‘Millionaire’ Wants Women, Minorities in the Hot Seat

Frustrated by its inability to put more minorities and women on the show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” delivered an on-air plea Tuesday for more nonwhites and women to try qualifying.

Moreover, executive producer Michael Davies acknowledged that he is contemplating a change in the contestant selection method in order to increase diversity, altering the blind phone-in process that has been employed since the program premiered in August.

“I feel like I have one weakness with my program, and it’s a weakness I’m extremely passionate about,” Davies said. It has yet to be determined how to alter the procedure, but the goal is to blend a degree of selection into the current system, which allows viewers from all over the country to qualify by answering questions via a toll-free number.

At the least, the producers intend to test some sort of national contestant recruiting effort--probably this summer--as a temporary stunt to create a more diverse contestant pool.

Of the 100 people to occupy the ABC quiz show’s “hot seat,” only 11 have been women and one Latino--a point of consternation in a year in which the networks have come under fire for a dearth of ethnic characters in their new prime-time entertainment series.

“Millionaire” host Regis Philbin opened Tuesday’s program by saying, “Can anybody explain this to me: why is it that nearly all of our contestants are white men? I’m a white guy, so you know I have nothing against them. But come on, we would really like a little more diversity.”

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Philbin continued, “So here’s the challenge: Everyone out there who has thought about being on the show--who isn’t a white male--dial that 800 number and let’s get into the game.”

Unlike other game shows, which cast their players, “Millionaire” has relied on a system in which the producers don’t see who qualifies in advance.

The producers initially stressed that they had no desire to change the qualifying process, and various explanations have been proffered for “Millionaire’s” demographic skew, including the possibility fewer women and minorities are calling in, cultural bias within the questions themselves, and white men simply having more of an affinity for such trivial pursuits.

Davies insisted the program has worked hard to avoid any bias issues. “This is not the canon of white trivia,” he said, adding that his own belief is “there’s a large section of the population that doesn’t think [playing] this show is for them.”

The issue is clearly being driven by the producers, since “Millionaire’s” limited demographic profile has done little to dampen its astounding ratings. More than 30 million people watched Tuesday’s installment.