end their participation in the show, or to play for two million, risking ending the game with a lower prize. Before the decision is made, the host informs the contestant how much of the original winnings the contestant will be allowed to keep regardless of the outcome of the two million game.

Qualifying episodes (1-8):

Question
No.
Correct Answer
Value
Walk Away
Value
Miss Answer
Value
Amount Lost for a
Wrong Answer
1 500 zł 0 zł 0 zł 0 zł
2 1000 zł 500 zł 0 zł
3 2000 zł 1000 zł 1000 zł
4 5000 zł 2000 zł depends on the second safety net
5 10 000 zł 5000 zł
6 20 000 zł 10 000 zł
7 40 000 zł 20 000 zł
8 75 000 zł 40 000 zł
9 125 000 zł 75 000 zł
10 250 000 zł 125 000 zł
11 500 000 zł 250 000 zł
12 1 000 000 zł 500 000 zł

Final episode (9):

Question
No.
Correct Answer
Value
Walk Away
Value
Miss Answer
Value
Amount Lost for a
Wrong Answer
1 1000 zł 0 zł 0 zł 0 zł
2 2000 zł 1000 zł 0 zł
3 5000 zł 2000 zł 2000 zł
4 10 000 zł 5000 zł depends on the second safety net
5 20 000 zł 10 000 zł
6 50 000 zł 20 000 zł
7 100 000 zł 50 000 zł
8 200 000 zł 100 000 zł
9 350 000 zł 200 000 zł
10 500 000 zł 350 000 zł
11 900 000 zł 500 000 zł
12 2 000 000 zł 900 000 zł

Appearance and changes of appearance[]

From 1999 until 2003 the Milionerzy set was changed three times. For the revived series in 2008 a fourth design was used, based on the "Rave" set used internationally.

The first logo of Milionerzy from 1999 was very different to the usual model in other editions of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. It was a violet rhombus on one of vertexes and overlapping rings on background of a horizontal "Milionerzy" caption. [1] The second one, modelled on the traditional style, is round with green question marks. It was introduced with the changes of credits and scenography in 2000.

The first and second version of the opening credits were similar with people looking and aiming on the Milionerzy logo, based on the original British title sequence. From 2008, the opening credits of the programme were changed to the Rave sequence. Milionerzy never adopted a title sequence based on the 2004 British one.[2]

Except for the opening credits, no big changes were made on graphics and sounds. The new edition has refreshed graphics: the fields with questions and answers are navy-blue and blue (earlier black) and smaller than in first edition of Milionerzy, and the field with won prize is blue (earlier brown and navy-blue). Also some sound effects and music we can hear in the background when player answers a question changed.

The second edition of Milionerzy was recorded in the TVP studio in Kraków, 44, Nowohucka St. The first edition was recorded in the Warsaw-based WFDiF studio, 21, Chełmcka St. from 1999 until 2001 in the TVP studio on 17, Woronicza St until 2003.

Currentely the show is being recorded in "Transcolor" studio in Szeligi near Warsaw.

Questions for million zlotys[]

In Milionerzy, thirty one questions for one million zlotys appeared, five times while celebrity couples appreard in special episodes. Twenty three times the player or celebrity couple walked away, and twice (first time in special edition with participation of children), the player answered the question incorrectly. Only six contestants were able to answer their question correctly and win the top prize.
For all of the questions see: Milionerzy/Final Questions

Top prize and biggest winners in Milionerzy[]

The list is sorted chronologically and only 250 000 zł prizes and bigger are shown:

