Top 10 Moments of 2008: Number Two
Number two is both depressing and good, and with lots of commentary and mudslinging. Our voters picked a fantastic moment to be number two. Beyond Million Dollar Password, the only show that the game show crowd seemed to get behind was 1 VS 100. Critics got behind it also once the second half of season one started. There was a reason so many did. It was the first solid, exciting, good quiz show in a very long time. It’s the one import that the US played around with and made something which could rival the original in some areas. Amazing set and music, fantastic hosting from Bob Saget, challenging questions, and tough game play made it popular with people game show fans and not. A clip above shows how fun season one was. Season two is a bit below.
And season two is where it all crumbled. It was announced that a new season, a money chain, would be added. You’d move up the money chain for every ten people of the 100 person Mob you knocked out. This game play was tested during demo run-throughs but was deemed not good enough to make it to the show. Apparently they changed their mind. In addition to this, the questions were severely dumbed down because of a mixture of things. A overwhelming vast majority of your contestants wins at least $250,000. This is the moment for today. How NBC and Endemol royally screwed up the show in order to get a million dollar winner. Even after whatever they did to the show in season two, ratings were still not that bad. Ratings are better than a good deal of NBC’s other shows which are being renewed. Yet it got canceled. Thanks Endemol/NBC!
The show lives on in many ways. For one, the writing style is being used in many different places. If you never saw, questions were two-faced. They started by asking you something simple, but the question twisted so you’d have to know multiple things in order to answer the question. I’ve noticed Who Wants to be a Millionaire? has started tto use this style more and more recently. I praised this style of writing repeatedly. It was something new and fun. A lot of people really enjoyed it. When it was ditched for season two, it got a bit confusing. But I got the following email from a writer of the show that I think you’ll enjoy:
As one of the writers from the first season of 1 vs. 100, I want to thank you for the kind words on your website. The questions we wrote for the show were both fun yet challenging to create, and it’s great to see that our hard work was appreciated by such an avid fan of the genre. The 1 vs. 100 multi-twist type question was the brainchild of the show’s original Head Writer, but for unknown reasons, Endemol decided to go in a different direction in season 2. One thing I can tell you is when it comes to “dumbing down” questions, it’s nearly impossible to dumb material down enough to satisfy Endemol executives.
Again, thanks Endemol/NBC!
There was a million dollar winner the second season, but once you factor in everything it’s not that shocking. They dumbed down the game play. They severely dumbed down the questions. They chose a contestant who is a national quiz bowl champion. Is it really a shock that he won? If he won less than $250,000 it would have been disappointing. I’ve said it before: I don’t think the first millionaire, Jason Luna, would have won in season one, where everything was tougher. To win a million he had to know when greeting cards were given away. Let’s see what would have happened when he was asked actual hard questions.
It was sad to see 1 VS 100 go all because of the dire need of a network and company to give away a million dollars. It’s an issue a lot of shows have today. A lot of networks think that all people want to see are million dollar wins. Deal or No Deal had the same issue. And no one really cared when either did. Not to mention the ungodly amount of spoilers about the million dollar win. NBC keeps saying no current plans to bring back to show are being looked at, and to be honest it’s almost positively canceled, but you never fully know. I doubt NBC’s new Friday night show, Howie Do It, or any of their other shows, wil be doing much.
Well, the game has been off the air for a while, and yet, I just bought the 1 vs 100 tabletop game yesterday, albeit for 50% off at KB Toys (going out of business sales rock.). I have played it about 10 times already, and I love it. It really is one of the best tabletop versions of a game show I’ve ever played.
That being said, this show was awesome. Endemol has some great ideal and formats. They start out great, and are executed to perfection. Then they decide they want to give away the top prize no matter what the cost. So, they fiddle with the format, dumbing down the show until someone finally wins the top prize, subsequently making people not care anymore. ratings start to decline, so they decide to pull the show, and NBC (in the US, at least) replaces it with a show getting worse ratings, and never even considering the option of bringing back the show.
Sigh…why did Endemol have to ruin this show, add a money tree, and not even attempt to bring the show back? NBC is stupid for leaving Ben Silverman in charge. Decisions like not bringing 1 vs 100 back, and stripping Leno in primetime, will do this network in, and I expect that within a few years, NBC affiliates will be looking into MyNetwork TV as a viable option.
Given DoND’s success in syndication, perhaps NBC would consider pairing the daytime DoND with a daily, lower-budgeted version of 1 vs. 100 in 2010.
There’s still plenty of 1 vs. 100 products out at stores — I’ve seen the tabletop game at stores, as well as at Toys “R” Us. In addition, I saw snippets of a 1 vs. 100 video game playing at a Best Buy I visited over the weekend (believe it was for PS3).
