Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Contestant Archive
September, 2001

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Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

Here are all of the Featured Contestants for September, 2001.

August 26 - September 1: Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman ... he had the knowledge, he had the guts, and now he's got $125,000 to show for it. On August 19, Roger Friedman, a professor, was sitting right across from Regis Philbin, and by the looks of it, he was having a great time there, too. Roger got into the hotseat 3 nights before (August 16), and won $64,000 by the end of that show. Then, the buzzer went. 3 Nights later, the man was on fire, he was utterly fearless, and he won his jackpot of $125,000 by remembering, on a gamble, that cork was the result of a particular science experiment. Going for a quarter million dollars, Roger thought that he knew the answer, but he couldn't pull the trigger on losing $93,000. Roger walked out with $125,000, and had he taken a guess, he'd have won $250,000! Roger was happy, and so was his wife, and he gave a punch of happiness as he walked off the set.

September 2-8: Christopher Young

Christopher Young won $64,000 on the nights of August 23 and 26. $64,000 isn't the biggest amount of money to be won, however it is nothing to turn your nose up at. Chris was an entertaning player, and had a nice amount of knowledge, too. Unfortunately, I didn't tape his episode, so this column is pretty much from memory, but I remember that Chris' knowledge of a lot of things provided a lot to his winning amount. He used 2 of his lifelines in the upper tier to win his $64,000. Chris was an entertaining player, and I wish him good luck.

September 9-15: Ed Toutant

"For The Last Time Tonight, you're gonna hear me say, Is that your Final Answer?"
"C Insecticide is my Final Answer."
"GOT IT!!"
If you happened to be watching Ed Toutant's Return on Friday, that's what you would have heard. Ed Toutant, from Texas, who originally left with $1,000, came back and won the second highest amount of money in television, $1,860,000! The Big Money Question: In WWII, U.S. Soldiers used the first commercial aerosol cans to hold what? Cleaning Fluid, Antiseptic, Insecticide, or Shaving Cream. Ed, at this point, had a 50:50 left. He thought the answer was insecticide, and took the 50:50 to confirm it. Which two are left: Insecticide and Antiseptic. Ed said if he got to a million, and had a 50:50 shot at it, he would go for it. He locked in his Final Answer, C Insecticide, and the rest, as they say, is history. When he locked it in, the Million Dollar Theme play, the lights flashed, and it poured confetti. (Actually, it seemed as this celebration had the most confetti out of all the Millionaire's.) Ed's friend Judy (above) came down the stairs and Ed and Judy exchanged hugs admist the celebration. Regis handed Ed his 2 checks - 1 for $1 Million, and the other for $860,000. What a fabulous way to make a return on Millionaire! Ed went from being the average $1,000 winner to the second highest money winner in TV history! Ed Toutant won $1.86 million Friday night to move past David Legler as the runner-up to Quiz Show King Kevin Olmstead ($2.18 million). The 48-year-old IBM computer planner from Austin, Tx., was one of the few second chance players whose return appearance aired. He had been originally ruled incorrect on a $16,000 question Super Bowl Sunday night when he was playing in the show's escalating bonus game. Toutant, who had been restored an audience Lifeline at $16,000 but reused it and his phone-a-friend on a new $16K question, haggled with himself before using the 50:50 to reduce his final choices to antiseptic and insecticide. After about another 90-second deliberation, he chose insecticide, which led to a huge eruption. For the first time since April, the Million Dollar Music played,the lights flashed, the confetti fell, and the whole show was in celebration mode. He got a big hug from his accompanying friend Judy. Ed is the show's 9th Million Dollar Winner, but only the 3rd of the year 2001. He ends a long summer drought which saw no contestant win more than $125,000. His episode was taped on June 26, and he has had to keep quiet ever since then. He is now #2 on the All-Time Winners list, with WWTBAM's Mega-Millionaire Kevin Olmstead at the top, and 21's $1,765,000 Winner David Legler, coming in at 3rd. In case you didn't know, Kevin Olmstead broke David Legler's record for the All-Time Quiz Show King on WWTBAM on April 10. Legler was formerly the quiz show king with $1.765 Million. His throne was taken over by Olmstead, winning $2.18 Million. Now, Ed Toutant is in Second Place - and truly deserves to be there. He makes for one heck of a player, having an incredible range of knowledge, and also having the guts to risk all that money in order to win the grand prize. (Also, Bernie Cullen, the 8th Millionaire, has all of these qualities, too.) I think that Ed realized that it was just a game, although it is a game that can change your life. This has been the best comeback in Gameshow History. Ed also mentioned on the show that if he had a 50:50 shot at any dollar level, he would guess. He stayed true to his word at $1.86 Million, went with his instinct of Insecticide, and Got It. Congratulations Ed, on an outstanding comeback, and enjoy your 15 minutes of Millionaire Fame.

