Who Wants to Be a Celebrity

12/04/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

John Carpenter, who went the full distance on Friday's episode of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," is the nation's newest minted luminary. He's due to pick up his $1 million check on the "Live! With Regis & Kathie Lee" program this a.m. That's after he appears on today's "Good Morning America" and before he sits down in the chair next to Dave Letterman tonight. Over the weekend, the 31-year-old IRS officer from Hamden, Conn., showed up on "Saturday Night Live." In the opening skit he was selected by Donald Trump (impersonated by SNL's Darrell Hammond) to be the Reform Party's veep candidate. Carpenter then uttered, "Live from New York, it's 'Saturday Night!' " Carpenter, who hasn't decided whether or not he'll keep his day job, remarked to USA Today about his new status: "I had no idea there would be this sort of reaction. It strikes me as sort of silly."