1 vs 100 Returns Tonight

After a couple of weeks off, 1 vs 100 returns to the National Broadcasting Company's airwaves this evening. I'm glad its back, as I feel that 100 is actually the best entry in the current game show renaissance, combining as it does the best elements of two of the most popular games of recent years, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? and Deal or No Deal.

On ABC's Show Me The Money, the real appeal of the show is watching Shatner make a fool of himself, but 1 vs. 100's host, former Full House and America's Funniest Home Videos host Bob Saget, is the least appealing thing about the show. The star, as in the game shows of the past, is the game itself, and Saget knows that he's just there to keep things moving and no one wants to see him dance.

1 vs. 100 pits a lone contestant against a group of 100 called "The Mob." As in Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? the contestant must answer a series of mildly challenging trivia questions each assigned an escalating cash value. The twist here is that the value of the question is multiplied by the number of members of the Mob who answer the question wrong, and those Mob members are elimated. If the contestant answers incorrectly, the game is over and any money he's won is split between the remaining Mob members, who then go on to play against the next contestant. Unlike Millionaire, there are no safety net levels. It's all or nothing.

As in Deal or No Deal and Millionaire, the players do have the option to take the money and run, but the contestant can't walk away after he's heard the next question, which is one thing that I've never liked about Millionaire.

So even without the dancing Shatner, 1 vs. 100 is my favorite of the new game shows.