1 Vs. 100 - Another Hit for NBC?

1 vs. 100 is NBC's way of doubling its money after the monstrous success of Deal Or No Deal. The show is hosted by Bob Saget, who you may remember as Danny Tanner from Full House and the original host of America's Funniest Home Videos. He is also one dirty comedian, which most people don't know as they think he is a wholesome dork like his previous television characters. He appeared on Entourage as an exaggerated version of himself, smoking pot and having promiscuous sex with random young women. He also appeared in The Aristocrats, telling the filthiest joke in history. But like Howie Mandel from Deal Or No Deal, he is a likeable host and does his job well.

The concept of 1 vs. 100 is much like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in that the contestant must answer multiple-choice questions to advance. How ever, the twist is that the contestant is playing against 100 other players called "the mob" who also answer the questions. If a member of the mob gets a question wrong, they are eliminated from the group. The goal is for the contestant to eliminate all of the members of the mob to finish the game. Each member of the mob is worth the same dollar amount per round and the contestant amasses the sum of the amount times the number of players they eliminate. It's a very simple, yet addicting game to follow. Members of the mob include random people such as the models from Deal Or No Deal.

As a game show it isn't really suspenseful, as the contestant can walk away with their money at any time and they only risk answering a question incorrectly. The only suspense is waiting to see how many of the mob were eliminated and watching the pressure build as the questions get harder for the contestant. It is essentially a race to collect cash before the questions get harder while the mob remains intact.

I like the game overall, but I feel that the lack of suspense will ultimately ruin the show for most people. Then again, Family Feud is immensely sedated and it is doing just fine. Something that might help the game gain more interest is the addition of different types of mini-games for the contestant to play while trying to eliminate the mob. Perhaps including a feature that costs the contestant a certain amount of money to choose to eliminate a random amount of the mob would be exciting, almost like buying a vowel and using a life line at the same time. The Price Is Right has over 80 games so it wouldn't seem too difficult for 1 vs. 100 to come up with a few good ones to keep the viewers entertained.

1 vs. 100 is in a good place to be with the recent game show boom, but that's the reason it was created in the first place. It isn't in competition with Deal Or No Deal, as it is also an NBC project, so it actually gets promoted during Deal Or No Deal. However, it is in competition with The Rich List, which is on FOX. But, since neither of the 3 shows air on the same night, perhaps they can all coexist for the sake of the viewers and feed off of each other's popularity. I probably won't make a point to keep watching the show, but if I happen to be channel surfing I would most likely tune in for a while to see how much the contestant is winning. It is not certain if the show will thrive or fail, but I wish it well.

You can catch 1 vs. 100 on Friday nights on NBC.