1 versus 100 versus The Rich List versus Good Shows

Monday night saw the pre-ratings season season kick off on free-to-air telly, with the premiere of Seven's new expensive quiz show The Rich List, and Nine's new expensive quiz show 1vs100. A two hour block of annoying television. So what did I do?

I watched it.

Well, enough to bitch about it.

With mates though, so it was cool. Like watching Antiques Roadshow with your mates. Watching it alone makes you a 50-year old woman, or someone with a fetish for bad English cardigans. But watching with friends turns Antique Roadshow into something cool, like 24, or Lost, or Antiques Roadshow.

So, the quiz shows. 1vs100 rated its socks off, and for good reason. It has gimmicks. Lots of them. A giant wall of 100 people ('The Mob'), answering the same questions as the contestant ('The One'), presided over by Eddie McGuire ('The Dickhead'). Don't get much better than that.



It seems pretty easy for The One to win cash, they just have to answer more questions right than any number of the mob. That didn't stop the first contestant from having a sweat patch the size of the Gulf of Carpentaria, though.

And while we're at it, since when did Eddie McGuire turn into Vince McMahon? He's the CEO of the company, but he chucks himself on the air as much as possible. Next week, he'll make the that blonde guy from Getaway fight The Undertaker.

I'm sorry Nature Boy Ric Flair, but we won't find
the answer out until after this break.

But both shows share one feature. No, not dicky hosts. I like Andrew O'Keefe. He's old school. No, both shows had something that plagues every prime-time quiz show.

The contestants.

Not them personally, but how they answer questions. It's not just:

Eddie: What is the capital of Spain?

Dicky Contestant: Mexico

Eddie: Wrong

They go...

Eddie: What is the capital of Spain?

Dicky Contestant: Well Eddie, my father was actually born in Adelaide..

Eddie: Oh, is that right?

Dicky Contestant: Yes, and he had a dog, it was a cocker spaniel.

*Crowd laughs*

Dicky Contestant: And then my mother was murdered by a guy from Spain.

*Eddie laughs*

Dicky Contestant: So I'll lock in B, Mexico.

Obviously, that's a fake transcript (his mother was actually raped), but you get the drift.

I actually think that's how you get on these shows. If the casting director asks you your name, and you take four minutes to answer, including a two-minute soliloquy about Aboriginal Reconciliation - you're in.

Actually, on second thought, don't mind me. I'm still pissed I didn't get selected for Australia's Brainiest Kid.