My *1 vs. 100* experience

[colonial]

Also featured in my LJ entry.  I'll try to answer any questions you may have about my experience!


So my episode of *1 vs. 100* aired Friday night. Thanks to the World Series, not many people watched it (according to the ratings). That said, you missed my moment of glory where I displayed my lack of knowledge about salads.

The question...

Which of the following people does not have a salad named for him?

A. Bob Cobb
B. Caesar Cardini
C. Francois Nicoise

If you are in the mob, you have only five seconds to come up with an answer, so I had to think fast.

First: all of the salads are legit (Cobb Salad, Caesar Salad, Nicoise Salad), so you can't eliminate a name by that alone. Also, I wrote a tossup on Caesar Salad for TRASH Regionals 2004 or 2005 that mentioned Mr. Cardini, so he is eliminated.

We're now left with A and C, when an epiphany hit me. Bob Cobb was the name of "The Maestro" on *Seinfeld*. The show tossed that name up there to fool people, so A has to be the answer!

Well, I was wrong. The answer was C, as Cobb Salad was apparently named for one Robert H. Cobb.

At least I went out knowing that 34 of the 52 remaining members were eliminated on that question, as was the contestant. And I'm happy that the remaining 18 "mobsters" won a little under $3,000 each for their efforts.

As far as the show -- consider myself lucky. I was only at the studio for about three hours. If you were there for the entire taping that Sunday, it reportedly took 15 hours to film three episodes. Friday and Saturday took about 12 hours apiece to film ONE episode a day.

If you've been watching the show regularly, you may have noticed a change in the money tree. I didn't know why the change took place at the time, but after watching the first two episodes, I know now. Too much money given away on relatively easy questions does not make good TV.

Do I believe this show can work, as NBC has greenlit 10-15 additional episodes for next year? Yes I do. But the end product I saw looked slipshod and rushed -- it's as if The Peacock told Endemol on a Wednesday to film five episodes of a show for the next day, despite lack of format, rules, etc.

Endemol and Scott St. John (executive producer) -- look at the mistakes made on the shows so far. It's difficult to sell this show to the masses when...

1) There are technical and graphical glitches aplenty.
2) There is too much post-production commentary.
3) The questions appear to be way too easy in the first 3-4 questions of the stack.
4) There is little financial justification for mobsters to appear.

I wrote the contestant coordinators after my taping, and expressed my concerns, primarily with #4. I recommended that surviving mobsters receive somewhere between $50-100 per question heard if a contestant takes the money and runs before hearing a question.

Did I have fun at the taping? Honestly, I did. The contestant coordinators treated me well, and I got a chance to meet up with a few game show brethren I've met through QB and GSC.

Would I do it again? Probably, but only if the financial justification for mobsters to appear is improved. I'll never be the "1" (if you've watched the show, they are definitely not looking for QBers, trivia buffs and NTN lifers for the role of the 1), but I could take a spin with the 100 one more time.

[chris319]

Endemol and Scott St. John (executive producer) -- look at the mistakes made on the shows so far. It's difficult to sell this show to the masses when...

1) There are technical and graphical glitches aplenty.
2) There is too much post-production commentary.
3) The questions appear to be way too easy in the first 3-4 questions of the stack.
4) There is little financial justification for mobsters to appear.

People may have noticed that I generally take a jaded view of new shows when they are announced here on the board. Well, now you know why.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'colonial\' post=\'136118\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 11:41 AM\']
We're now left with A and C, when an epiphany hit me. Bob Cobb was the name of "The Maestro" on *Seinfeld*. The show tossed that name up there to fool people, so A has to be the answer![/quote]
I'm almost willing to give the writers credit for anticipating that line of reasoning when they put together the question.  Clever little trick questions like that are about the only way this show gets interesting for me.

[quote name=\'colonial\' post=\'136118\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 11:41 AM\']
1) There are technical and graphical glitches aplenty.
2) There is too much post-production commentary. [/quote]
Keep in mind that this described DoND in the beginning, and they've improved a lot since then.  At least the DoND game itself -- such as it is -- didn't need a lot of tweaking.  In the case of 1 vs 100, they will no doubt get better at the technical aspects of putting the show together, but I think they're a long way from making the game as compelling as they want.

