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The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: kimberini on July 13, 2006, 02:50:07 AM

Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: kimberini on July 13, 2006, 02:50:07 AM: Has anyone heard anything back from a 1 vs. 100 group audition?
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: thgames65 on July 13, 2006, 06:46:44 PM: [quote name=\'kimberini\' post=\'124040\' date=\'Jul 13 2006, 01:50 AM\']
Has anyone heard anything back from a 1 vs. 100 group audition?
[/quote]

Two weeks ago I had a second interview with two of the casting coordinators. I gave a short spiel about myself, answered a few questions of a personal nature, then took a short verbal multiple choice quiz.

I have not received another contact, but I know of other candidates who are getting their 3rd interviews this week.

Tim H.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: GiraffeBoy on July 17, 2006, 10:37:46 PM: [quote name=\'kimberini\' post=\'124040\' date=\'Jul 12 2006, 11:50 PM\'] Has anyone heard anything back from a 1 vs. 100 group audition? [/quote]Nothing, and that was four weeks ago. Second/third interviews already? I heard the tape dates are in August, so I'm getting antsy. (:/)

--Charlie, B.S., Accounting (it's official, finally!)
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: mmb5 on July 19, 2006, 12:31:01 PM: Kevin Olmstead, Ed Toutant, David Legler and I (one of these things is not like the other, one of these things isn't the same) attended a group audition on Monday. They had several callbacks as well (they all played the game as we acted as the mob).

They were also trying out two hosts yesterday, Mark DeCarlo and Jane Lynch. The former I would think people know, the latter is a "that girl" actress with over 100 credits probably best known as the lesbian dog handler in Best in Show. She was very funny but had trouble with game mechanics.

The format (as of now) is a 15 step ladder (where have we seen this before):
10-19 knocked out of the mob: $10,000
20-29: $20,000
30-39: $30,000
40-49: $40,000
50-54: $50,000
55-59: $60,000
60-64: $70,000
65-69: $80,000
70-74: $90,000
75-79: $100,000
80-84: $200,000
85-89: $300,000
90-94: $400,000
95-99: $500,000
100: $3,000,000

Questions were three-part multiple choice with three "panic buttons". The panics had to be used in order:
1. Question is reworded to be easier.
2. Either you are given two chances to answer (this was done in Mark's tryout) or one choice is taken away (Jane's tryout).
3. You could leave with 10% of your accumulated earnings. (You can't walk away like Millionaire). The mob would get nothing in this instance.

Apparently the mob is your only chance to be a returning champion. As long as you never get a question wrong, you are not removed, even if the contestant loses. New mob people replace the people who got one wrong in a previous game.

--Mike
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: uncamark on July 19, 2006, 12:38:00 PM: [quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'124509\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 11:31 AM\']
They were also trying out two hosts yesterday, Mark DeCarlo and Jane Lynch. The former I would think people know, the latter is a "that girl" actress with over 100 credits probably best known as the lesbian dog handler in Best in Show. She was very funny but had trouble with game mechanics. [/quote]

Lynch is currently starring in the Lifetime improvised sitcom "Lovespring International," as if that causes a problem (and since it's not exactly burning up the cable Nielsens, it probably won't be). Back in her Chicago acting days, she did spend some time on a local home shopping show called "America's Shopping Place," so she has done semi-spontaneous television--but that almost 20 years ago.

ObGameShow: She played Carol Brady in Annoyance Theatre's "Real Live Brady Bunch" (under the stage name of Greta Wesson, since she was a member of the Equity stage actors union then and the Annoyance was and is a non-Equity company)--their curtain-raiser was "The Real Live Game Show," later to be bastardized for Stone Stanley as "Bobcat's Bigass Show."
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: itiparanoid13 on July 19, 2006, 12:48:12 PM: So let's see. They made this even more like Millionaire AND the top two amounts you're getting are either $50,000 (if you stop) or $3,000,000. Can someone explain to me why we just can't do a formula type thing? It's not that hard to display.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: clemon79 on July 19, 2006, 01:03:37 PM: [quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'124512\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 09:48 AM\']
Can someone explain to me why we just can't do a formula type thing? It's not that hard to display.
[/quote]
The average American doesn't like to do math. Period.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: tvwxman on July 19, 2006, 01:07:48 PM: [quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'124512\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 12:48 PM\']
So let's see. They made this even more like Millionaire AND the top two amounts you're getting are either $50,000 (if you stop) or $3,000,000. Can someone explain to me why we just can't do a formula type thing? It's not that hard to display.
[/quote]
Exactly. What the hell is the point of having big money on a chain that you will never pay out?

