100% (game show)

100% is a television game show that was shown in the United Kingdom every weekday from 31 March 1997, the day after the inception of its host television station Channel 5, till 24 December 2001. A Reg Grundy production, it was often billed as "The game show without a host" although it had a presenter, Robin Houston, who also presented One To Win, another daily quiz show on the same channel. He read the questions off-screen throughout the show and was never seen by the viewers. The maximum number of shows that were produced in one day was twelve, although the normal recording day saw ten shows being produced. The reason for such a high number was to amortise the production costs. In the spinoff called 100% Gold it was presented by Melinda Walker.

100%
Also known as	100% Gold 100% Sex
Created by	Tom Atkinson
Voices of	Robin Houston (original) Melinda Walker (100% Gold)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Running time	30 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company(s)	Grundy
Distributor	Fremantle
Release
Original network	Channel 5
Picture format	4:3
Original release	31 March 1997 (1997-03-31) – 24 December 2001 (2001-12-24)

In its original format, three players would take three seconds or less to push buttons on the set corresponding 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 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 given to the contestants after 10, 30, 50, 60, 80, and all 100 questions had been asked, as a percentage of the number of questions they had correctly answered. They were also told whether 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 1–10 and 81–100 being general knowledge. Every fifth question was a true or false question, and question 100 took the form of a ludicrous fact that was almost always true. In the case of a tie, a 101st question, always true or false, was asked, and if both players got it right the faster player to answer won.

Winnings

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.

Transmissions

100%

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	31 March 1997	29 September 1997	??
2	30 September 1997[1]	30 March 1998[1]	127[1]
3	31 March 1998[1]	15 April 1999[1]	255[1]
4	16 April 1999[1]	25 January 2000[1]	177[1]
5	26 January 2000[1]	22 June 2000[1]	105[1]
6	23 June 2000[1]	12 October 2000[1]	64[1]
7	13 October 2000[1]	15 February 2001[1]	65[1]
8	16 February 2001	13 July 2001	??

Specials

Date	Entitle
29 June 1997[1]	Prisoner: Cell Block H[1]
18 September 1997[1]	Chelsea Football Club[1]
31 October 1997[1]	Hallowe'en[1]
4 November 1997[1]	Aston Villa[1]
20 December 1997[1]	James Bond[1]
24 December 1997[1]	Christmas[1]
25 December 1997[1]	ABBA[1]
13 February 1998[1]	Valentine's[1]
5 April 1998[2]	Sci-Fi[2]
13–17 July 1998[1]	Challenge[1]
2 August 1998[2]	Accidents & Disasters[2]
16 August 1998[2]	Diana Princess of Wales[2]
24–28 August 1998[1]	Summer[1]
4 October 1998[2]	Triplets[2]
5 December 1998[2]	Disasters 2 – The Sequel[2]
3 January 1999[1]	Seventies Music[1]
14 February 1999[2]	Lovers[2]
26 March 1999[2]	Monsters[2]
18 April 1999[2]	Blondes[2]
5 July 1999[2]	Sci-Fi 2 – The Sequel[2]
10 October 1999[2]	ABBA – 1999[2]
31 October 1999[2]	Hallowe'en – 1999[2]
10 March 2000[2]	Drag[2]
12 March 2000[2]	Queen[2]
1 May 2000[2]	Elvis[2]
7 June 2000[2]	Stripped[2]
22 August 2000[1]	War[1]
1 January 2001[2]	Proof[2]
25 February 2001[2]	1970s[2]
18 March 2001[2]	1980s[2]
21 March 2001[2]	Bad Girls[2]
26 August 2001[3]	Harry Potter[3]
2 September 2001[2]	Rock[2]
24 December 2001[2]	Magic[2]
Unaired[2]	Crime[2]

100% Gold

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	2 February 1998[4]	5 May 1998[4]	65[4]
2	6 May 1998[4]	26 March 1999[4]	206[4]
3	29 March 1999[4]	31 December 1999[4]	167[4]

Specials

Date	Entitle
30 August 1999[4]	Teen Idol[4]
4–8 October 1999[4]	Champions[4]

100% Sex

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
Pilot	23 December 1998[2]		1[2]
1	24 June 1999[5]	26 August 1999[5]	10[5]
2	29 June 2000[5]	10 January 2001[5]	24[5]

Specials

Date	Entitle
21 December 2000[2]	Boys Night Out[2]
22 December 2000[2]	Girls Night In[2]
23 December 2000[2]	Dragging It Up For Christmas[2]

International 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 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.

In Europe, the TV format was sold in France with the local version called 100% Question and in Italy with the same name of the original format.

Country	Name	Presenter	Channel	Date of transmission
France	100% Question	Pascal Hernandez	La Cinquième/France 5	19 January 1998 – 27 August 2004
Italy	100%	Gigio D'Ambrosio	La 7	25 June 2001 – 2002

See also

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

References

1. "Fremantle Archive Sales – 100%". Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
2. "Fremantle Archive Sales – 100% SPECIALS". Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
3. "Fremantle Archive Sales – 100% HARRY POTTER". Retrieved 30 June 2013.
4. "Fremantle Archive Sales – 100% GOLD". Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
5. "Fremantle Archive Sales – 100% SEX". Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.

External links

• 100% at UKGameshows.com.
• 100% on IMDb.
• Game Show Pilot Light: 100% (US) pilot