The Challengers (game show)
Three contestants faced rapid-fire questions and a video board.
The Challengers is an American game show that aired in syndication during the 1990-91 television season. Created by Ron Greenberg and based largely on his 1969 production The Who, What, or Where Game, the series was presided over by Dick Clark with Don Morrow announcing. It was a joint production of Ron Greenberg Productions and Dick Clark Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Television.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Game show
- Creator
- Ron Greenberg
- Presenter
- Dick Clark
- Announcer
- Don Morrow
- Composer
- Joel Hirschhorn
- Al Kasha
- Michael Lloyd
- Runtime
- approx. 22-24 minutes
- Judges
- Gary Johnson
- Director
- Morris Abraham, Chris Darley
Facts from the source article.
Tournaments
In its first two months, The Challengers had a built-in incentive beyond the cash prizes: contestants were also vying for a place in the show’s Tournament of Champions. That event took place during the week of November 12, 1990, and its setup mirrored the tournament format used by Jeopardy!. The nine players with the highest winnings as of November 9, 1990 made the cut. They played in groups of three over the first three days, and each day’s winner moved on to the finals. Those finals started on November 15 and stretched over two days, with scores added together. The player with the highest combined total received a $25,000 bonus, and everyone kept whatever they had already won. A separate Teachers Tournament followed the same rules, with nine educators competing for a $10,000 bonus. Then, during the week of March 18, 1991, nine returning champions squared off in another tournament identical in structure, again offering a $10,000 bonus to the winner.
Questions
The show’s producers marketed its focus on current events as a major draw. To keep the material fresh, episodes were recorded just before they aired; the airdate itself was shown in the opening and on a screen behind host Dick Clark. Typically, a full week’s worth of episodes was taped on the Friday of the prior week, which let the show regularly use categories like “This Week On TV” and “Today At The Movies.” At the midpoint of each episode, an on-air announcement confirmed that most current-events questions and answers came from or were checked against Newsweek. The payout system was another distinctive feature: winners received their prize money on a Citibank Mastercard or Visa credit card, though Clark occasionally mentioned that contestants could choose to convert that balance into cash.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which network aired The Challengers (game show)?
The Challengers aired on Syndicated.
When did The Challengers (game show) end?
The Challengers last aired on 2 August 1991.
More in Television Series by Dick Clark Productions
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