September 16-22: The Victims of Terrorist Attacks on the USA

First of all, this isn't your usual "Contestant of the Week," but I find it necessary to do this to show my tribute to all of the innocent victims in the tragedies this past week in New York, Washington DC, and near Pittsburgh, PA. First off, I would like to express my gratitude to all of the wonderful New York Firefighters, The American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, the many volunteers, and everyone else helping out in New York and Washington. If you have been watching the news, or even if you were in Washington or New York these past few days, you know what I mean - everyone helping are heroes. It is very touching to see how these hundreds of wonderful people are putting their lives on the line to help rescue others in the rubble. These are the true heroes of our world - the ones who risk their lives to help others. Now, I'd like to express my sincere sorrow and sadness to the victims and their families. This has been a terrible week in American history, and to hear about all of these innocent people who died is just horrible. Our prayers, thoughts, and hopes are all with you during this time in your lives. Now, we can just wait and hope that our military and George Bush will get rid of terrorists, in particular Osama Bin Laden. These terrorists may have shaken our biggest buildings, but they have not shaken the stability and unity of America. Their goal was to frighten us, but they have just made us braver. As we grieve in these hard times, rest assured that justice will be served by the people who did this to us. I guarantee it. God Bless America!

September 23-29: Frank Cook

On September 27, the season premier of Millionaire was on after nearly 2 weeks of delays due to the attacks on New York and Washington. Perhaps one of the most enjoyable shows in the history of WWTBAM, many things made memorable highlights - a fresh new introduction, Regis giving a mini-speech saying New York was "the greatest city in the world," the very personable Eddie McIntyre in the hotseat and taking home $64,000, Frank Cook's dramatic $64,000 run, and then Carlos Espinas wrapping up the show with a cliffhanger going for $64,000. Out of all these memorable highlights, I must say Frank Cook's run was the most enjoyable and certainly, the most dramatic of them all. Frank got into the hotseat after Eddie McIntyre, who won $64,000. Frank won $64,000, which isn't a rare number to be seen on WWTBAM, but when you find out how he got there, it makes it more exciting. Frank had to be one of the most knowledgable players ever to play the game, passing at least 75% of all the players in the amount of knowledge he possessed. Frank won $32,000 with no problem - and by that, I mean he still had all 3 lifelines intact going into the upper tier - a real pro. At $64,000, Frank had a slim thought at what the answer was, but he used his lifelines. All of them. :) Eventually, after long and sometimes painful deliberations on what the answer was, he decided to go with "D." For his final answer. We usually see a number of people just guess at $64,000 and get it right, but let me tell you, I was really pulling for Frank here - all 3 lifelines, just to have him miss? I sincerely hoped not. Well the final verdict is ... Frank wins $64,000! It was a well deserved $64,000, and Frank worked as an oustanding player to win it. My sincere Congratulations go to Frank - he was an awesome player.

September 30 - October 6: Johnny Bench

Johnny Bench is one of Baseball's most famous players. A Hall of Famer, 4 Time World Series Winner with the Cincinatti Reds, and now, a $250,000 Winner on WWTBAM to stack up with his many exciting life events. Johnny Bench was one of the 10 famous sports athletes on Sports Week at WWTBAM. Some others included Tony Hawk, John Elway, Steve Young, Martina Navratilova, and many more big stars. Bench got into the hotseat on Night 2 of the Sports Week - a night in which Martina Navratilova and Johnny Bench would light up the screen. Martina was the return contestant, and she won $125,000 for charity. The next Fastest Finger: Put the Following Sports Terms in Order by the Numbers of Syllables they Contain, Starting with the Fewest: Bunt, First Down, Penalty Shot, Hole in One. I won't even tell you the order ... figure it out yourself. :) Who got it right: Laila Ali, John Elway, Charles Barkley, Tony Hawk, and Johnny Bench! Johnny won it in 4.01 Seconds. Perhaps one of the brightest and best Sports Players, Johnny cruised through his first 11 questions, winning him $64,000 without using a lifeline. At $125,000, he polled the audience to find out what form of communication Thomas Edison used to propose to his 2nd wife. 69% of the audience voted for Morse Code. Johnny went with them, and the audience got it! For a Quarter of a Million Dollars: Since 1981, every Chevrolet Corvette has been produced at a single automobile plant in what U.S. State? Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, or Illinois. Johnny uses his Phone A Friend, and calls Greg, who does a little bit of everything according to Johnny. The end of the Conversation, with 5 seconds left: "About as sure, pos-- Say Bowling Green Kentucky!" Johnny: "I'll say, bowling green Kentucky, Final Answer." He Got it! Johnny Bench won $250,000 for Charity! After the commercial break, Johnny and Reege were back at it again - and he was going for a Half Million Dollars, still with a 50:50. However, even after using the 50:50, Johnny couldn't take a chance on losing $218,000 for The Johnny Bench Scholarship Foundation, and walked away with a very nice sum of $250,000.

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