I doubt it was for the PS3, James. 1 vs. 100 is slated to be released for the new Xbox 360 Live Experience sometime in 2009. The only other console release of 1 vs. 100 was for the Nintendo DS.
To say that 1 vs. 100 was a good show is severely understating the obvious.
This was probably the best show to come out in 2006–it combined the right amount of brains, risk, reward, and sheer dumb luck. Where DoND promoted brainless gameplay (or, at least judging by some of the people they cast for the show, it did), 1 vs. 100 actually injected some form of intelligence into our television sets (Jeopardy! and Millionaire notwithstanding, of course). But alas, it’s gone now…
This and Power of 10 really need to come back.
Mind if I ask why Silverman, that dirty douche bag, wants so desperately to cancel 1v100 instead of putting it on another network. I hope Silverman never gets himself a job for the rest of his life.
Is it just me, or does Jason Luna remind anyone else of John Turturro playing Herbert Stempel in “Quiz Show”?
I think he looks & sounds just like him.
1 vs 100 died from the case of “Silverman-itis”. Primetime Deal is suffering from the late cases of it. It, along with Show Me the Money, was the best new game show if 2006 (since there was none in syndication until Crosswords and Temptation).
To Adam: As much as I (along with other buzzerblggers) dislike Ben Silverman, you can’t deny someone the right to employment no matter how terrible a job he’s done.
To Julia: It’s already begun. The NBC affiliate in Beaumont, TX (KBTV) is switching to Fox on Thursday. I won’t be surprise if many NBC affiliates switch networks (similar to 1974 when WSB in Atlanta, WBAL in Baltimore, WDTN in Dayton, WRTV in Indianapolis, WLTV in Jacksonville, KSTP in Minneapolis, and KGTV in San Diego switched from NBC to ABC).
Correction: It was scattered around the 1970s that the NBC-ABC station switch happened.
Actually, Leno in prime time may be the only smart thing NBC has done for a while. Way cheaper than filling the hour with dramas with a hit or (mostly) miss track record. And it keeps a still-sought-after talent away from rivals.
As for Show Me the Money…oh dear God, that was awful. Not as bad as the glow-stick game show (which made the freaking million dollar cat game show look good), but come on……go-go dancers? Really?
To HomerJay: It was one of the best new game show of 2006 mainly because there were no other new game show (at least to my knowledge) that year
To Mike: Thanks for the correction. I’m not up to snuff with consoles :)
Is the DVD version of 1 vs. 100 still available? I looked all over this Christmas season and couldn’t find it, and it has disappeared from GSN’s online game shop as well. :( Hope I haven’t missed my chance.
Dunno where you are, JD, but a regional Atlantic closeout store called Ollie’s has the 1 vs. 100 DVD game for $5. If you search for the game on eBay or Google, you should be able to find copies of it, but probably not at $5.
“Mind if I ask why Silverman, that dirty douche bag, wants so desperately to cancel 1v100 instead of putting it on another network.”
The only reason I think he axed the show was probably due to the budget costs on the production. It was one massive studio they were using, and they were having hundreds of people taking part as when the mob got eliminated, they were replaced by brand new people, thus could increased costs for accomodation. Over here in the UK, they had the same 100+ people for three recordings, so if they get eliminated in one game, they can retry for the next one, and we’ve now had three series.
I won’t be surprised if Silverman saved the money on this show and had any funds drying out on primetime DoND.
I’m not sure whether the format has affected it. I know the second season format was bought by France, Italy & Germany for a weekdaily programme (€200,000 top prize) but it seems it didn’t connect with the viewers and all three versions got the axe in the short term.
OK, true, Show Me the Money may have been among the best because it was one of the few, but that logic also makes it equally among the worst.
DeVares, Id be happy to see some NBC affiliates jump ship, as it seems, going back in history, it’s the only thing that wakes up NBC. (I believe it be more like 76-77′ish for the xfer some went to CBS I believe (like baltimore). NBC was in last then, and off these defections, the finally came up with their NBC – Be There and NBC – Come on Home campaigns partnered with good shows like Family Ties, Night Court, Knight Rider, Cosby and the like to put them back in the #1 spot.
AND THE BONUS, Silverman won’t survive defections, so someone new (maybe in a Tarkinton type persona) would take the helm!
You’re right, Chris. It’ll take another Brandon Tartikoff, not to mention more station defections to bring NBC back to #1 (not to say that it can’t be done). However, if that’s the case, many of them will defect to Fox (which is the #1 network right now). It’s kind of upsetting that a once great network like NBC (it’s been #1 from 1986 to 2004 when it hit shows like Friends and Fraiser ended) is going to Hell in a handbasket.