[goongas]

I agree that the taping times should get better, but a show of this magnitude is going to take a long time to tape, IMO.  One of the reasons Syndicated WWTBAM got rid of the fastest finger is that segment of the show took a long time to tape.

Were there any questions they had to throw out because someone' smultiple choice selector device did not work properly?

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'136126\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 09:47 AM\']Keep in mind that this described DoND in the beginning, and they've improved a lot since then.  At least the DoND game itself -- such as it is -- didn't need a lot of tweaking.  In the case of 1 vs 100, they will no doubt get better at the technical aspects of putting the show together, but I think they're a long way from making the game as compelling as they want.[/quote]Absolutely, but one of the problems of outsourcing the creation of your shows to another country is that it might not translate well to the new home. (Deal or No Deal and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? certainly caught lightning in a bottle, but just wait)

If there had been a good amount of rehearsal and playtesting, they would have figured out that the goals of 1) a compelling and interesting game and 2) that game logistically working were not going to happen this time. This would have been evident the first time they had the mass of humanity in that forty-foot tall stack of cubicles, but obviously someone up high thought it was worth it to plow ahead.

[Win a Pile]

[quote name=\'colonial\' post=\'136118\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 08:41 AM\']
Did I have fun at the taping? Honestly, I did. The contestant coordinators treated me well, and I got a chance to meet up with a few game show brethren I've met through QB and GSC.[/quote]

Where was the show tapes (studio/stage)? I would imagine it would have to have been a pretty large stage to fit that tall of a set.

[colonial]

Answering a few questions...

1) The show was taped at Culver City Studios at Stage 1 (I think).  Mobsters stood outside the studio gates until we were brought in a few dozen at a time.

The set is impressive in person.  I described it to a friend as what would happen if the *Star Wars* Senate chamber and the Starship Enterprise had a baby

2) During my appearance in the mob (I left after my run ended - did not see any other games), no questions were thrown out.  However, a mobster did complain after the Gnarls Barkley question that her push-button device malfunctioned, ruling her incorrect.  After several minutes of investigation, we heard a loud voice on the intercom announcing that "the device was functioning properly".

A quick note on Bob Saget -- despite the production screwups, delays and the like, Saget was a true professional.  He chatted with the contestants, mobsters and studio audience during breaks, told a few jokes and appeared to be in a good mood.  I'd describe has language between breaks as being between *Full House* Saget and *Aristocrats* Saget, if you get my drift

[goongas]

[quote name=\'colonial\' post=\'136135\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 02:52 PM\']
I'd describe has language between breaks as being between *Full House* Saget and *Aristocrats* Saget, if you get my drift
[/quote]

That gap may be larger than the gap in the Grand Canyon.

[chris319]

If there had been a good amount of rehearsal and playtesting, they would have figured out that the goals of 1) a compelling and interesting game and 2) that game logistically working were not going to happen this time. This would have been evident the first time they had the mass of humanity in that forty-foot tall stack of cubicles, but obviously someone up high thought it was worth it to plow ahead.

Please report to your new job tomorrow at Goodson-Todman Productions, 5750 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. Ask for Bobby Sherman.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'goongas\' post=\'136136\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 12:03 PM\']
That gap may be larger than the gap in the Grand Canyon.
[/quote]
There's a Britney Spears joke in here someplace, but it would be inappropriate for me to make it here.

/why'd you say that twice?
//I didn't!

[davidbod]

[quote name=\'goongas\' post=\'136127\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 05:54 PM\']
I agree that the taping times should get better, but a show of this magnitude is going to take a long time to tape, IMO. [/quote]

I still don't understand why US recording times are so laborious. Either the directors are given too much time to fiddle, or the technical people really aren't on their game. In the UK, they knocked out the similarly-complex Winning Lines (and edited it the same day) in about 2.5 hours total record time.

[quote name=\'goongas\' post=\'136127\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 05:54 PM\']
 One of the reasons Syndicated WWTBAM got rid of the fastest finger is that segment of the show took a long time to tape. [/quote]

Again, I don't get this. It took about 10 minutes in the UK.

