Professor Blackbourn, is that your final answer?

David Blackbourn, Coolidge Professor of History and Department Chair, does not classify himself as a fan of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, deeming it a fairly harmless show. But he got a close-up view of, or at least a close encounter with, Millionaire. For a celebrity edition of the show, Blackbourn was telephoned by Dennis Leary in the Phone-a-Friend segment. Long waits and one tiny answer may make Prof. Blackbourn that much more famous.

A German history specialist, Blackbourn was surprised to be contacted. The original call came at work two or three days before the taping, says Blackbourn. I was contacted by producers and production assistants. They must have called the university first and gotten my name.

Blackbourn admits to not being so familiar with Dennis Leary before the call, but he accepted the offer to be on Learys panel of potential helpers, because all winnings of the celebrity edition go towards charity. I guess they went for a Harvard professor because Leary is from Massachusetts, and he was playing for the Massachusetts Firefighters Association, says Blackbourn.

Being phoned for Millionaire is not as glamorous as it sounds. I had to sit by the phone for blocks of time. They didnt know what order the contestants would be in. I got a series of calls telling me where Dennis was, but the actual call that he was in the hot seat came on Sunday morning, Blackbourn says. I had a watch sitting by me to monitor time when they called, but time ended up not being a factor. Blackbourn did take longer than he might have under less tenuous circumstances, though, saying that there really is pressure to stretch time with lots of Are you certain?-type questions. Blackbourn also says its much different trying to answer a question on the phone versus jus watching the television. When you watch it, you see the choices A, B, C, D on the screen. [On the phone] someone is breathlessly giving you a question, so I suppose it is a bit more stressful, he states.

So, was Blackbourn able to overcome the stress and give Leary the correct answer? I think Ill have to answer no comment on that for now. But I can say it was history-related, admits Blackbourn. Since the show will not air until the first Monday in October, he is not at liberty to disclose either the question or his answer. While we dont know what Dennis Leary or the MA Firefighters Association got from the deal, Blackbourn says he had a sense of satisfaction in knowing that he helped raise money for a worthy cause. Harvard will have to tune in to see just how much help that was.