100%

100% was a television game show which ran in the United Kingdom from 31 March 1997 (the day after the inception of its host television station Channel 5) to 24 December 2001.

The Reg Grundy Production was often billed as "The game show without a host", however did have a presenter in its announcer, former London newsreader Robin Houston. He read the questions from somewhere off-screen throughout the show and, although being a presenter, was never seen by the viewers.

In its original format, three players would take three seconds or less to push buttons on the set which corresponded to the multiple-choice answers of 100 general-knowledge questions.

Although, pulling in reasonable ratings for the channel, it was dropped as part of a station revamp just before 2002.

Scores

The original twist to the show was the fact that throughout the whole game, the players were told the individual scores (as a percentage of the number of questions answered correctly to that point), but not the player to whom those scores belonged. The scores were told to the contestants after ten, thirty, fifty, sixty, eighty, and all one hundred questions had been asked in terms of a percentage of the number of questions they had correctly answered. They were also told if there had been a change in the lead.

Later on, the rules were changed so that the players now knew who had which scores for the first 50 questions. In all cases, the audience could see who had what score and during the last ten questions the scores were displayed on screen after each answer.

Question fields

Originally, the format of the show was that 100 questions would be asked without an overall subject. In its later format, the subject would change every ten questions with 1 to 10 and 81 to 100 being general-knowledge. Every fifth question is a true or false question, and question 100 takes the form of a ludicrous fact which is almost always true. In the case of a tie, a 101st question, always true or false, is asked, and if both players get it right the faster player to answer wins.

Winning

The person with the most questions answered correctly received the nominal sum of £100 and was invited to return as champion in the next show.

The players did not speak at all during each episode, other than to state their names and towns at the start of the show; the winner only responded whether he/she would be able to return.

Special episodes

On 28 June 1997, Channel 5 aired a special edition of the show during a special night of the cult Australian soap opera Prisoner: Cell Block H (which incidentally is also a Reg Grundy Production). All questions asked were about the show.

Other special themed episodes included:

• Magic
• Rock music
• Harry Potter
• The '70s
• The '80s
• Elvis Presley
• Alcoholic beverages (for which the show was renamed 100% Proof.)
• Halloween
• ABBA
• Sci-fi
• Disasters
• James Bond
• Chelsea FC
• Christmas
• Queen

Notable contestants

Statistically, the most notable contestants from the show were:

• David Webb: Winner of some thirty consecutive shows in the early days of the programme, he was revered by contestants and host alike; he was perhaps most accurately characterized by his enthusiastic restating "Yes, I will" after the end of each victory when asked if he wished to come back onto the next show.

• Ian Lygo: Had a record-breaking unbeaten seventy-five game streak on the show. The record was almost beaten by Ken Jennings (74 games) in 2004 on the American quiz Jeopardy! Lygo also holds the record for the highest non-special winning percentage score with 87.

• John McCormack: The highest-scoring contestant of the entire run, achieving 94% of his questions correct in the Queen special.

• CJ de Mooi A former winner who went on to appear as a regular on the BBC Two game show Eggheads.

Original UK production team

• Production Secretary: John Ireland
• Production Assistant: Ali Ratcliffe
• Researchers: Nic Ayling & Chris Dunn
• Questions: Joanne Dean & Elizabeth Gore
• Associate Producer: Luke Kelly
• Directors: Paul Wheeler & Rick Gardner
• Producer: Mark Noades
• Executive Producer: Richard Hearsey
• Produced by: Reg Grundy Productions (GB) LTD.

Foreign versions

Producer Pearson Television (Grundy's parent) brought the show to the United States in January 1999; originally hosted in the 1998 pilot by Mark Henning, the show went to series with American Top 40 radio personality Casey Kasem as host. This version offered $10 per correct answer, with a $99,000 bonus to any contestant who managed a perfect score (for a total of $100,000); it was never won during the show's brief run.

The show, which aired on only seven stations (in Seattle, Washington; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas; Buffalo, New York; Jacksonville, Florida; and Tampa, Florida) on a limited run, did not last a full season.

It was also aired in Italy from 2001 to 2002 on La7, and in France over the same period on M6.

See also

• Inquizition (A similar US game show that aired on GSN from 1998 to 2001.)

External links

• 100% at UKGameshows.com.
• 100% at the Internet Movie Database.
• Game Show Pilot Light: 100% (US) pilot