Million Dollar Password is a game show that aired on CBS from June 1, 2008, to June 14, 2009. It was a high-stakes primetime revival of the beloved classic Password, which originally debuted on CBS in 1961. The Password franchise has gone through several incarnations over the decades, including Password Plus (NBC, 1979–1982) and Super Password (NBC, 1984–1989). Million Dollar Password was the last incarnation of Password before the debut of the 2022 version on NBC, 14 years later.
Two teams — each made up of one contestant and one celebrity — played the game in a Pyramid-like format. Each team had 30 seconds to correctly guess five passwords, with the clue giver providing single one-word clues. After the first half, the contestants switched celebrity partners. The winning contestant then advanced to the bonus round, which featured six levels. Cash prizes started at $10,000 and climbed all the way to $1,000,000, with contestants needing to guess five passwords within 90 seconds at each level.
Million Dollar Password featured several celebrity guests during its run. Some top names included Rachael Ray, Neil Patrick Harris, Tony Hawk, Rosie O’Donnell, Julie Chen, William Shatner, Phil Keoghan, Serena Williams, and Craig Ferguson. Betty White also appeared on two episodes, making her the only person to have guest-starred on every version of Password in the franchise’s history.
Regis Philbin served as the host of the show during its two-season run. Philbin was himself a celebrity guest on Password Plus in the 1980s, making his hosting role a full-circle moment. Earlier on, he had found enormous success hosting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on ABC from 1999 to 2002, making him a natural fit for a high-stakes game show format.
The show’s premiere drew over 10 million viewers and won its Sunday night timeslot, a strong start for a summer game show. Despite solid viewership, CBS ultimately cancelled the show because its audience skewed heavily older, not the younger demographics the network was targeting.
