Season 17 (U.S. syndication)

Season 17
Host	Chris Harrison
Start Date	September 10, 2018
End Date	May 31, 2019
Number of Contestants	51
Number of Episodes	175
Prize Winnings
$100,000 Winners	2
$50,000 Winners	7
$30,000 Winners	5
$20,000 Winners	8
$10,000 Winners	6
$5,000 Winners	16
$1,000 Winners	6
$0 Winners	3 (incl. audience contestants)
Total Winnings	$976,000
Average Winnings Per Contestant	$19,137,25

The seventeenth season of the U.S. syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? will premiere on September 10, 2018. It's hosted by Chris Harrison.

There will be a set of minor changes, most of them graphical. The studio was upgraded to have darkening multicolor lights. The logo was slightly simplified, removing the central pattern and replacing the ITC Conduit "WHO WANTS TO BE A" text with Helvetica Neue (which looks closer to Copperplate Gothic). The question graphics have also been changed, replacing the traditional lozenge look Millionaire has been using in one form or another since 1999 with a more abstract, slant and bevel heavy package. The last remnant of the Shuffle format, the Bank, has also been removed.

Lifelines

There are three lifelines that are used regularly. During Whiz Kids Weeks, an additional lifeline is used:

• Ask the Audience
• 50:50
• Plus One
• Cut the Question (Whiz Kids Weeks only)

Episodes

• Episode 1 (September 10, 2018)

Malcolm Brooks ($30,000)

• Episode 2 (September 11, 2018)

Sarah Sanders ($0) 
Susannah Brooks (continued)

• Episode 3 (September 12, 2018)

Susannah Brooks ($100,000) 
Keri Buck (continued)

• Episode 4 (September 13, 2018)

Keri Buck ($20,000) 
Sam Stubblefield (continued)

• Episode 5 (September 14, 2018)

Sam Stubblefield ($50,000) 
Natasha Alford ($10,000) 
Audience contestant ($1,000)

• Episode 6 (September 17, 2018)

Steven Johnson ($5,000) 
Steve Johnson ($10,000)

• Episode 7 (September 18, 2018)

S'Christen Johnson ($30,000)

• Episode 8 (September 19, 2018)

Jeremy Davis ($50,000)

• Episode 9 (September 20, 2018)

Ellen Sarem ($10,000) 
Nick DeGuzman (continued)

• Episode 10 (September 21, 2018)

Nick DeGuzman ($20,000) 
Janet Azevedo ($20,000)

• Episode 11 (September 24, 2018)

Robert Kim ($20,000) 
Audience contestant ($1,000)

• Episode 12 (September 25, 2018)

Stan Jastrzebski ($20,000) 
Audience contestant ($1,000)

• Episode 13 (September 26, 2018)

Devon Nichols ($30,000)
Paul Fajman (continued)

• Episode 14 (September 27, 2018)

Paul Fajman ($5,000)
Robin Adams ($5,000)

• Episode 15 (September 28, 2018)

Laurence Levy ($5,000)

• Episode 16 (October 1, 2018)

Carmen Apelgren ($10,000)

• Episode 17 (October 2, 2018)

Tom Colocci (continued)

• Episode 18 (October 3, 2018)

Tom Colocci ($50,000) 
Sarah Arora ($0) 
Mark Ryder (continued)

• Episode 19 (October 4, 2018)

Mark Ryder ($100,000) 
Bret Kimple ($10,000)

• Episode 20 (October 5, 2018)

Molly Mollin ($20,000) 
Audience contestant ($1,000)

• Episode 71 (December 17, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (1)

Lissa Gregorio ($20,000) 
Brandon Leeberg (continued)

• Episode 72 (December 18, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (2)

Brandon Leeberg ($20,000)
Andrew Thomas (continued)

• Episode 73 (December 19, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (3)

Andrew Thomas ($50,000)
Megan Turner (continued)

• Episode 74 (December 20, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (4)

Megan Turner ($5,000)
Shane Cunningham (continued)

• Episode 75 (December 21, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (5)

Shane Cunningham ($20,000)
Curt Bell ($5,000)
McKinnie Sizemore (continued)

• Episode 76 (December 24, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (6)

McKinnie Sizemore ($5,000)
Chip Bell ($5,000)
Jeffrey Thompsen (continued)

• Episode 77 (December 25, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (7)

Jeffrey Thompsen ($5,000)
Tara Whittle (continued)

• Episode 78 (December 26, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (8)

Tara Whittle ($20,000)
Lisa Karahalios (continued)

• Episode 79 (December 27, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (9)

Lisa Karahalios ($20,000)
Jay Malarcher ($0)
Julia Novakovic (continued)

• Episode 80 (December 28, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (10)

Julia Novakovic ($50,000)
Sam Brown (continued)

• Episode 81 (December 31, 2018) - Secondary Run Week (11)

Sam Brown ($10,000)
Major Baisden ($5,000)
Danielle Stillman (continued)

• Episode 82 (January 1, 2019) - Secondary Run Week (12)

Danielle Stillman ($5,000)
Greg Watson (continued)

• Episode 83 (January 2, 2019) - Secondary Run Week (13)

Greg Watson ($50,000)
Glory Fagan ($5,000)
Audience contestant ($1,000)

• Episode 84 (January 3, 2019) - Secondary Run Week (14)

Daniel Okamura ($20,000)
Brenna Landis (continued)

• Episode 85 (January 4, 2019) - Secondary Run Week (15)

Brenna Landis ($5,000)
Charles O'Neill ($5,000)
Audience contestant ($1,000)

Trivia

• Sarah Sanders is first contestant of this season, who used all lifelines on the 4th question and walked away with nothing.
• Susannah Brooks is first contestant in this season, who saved the Ask the Audience lifeline to $250,000 question where used it. Most of the audience failed.
• Ellen Sarem became the first contestant in the U.S. version of the show to walk away without using all her lifelines in almost 11 years (excluding the Double Dip lifeline from Seasons 7-8) and the first one to do it in Season 17.
• Sarah Arora is the first contestant in almost 3 years to miss the very first question
• Andrew Thomas is contestant, who answered the $250,000 question wrong.
• On May 17, 2019, 3,000th show will air.

Links

• List of episodes of Season 17 (syndicated)
• Season 17 episodes

Preceded by Season 16

U.S. Seasons Season 17

Succeeded by Season 18