Season 8 (U.S. syndication)

The eighth season of the U.S. syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? premiered on September 7, 2009.

From 2008 to 2010, the rules of the game have changed, clock added. Now the game has become even more dynamic, since for the answer to each question the participant is given a certain time limit: 1st-5th questions - 15 seconds, 6th-10th questions - 30 seconds, 11th-14th questions - 45 seconds, 15th question - 45 seconds + Time Bank.

The time counting starts immediately after the host fully read out the question (without answer options). In the event that the contestant does not have time to give an answer for the time allotted to him, this is tantamount to giving the wrong answer.

The Time Bank is the total amount of time unused on each question. Adds to 45 seconds of playing time to answer the last, $1,000,000 question.

For the first time in the American version's history, the contestant sees the topics of each question before they are asked. Categories can be useful to the player in making a decision: to take risks on the current question or to play further, for example, if the player is well-versed in the topic of future questions.

Lifelines
The contestant had four lifelines. The timer stops at the time of the use of lifelise.
 * Phone-a-Friend
 * Ask the Audience
 * Double Dip
 * Ask the Expert (after 5th question)