Two big budget Million (or more) jackpot gameshows with celebrities from the past hosting. Deal or No Deal is a fling, a no frills, practically brainless glam-tacular. It lives because it has endless special segments you can add. But these new contenders feature a trivia core, which makes me use a more critical eye when watching them.Let me start by saying that I am happy both shows exist, as more gameshows are better than no gameshows. However, there are some game components that may be fixed.
1 vs 100 is full of ways to become boring. Between rounds, not every question anymore (luckily), the contestant can keep the money or risk all of it with no knowledge of the next question other than what "helps" they have left. Now the helps are a great component, and nicely named and explained so as to seem as intuitive as possible. However, once someone goes past 300k and has run out of helps, they run out the door. Thus the mob never gets the cash payout they'd like, leaving a group of a dozen or so disgruntled mob players aching for cash after spending about a week taping the show. See Ken Jenning's blog about 1 vs 100 for a better view as a mob member, as well as a better worded argument against it.
On the other hand is Show Me The Money. I like this show. First you get Shatner. Then you add pointless dancing and over produced set and TV screen displays. Add a free range contestant area, lost of cash, and no way to back out like a coward, and you get a good show. The premise is that the game ends when the player earns six pluses by getting answers correct, or six minuses with six questions wrong. This creates a high-adrenaline event as you are forced to watch the player's fortune fluctuate rapidly over the course of the show. Each question is worth a different amount of cash pending which of the thirteen dancers they choose. To make it more interesting and risky, there is a death card. Upon revealing the death card the player is asked a new question and must get it correct or the go home with only meeting Shatner as a prize.
Needless to say, I prefer the latter show, but watch both when it's on and I'm around. Gameshows are Gameshows.
