This is Fair Shake, where I look at good game shows that didn’t last long, often for reasons not in their control.
In 1994, Dutch production companies led by Joop va de Ende and John de Mol merged and formed Endemol. They’ve been one of the most successful television companies in the world.
The American branch, formed six years later, produced many popular shows in the 17 years since, including Fear Factor, which is actually on its ninth season (six in the original series, three in the reboots since, including one in progress), Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Wipeout, and Big Brother.
It’s also produced some infamous fare, including the William Shatner-hosted Show Me the Money, which was axed after five episodes, Set for Life, which lasted for only seven, and The One: Making a Music Star, which lasted for four.
But far and away, their biggest success game show-wise is Miljoenenjacht, the “Hunt for Millions”. The show has been around since November 2002, but it was in December 2002 the show took off. The game’s final round changed to the winning contestant picking a case and eliminating others until either accepting a bank offer or rejecting all the offers and taking home what’s in theirs. The show would be sold internationally to over six dozen countries as Deal or No Deal. Believe it or not, Miljoenenjacht still runs over there today, airing only ten to twelve episodes a year.
But even before Deal or No Deal or Miljoenenjacht, Endemol birthed Een tegen 100. Translated to English, it’s the subject of our Fair Shake: 1 vs. 100.
Though 1 vs. 100 was ported to over 30 countries, I’ll talk about the American version, as it is the one I’m most familiar with.
The show was hosted by Bob Saget, a comedian and actor. He’s probably best known for his time as Danny Tanner on the hit ABC series Full House from 1987 to 1995 and its Netflix sequel series Fuller House, as well as being the original host of America’s Funniest Home Videos from 1989 to 1997. You may also know him as the voice of future Ted Mosby on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother from 2005 to 2014.
Announcing the show was Joe Cipriano, an American voiceover actor. In addition to announcing for 1 vs. 100, he announced for the Emmy Awards three times, the Grammys, Hollywood Game Night, America’s Got Talent, Deal or No Deal, Wheel of Fortune, and Monopoly Millionaires Club.
Now that the particulars are out of the way, let’s talk about the game. After we’re introduced to the one contestant and the groups that make up the 100, Bob Saget opens every game with these words: “This game is simple. Either you will win… or THEY will win.” The one player and the 100, called The Mob, are asked the same multiple choice question. The Mob has 15 seconds to answer the question before the One gets their shot. If the One gets it right, they will earn money based on how many people got it wrong. Any Mob member that misses a question is instantly eliminated from the game. How that money is calculated depends on what episode you’re watching.
For the first five episodes, it ranged from $100 for every mob member who got the first question wrong, to $10,000 a member on questions 12 and beyond. Beginning with episode 6, it was $1,000/mob member for the first three questions, $2,000/mob member for questions four and five, and the amount increasing by $1,000/mob member for each new question. This would be the money ladder for the remainder of the show’s first season.
In the show’s second season, debuting on January 4, 2008, a new money ladder was introduced, with the money won based on the number of mob members eliminated. The money only went up after ten members of the mob were eliminated.
Either way, the ultimate goal is the same: if the One can answer enough questions to eliminate all 100 members of the mob, the One goes home with a $1 million grand prize.
Because this is a million dollar quiz game, there are lifelines, or as they call them here, helps. Poll the Mob, where a player can find out how many players chose one of three answers, then ask one of them why they picked it. The second is Ask the Mob, which is basically 1 vs. 100’s 50-50. Two members of the mob are chosen; one with the right answer, one with the wrong answer. They must be truthful in what answer they pick, but can lie about why they picked it. The last help is Trust the Mob, which forces the player to commit to the most popular answer chosen by the Mob. Like Millionaire, each help is only available once, but they can use multiple helps on the same question.
After completing a level, the One is allowed to leave the game with the winnings they have. If the One quits, the Mob gets nothing, but surviving members can play again. If the One gets a question wrong, the game ends, with the One going home with nothing, and the surviving members of the Mob splitting what the contestant had won to that point. It’s often only a few hundred bucks, but the splits can get pretty serious if the game goes deep; in one example, five people won nearly $19,000 each in a 1 vs. 100 Kids special.
There have been other specials, including The Most Hated Mob in America, with a mob consisting entirely of some of the most hated people in the country (including meter maids, IRS agents, and telemarketers), Last Man Standing, which played by modified international rules (no helps, no walking away, missing a question means a member of the mob goes in your place), and the Battle of the Sexes, where one woman took a mob of 100 men in one game, and one man took on a mob of 100 women in another.
It was in the Battle of the Sexes episode that produced the show’s only million dollar winner, correctly answering a question on what’s the biggest card-giving holiday of the year from Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Valentine’s Day. 21-year old Jason Luna correctly answered Christmas. The 15 remaining members of the mob got it wrong.
So why didn’t 1 vs. 100 get a fair shake, you ask?
Ratings, probably. In the sixteen-month lifespan of 1 vs. 100, the show bounced around so much on the schedule, it never got a chance to sustain an audience. It may be a hunch, but NBC wasn’t as fully confident in the show as it was its sister show, Deal or No Deal. The last of the 28 episodes aired on February 22, 2008. Though NBC executive Ben Silverman said the show might return during the fall upfronts that April, the show hadn’t been back at the network since.
In fact, the show was reborn on Xbox Live in November 2009, where players had a chance to win up to 10,000 Microsoft points, which I believe comes out to $125. Don’t quote me on that. There were two 13-week runs of the show. Though the game proved quite popular among Xboxers (over 114,000 simultaneous players at one point), Microsoft cancelled 1 vs. 100 in July 2010.
The show resurfaced on GSN that November as a five-day-a-week strip hosted by Carrie Ann Inaba of Dancing with the Stars fame. As it was a GSN show, it had a short life; just one 40-episode season with the finale airing on January 11, 2011. The show was cancelled soon after, with reruns airing through October.
Believe it or not, like Miljoenenjacht, Een tegen 100 still runs today over in the Netherlands. A revival in the States would be nice, but I'm honestly not holding my breath. Looking back on it, I'm not sure which version of 1 vs. 100 got done dirtier: the NBC version or the Xbox Live one.