Date of showing Series Prize Player's name
5th March 2000 1 250 000 zł Krzysztof Karwowski
5th May 2000 250 000 zł Jarosław Olejnicki
8th October 2000 2 250 000 zł Marek Janowski
21st October 2000 500 000 zł Władysław Kostrzewski
17th February 2001 250 000 zł Stanisław Pietrasiewicz
28th February 2001 250 000 zł Katarzyna Dobras
12th March 2001 250 000 zł Jerzy Zadrożny
21st May 2001 500 000 zł Zbigniew Chrzanowski
24th September 2001 3 250 000 zł Tomasz Micorek
14th October 2001 500 000 zł Jerzy Mirski
16th December 2001 250 000 zł Artur Wiśniewski
25th December 2001 250 000 zł Edyta Olszówka and Olaf Lubaszenko
(Celebrity Edition)
9th February 2002 250 000 zł Szczepan Gardecki
23rd September 2002 4 250 000 zł Gogoł family
(Family Edition)
25th December 2002 250 000 zł Aleksandra Woźniak and Rafał Królikowski
(Celebrity Edition)
29th March 2008 5 250 000 zł Elżbieta Orłowska
5th April 2008 500 000 zł Paulina Kowalczyk
27th April 2008 250 000 zł Dorota Kwiecińska
18th May 2008 500 000 zł Dagna Sieńko
7th September 2008 6 250 000 zł Marek Kraśnicki
22nd November 2008 500 000 zł Rafał Tomański
7th December 2008 500 000 zł Renata Dancewicz and Piotr Adamczyk
(Celebrity Edition)
19th April 2009 7 250 000 zł Marcin Bobrowski
25th April 2009 500 000 zł Marzena Rogowska
1st November 2009 8 250 000 zł Tomasz Radko
28th December 2009 250 000 zł Szymon Hołownia and Marcin Prokop
(Celebrity Edition)
28th March 2010 9 1 000 000 zł Krzysztof Wójcik
2nd May 2010 250 000 zł Jakub Tomys
20th June 2010 250 000 zł Jędrzej Wiczkowski
10th October 2010 10 250 000 zł Magdalena Lula
24th October 2010 500 000 zł Katarzyna Zaręba
19th December 2010 500 000 zł Karolina Korwin-Piotrowska and Michał Piróg
(Celebrity Edition)
8th March 2017 11 250 000 zł Jakub Rudnicki
15th March 2017 500 000 zł Sonia Ciuk
29th March 2017 250 000 zł Katarzyna Kołaczkowska
12th April 2017 250 000 zł Ilona Rasińska
15th April 2017 500 000 zł Kinga Rusin and Piotr Kraśko
(Celebrity Edition)
14th September 2017 12 250 000 zł Alicja Bańczyk
16th October 2017 500 000 zł Remigiusz Skubisz
25th October 2017 250 000 zł Agnieszka Dachterska
8th November 2017 250 000 zł Maciej Krawiec
7th December 2017 500 000 zł Zbigniew Zamachowski and Borys Szyc
(Celebrity Edition)
21st February 2018 13 250 000 zł Hanna Czapla
21st March 2018 1 000 000 zł Maria Romanek
27th March 2018 250 000 zł Magdalena Rybicka
28th March 2018 250 000 zł Andrzej Gręziak
18th April 2018 250 000 zł Bartosz Kołecki
25th April 2018 250 000 zł Łukasz Półrolniczak
5th September 2018 14 250 000 zł Tomasz Otręba
10th September 2018 500 000 zł Dominik Komorek
3rd December 2018 250 000 zł Judyta Perczak
26th February 2019 15 250 000 zł Anna Cichosz
4th March 2019 500 000 zł Maksymilian Bilewicz
14th March 2019 1 000 000 zł Katarzyna Kant-Wysocka
21st March 2019 250 000 zł Joanna Liszowska and Tomasz Sapryk
(Celebrity Edition)
25th April 2019 250 000 zł Bartłomiej Marcjaniak
3rd September 2019 16 250 000 zł Joanna Szczudlik-Kowalczyk
4th September 2019 250 000 zł Ewa Kamarad
12th September 2019 250 000 zł Filip Olszówka
26th September 2019 250 000 zł Dawid Tusiński
16th October 2019 250 000 zł Dorota Rutkowska-Skwara
23rd October 2019 250 000 zł Zbigniew Górski
29th October 2019 250 000 zł Agata Langowska
14th November 2019 250 000 zł Jolanta Glinka-Kalisz
4th March 2020 17 250 000 zł Mikołaj Wieczorek
5th March 2020 250 000 zł Hanna Przydatek
11th March 2020 250 000 zł Magdalena Ziółek
16th March 2020 500 000 zł Marcin Kot
12th October 2020 18 250 000 zł Marta Maszkiewicz
22nd October 2020 500 000 zł Łukasz Grymuza
16th November 2020 500 000 zł Maciej Adamski
2nd December 2020 500 000 zł Mikołaj Masłowski
16th February 2021 19 250 000 zł Jan Sękowski
18th February 2021 250 000 zł Anna Wrona
26th April 2021 250 000 zł Piotr Rutkowski
2nd September 2021 20 250 000 zł Marzena Szymanowska-Pietrzyk
13th September 2021 250 000 zł Szymon Batura
23rd September 2021 1 000 000 zł Jacek Iwaszko
11th October 2021 250 000 zł Leszek Kędzierski
3rd November 2021 250 000 zł Bogdan Wójcik
21st March 2022 21 250 000 zł Marek Kalus
7th April 2022 500 000 zł Maciej Mędrzycki
21st April 2022 500 000 zł Przemysław Zieliński
5th September 2022 22 250 000 zł Piotr Tyburski
19th September 2022 1 000 000 zł Tomasz Orzechowski
29th September 2022 250 000 zł Magdalena Wilczek
3rd October 2022 500 000 zł Małgorzata Rozenek-Majdan and Krzysztof Skórzyński
(Celebrity Edition)
17th October 2022 250 000 zł Rafał Rak
1st December 2022 250 000 zł Jacek Borusiński and Wojciech Malajkat
(Celebrity Edition)
7th March 2023 23 250 000 zł Marta Kuligowska and Magdalena Cielecka
(Women's Day Celebrity Edition)
3rd April 2023 250 000 zł Justyna Nahajowska
24th May 2023 250 000 zł Paulina Krupińska and Wojciech Łozowski
(Celebrity Edition)
14th September 2023 24 250 000 zł Bartłomiej Bar
19th October 2023 250 000 zł Michał Kosacki
20th October 2023 500 000 zł Jakub Kasperkiewicz
(Grand Final)
6th December 2023 250 000 zł Konrad Walkowiak
12th March 2024 25 1 000 000 zł Mateusz Żaboklicki

