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The producers of the Fox TV game show -- which saw women competing beauty pageant-style to wed a rich stranger -- are planning a sequel that will put a woman in the driver's seat.
Mike Darnell, the Fox executive who created the show, told the New York Times he's working on a follow-up that would see a female multi-millionaire taking her pick of suitors.
There's no word yet on when the table-turning episode of the show will air, but given the ratings and publicity generated by the initial show, the likely airing would fall during the next sweeps period -- April 27-May 4, 2000. Ratings registered during the sweeps are used to calculate advertising rates, so networks often stock that period with blockbuster programming.
The two-hour program that aired this week featured a parade of women modelling clothes and answering questions, while being graded and judged by a wealthy mystery man and his family and friends.
The multi-millionaire, a 42-year-old real estate mogul and former stand-up comic named Rick Rockwell, then emerged from the shadows and selected Darva Conger, a 34-year-old nurse and Gulf War veteran.
The two were immediately married. Aside from the affections of her wealthy suitor -- who lives on a San Diego golf course and maintains a home in Vancouver -- Conger was rewarded with a two-week honeymoon, an SUV, a $35,000 engagement ring and what Fox executives described as "a standard prenuptual agreement," according to the New York Times.
Despite widespread criticism for what some have described as sexist and degrading treatment of the female contestants, "Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire" has become a hot topic, debated around water coolers and on talk radio. Momentum for the program should pick up next week when an edited one-hour version of the show will be rebroadcast.
In Canada, "Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire" proved to be a ratings hit for Toronto's City TV. City's Bev Nenson said in the wake of the show's phenomenon, her office has received a "pretty substantial" flood of requests from the media for tapes of the show.
"It was live. There was no advance (tape available). Yesterday, everyone was scrambling to see it," she said, adding City will air the one-hour rebroadcast Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Nenson said "Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire" earned a 10.9/16 rating on City. (The first number is the percentage of television sets. The second number is the percentage of television sets in use at that time.)
Overall, ratings for Fox's U.S. broadcast fared identically, but the UltimateTV website reported an interesting statistic: Ratings climbed throughout the telecast, peaking with the marriage ceremony, which would seem to suggest people were calling friends and urging them to tune in.
Between 8 and 10 p.m., the show averaged 10.9/16. But by 9:30, that had climbed to 14.9/21.
By comparison, in the same time slot the previous week, "Party Of Five" earned a 4.8/7 rating.