Simon had little time to spare for the fierce controversy stirred up by Basic Instinct. On Saturday morning, he flew to New York to take part in the official recording of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
After personally drafting a project proposal of more than twenty pages based on his memory, Simon had continued, over the past few months of preparation, to regularly attend production meetings for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He offered extensive input on everything from building the question bank and designing the game segments to contestant selection and even the finest details of creating the on-site atmosphere.
Once recording truly began, the project team, having already gone through multiple rehearsal shoots, was operating with ease. Still, Simon decided to keep a close watch on-site. After all, the success or failure of this reality show would determine whether Daenerys Pictures could successfully break into television production.
Because Who Wants to Be a Millionaire leaned more toward the variety-show side of programming, it was relatively simple to produce. With seven pilot episodes scheduled to air over a single week, the team began recording on Saturday, perfectly positioned to film and broadcast simultaneously and complete the entire pilot plan.
Even so, the process was anything but easy.
Over the weekend, everyone on the project team worked more than ten hours a day, Simon included. On Sunday night, they were still busy until ten p.m. After watching the final cut of the first episode together and confirming that it met his expectations, Simon finally allowed himself to relax a little.
June 20, Monday.
A new week arrived in the blink of an eye. Media discussion around Basic Instinct was still raging. Simon, rarely afforded the chance, slept in and didn't get up until nine in the morning.
He spent the morning checking on the renovation of the Fifth Avenue apartment. After that outrageous night the three of them had shared, Katherine happened to be staying in New York to work on [?], and Janet had firmly pushed the responsibility of overseeing the renovation onto her. Katherine had done interior design work back in the 1970s and was actually more experienced in this area than Janet.
He had lunch with Katherine and chatted about [?]. During the meal, the woman declined Simon's subtle hint that he should come over that night, claiming she had a social gathering within her circle to attend. Simon said he'd be happy to meet some people from New York's film scene with her, but all he received in return was an eye roll. In the end, she simply didn't want too many people knowing about their relationship.
In the afternoon, Simon met with James Rebould as usual to discuss matters related to Westeros Corporation.
With the debt-to-equity conversion plan confirmed, James Rebould had already liquidated Westeros Corporation's remaining New World Entertainment shares during this period. Although Simon was determined to acquire Marvel, there was no way he would continue playing the fool when he could save half the capital. Quietly accumulating New World Entertainment stock was no longer necessary.
After completing this round of acquisitions and investments, the one-hundred-million-dollar loan Westeros Corporation had just secured was nearly depleted once again. Simon had no intention of increasing his personal debt in the short term. For a long while to come, James Rebould's work would focus on managing Westeros Corporation's existing businesses.
Over the past six months, the North American stock market had continued its recovery.
However, because the "Westeros Portfolio" had sparked a strong rebound in tech stocks last year, growth in the tech sector had noticeably slowed over the past few months compared to other sectors.
As of last week, the total value of Westeros Corporation's publicly traded tech stock portfolio stood at roughly 1.76 billion dollars. Other private equity holdings and real estate investments amounted to about 150 million dollars. Thanks to the consecutive successes of When Harry Met Sally and Pulp Fiction, Daenerys Pictures was valued by the industry at around 300 million dollars. Subtracting the combined 200 million dollars in debt carried by Daenerys Pictures and Westeros Corporation, Simon's personal net worth had already reached 2 billion dollars.
Forbes was expected to release this year's global rich list in August.
If Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Basic Instinct both succeeded, Simon's fortune would undoubtedly continue to grow. With personal assets exceeding 2 billion dollars, he would easily break into the top fifty of the global rich list.
In the underground parking garage of the building housing Westeros Corporation's headquarters, James Rebould watched Simon's car drive away. A cascade of figures flashed through his mind, and he couldn't help but feel a renewed sense of awe. Noticing his daughter's puzzled look beside him, he snapped out of his reverie and smiled at Jennifer. "Let's go home. Your mother's cooking dinner herself tonight."
The father and daughter got into their own sedan. As James Rebould drove out of the parking garage, he asked casually, "Do you think Who Wants to Be a Millionaire will succeed?"
Simon had already told James Rebould some of his ideas about using the reality show projects as bargaining chips to trade with General Electric for New World Entertainment.
Jennifer replied, "I think it's really interesting. As for the ratings, we'll know tomorrow."
James Rebould paused, then pressed on. "Did Simon tell you what he expects from this show?"
Jennifer sensed an extra layer of meaning in her father's words. Slightly embarrassed, she still answered, "He… he's very confident in it."
James Rebold turned the steering wheel and glanced at his daughter. "Jenny, you should know that some things have to be fought for."
That was about as blunt as it could get. Jennifer's face flushed faintly, and her thoughts drifted to her time working for Simon.
To be honest, it wasn't as if she'd never entertained the idea of taking that man away from Janet.
But staying by his side, perhaps because he was always so busy, or perhaps for other reasons she couldn't quite name, she rarely found herself harboring thoughts of competing for a man. Most of the time, she simply felt, almost unconsciously, that being able to stay by his side and continue working for him was enough.
She had always thought of herself as someone who was easily satisfied.
When the father and daughter returned to their Upper East Side home, Jennifer's mother, Carol Rebould, was already back and preparing dinner. James and Jennifer joined her in the kitchen. The three of them shared a warm family meal, then, with unspoken agreement, settled in front of the living room television, chatting idly as they waited for nine o'clock.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was scheduled to air at nine p.m.
