The Challengers (game show)
The Challengers is an American game show that aired in syndication from September 3, 1990 until August 30, 1991. The show remained in production for its entire run on the air, differing from most syndicated game shows which usually wrapped in the early summer.
The series was created by Ron Greenberg and was based largely on his 1969 production, The Who, What, or Where Game. Dick Clark presided over the show with Don Morrow announcing. The Challengers was a joint production of Ron Greenberg Productions and Dick Clark Productions, with Buena Vista Television as distributor.
Gameplay
Three contestants, one a returning champion, competed.Challengers Sprint Round
The players were each spotted $200 to start the round, and Clark asked a series of toss-up questions for which players had to buzz in. Correct answers added $100 to a player's score, while incorrect answers deducted $100 and took the question out of play for the other two players.In early episodes, the rules were slightly different; players were not given any money at the outset, and if one player missed a question, either opponent could buzz in to answer it.
The round ended after 60 seconds, and the player in the lead gained initial control for the first round. If two players were tied, one final Sprint question was asked, with a correct answer or an incorrect answer by an opponent gaining control.
This round was briefly removed partway through the run in favor of a single toss-up question, with the contestant who answered correctly scoring $100 and control of the Round 1 board. If someone buzzed in and did not answer correctly, he/she lost $100 and a new toss-up was given to the other two contestants. These rules did not last long, and by February 1991, the Challengers Sprint had been reinstated.
Round 1
Six categories, each containing three questions, were displayed on a video wall. The contestant in the lead after the Challengers Sprint chose one to begin the round. The contestants were then given clues to the subjects of the three questions, valued at $150, $200, and $250 in order of increasing difficulty. Correct answers added the value of the question to the contestant's score, while incorrect answers subtracted the same value.Each contestant secretly chose one of the three questions using buttons on their podiums, and their choices affected the gameplay as follows:
- Each contestant chose a different question. The three questions were asked in increasing order of value, with each contestant answering his/her own question.
- Two contestants chose one question; the third contestant chose a different one. The two questions were asked in increasing order of value. The solo contestant had to answer his/her own question, while the two who chose the same question used their buzzers. If the first contestant of the two who chose the same question answered incorrectly, the other could either pass or try to answer.
- All three contestants chose the same question. All three question values were immediately doubled, and the chosen question was asked as a toss-up open to all three contestants. The same toss-up rules as above applied. A contestant who answered correctly could either end the category or attempt either of the remaining two questions unopposed. Correctly answering this second question again gave the contestant the option to stop or try the third question. An incorrect answer on either the second or third question subtracted its doubled value from the contestant's score and ended the category.
Round 2
Six new categories were introduced and play continued as described above, with all question values doubled.As in Round One, play continued until all six categories were played or time ran out. Any players who finished the round with a zero or negative score were eliminated from the game.
Final Challenge
One final category was presented, with three question choices. The contestants were given 15 seconds to choose a question and decide how much of their score they wanted to wager. In the event that more than one contestant selected the same category, only the one who made the highest wager could answer. The payout odds on the questions were set at 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1, ranked by increasing difficulty. If a contestant answered correctly, his/her wager was multiplied by the relevant odds and added to the score; a miss deducted only the value of the wager.In the event that only one player was left to play the Final Challenge, he/she could either play the round or skip it entirely. If the player decided to play the round, he/she chose one of the three questions and wagered a portion of his/her score. A correct answer paid off the wager at the appropriate odds, and the player could then stop or continue with a different question. Play continued in this fashion until the player either chose to stop, answered all three questions, or gave an incorrect answer to any question.
The player in the lead after this round won the game and returned as champion the next day, although all contestants kept what they had earned. Each contestant had a Citibank Visa account opened in their name before the show started and any money they won was deposited into that account. Contestants could also choose to receive their winnings in cash rather than open the account.
Champions remained on the show until they were defeated.
Ultimate Challenge
The Challengers featured a bonus round in which champions could win thousands of dollars. This round, the Ultimate Challenge, was played in two different formats during the show's run.Format #1
When the Ultimate Challenge was introduced, it was a game played for an accumulating cash jackpot.The champion had to qualify for the round by winning three consecutive matches, and would then play the round at the start of the next program. A choice of two categories was available, each containing three questions. The questions each focused on a different subject within the category and were arranged in order of increasing difficulty.
