Best New Show of 2010: Number Three, “1 VS 100″
We’re moving on to what you’re voting as the third best show of 2010. We’ve tried to tease what each different moment and show is, but there’s so much in this post that we need to just tell you. You voted 1 VS 100 as the third best new game show of 2010. Incidentally it was one of our best shows when it first went on NBC. However, from fan outcry, high ratings, and the popular XBox Live version, GSN brought it back this year to some pretty decent success. The show remains practically unchanged and frankly is one of GSN’s best efforts for a quiz show (or any show) in a long time. To be frank, it is one of GSN’s only straight quiz shows they’ve ever tried so it’s a pleasant surprise.
1 VS 100 host Carrie Ann Inaba. Weekdays at 7:00PM ET on GSN.
GSN put just about every ounce of effort they could into 1 VS 100, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. They couldn’t afford everything NBC had, obviously. Neither could NBC and it’s one of the reasons it’s gone. But they’ve got an impressive set for cable standards, they did a good job getting the Mob on the set, and the questions are entertaining and get tough. They get through far more questions in one episode, with everything that goes on, than most primetime quiz shows do. Furthermore, most syndicated game shows don’t offer the money they do without a huge fight, so for GSN to offer a prize on par with syndication is pretty good in my book. They put a lot of effort and energy into making 1 VS 100 a fun show, and it shows.
I’d be sure to tune into 1 VS 100 starting next week, January 3rd at 7:00PM ET, and through the entire week. 1 VS 100 will double its top prize to a massive $100,000. Furthermore, the money chain will be getting a large increase to $500; $1,000; $2,000; $4,000; $6,000; $8,000; $10,000; $25,000; $50,000; and $100,000. You’ll see some much harder decisions early on, along with some extremely exciting and tricky decisions later. GSN provided us with a video of one of the exciting moments you can expect to see.
Pretty exciting. The show has always been one of the best quiz shows we’ve had this past decade, and GSN’s edition continues it. It’s funny, fun, entertaining, and thrilling. You can’t ask for much more in a quiz show. It took us a long time to get the show back on the air and I hope we get to see a lot more of it in 2011.
I do like 1 vs. 100, I like any 1 vs. 100 that I can get. The money ladder that they’ve used through most of the episodes ($500, $1000, $1500, $2000….) is nice and balanced, though I’m sure the bounty system would still work better. I’ve finally adjusted to Carrie Ann, she’s handling the job pretty well. While Bob brought suspense and excitement to the NBC version, Carrie Ann has brought a fun a light atmosphere to GSN, and I think it works. She also has came up with her own little catch phrases (“You’re working your way up to fifty-thousand dollars!”) instead of completely ripping off Bob, so I give her credit for that as well. Hopefully we’ll get another 40 episodes next season, and I’m looking forward to the doubled money ladder next week!
Alex, the only question I have is: have the ratings gone back up since the last flub you had mentioned, when the second week had lost about 200,000 viewers??
*and light atmosphere, lol
This must’ve been a dry year for game shows because this doesn’t deserve the top three. They kept the season two pay structure, put in a virtual mob, and added Carrie Ann Inaba, a truly incompetent host!
I bet Catch-21 and the Sherriwed Game would be in the top two based on how GSN originals are worshiped here.
Don’t forget Baggage. I think Baggage should have been up there too.
I loved the NBC show and I know I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but Carrie Ann Inaba makes this show unwatchable for me. She’s simply awful. It’s like they pulled a random teenage girl off the street and threw a mic on her.
Plus, yes, go ahead and yell at me, but the reduced money amounts make the show measurably less exciting for me to watch. Can they at least restructure the increments so that at 20 minutes into the show, the contestant has still barely broken $1-2K?
Edit: “…the contestant has broken more than 1-2K?” But you know what I mean…sigh,
Agreed completely. This show is nearly unbearable to even listen to.
I’m not saying I prefer the GSN version, but the NBC version was not perfect either.
