100 Winners

Hosts

Jessica York Jeff Thisted (sub, May–June 2007) Shandi Finnessey (sub, May–June 2007) Mel Peachey (February–April 2007)

Broadcast

GSN: 2/20/2007 – 6/13/2007

Packager

Game Show Network (GSN)

100 Winners was a short-lived, two-hour live interactive game show, with simple minigames that were played throughout the program. If the player at home answered a question correctly, then s/he chose one of 100 safe deposit boxes on the set, each of which contained a prize of either cash or GSN merchandise.

Format

100 Winners was a game show where home viewers were the contestants. American residents 18 or older were eligible to enter the contest by text messaging a request or using the network's website. Potential contestants could enter up to ten times per phone number per method on each show. However someone could only be brought through to answer a question once a night.

Within a few moments, a contestant was notified whether or not their entry was chosen (at random) to proceed to another random selection process. If an entry was selected in the second phase, the contestant would be called on his or her home or mobile phone, depending on the method of entry. The contestant would then come on-air and be held in the queue for up to three games. If a contestant was selected to participate in a break game, an operator would take their answer and assign them a prize value. GSN charged a $.99 fee for each text message entry, in addition to standard text messaging rates charged by the wireless provider. Entries on the website were free. Regardless of the method of entry, each entry had an equal chance of being selected. An entry did not necessarily guarantee an opportunity to appear on the show. Residents of certain states could be ineligible to play various entry methods.

Games

100 Winners featured quick, simple mini-games that were played throughout the program. If a contestant answered a question correctly, he/she chose one of the one hundred safe deposit boxes on the set, each of which contained a prize of either cash or GSN merchandise.

To make winners more quickly, the host offered:

• Multiple choices of doors (including "friends and family" questions allowing four doors to be opened)
• Break Game: A question answered off-screen during a commercial break to make more winners.
• Sizzling Hot Questions: An extra choice of door if the contestant received a prize of a designated value.
• Sponsor bonuses: An extra choice of door if the contestant's original box contained the mascot of that episode's corporate sponsor, if any.

The games listed below were played in rotation on the program.

Game	How it was Played
Chain Link	Similar to Chain Reaction, a three-word word chain was given with the middle word not given. The contestant had to give the appropriate middle word.
Dead or Alive	The contestant had to determine whether a given celebrity was, as of the air date, dead or alive.
Definition	A word was defined and the caller had to give the correct answer out of two choices. This began as a tie-in to GSN's coverage of the National Vocabulary Championship in April 2007.
Multiple Answers	A list of five items was given along with a question. Three of the items were correct answers to the question. The contestant had to pick one of the correct answers to the question.
Quotations	A common quotation was given with one word missing. The contestant had to give the word that was omitted.
Same Name, No Relation	The first names of two famous people with the same last name were given. The contestant had to identify what the shared surname was.
Short or Tall	The name of a famous person noted for their height was given. The contestant had to identify whether the person was known for being short or tall.
Trivia	A trivia question, either open-ended or with two choices, was given. The contestant had to give the correct answer.
Who Starred?	A list of movies or television programs was given. The contestant had to identify which actor starred in all of the movies.

The vault

The 100 safes were divided among four panels each with twenty-five safes, featuring cash prizes. When the show began, clues were often shown giving hints to where the larger prizes were located. However, since mid-April, clues were rarely given, undoubtedly to heighten the suspense of the television presentation.

Vault prize distribution

Layout of The Vault

This was the layout used on the final broadcasts of 100 Winners.

Prize	# of safes with prize
Merch. Packages1	2
$10	37
$25	33
$50	10
$75	6
$100	8
$250	2
$500	1
$1,000	1

The total amount in this vault layout was $4,983.90 in cash and prizes.
¹The package included a GSN mug (ARV $3.75), hat (ARV $7.95) and PlayMania T-shirt. (ARV $7.75), totaling an ARV of $19.45.

General layout

This layout was used on the premiere, but was skipped on various weeks in favor of the all-cash vault. The first episode also had a door containing $.99, instead of a $10 prize.

Prize	# of safes with prize
GSN Merchandise1	20
$10	22
$25	23
$50	15
$75	10
$100	6
$250	2
$500	1
$1,000	1

This vault layout contained an average value of $5,042.80 in cash and prizes.
²Each door had a various piece of merchandise including GSN mugs (ARV $3.75), hats (ARV $7.95), beanie caps (ARV $10.50), playing cards (ARV $7.00) and PlayMania T-shirts. (ARV $7.75)

All-cash layout

This layout was first used on March 27, 2007. The GSN merchandise had been removed. The $1,000 top was split into two $500 top prizes for two episodes, but the March 29 episode returned to the original top prize.

Prize	# of safes with prize
$10	35
$25	30
$50	15
$75	10
$100	6
$250	2
$500	1
$1,000	1

This vault layout contained a total of $5,200 in cash.

Trivia

• This and Quiznation were part of GSN's short-lived PlayMania block.
• The format was based on The Cash Vault, a segmented game that aired on the British version of Quiznation.

Links

• Promo for 100 Winners (via Internet Archive)
• Official 100 Winners website (via Internet Archive