The networks have yet to even finish introducing all their fall programs, and already the first new series in a wave of counterprogramming arrives tonight on NBC in the form of 1 vs 100, another win-$1-million game show.
The genre has been good to the network with Deal or No Deal, the series that gives away briefcases full of money, emerging as a surprise hit in the spring - drawing as many as 18 million viewers a night. Hosted by Howie Mandel and airing twice a week, Deal has continued its winning ways this fall. The show is attracting larger audiences than all but two of the highly promoted new serialized dramas dominating the network lineups - Shark (CBS), a legal drama starring James Woods, and Brothers & Sisters (ABC), a family drama starring Sally Field and Calista Flockhart.
