by Hal Erickson
synopsis
The fin-de-siècle British game show 2001 to 1 had an interesting charity angle. The producers offered a year's paid vacation to 2,000 contestants who would agree to pledge one hour's salary to the Children's Promise Millennium Final Hour Appeal. Each of the series' four half-hour episodes accommodated 400 contestants (not all of whom appeared on camera, of course) who, by playing the game portion of the proceedings, were whittled down to a single winner per show. All four winners participated for the grand prize in a final 50-minute special. 2001 to 1 was carried by BBC1 from December 4 to 31, 1999.