For all winners see: Milionerzy/List of Winners

Miasteczko[]


16 000 zł (9 of 15) - Not Timed
Hydrogen cyanide, so called prussic acid, smells like:
'Phone-A-Friend' lifeline used
⬥ A: Atropa belladonna ⬥ B: Anise
⬥ C: Bitter almonds ⬥ D: Durian
Wojciech didn't know, so he called his friend Michał Małecki. At first, he also didn't know, after 15 seconds he guessed A:, but Lucyna Siudym, who was sitting in the same room as Michał, said it's 100% C:.

'50:50' lifeline was used probably at 32 000 zł question, which was skipped.


64 000 zł (11 of 15) - Not Timed
The Channel Islands are dependencies of:
⬥ A: France ⬥ B: United Kingdom
⬥ C: Denmark ⬥ D: Belgium
125 000 zł (12 of 15) - Not Timed
Which famous writer, actor and jazz musician hid under pseudonym Sullivan?
'Ask The Audience' lifeline used
⬥ A: Vladimir Vysotsky ⬥ B: Boris Vian
⬥ C: Jack Kerouac ⬥ D: Al Weber
Ask the Audience Results: A: 10% ⬥ B: 16% ⬥ C: 6% ⬥ D: 68%
After using 'Ask The Audience' lifeline, Wojciech said D: was his final answer, but when Hubert Urbański asked for locking answer D:, the contestant said 'No, no.' Episode ends, in the next one Wojciech shows a VHS with his gameplay, at which he said he had an inkling it's B: and decided to walk away. The correct answer was B:.