I said it last month after trying out , and i'll say it again. NBC doesn't have a clue as to what they want, Producers don't have a clue as to how to do this show, and Viewers won't have a clue as to why it won't get picked up behind 5 eps.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: itiparanoid13 on July 19, 2006, 01:24:25 PM: Here's the really terrible thing. You eliminated 95 people. 4 are left, and you miss a question. You walk with nothing and each of the 4 mob members wins $125,000. If you stop, you get $50,000. Something is SERIOUSLY wrong with that picture. Honestly, NBC. Just get Millionaire if you're going to shit all over this format.

And as for the math thing, I may incredibly wrong (which happens more often than not), but people at home won't need to do math. Just flash it up on screen, say what he got, and put it in the bank. It's not hard to explain. "If you get a question right, we'll give you $X divided by mob members left per player eliminated." People at home aren't going to be doing it at home. Just put a little screen
<$X/100 = $X>, add that to the bank, and move on. It would take 5 seconds to do. Instead, this is turning into a hybrid from hell of Miljoenenjacht and Millionaire.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: clemon79 on July 19, 2006, 01:28:07 PM: [quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'124516\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 10:24 AM\']
And as for the math thing, I may incredibly wrong (which happens more often than not), but people at home won't need to do math. Just flash it up on screen, say what he got, and put it in the bank. It's not hard to explain. "If you get a question right, we'll give you $X divided by mob members left per player eliminated." People at home aren't going to be doing it at home. Just put a little screen
<$X/100 = $X>, add that to the bank, and move on. It would take 5 seconds to do.
[/quote]
Right, but that's not the point. The point is, even if you DO flash that up on screen, Joe Sixpack is not going to understand how you arrive at that number. And if they don't know how you arrive at it, they won't be interested in it. And if they're not interested in it, they're gonna say "Bored now" and change the channel.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: mmb5 on July 19, 2006, 02:22:28 PM: The graphic they used at the tryout, which I assume will be snazzed up for TV, looked something like this, with the % sign representing a stick-figure person:

% % % % % $3,000,000
% % % % % $500,000
% % % % % $400,000
...
% % % % % % % % % % $20,000
% % % % % % % % % % $10,000

When mob members were eliminated, they were eliminated from this screen as well. They did add one neat twist, the people icons are removed more slowly as you get closer to the dollar figure, so there was some fake drama. It also looks like they'll be borrowing something from 21 -- models and cash displays. Remember my rule, go to a taping, look for the winner and his NBC tote bag, and rob him on the way out.

--Mike
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: NickS on July 19, 2006, 07:42:32 PM: [quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'124516\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 12:24 PM\']
Here's the really terrible thing. You eliminated 95 people. 4 are left, and you miss a question. You walk with nothing and each of the 4 mob members wins $125,000. If you stop, you get $50,000. Something is SERIOUSLY wrong with that picture. Honestly, NBC. Just get Millionaire if you're going to shit all over this format.

And as for the math thing, I may incredibly wrong (which happens more often than not), but people at home won't need to do math. Just flash it up on screen, say what he got, and put it in the bank. It's not hard to explain. "If you get a question right, we'll give you $X divided by mob members left per player eliminated." People at home aren't going to be doing it at home. Just put a little screen
<$X/100 = $X>, add that to the bank, and move on. It would take 5 seconds to do. Instead, this is turning into a hybrid from hell of Miljoenenjacht and Millionaire.
[/quote]

OH THE SEAN HANNITY!

Could y'all stop crapping on a product that hasn't even gone to production yet?

Funny that I'm going to snark while Chris has a great point put eloquently... but jeez, Alex -- stop the doom and gloom before it's out.

Also -- check your accuracy since I'm seeing discrepancies between $50K and $500K. Which is it?

It's not just in the game show realm that I've seen this happen; fanbois shat over Batman Begins, Superman Returns and X3 before it came out and they bat .333 on their smark rants.

