Unan1mous
Encyclopedia
Unan1mous is an American
reality television
program that premiered on the Fox Network on March 22, 2006 and ran for one season. The host of the series was J. D. Roth.
and told they cannot leave until they unanimously
choose to award one of them the grand prize money. Contestants are isolated from the outside world, and have no access to any time references. If a contestant leaves the bunker, the amount of the available prize is cut in half (except in certain circumstances such as medical reasons).
Votes are cast by each contestant taking a ball and selecting the name of one of the other contestants via a roller inside of it (a person's own name is not included in their ball). If a vote is not unanimous, something negative happens to the players in order to increase the pressure to reach a unanimous decision. Throughout the course of the game, these were the "punishments" the players received:
The show was supposedly open-ended
, and could end at any time: from one episode to several depending on when a unanimous vote is eventually reached. If the contest continued long enough, the money would be completely gone. The final episode aired May 10, 2006. However, the whole premise had a definite time limit of less than 8 full days. The entire show was filmed in only 5 days, as the total amount of money was cut in half once and then decreased at such a rate as to make it impossible for the contestants to be stuck in the bunker "forever."
(the actual start time for each episode was 9:32 pm). The premiere episode attracted an audience of 15.84 million viewers in the United States, with most of the other episodes attracting between 12 and 14.5 million viewers. Despite these high ratings, the show did not return for a second season.
Fox 8 in Australia has just finished airing the series. It is also broadcast in Sweden on TV6 and in the Netherlands on RTL5.
, Kenya
, Spain
, Norway
and in the United Kingdom
(where the show is called Unanimous
). A version in Russia
called Who does NOT want to be a millionaire? has started on October 4, 2008 at the TNT (Russia)
channel. An Indian adaptation of the show, known as The Player, aired on December 12, 2009 on Channel V
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
program that premiered on the Fox Network on March 22, 2006 and ran for one season. The host of the series was J. D. Roth.
Concept
Nine strangers are locked in a bunkerBunker
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
and told they cannot leave until they unanimously
Unanimity
Unanimity is agreement by all people in a given situation. When unanimous, everybody is of the same mind and acting together as one. Though unlike uniformity, it does not constitute absolute agreement. Many groups consider unanimous decisions a sign of agreement, solidarity, and unity...
choose to award one of them the grand prize money. Contestants are isolated from the outside world, and have no access to any time references. If a contestant leaves the bunker, the amount of the available prize is cut in half (except in certain circumstances such as medical reasons).
Votes are cast by each contestant taking a ball and selecting the name of one of the other contestants via a roller inside of it (a person's own name is not included in their ball). If a vote is not unanimous, something negative happens to the players in order to increase the pressure to reach a unanimous decision. Throughout the course of the game, these were the "punishments" the players received:
- The contestants select three random envelopes, each containing a secret about one of them. It is not known whose secrets are being read, and contestants vote to decide which secret is the worst. The holder of that secret is "outcast" from the game, meaning they are no longer eligible to win the money, but that they will remain in the bunker (wearing a special uniform) and continue to vote. Outcast players are also still subject to the rule that if anyone leaves, the amount will be halved. (After Vote 1)
- The money begins to constantly decrease, pausing only when a vote is being held or to freeze the amount when someone has decided to leave. (After Vote 2)
- The contestants secretly vote to decide who will become an outcast. (After Votes 3 and 4)
- The person voted to become an outcast is given the chance to select any remaining active player to become an outcast. (After Outcast Vote 2)
- The three outcasts each get to select one of the four remaining players, making the unpicked person an outcast. (After Vote 5)
- The four outcasts must select which one of the outcasts gets put back into the game. If they cannot decide by a majority within 15 minutes, the decision is left to the group leader (who, if an outcast, can choose to bring him/herself back). (After Vote 6)
The show was supposedly open-ended
Open-ended
Open-ended may refer to:* "Open Ended," song by Sebadoh from their 1996 album Harmacy* Open-ended contract A contract with no definite time limit...
, and could end at any time: from one episode to several depending on when a unanimous vote is eventually reached. If the contest continued long enough, the money would be completely gone. The final episode aired May 10, 2006. However, the whole premise had a definite time limit of less than 8 full days. The entire show was filmed in only 5 days, as the total amount of money was cut in half once and then decreased at such a rate as to make it impossible for the contestants to be stuck in the bunker "forever."