Records and faux pas[]

  • In Milionerzy, the record was, when, first time in second series, all contestants answered correctly in the Fastest Finger First round at question "Put the following Australian cities in alphabetical order."
  • In Milionerzy, the record for going the farthest without using a lifeline was:
    • In the first run (1999-2003), in normal episode it was 250 000 zł (or 500 000 zł). The contestant, Waldemar Myszkiewicz won 32 000 zł after an incorrect answer to the 500 000 zł question (maybe without touching any lifeline).
    • In special episodes, it was 500 000 zł. The contestant, Filip Łapiński won 32 000 zł, after an incorrect answer to the million zlotys question.See the Questions for million zlotys articles' parts for more informations
    • In the second run (2008-2010), it was 125 000 zł. Two contestants, Paulina Kowalczyk and Rafał Tomański both won 500 000 zł, having 2 lifelines on a final question (50:50 and Audience).See the Questions for million zlotys articles' parts for more informations
    • In third run (since 2017), one contestant (Jacek Iwaszko) managed to answer 10 questions without using a single lifeline - finally, he became the 4th millionaire in Polish version. Five contestants went up to 125 000 zł without touching lifeline. Łukasz Półrolniczak won 250 000 zł,Łukasz Sieciński lost on 250 000 zł after an incorrect help of an audience, while Mikołaj Sowiński lost on 250 000 zł, Mikołaj Adamiec-Siemiątkowski lost on 250 000 zł after an incorrect help of an phone-a-friend, while Radosław Radowski won 250 000 zł after an correct help of an 50:50.
  • In Milionerzy there were three occasions in which a player lost because of a bad question and were bought back to play again.
    • The first player, Janusz Kornecki was asked for 32 000 zł, "Who invented the steam engine exploiting circular motion?". He went for James Watt, but correct answer was Charles Algernon Parsons. After complaining to program's producers, his answer was recognized as correct. The player won a guaranteed 32 000 zł. However, he was asked for 64 000 zł, "Who was the founder of The Police?". He answered Sting, but the correct answer was Stewart Copeland. Again Kornecki complaining to program's producers. This time he thought, that both answers were correct. [3]
    • The second player, Waldemar Jabłoński was asked, "How many cuts are on kaiser rolls?" for 500 zł. He answered "4," but the correct answer was "5," so he won nothing. [4] After it was recognizing that his answer was correct, he answered the next question incorrectly and left with nothing again.
    • The third player was asked a question about author of the picture: "The Luncheon on the Grass" and answered Claude Monet, but correct answer was Édouard Manet. However, Monet also painted a lesser known picture with the same title, so the player was allowed to continue playing.
  • In series 11, Ola Bojarska also lost because of a bad question. The question "Which of these men did not appear in a feature-length movie before becoming a president?" got 4 possible answers: Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, Lech Kaczyński and Vaclav Havel. Discarding Reagan and Trump, contestant selected Kaczyński, losing her money, because the correct answer was assigned to Havel. The contestant got a backlash from people about not knowing Polish cinematography (Lech Kaczyński starred with his twin brother in 1962 movie O dwóch takich, co ukradli księżyc, eng. About those two, who stole a moon, based on Kornel Makuszyński's book), but it was proven later that the alleged correct answer was wrong, because the 1965 Czechoslovakian comedy Každý mladý muž (eng. Every young man) featured one character portrayed by Vaclav Havel. Despite the badly set question, as of 2022, she haven't been brought back for replay.[5][6]
  • In Milionerzy, some players answered their first questions incorrectly.
    • In the first version of Milionerzy, one player got the question, "How people in Poland state a person who is calm and shaky?" and he answered "anielska woda" (angelic water) instead of the correct answer, "cicha woda" (still water).
    • In the second version, one player was asked, "A penitent is a person acceding to…" and answered "judicial process", but the correct answer was "confession"[7].
    • Another player got a question about the breed of Ludwik Dorn's dog. After using all lifelines, he answered French Bulldog, which was incorrect. The correct answer was Giant Schnauzer.
    • In 2017 Kuba Gołębiowski was asked to complete the lyrics of polish song call "Góralu czy Ci nie żal..."(Mountainer, aren't you sorry...). He was confident that it was "porzucać lasów i hal"(give up forests and alpine tundras), but it was the wrong answer. The correct answer was "odchodzić od stron ojczystych"(leave the fatherland).
  • There were occasions in which the audience gets a question wrong. Three players decided to trust the audience and ended up answering incorrectly. Two of them each won a guaranteed 1000 zł while one left the studio with nothing. One more player decided to walk away with 8000 zł.

Gallery[]

External links[]

References[]

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