And Chris is dead on regarding Joe Sixpack; DoND works because people can pick it up easily; 1v100 needs a money tree here to have a chance. Sad as it may sound, it's the truth.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: clemon79 on July 19, 2006, 07:56:37 PM: [quote name=\'TeppanYaki\' post=\'124529\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 04:42 PM\']
Also -- check your accuracy since I'm seeing discrepancies between $50K and $500K. Which is it?
[/quote]
No, he's right here. The rules allow the player to walk with 10% of whatever level he's at. The main pot is what the Mob splits when the player craps out. Which means a player at level 14 can either walk for 10% of $500K (which is $50K), or play on for three mil. And if he's wrong, the MOB splits the whole 500K.

What the naysayers are missing is twofold:

1) It's not just a 1 in 3 shot. Those last five players, ostensibly, are pretty bright, and you have to keep answering questions until they ALL crap out. That could happen in one question, or it could take ten. That said:

2) Pot odds, as I've said a billion times about DoND, don't mean a damned thing in a one-off situation.

I don't have high hopes for this thing, but it's for other reasons. I don't know that the payout structure is the flaw here.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: itiparanoid13 on July 19, 2006, 08:05:35 PM: Ha, I should take offense for the Shaun Hannity thing. OK. At this point, I do completely agree with the point about the money tree. I think for an American market it is necessary. But the big issue for me is that you can play an incredible game and eliminate 99 people, and yet, the mob member will earn more money if you miss than if you quit. I did make a mistake with my math originally. I lumped the one hot seat player out from the 100 other people.

I know it's a peevish thing, but the scoring is just bugging the hell out of me. It seems like the $3,000,000 is just there for show. Obviously, I know it is to get a lot more viewers out of it, but what great drama is there for, in this format, gambling $50,000 to win $3,000,000? Even if you could stop with $500K, the jump from $500,000 to $3,000,000 is a bit much.

I just think they are messing with the key elements that made this game enjoyable in the Dutch format. Having the "mob" heckle the hot seat player is just like adding the live audience to Weakest Link for me. It's turning a hard quiz show into a comedy show. I wouldn't bitch about this game as much if there was a tiny bit of originality. But as it is right now, it's Millionaire with the audience members playing. I much prefer the first money chain format, where each escape lowered the top prize, than this one. It at least gave some logical reason for the $3,000,000: odds are it was going to tumble drastically. Here, it seems tacked on for the hell of it.

Edit: After re-reading my thing, I kinda forgot about the 1 remaining mob member in the first paragraphi situation when 99 people are eliminated. That does mean that the mob member played an incredible game also and deserves the money as much as the hot seat contestant, but the giant difference from the hot seat's $50,000 and the mob's $500,000 is my issue in that scenario.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: J.R. on July 19, 2006, 08:29:29 PM: Personally, what would be wrong with something simple like "$2500 for every mob member you eliminate. Eliminate all 100, you get $1,000,000"?

-Joe R.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: tvwxman on July 19, 2006, 08:57:39 PM: [quote name=\'JRaygor\' post=\'124532\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 08:29 PM\']
Personally, what would be wrong with something simple like "$2500 for every mob member you eliminate. Eliminate all 100, you get $1,000,000"?
[/quote]

Too plain and boring. After all, where could the producers fit in timeless, surefire, ratings bonanzas, such as:

Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
Ponies
Hummers
Celine Dion
Celine Dion offering Hummers
Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders offering Ponies Hummers
Jay Leno
Harley Davidson Motorcycles
Jay Leno driving a Harley off of a cliff
Cliff Clavin
Cliff Notes
Bid A Notes
Bit O Honeys
Honeydew Melon
Dolly Parton

Did my post just turn into a sexually perverse version of "Chain Reaction" ? Sorry about that.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: Matt Ottinger on July 19, 2006, 08:59:48 PM: [quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'124530\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 07:56 PM\']No, he's right here. The rules allow the player to walk with 10% of whatever level he's at. [/quote]
IF that turns out to be the rule when they get this thing on the air. They might very well make changes based on watching their contestants at run-throughs. That payout structure does sound mighty odd, but it's gotta sound mighty odd to them too, and look odd as they play it a few hundred times.

Unless they cast this thing brilliantly, I can't imagine that the "1" is going to make much of a dent into the "100" very often. So if our rooting interest is supposed to be with the "1" rather than with the mob, they'd better figure out a way for the "1" to make some decent money for his or her effort. Otherwise we're going to get to know these people and how much they need this money, and then routinely send them home with nothing. Or, if they're conservative, a Wheel-level payday.