After the champion chose a category, Clark would inform him/her of the subjects of the questions and would ask them one at a time. Following each question, the champion was given five seconds to think before responding. Giving an incorrect answer at any point ended the round, while correctly answering all three questions won the jackpot.
Initially, the jackpot began at $50,000 and was to increase by $5,000 every time a champion played for it and did not win. The champion on the pilot episode, Doak Fairey, was allowed to play the Ultimate Challenge; this was the only instance of a champion not needing three victories to qualify. Fairey failed to win, resulting in the jackpot increasing to $55,000 for the show's official debut. He was defeated before he could win a third game and re-qualify, and no champion won three games during the first two weeks of episodes.
Beginning with the week of September 17, 1990, the rules were modified. The jackpot would increase by $1,000 each day that the bonus went unclaimed. Once the original jackpot was hit, a second rule change took effect that saw its starting value reduced to $25,000. On September 24, 1990, champion Larry Caplan became the first Ultimate Challenge winner, taking down the original jackpot for $60,000. Under its original format, the Ultimate Challenge was won at least two more times. The first was on October 18, when a $42,000 jackpot was won, and again on November 20 when champion Stan Newman won $31,000 in what was the last playing of the Ultimate Challenge under its original format.
When an Ultimate Challenge was played, the first round of that episode was shortened to end after three of its six categories had been played.
Format #2
Beginning on November 21, 1990, the Ultimate Challenge was played as a daily bonus round with $10,000 cash at stake. Initially, as before, the champion was presented with a choice of categories before the round began. Later the choice was dropped and the champion was told the category at the outset of the round.Instead of needing to answer three questions correctly to win the Ultimate Challenge, the champion only had to answer one. However, the question could and often did contain multiple answers and all parts had to be answered correctly in order for the champion to win the $10,000.
The Ultimate Challenge was eventually done away with, with the round scrapped sometime in either February or March 1991.
Tournaments
Tournament of Champions
For the first two months that The Challengers was on the air, contestants were not only competing to win money but were also trying to earn spots in the show's Tournament of Champions. The tournament was conducted the week of November 12, 1990, and its structure was similar to the one employed by Jeopardy! during its own tournaments. Nine players faced off on the first three days of the tournament, with the three winners playing a two-day cumulative score final. All three players kept whatever they earned in the two games, with the tournament winner earning an additional $25,000.After the match played on the November 9 episode, the field was set. Eight of the spots were filled by former champions. On the November 9 edition of the program, reigning champion Stan Newman won his second match and his total to that point made him one of the nine highest winners. In an unusual move, as many game shows that conduct tournaments like this do not feature sitting champions, Newman interrupted his reign as champion to compete in the tournament.
The final concluded on November 16, 1990 with Newman emerging victorious. He won over $40,000, including the $25,000 bonus for his triumph, which along with the aforementioned $31,000 Ultimate Challenge victory helped Newman set an all-time Challengers record of $112,480 in winnings over six matches.
Teachers Tournament
Nine teachers competed, using the same format as the Tournament of Champions; $10,000 was awarded to the winner.Invitational Tournament
The Challengers invited nine more champions back for a second tournament of champions, which was held the week of March 18, 1991. The Challengers Invitational Tournament was conducted the same way that the Tournament of Champions was, with a two-day cumulative score final determining the champion and a cash bonus of $10,000 awarded to the winner on top of what they had earned in the two-day final. Lorin Burte won the Tournament by recording a total of $34,600 in the final, and with the $10,000 bonus added to that and the $46,075 won during his reign as champion, he finished with over $92,000 in cash.Questions
Many questions were related to current events, an aspect that the producers saw as a selling point. Episodes were taped shortly before their airdate, which was prominently displayed in the opening and on a screen behind Clark; generally, a week of episodes were taped on the Friday of the previous week, which allowed such categories as "This Week On TV" and "Today At The Movies" to be used frequently.Most of the current event questions and answers were taken from, or verified by, Newsweek; this was announced on-air at the midpoint of each episode.
The series was also unique in its payout structure: contestants received their winnings on a Citibank MasterCard or Visa credit card, although Dick referenced in some episodes that contestants had the option of converting the balance to cash.