And how’s this money ladder?
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$7,500
$10,000
$15,000
$25,000
$50,000
Main problems with the show:
-Contestants required to explain their thinking, even on easy questions.
-Audience clapping after answer is locked in. For every question. Imagine if the audience clapped after every time a contestant said “Final Answer” on WWTBAM before the answer was revealed.
I like it, just with a few problems:
1 – Helps. Ask The Mob should have been reinstated as a help. Ask The Mob is much more useful than Poll The Mob. If they could only have two helps, they should have been Ask & Trust The Mob.
Ask The Mob – you narrow it down to two choices.
Trust The Mob – you don’t have to agonize over an answer, and at least you know that if you go down you take the majority of the mob down with you.
2 – Hate, hate, HATE the money ladder. They should use the “Everyone you eliminate is worth…” format, that way the only way you win nothing on a question is if you eliminate no one… remember the “Smartest Man In America” episode? It took him SIX questions to win anything, although in the first five questions he DID eliminate nine mobsters.
3 – Same as this above — I think the audience should clap only when a contestant gets a right answer. Or when they get something wrong and Carrie Ann says, “let’s hear it for (name of contestant) for playing a great game”!
4 – They should reinstate the rule that you can’t leave unless the mob is at least half gone, or your helps are completely gone (they had this rule during the money ladder season of Saget’s era).
Other than that, I don’t mind.
5 – After the contestant uses Poll The Mob and discovers who answered what, why are they still going through the phase of who answered it wrong?
Example: The contestant has 75 mob members left when s/he is stuck on a question. So they decide to Poll The Mob, and 58 people chose the answer polled. Contestant locks in that answer, and gets it right.
Why do they still have to “find out how many people got it wrong”? Do the math. 75 mob members. You know 58 got it right. That means you eliminated 17. Shouldn’t be a surprise.
YES!!! That’s what i’ve been calling for since week one!!! MO MONEY!!!!! People watch game shows to watch other people win big money. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that out.Double the money and 3 helps would help this show out tremendously.I like Carrie Ann.3 things will help this show 1. MORE MONEY 2.MORE HELPS 3.MAKE THE SHOW 1 HOUR!!!! If gsn is TOO CHEAP TO SPEND MONEY,THAN JUST DO SHOWS LIKE BAGGAGE. I LIKE JERRY SPRINGER,AND ON HIS SHOW YOU DON’T HAVE TO GIVE AWAY ANY MONEY. JUST SEND THE COUPLE ON A FREE WINE-TASTEING TOUR.
Yeah. The money ladder is just TOO boring. Need some variations.
And also, for ‘Poll The Mob’, why don’t they just showed all the wrong mob members at once?
I still miss Bob Saget, though I’m psyched that GSN is doubling the prize money to $100,000. It’s understandable though, since no one has yet won more than $10,000 and we’ve been through 32 episodes of the season so far.
w00t for GSN increasing the prize ladder!!
Is the increase to $100,000 for next week, or permanent?
Only next week.
I only like the Xbox version
I hope they keep the $100,000 top prize permenant. I have been said it should be $100,000.
OK, FIrst off, Nick, there was no rule that stated that a contestant could leave only when the mob was half gone. I believe it was only after a certain number of questions. First, it was after 3, then 2, and then after every question, they were given the choice to leave. Second, I agree with you on the helps. Ask & Trust are the better helps. Poll the Mob sucks. And of course, Carrie Anne sucks as a host. I know Bob Saget probably wouldn’t have stayed. But they could’ve gotten somebody who is familiar with game show hosting, like Whammy host Todd Newton.
I think that if they’re going to keep Poll the Mob, they should change it to work like Ask the Audience on Millionaire. Like, if a contestant on 1 vs. 100 chooses to look at how many mob members chose an answer and a significantly low number chose it, that only helps by eliminating one of the choices, but still leaves a 50% of getting it wrong.