Quote
Personally, what would be wrong with something simple like "$2500 for every mob member you eliminate. Eliminate all 100, you get $1,000,000"?
You need to have that dramatic "leap" to a high payout. The current reported jump from a guaranteed $50,000 up to $3 million is an absurd leap, but you also can't have a game where you risk $997,500 to win a million.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: mmb5 on July 19, 2006, 10:42:24 PM: Apparently I haven't made something clear. You are also allowed to walk away at any time. Sorry I didn't add that earlier.

--Mike
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: Ryanmo97 on July 19, 2006, 10:48:22 PM: [quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'124544\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 10:42 PM\']
Apparently I haven't made something clear. You are also allowed to walk away at any time. Sorry I didn't add that earlier.

--Mike
[/quote]

So you could walk with $500,000; but if you decied to play on and use your third panic button you'd only get $50,000? That seams a little better.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: itiparanoid13 on July 19, 2006, 11:05:46 PM: [quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'124544\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 10:42 PM\']
Apparently I haven't made something clear. You are also allowed to walk away at any time. Sorry I didn't add that earlier.

--Mike
[/quote]

Well that helps things a bit, but I'm still not completely understanding that last escape. You can walk with $500,000. Or, if you get down to your final escape, you can walk with 10% of your winnings? I am obviously not getting it. I might be alone, so can someone smarter explain this to me?
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: TLEberle on July 19, 2006, 11:39:51 PM: [quote name=\'TeppanYaki\' post=\'124529\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 04:42 PM\']Could y'all stop crapping on a product that hasn't even gone to production yet?[/quote] Welcome to the concept of a discussion board. We talk about things. Sometimes we discuss things that haven't happened yet. And in this case, we have several people who are reporting based on tryouts. This is not an educated guess.

Quote
Funny that I'm going to snark while Chris has a great point put eloquently... but jeez, Alex -- stop the doom and gloom before it's out.
From what I've heard, I'm in the boat with Alex. They had a great format served up on a silver platter, and they're hacking it to ribbons to suit their own needs. I'll happily eat my own words if the show becomes a long-lasting hit, but the problem is taking a show from overseas, and deciding that it needs to be "fixed" before it can be imported.

Quote
And Chris is dead on regarding Joe Sixpack; DoND works because people can pick it up easily; 1v100 needs a money tree here to have a chance. Sad as it may sound, it's the truth.
Never overestimate the intelligence of the average American. Sure, the game would be more interesting with that neat algebra lesson after each question, but if you think about it, doesn't it seem 'right' to have someone winning $500,000 as opposed to $498,573? It does to me. It's not anything that I can quantify, but it's probably the same reason that Deals were in multiples of thousands of dollars.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: Esoteric Eric on July 20, 2006, 12:00:13 AM: [quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'124535\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 05:59 PM\']
Quote
Personally, what would be wrong with something simple like "$2500 for every mob member you eliminate. Eliminate all 100, you get $1,000,000"?
You need to have that dramatic "leap" to a high payout. The current reported jump from a guaranteed $50,000 up to $3 million is an absurd leap, but you also can't have a game where you risk $997,500 to win a million.[/quote]If I read Joe right, his leap would be risking $247,500 to win $1,000,000. (Still too much? How about $1000 per mob member, risking $99K?)
Quote
...I'm still not completely understanding that last escape. You can walk with $500,000. Or, if you get down to your final escape, you can walk with 10% of your winnings? I am obviously not getting it. I might be alone, so can someone smarter explain this to me?
Oh, you're not alone... I'm still not sure how (or if) the solo player can win more than $50K without winning the grand prize.

Esoteric Eric, back at the home office in the corner of my living room in Seattle (the coolest (70 degrees @ 9 PM PDT) major city in the Lower 48, at least until tomorrow)
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: Robert Hutchinson on July 20, 2006, 01:07:54 AM: Is it, perhaps, that contestants can walk away at any time after they have successfully answered a question, but before seeing the next question?
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: clemon79 on July 20, 2006, 01:38:55 AM: [quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'124551\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 08:05 PM\']
Well that helps things a bit, but I'm still not completely understanding that last escape. You can walk with $500,000. Or, if you get down to your final escape, you can walk with 10% of your winnings? I am obviously not getting it. I might be alone, so can someone smarter explain this to me?
[/quote]
My interpretation is that the player, once they reach the $500K, say, but before hearing the next question, can say "That's good, I'm done" and hit the road with $500K in their pocket. Once they agree to play on, and see the next question, THEN the 10% bailout kicks in.

