Stephen King’s Mystery Surrounding a Lost TV Series is Solved: “A guy gave away a million dollars each week”

Stephen King
Courtesy of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS

Horror scribe Stephen King is always good for a TV recommendation. Even if he does not always remember the title of the show that he’s introducing us to. This recently happened on December 25 because Uncle Stephen gives us gifts year-round. King took to Twitter to describe a series that aired way before my time, but it sounds cool. However, he could not remember the name of it.

Read the full tweet here:

Fellow author J.D. Barker was there with the assist, though. Turns out the series Uncle Stephen was searching for is called The Millionaire. I will assume most of you are also hearing about this gem for the first time today. I am willing to share my work with the class so we can all scour the web looking for episodes together.

The anthology followed a millionaire who would give complete strangers 1 million dollars each. The fictional show was an almost social experiment to see if money changed people for the better or worse. The mysterious Benefactor’s voice would be heard giving instructions. However, he only revealed his arm as he handed the envelope to his Executive Secretary, leaving his face to the imagination.

Also Read: This Is The Most Underrated Stephen King Adaptation

The Millionaire aired on CBS from January 19, 1955, to June 7, 1960. Those six seasons turned out a whopping 207 episodes. The series starred Paul Frees and Marvin Miller. 

Because the show was a weekly anthology, many actors did an episode before becoming stars in their own right. This includes the late Betty White, who played Virginia Lennart in season 3 episode 6. Virginia is a “hamburger waitress” whose life is about to change when she becomes one of the recipients of the Benefactor. 

Watch Betty White’s Episode Of The Millionaire

https://youtu.be/rjdHrB5YOeA?si=gE-1M5dDSxfGTXp8

If you are also a few decades late to this Stephen King recommendation but about to make it your personality, find me at @misssharai. I am trying to track down the other episodes as you read this. 

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