ABC’s rebooted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was one of the last nonscripted shows to finish production before the COVID-19 production shutdown in March.
Host Jimmy Kimmel and the production team shot eight episodes of the game show the weekend of March 14 without an audience to get in under the wire.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire now is back for a second Kimmel-hosted season on ABC, and it officially went back in production last week.
The show is shooting in Los Angeles with a minimal crew and without an audience. Rigorous health and safety protocols are in place that adhere to all state and local requirements as well as union and industry guidelines for production.
Celebrity contestants, playing for charity, who appeared on the first season of the reboot included Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet, The Last Man on Earth’s Will Forte, Flipped‘s Kaitlin Olson and CNN’s Anderson Cooper. They were handed a new “Ask the Host” lifeline given the lack of an audience.
Season two will also feature frontline workers and others severely affected by COVID-19.
The show is produced by Sony Pictures Television’s Embassy Row, Kimmelot and Disney’s Valleycrest Productions. It is expected to air on Sunday nights as part of ABC’s fall schedule.