[DrBear]

I'm beginning to think that the on-air quality of a game show may be in inverse ratio to the time it takes to tape an episode.

[TimK2003]

[quote name=\'davidbod\' post=\'136173\' date=\'Oct 31 2006, 08:02 AM\']
I still don't understand why US recording times are so laborious. Either the directors are given too much time to fiddle, or the technical people really aren't on their game. In the UK, they knocked out the similarly-complex Winning Lines (and edited it the same day) in about 2.5 hours total record time.
[/quote]

It seems like certain producers think that perfecting fancy camera shots, glitzy lighting and perfect shots of the studio audience is more important than the game play.  And it shows!!

Endemol, take a page or two from CBS and Fox Sports:  Most sports fans do not mind the occasional missed camera shot or bad camera angle...It's showing the game *in real time* that matters.

Imagine Brian DiPierro directing an NFL game with using DoND philosophies -- it would take DAYS to shoot a football game!

[goongas]

[quote name=\'goongas\' post=\'136127\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 05:54 PM\']
 One of the reasons Syndicated WWTBAM got rid of the fastest finger is that segment of the show took a long time to tape.

Again, I don't get this. It took about 10 minutes in the UK.
[/quote]

The primetime show used to introduce each fastest finger player before they had their first question.  Either Regis would mispronounce one of the names, or one of the contestants would not be looking at the camera when it came it them.  (During Super Millionaire they did not introduce the contestants, probably to speed up the taping of the show).  In the very beginning of the show they used to have to disassemble the hot seat so Regis would have a clear view of the Teleprompter, and reassemble it once the fastest finger was over.  Regis at times would screw up reading a fastest finger question, and they would have to throw out the question and reset.  I saw at a taping a couple of times where one of the fastest finger devices was not working.  During the first Super Millionaire, it took them a half an hour to making a ruling during the first fastest finger because the results did not display, but the equipment did record the results properly.  Also, Regis' lines were scripted when starting a new fastest finger, so they had to write them during breaks.  Also during breaks, producers, Regis and the contestant would script the chat segment.  Add to this stopdowns because of technical difficulties and contestants taking long to answer a particular question, and the taping of a typical show could be very long.

My understanding is the syndicated version has sped up production.

[MrGameShow]

Actually.. Brian enjoys directing LIVE shows better than taped ones.. then the editors don't have a chance to F*** up his work

Take it from the guy who's been on the stage side of his directing.. he's a no-nonsense guy when he's sitting in that chair. But remember that he's like the "supervisor".. he's got a number of people to answer to above him - a.k.a. The Producer, The Network Execs, etc. - as well as a number of people under him that he's got to attempt to keep under control - contestants, models, etc.

I'm a little surprized to hear that the tapings take so long, but unless you are in the biz, you've literally got NO idea about how many stupid little things can go wrong during a show to cause them to have to pickup an audio cue, redo a shot, etc.

E.G. Grandma's gotta go pee real bad and can't wait till commercial.. STOP TAPE, wait for Grandma to shuffle back to the bathroom, do her thing, come back. IN THE MEANTIME, half the models on stage decide "Hey, this is the break I could use! I'm going to get a snack.. " Then Grandma's back, and you are waiting on 3 of the models to get back on stage, but one of them actually scooted off to the bathroom themselves.. while waiting for her, another model says "That's a good idea.. I could be standing here a while". Off she goes..

So at this point, the audience has been sitting listening to the warm-up guy trying to entertain them for the last 20 minutes, and he's running out of material fast. Contestant is getting restless because they have an offer they aren't sure about, and now they have to WAIT till they come back from commercial to make the decision look like it's weighing on them.. no pressure..

Someone made a complaint "I saw the models walk down the steps SIX FRIGGIN TIMES!".. yeah, look at the opening sequence.. last time I checked, cameras aren't INVISIBLE to be sitting on the stage looking up at them while the wide shot picks them up coming over the ridge.. once for the wide shot, at least one or two more for the closeups, and if a model trips or something, hopefully they can edit it out, but hey.

Have I made my point yet?