100% (game show)

Infobox Television
show_name = 100%


caption =
format = Game Show
picture_format = 4:3
runtime = 30mins (inc. Comms)
creator = Tom Atkinson
country = UK
presenter = Robin Houston
channel = Five
first_aired = 1997
last_aired = 2001
num_episodes =
producer = Reg Grundy Productions
related =
imdb_id =

"100%" is the name of a television game show which ran in the United Kingdom from the day after the inception of its host television channel Five, 1997 until 2001. A Reg Grundy Production, in its original format, the three players of the game would take three seconds or less to push buttons on the set which corresponded to the multiple-choice answers of 100 general knowledge questions. The players do not speak other than to state their names and towns at the start of the show, and the winner to confirm that he/she will return on the next show.

On 28 June 1997 Five aired a special edition of the show during a special night of the cult Australian soap opera "Prisoner". All questions asked were about the Aussie soap.

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 questions, thirty questions, fifty questions, sixty questions, eighty questions, 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.

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 questions 1 to 20 and 81 to 100 being all general knowledge questions. Every fifth question is a true or false question and the final question 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.

The program was often billed as "The game show without a host". The "host" was, actually, former London newsreader Robin Houston, who read the questions from somewhere off-screen throughout the show and, as a presenter, was never seen by the viewers.

The winner of each show received the (arguably paltry) sum of £100 and was invited to take part again in the next show.

Statistically, the most notable contestants from the show were David Webb (who, as a winner of some thirty consecutive shows in the early days of the programme, was revered by contestants and host alike, and 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), and Ian Lygo, most recently made famous (because of his record-breaking unbeaten seventy-five game streak on the show) from the amount of interest drawn from Ken Jennings' recent winning streak (which fell short by a game) on the American game show "Jeopardy!". Lygo also holds the record for the highest non-special winning percentage score.

Producer Pearson Television (Grundy's parent) brought the show to the United States in January 1999; originally hosted in the pilot by Mark Henning, the show went to series with American Top 40 radio personality Casey Kasem in the presenter's helm. This version offered a top payoff of $100,000 to any contestant who managed a perfect score, although it was never won during its brief run. The show, which was televised on only four stations on a limited run, did not last a full season.

It was also broadcasted in Italy in 2001 and 2002 on La7.

Original UK Production Team:
*Production Secretary: John Ireland
*PA: Ali Ratcliffe
*Researchers: Nic Ayling & Chris Dunn
*Questions: Joanne Dean & Elizabeth Gore
*Associate Producer: Luke Kelly
*Director: Rick Gardner
*Producer: Mark Noades

Reg Grundy Productions (GB) LTD

External links

* [http://www.ukgameshows.com/index.php/100%25 "100%"] at UKGameshows.com
* [http://usgameshows.net/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=Pilot_100_Percent Game Show Pilot Light: "100%" (US) pilot]
* [http://www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0314970/ 100%] at the Internet Movie Database