Cast
| Contestant | Age | Occupation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam | 35 | Poker Poker Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker... Player |
Outcast |
| Jameson | 38 | Human Resources Human resources Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations... Manager |
Active |
| Jamie | 24 | Choreographer Choreography Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ... |
Left |
| Jonathan | 30 | Real Estate Real estate In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or... Financier |
Active |
| Kelly | 49 | Minister | Left |
| Richard | 42 | Writer Writer A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images.... /Temp Worker |
Active |
| Steve | 43 | Truck Driver | Outcast |
| Tarah | 25 | Handbag Handbag A handbag, or purse in American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag that is often fashionably designed, typically used by women, to hold personal items such as wallet/coins, keys, cosmetics, a hairbrush, pepper spray, cigarettes, mobile phone etc.... Designer Designer A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a... |
Winner |
| Vanessa | 36 | Teacher Teacher A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional... |
Outcast |
- Richard, 42: Temp Worker, Writer
- Jameson, 38: Human Resources Manager. Gay Activist
- Kelly, 49: Minister, Conservative Republican
- Jonathan, 30: Real Estate Finance,
- Jamie, 24: Choreographer, Bow and Rifle Hunter
- Steve, 43: Truck Driver. Conservative Christian. Married and has four children
- Tarah, 25: Handbag Designer, Republican
- Vanessa, 36: Teacher, Soccer Mom. Atheist and liberal
- Adam, 35: Professional Poker Player, bartender, liberal, Actor
Vote history
(Red indicates Outcast)| Contestant | Votes | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote 1 | Vote 2 | Vote 3 | Outcast vote 1 |
Vote 4 | Outcast vote 2 |
Vote 5 | Vote 6 | Vote 7 | ||||||||
| Got | Gave | Got | Gave | Got | Gave | Got | Gave | Got | Gave | Got | Gave | Got | Gave | |||
| Jameson | 0 | Steve | 0 | Steve | 1 | Tarah | Adam | 1 | Tarah | 2 | Tarah | 3 | Jonathan | 1 | Tarah | |
| Jonathan | 1 | Unknown | 0 | Adam | 1 | Unknown | 1 | Unknown | Vanessa | 3 | Richard | 3 | Richard | 0 | Tarah | |
| Richard | 0 | Unknown | 0 | Steve | 0 | Unknown | 2 | Steve | 1 | Jonathan | 1 | Jonathan | 0 | Tarah | ||
| Tarah | 2 | Unknown | 0 | Steve | 2 | Jameson | Adam | 1 | Unknown | Steve | 1 | Jameson | 0 | Jameson | 6 | Jameson |
| Vanessa | 1 | Unknown | 1 | Steve | 2 | Tarah | Adam | 1 | Unknown | Jonathan | 0 | Jameson | 0 | Jameson | 0 | Tarah |
| Steve | 3 | Vanessa | 7 | Vanessa | 1 | Adam | Adam | 1 | Unknown | 0 | Jonathan | 0 | Jameson | 0 | Tarah | |
| Adam | 0 | Unknown | 1 | Steve | 1 | Unknown | 0 | Unknown | Vanessa | 0 | Jonathan | 0 | Jonathan | 0 | Tarah | |
| Jamie | 2 | Unknown | 0 | Steve | 0 | Unknown | ||||||||||
| Kelly | 0 | Jonathan | 0 | Steve | ||||||||||||
Finale
On Wednesday, May 10, 2006, the final vote was taken. Tarah received the necessary 6 votes (out of 7; her vote was for Jameson) to win the game, and won $382,193 as a result.Broadcast information
Unan1mous was broadcast on eight consecutive Wednesday nights, from March 22 to May 10. It was broadcast in the 9:30 pm time slot, immediately after American IdolAmerican Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
(the actual start time for each episode was 9:32 pm). The premiere episode attracted an audience of 15.84 million viewers in the United States, with most of the other episodes attracting between 12 and 14.5 million viewers. Despite these high ratings, the show did not return for a second season.
Fox 8 in Australia has just finished airing the series. It is also broadcast in Sweden on TV6 and in the Netherlands on RTL5.
International versions
Versions of the show have aired in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(where the show is called Unanimous
Unanimous (UK TV series)
Unanimous was a UK-based game show broadcast on Channel 4 from 27 October 2006 to 15 December 2006. It was based on an American game show titled Unan1mous....
). A version in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
called Who does NOT want to be a millionaire? has started on October 4, 2008 at the TNT (Russia)
TNT (Russia)
TNT is a Russian brand name of TNT-Broadcasting Network, one of Russia’s top five television networks. It reaches over 100 million people throughout Russia offering a light entertainment aimed at a younger audience from age 16 through age 30.Thanks to its blend of innovative reality programmes and...
channel. An Indian adaptation of the show, known as The Player, aired on December 12, 2009 on Channel V
Channel V
Channel [V] is the brand name for multiple international music television networks owned by STAR TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation.-Channel [V] International:...
.