The Challengers (game show)

The Challengers
The Challengers opening logo.
Genre	Game show
Created by	Ron Greenberg
Based on	The Who, What, or Where Game
Directed by	Morris Abraham, Chris Darley[1]
Presented by	Dick Clark
Judges	Gary Johnson[1]
Narrated by	Don Morrow Bob Hilton (substitute)
Composers	Joel Hirschhorn Al Kasha Michael Lloyd[1]
Country of origin	United States
Production
Production locations	The Prospect Studios Hollywood, California (1989 pilot) Hollywood Center Studios Hollywood, California (1990-1991)
Running time	approx. 22-24 minutes
Production companies	Ron Greenberg Productions Dick Clark Productions
Distributor	Buena Vista Television
Release
Original network	Syndicated
Original release	September 3, 1990 (1990-09-03) – August 30, 1991 (1991-08-30)

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 (now Disney–ABC Domestic 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 (concurrent with the change to the daily "Ultimate Challenge" format, as described below) 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, concurrent with the removal of the "Ultimate Challenge" round, as described below.

Round 1[]

Six categories, each containing three questions, were displayed on a video wall. The contestant in the lead after the Challengers Sprint (or the one who answered the single toss-up correctly when the Sprint was not in use) 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 (later reduced to $100, $150, and $200). 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.

In each case, the category was eliminated from play and the last contestant to give a correct answer chose the next one. Play continued until all six categories were played or time ran out.

Round 2[]

Six new categories were introduced and play continued as described above, with all question values doubled ($300/$400/$500, later $200/$300/$400).

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, each of which offered different payout odds of 1:1, 2:1, or 3:1 ranked by increasing difficulty. The contestants had 15 seconds to secretly choose a question and decide how much of their score they wanted to wager on it. If multiple contestants chose the same question, only the one who placed the largest wager was allowed to answer it; the others were locked out of the round.

Answering a question correctly won the value of the wager multiplied by the odds, while a miss deducted only the value of the wager. 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 (later, they could choose a MasterCard) 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.^[2] Champions remained on the show until they were defeated.

If only one contestant finished the second round with a positive total, he/she had the option to skip the Final Challenge. If he/she decided to play it, the category and questions were presented as before, and the contestant chose one at a time, made a wager, and answered. After each correct response, he/she could either end the round or take another question. The round ended when the contestant either played all three questions, gave an incorrect answer, or chose to stop.

Ultimate Challenge[]

The Challengers, like many game shows, employed a bonus round. The round was referred to as the Ultimate Challenge, and offered a prize of five figures to any champion who managed to beat it.

Format #1[]

The initial Ultimate Challenge format was introduced on the pilot episode of the program. The winner of the match on the pilot, Doak Fairey, got to play the Ultimate Challenge as a consequence of his victory. Once the show premiered, champions only qualified to play the round after every third win.

Once a champion qualified to play the Ultimate Challenge, the round was played at the beginning of the next show. The champion was offered a choice of two categories to play. Once the category was selected, Clark would reveal the subjects of the three questions contained within, in order of their difficulty. The champion would then play the questions in that order, and for each one would be allowed five seconds to think before being prompted for an answer. If the champion managed to answer all three questions correctly, he/she won a cash jackpot. Providing a wrong answer at any point ended the round and the champion won nothing extra.

This format offered an accumulating cash jackpot, which originally began at $50,000 and was to increase by $5,000 for every unsuccessful attempt to win it. Fairey did not win the jackpot on the pilot episode, so it was set to $55,000 when the premiere episode aired. Fairey was defeated before he could win the three games necessary to qualify again, and no subsequent champion won more than two games during the first two weeks that The Challengers was on the air. Beginning on September 17, 1990, the rules were changed to add $1,000 to the jackpot for each day it went unclaimed, whether or not a champion had qualified to play for it. On September 24, Larry Caplan completed the Ultimate Challenge and won $60,000; following this win, the jackpot was reset to $25,000 after a champion collected it.

When an Ultimate Challenge was played under this format, 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 reconfigured 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; while an exact date has yet to be determined, the round was retired sometime after the February 15, 1991 episode.^[3]

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 (including Jeopardy!), 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 (two tournament wins plus four wins in regular play).

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 $90,675.

Questions[]

Many questions were related to current events, an aspect that the producers saw as a selling point.^[4] 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.

References[]

External links[]

• The Challengers at IMDb