Does that sound right, Mike?
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: Craig Karlberg on July 20, 2006, 04:03:25 AM: Seeing that the player has the option to walk away without using that last escape sounds more reasonable than before. I prefer seeing some 6-figure wins here just like DoND. The money tree does indeed have that Millionaire feel to it. In spite of that, I'll give this one a yellow light & proceed with caution on this one. Maybe if this show works out right, 1 vs 100 could make a nice compliment to DoND or even a seperate slot on another night.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: mmb5 on July 20, 2006, 07:23:43 AM: [quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'124563\' date=\'Jul 20 2006, 01:38 AM\']
My interpretation is that the player, once they reach the $500K, say, but before hearing the next question, can say "That's good, I'm done" and hit the road with $500K in their pocket. Once they agree to play on, and see the next question, THEN the 10% bailout kicks in.

Does that sound right, Mike?
[/quote]

Yep.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: itiparanoid13 on July 20, 2006, 08:19:15 AM: OH! That makes a lot more sense now. I'm assuming the players are given a category beforehand also. Actually, you know what? That's not that bad. The only thing I would do is not make the dropoff so drastic. Just give them 25% or 50% of their winnings. The only other thing I really feel they should do, if they insist on the money chain, is put some other money levels from 96-100 in there. The giant leap from $500K to $3,000,000 seems needless and tacked on for the hell of it. If they had a little more progression, they could make this format work. However, I still feel the first way they did the escapes, where they lowered the top prize, is the way to go.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: NickS on July 20, 2006, 09:25:44 AM: [quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'124556\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 10:39 PM\']
[quote name=\'TeppanYaki\' post=\'124529\' date=\'Jul 19 2006, 04:42 PM\'][/quote]Never overestimate the intelligence of the average American. Sure, the game would be more interesting with that neat algebra lesson after each question, but if you think about it, doesn't it seem 'right' to have someone winning $500,000 as opposed to $498,573? It does to me. It's not anything that I can quantify, but it's probably the same reason that Deals were in multiples of thousands of dollars.
[/quote]

I respectfully disagree, Travis -- It does to you, but we are in the minority here. Why does Price work so well (TPiR, not Dave Price)? The KISS acronym pretty much works with every game. If you can explain the game in less than a few sentences, average people will sample it. To quote a program rep from five years ago, "we're not the demographic."
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: Matt Ottinger on July 20, 2006, 10:40:26 AM: [quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'124576\' date=\'Jul 20 2006, 07:23 AM\'][quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'124563\' date=\'Jul 20 2006, 01:38 AM\']My interpretation is that the player, once they reach the $500K, say, but before hearing the next question, can say "That's good, I'm done" and hit the road with $500K in their pocket. Once they agree to play on, and see the next question, THEN the 10% bailout kicks in.[/quote]Yep.[/quote]
And just so we're totally, abundantly clear (since I was one of the ones confused originally), this applies at ANY level, not just the $500K. You get to stop at any point before you see the next question. The 10% bailout is the lifeline of last resort after you've seen the question.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: mmb5 on July 20, 2006, 11:55:10 AM: [quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'124578\' date=\'Jul 20 2006, 08:19 AM\']
I'm assuming the players are given a category beforehand also.
[/quote]
They are not. My biggest complaint about the questions, and if you know me, I love complaining about questions, is that they went from easy to difficult pretty quickly in the two games I was involved with.

Also, as far as players having separate 96 through 99 steps, yes, that would be neat, but they're not exactly casting the swiftest to be the '1'. One game the player bombed out on question #1, but they let her continue and she got to about 45 left in the mob when she stopped, the other game the player crapped out around the 35 level. They also had six callbacks that got to answer three questions each. They usually got 2 of the 3.

--Mike
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: booboo on July 21, 2006, 01:06:29 PM: This is just my opinion, but from what I have heard from you all, I have a feeling that unless they change the rules before taping starts, this show will not last long at all.
Title: 1 vs 100 Updates?
Post by: tvmitch on July 21, 2006, 02:18:39 PM: I've seen the Dutch original, and I think it's brilliant, although it could move a little faster. Transplanted here? Yes, it does need some changes...but the way the show sounds at this point, it's almost a different format with a lot less strategy. Maybe the Brits will do it right, eh?