ABC hadn't given it the prime eight o'clock slot, but they also hadn't dumped it into the least important ten o'clock hour. Daenerys Pictures couldn't expect much more. Moreover, since ABC refused to invest in promoting the show, Daenerys Pictures had to spend two million dollars of its own money on television, newspaper, and magazine advertising. That expense alone was equivalent to the budget for an entire week of pilot episodes. The earlier casting and audition process to build momentum for the show had also been costly.
In addition, to retain as much control as possible, Daenerys Pictures chose not to seek sponsors to share the investment during the pilot phase. As a result, even just at the pilot stage, the total investment from all sides for this project approached five million dollars. That was already a quarter of the budget for an entire season of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
It was easy to imagine that if the show failed, Daenerys Pictures' lavish spending would become a laughingstock within the industry.
Nine o'clock.
On the television screen, the image shifted. Accompanied by host Regis Philbin's deliberately quickened introduction, the show officially began.
Regis Philbin was the original host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Before Danerys Pictures approached him, he had been hosting a sports program at a local New York television station. When he received Daenerys Pictures' invitation and realized this was his chance to break into programming on one of the four major networks, Regis Philbin resigned from his old job without hesitation and threw himself fully into the production of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
In the Reboulds' living room, as members of the social elite with rich private social lives, James and Carol were usually not particularly interested in television programs. Yet from the moment the show began, the host's introduction, the heated atmosphere on set, and the lighting and music subtly drew them in. When Regis Philbin highlighted the ultimate one-million-dollar grand prize, even the Reboulds, whose annual income far exceeded that figure, found it hard to remain calm.
Who wouldn't want to become a millionaire just by answering a series of questions?
By coincidence, the first contestant to appear was a lawyer, around forty years old, in the prime of his life, with an impressive résumé. Regis Philbin didn't rush into the quiz. Instead, he skillfully chatted with the lawyer about his motivation for joining the show and his determination. These seemingly casual details further heightened the atmosphere.
By the time the questions officially began, anticipation among both the studio audience and viewers at home had reached its peak.
At its core, the success of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire didn't lie in the trivia itself, but in how the process of answering questions stirred the audience's emotions. Watching a single question determine the ownership of a sum of money that could take a month, a year, or even a lifetime to earn, it was inevitable that viewers would find it nearly impossible to look away.
This was also why, in later years, the industry would generally classify Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as a reality show rather than a traditional game show.
Because its core was the "show."
In front of the television, when the lawyer lost due to a mistake on a question about the Great Lakes and walked away with only 8,000 dollars, the entire Rebould family felt a hint of disdain.
Americans were very familiar with the Great Lakes, or at least most people believed they were.
That, in fact, was part of the strategy.
When building the question bank, Simon had specifically emphasized finding questions closely tied to North American audiences, or at least ones that felt vaguely familiar. If the questions were too obscure, viewers would inevitably feel the show was simply trying to trip people up, and it would struggle to attract a large following.
Although these questions were very "down to earth," answering them correctly was by no means easy, even with contestants having gone through prior selection. If the contestants on stage could only answer one or two questions, or none at all, the show itself would be the real loser.
After the lawyer left the stage looking dejected, Regis Philbin quickly introduced the next contestant.
This constantly nerve-wracking quiz competition made the hour-long program feel as if it flew by. The show didn't deliberately pursue complete question arcs. Due to time constraints, after the final contestant answered five questions in a row and accumulated a sizable sum, the first episode came to an end.
Although the actual recording was already finished, the story would continue the next day. The pilot episodes over the following week would largely adopt the same cliffhanger approach.
Thanks to their familiarity with Robert Iger, the Rebould family had some understanding of television networks. When the hour-long program ended almost without them noticing, they had a strong premonition that this show was going to be a huge success.
A program that could make an entire hour slip by unnoticed, holding your attention so completely that you couldn't spare a thought for anything else how could it not succeed?
And yet—
The Rebold family still hadn't anticipated just how successful it would be.
Because of the hectic days leading up to it, Simon had gone to bed early the night before and hadn't stayed up to watch the show. He'd already seen it countless times during production, and sitting in front of the television himself wouldn't boost the ratings.
He woke up early the next morning. He still had to return to the West Coast that day and planned to finalize the casting for Batman during the final week of the month.
The surprise drug tests conducted earlier had eliminated three more of the final ten candidates. Simon was fairly satisfied with the result. At least fewer than half had been cut. Moreover, after weighing all the information, he had essentially locked in his final targets. What remained were a few more auditions and the confirmation of contract details.
ABC had previously told Simon that the first-day ratings data would likely be available after business hours. However, at around eight-thirty, just after Simon finished breakfast, the phone in the living room rang.
Thinking it was someone else, Simon walked over and picked up the phone. Immediately, Robert Iger's voice came through, clearly suppressing his excitement. "Good morning, Simon."
"Morning, Bob," Simon said, standing by the phone without any small talk, smiling as he asked directly, "So, how did it do?"
It wasn't even business hours yet, but Robert Iger was already at ABC's headquarters in Rockefeller Center, Midtown Manhattan. At that moment, he was surrounded by many ABC executives, and even ABC chairman Tom Murphy was present.
Although there was a time difference between the East and West Coasts, based on long-standing sampling data from Nielsen and other research firms, the preliminary numbers rarely deviated much from actual ratings.
And so—
The first-day viewership of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was preliminarily estimated at 13.65 million viewers.
13.65 million—more than double ABC's internal "passing line" of 6.5 million viewers. And this was just the first day, during the traditionally low-rated summer season.
With such an unexpectedly explosive debut, no one doubted that the show's popularity would only continue to rise.