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The Challengers (game show)

The Challengers is an American game show that aired in syndication during the 1990-91 television season 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.

The Challengers

Game show

Ron Greenberg

The Who, What, or Where Game

Morris Abraham, Chris Darley[1]

Dick Clark

Gary Johnson[1]

Don Morrow
Bob Hilton (substitute)

Joel Hirschhorn
Al Kasha
Michael Lloyd[1]

United States

The Prospect Studios
Hollywood, California (1989 pilot)
Hollywood Center Studios
Hollywood, California (1990-1991)

approx. 22-24 minutes

Ron Greenberg Productions
Dick Clark Productions

Syndicated

September 3, 1990 (1990-09-03) –
August 30, 1991 (1991-08-30)

The Challengers premiered on September 3, 1990 and aired new episodes until August 2, 1991. A series of reruns filled out the remainder of its broadcast run, which ended on August 30, 1991. The program was one of five syndicated game shows to premiere in the fall of 1990 and had the longest run of the five due to its production schedule, but like the others it was not renewed for a second season.

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.

Tournaments[edit]

Tournament of Champions[edit]

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.


The nine highest winning contestants through November 9, 1990 qualified for the tournament. They then competed, three at a time, over the first three days of the tournament. The winners advanced to the finals, which began on November 15 and were a two-day, cumulative score match. The contestant with the highest total score after those two days would be rewarded with a $25,000 bonus. All of the participants were able to keep any money they won during the course of the tournament, regardless of whether they won their matches.


The field featured a statistical oddity. Stan Newman's record-setting reign as champion began on November 8, the day before the field setting. After winning his second match, Clark informed him that his total winnings that point had put him in the top nine highest money winners and that he would be eligible to compete in the Tournament of Champions. This ran in contrast to shows like Jeopardy!, which do not allow for contestants to participate in their tournaments of champions while still reigning as champion in regular play.


The final concluded on November 16, 1990, with Newman emerging victorious over Russell Giles and Gene Murray in the two-match final. He won $16,265 over the two days, and when combined with $1,300 he won in his first match and the $25,000 bonus he received for winning, Newman's total winnings were $42,565 for the tournament. He would become the only contestant to surpass $100,000 in winnings over the course of the show's run; Newman won $112,480 over his entire run as champion, with over $70,000 of that total coming from his Tournament of Champions victory and his Ultimate Challenge.

Teachers Tournament[edit]

Nine teachers competed, using the same format as the Tournament of Champions; $10,000 was awarded to the winner; it was won by Michelle Weiss, who during the week won a total of over $19,000.

Invitational Tournament[edit]

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 $24,600 in the final, and with the $10,000 bonus added to that, the $11,915 he won in his semifinal game and the $44,250 won during his reign as champion, he finished with a grand total of $90,765.

Questions[edit]

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.

at IMDb

The Challengers