1% Club gameshow, American version

So, the wife and I gave up cable a couple years ago, but periodically we will stream something fun from the interwebz. Recently, we've been playing along with the gameshow, "The 1% Club". For those unfamiliar, it's a Q&A game show which starts out with 100 contestants and everyone is asked a question. People who get it wrong are eliminated. The questions get progressively more difficult as the game goes on. They phrase each successive question by saying what percent of 100 will get the question correct. Some questions are easy, and some are very difficult. All of the questions involve using your head in a common sense way, not just in a smart way. In other words, by about 50% most of the questions are trick questions. The top prize is $100k, split evenly between all contestants who make it to the final round and answer the final question correctly.

My wife and I are pretty good at the game, and can usually get into the 10% bracket without any trouble (i.e. only 10 out of 100 will get it right). Oddly, some of the questions in the middle 45-50% are the hardest and weed out the most players (often 10-15 per question). By the 10% question there are usually only about 4-5 players left (out of 100).

Tonight we were watching, and were on a roll, batting 1000 on the questions all the way through. It came down to the final question, and there were (2) contestants left ($50k each if they got it right). They asked question which was totally wrong, and nobody won. We got the answer correct (but weren't contestants just viewers). Because we streamed and saved the game, we went back and reviewed the question. Sure enough, the question they asked, was NOT the answer they gave.

They showed (5) longer words and the question was to form "common words" from each of the (5) complex words. I managed to form (5) common words. The two contestants completely locked up. One of them got two words. The host remarked they missed it by only (1) word, that they needed to form THREE common words out of the (5) words. This was NOT what the question asked; it said nothing about forming (3) words, only that you needed to form a common word from ALL (5) words. There was absolutely no question about what the question asked, and no question about how wrong the host and the show was about the answer given. The (2) contestants lost fair and square, so no argument there, BUT...if we had been there and answered all (5) words, I believe we would have been disqualified also. Blatant error on the show.

So, tonight I decided to go out and look on the web about this. I discovered two things. First, I guess the show also has a UK counterpart (like 'Got Talent' and a few others). Second, I discovered our observation was not unique; the show has gotten the top question wrong on numerous occasions. In some of the cases the contestants answered correctly only to be told they were wrong and sent home empty handed.

It's been a long time since we watched a show which was fun and challenging. I was pretty disappointed to see they give out a wrong answer, just blatantly wrong, for the finale'.

Back to reading books again I guess. Bummer. (I was even contemplating sending in an application to see if I could get on the show too! Probably never happen, but it's about the first time I ever thought that. I can generally rule on Jeopardy on most subjects, but sometimes they get into some pretty obscure stuff which loses me. But not this 1% Club; if I can make it past question #5, I can usually go all the way). Question #5 and #6 are generally the hardest questions (and even though they say these are 50% questions, they usually take out about 75% of the remaining contestants).

Anyway...bummer!

Because we stream the show, it's not live, but we don't cheat. So, we have no knowledge of the questions or answers before we watch the program. What's nice is we can skip through all the idle chatter and BS, and cut right to the questions. About 60% of the questions are multiple choice, and about 40% require an original answer. Most of the questions are very similar to IQ test type questions (i.e. shapes, geometry, words, play on words, math, word problems, etc.).

It's really a fun show, and I'm sure we'll keep watching, but my hopes of going on the show have been seriously dashed now that I've seen they make some (serious) mistakes. (Not that I seriously ever thought I'd get picked though.)

When we first started watching the show I felt like it was the hardest game show on television. Initially, I couldn't get past question #2 or #3. But after I started understanding the tricks to the questions, I got better. It's still challenging, depending on the day. There's just some questions I can't wrap my head around until I see the answer.

I don't mind getting a question wrong; that's half the fun of it. But I don't like it much when they list an incorrect answer to a question...and then stand by the incorrect answer. Doesn't matter if I get the answer correct or not.

As bad as buying a ticket for one of the big jackpots. One in three hundred fifty million chance of winning the jackpot, and with all the numbers they have to choose from, not nearly as many people get three or four numbers anymore. The odds are so bad of even getting your money back nowadays. Do they really think everyone is that dumb....evidently there are a lot of people that do not research the odds of all the wins....and the history of how things used to be is gone now...so people can't even research how the games have degraded over the decades.

The actual question and answer would be nice to go along with the context, just saying...

I'd say I'd hold my breath, but somehow I think you'll disappear or just beat around the bush without actually telling us

a reply to: cocnutcrab883

It's not a secret.

edit - You can do whatever you wish.

edit II - I found the 1% question / final question...

"What are the commonly known four-letter words that can be found inside the five words listed below?"

Words - Pumpkin, Bicycle, Penchant, Pageant, Nowhere

My Answer - Pump, Bile, Pant, Page, Here

Correct answer - "PUMP, PAGE, HERE. The 3 common four-letter words hidden within these five words are PUMP, PAGE, and HERE." (direct quote from the host).

Summary - So, it would appear the correct answer was only words could could be cut intact from the words listed, not words which could be spelled from the letters in the same order. Nowhere in the question did it allow for less than (5) final answer words from the (5) original listed words. It said..."found INSIDE the FIVE listed words below". It did NOT say...anything about LESS than five would be acceptable.

originally posted by: cocnutcrab883
The actual question and answer would be nice to go along with the context, just saying...

I'd say I'd hold my breath, but somehow I think you'll disappear or just beat around the bush without actually telling us

Question: Was it even worth it?

Correct answer: No.

a reply to: AlroyFarms

Question: Does your opinion even matter?

Correct answer: No.