Contestants, selected by calling a phone number, are chosen based on their ability to arrange 4 answers to a question in the correct order the fastest. They then have to answer 15 multiple-choice questions correctly to win increasing amounts of money, the largest of which is $1,000,000. They can choose to use three "lifelines": 50/50: two incorrect answers are eliminated; Ask the audience: the studio audience votes on the correct answer; and phone a friend: they can call one of 5 pre-arranged friends who can help with the answer.

John Carpenter, the first million-dollar winner, got all the way to the final question without using any "lifelines." The question was, "Who was the only U.S. President to appear on 'Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in'?" When Regis Philbin asked him the question, John decided to call his father for the "phone-a-friend" lifeline. Instead of asking his father for help, he told him "Um...I don't really need your help. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to win the million dollars."

Regis Philbin:
Is that your final answer?