The Challengers
Lifespan: September 1990-August 1991, Syndicated
Hosts: Dick Clark
Announcer: Don Morrow, Bob Hilton
Producer: Ron Greenberg Productions
Premise: Look, it's Who What or Where! Only this time it has a current events twist and a big money bonus game.
The game is played with three contestants, two challengers and a returning champion. Each player starts with $0. As opposed to 'that other quiz show,' the players take home whatever money is in front of them, so that can play into the strategy. The game went through two phases for the front game:
The Challengers Sprint Round
Sixty seconds were on the clock and $100 toss-ups were asked to the players. Only the first player to buzz-in got to try. A right answer won $100, and that amount was taken away for a wrong answer, or no answer at all. Whoever had the high score after the round won control of the game. If there was a tie, a tie-breaker was asked.
Later on in the run, the Sprint Round was axed. Players were spotted $200, and a single $100 question determined who began with control.
Main Game, Part One
Six categories are on the board, and each has three questions, worth $100, $150, and $200. (As an example: the Volcanoes category had a $100 question about Mount St. Helens, a $150 question about Mount Vesuvius, and a $200 question about Krakatoa). Each contestant picked a question to try, risking that much money on their ability to answer the question.
Here's how the questions are played depending on who picks which topic:
If a single player chooses a question, that player can win the money by answering correctly. If the player is wrong, or offers no answer, the amount risked is deducted from that player's score.
If two players chose a question, it was a jump-in to play. A right answer won the money, a wrong answer lost it. Only one person can try the question. (This was changed to allow the opponent to answer the question if he wanted, but was under no obligation to do so.)
If all three players choose the same question, the value of all questions in the category double. Whoever answers the question can risk trying the other questions. In this situation, the other contestants can steal the question if the first to buzz in was wrong. The other two questions belong only to the player who gives a correct answer to the jump in.
Whoever answers the last question worth the most picks the next category, until time is called (usually four categories).
Main Game, Part Two
The dollar values are doubled for this round, and the trailing player gets first shot at the board. After time is up for the second round, all players with a positive score get to play in the final round.
Halfway through the show, the game changed. Questions increased in value to $150/$200/$250 in round one, and $300/$400/$500 as well.
The Final Challenge
All players are shown the Final Challenge category, along with the three questions. This time, questions have multipliers of Even, Double, or Triple. Each player bets up to as much as they have on any question. Whoever bets the most on a question wins the right to play it. If only one person has money, he or she can bet $500, $1000, or $1500 on each of the questions, choosing as many as he likes in any order. After the questions are played, the player with the most money wins the game, and gets to come back next time. All players win their money, if they finished the game with some, even if it was only $5.
Ultimate Challenge
Three-game winners come back on their fourth show to play a special bonus game. Three questions in a category are asked, each worth $1,000. Getting all three wins the Jackpot, which begins at $50,000 ($25,000 after a few hits) and grows $1,000 a day until won. Regardless of the outcome, the player takes on two new challengers.
Version 2: The winner answers a single question for a flat $10,000. This version, likely a budget saving maneuver, was played for the last few months, and was the last question of every show, and was typically of Final Jeopardy difficulty.
Stan Newman won the most money on the show, totalling $112,480. Contestants received their winnings in the form of a Citibank Visa card, with their winnings as the balance. Current events questions were taken from the most recent issue of Newsweek magazine to be on newsstands.