It had all the drama of a nail-biting Super Bowl, appropriately accompanied by a confetti-filled victory celebration.
The family duo of Alan Barinholtz (who played a fake judge on Amazon’s hit 2023 reality prank show “Jury Duty”) and his comedic actor son Ike Barinholtz will appear on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” He won by answering each of the 15 questions correctly, scoring the highest hit. Charity prize of $1 million. This 25th anniversary season, which featured a pair of celebrity contestants, became the first to win $1 million.
Ike, 47, star of “The Mindy Project,” who has three daughters, tried to convey the depth of his family’s accomplishment.
“If there was confetti in the hospital room, I would have listed the birth of my child as the most important event in my life,” Ike told USA TODAY. “But the confetti made this feel bigger than any event I’ve ever been to.”
Of course, that’s a comedic exaggeration.
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Alan Barinholtz says he studied ABC’s original ‘Millionaire’ in the weeks before his appearance
But “Millionaire’s” triumph was sublime, made even sweeter by a touch of the Redemption Tour.
Ike “choked” to answer the $250,000 question in 2020, appearing on previous season of host Jimmy Kimmel’s hit prime-time show “Millionaires” (Wednesdays, 8 p.m. ET/PT) He said that he had discontinued his solo appearances.
“In that episode, I was Ike’s lifeline, so I was half-blown too, so I wanted to save myself,” Alan says. “But I thought if we could hit $125,000 this time, it would still be gold.”
Alan, a veteran lawyer, honed his skills a few weeks before appearing on YouTube by watching hours of the ABC original show “Millionaire” with host Regis Philbin. As a result, the two answered the opening questions with ease. Ike was also quick to notice the $250,000 question, correctly naming Dan Aykroyd as a random movie star who appeared in the music star-filled video for his 1985 charity single “We Are the World.” Ta.
“I remember watching ‘We Are the World’ as a kid and thinking, ‘Why is there Ray Stantz from ‘Ghostbusters’ in it? I don’t understand that,'” Ike said. says.
What exactly is “Zachs”? The Scrabble word is “millionaire”
The questions got progressively more difficult until the final $1 million challenge was the biggest challenge. “The most valuable three-letter Scrabble word is ‘zax.'” Which one is it? ”
They took advantage of the Ask Our Viewers lifeline, but they still struggled with anxiety. But with his final lifeline, “Ask the Host,” Kimmel revealed himself to be a Scrabble enthusiast who recently used “zax” in a game.
He prompted me to choose tool “D” for cutting roof slates. Kimmel said he “felt very strongly” that was the right answer. Ike was not confident.
“There would have been a world where Jimmy was just wrong, and then it would have been, ‘I’m sorry,'” Ike says. “And the other thought that went around in my head at that time was that Jimmy had a long history of playing pranks on me. It would have been crazy, but for me, Jimmy’s knowledge of Scrabble… There was a 5% chance that you were playing a prank on me.
Kimmel wasn’t kidding or making mistakes. After an eternal pause (13 seconds!) to further build up the TV tension, the show computer reveals that the answer is indeed “D,” and the Barinholtz family emerges victorious. The mild-mannered Alan let out a roar of victory and held his head as if it was about to explode as confetti flew down.
The $1 million prize money will go to the American Sign Language program at Los Encinos School, where Ike’s brother, the son of “American Auto” actor John Barinholtz, attends.
Although Ike often plays endearing, dim-witted characters, he has proven to be a genius in real life as well. He won “Celebrity Jeopardy!” In February 2023, he was a semifinalist and the only famous contestant on the 2024 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.
“The tension you feel from Questions 12 to 15 as Millionaire progresses to more difficult questions is greater than any pressure you feel on Jeopardy!,” says Ike. “And Jimmy, the host of ‘Billionaires,’ is giving you a little laugh. I don’t want to go home.”
At the victory celebration, Kimmel’s laughter turned to tears of joy.
“Jamie gave me a big hug afterward, and even he was getting emotional,” Ike says. “Everything was really great. And then there was the confetti. The confetti is just a game changer.”
