#2: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (1998)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was the game show that made us all feel like we could be millionaires if we only knew a few trivia facts. It premiered in 1998 with Regis Philbin as host and changed the genre forever with dramatic lights, moody music, and the now-ubiquitous: “Is that your final answer?”
The concept was simple: Get 15 multiple-choice questions correct and you get $1 million. Not to mention the lifelines! They added so much strategy and drama to the game; whether you were screaming answers at your TV or biting your nails during those double-or-nothings, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was the game show that people watched and the only thing anyone was talking about in the late 90s.