History Series / TheChallengers

--->'''The Judge''' (''after both Clark and the StudioAudience start to loudly groan at the puns''): I proudly stand behind my writers...very ''far'' behind them.

* ObviousBeta: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkGyZ5kT4Zk This promo]] contains quick shots of the September 15, 1989 {{pilot}} taped on a slightly different set with different graphics.

* OpeningNarration: "Today is (Date), This is our champion (Player A's name, amount s/he won so far), This is (Player B, occupation), This is (Player C, occupation). (Player A), you're our champion. (Players B and C), you are...THE CHALLENGERS!"

* JustForPun: A trademark of the show. For example, "Animals in Motion" had questions on "Ewe-Turn", Fox Trot, and "Duck!"

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Some categories - such as "Hannibal, Vegetable, and Mineral" - giving you questions on ... Hannibal, Vegetable, and Mineral.

-->'''Dick Clark''': Oh, thanks Don! Now my son will want the same thing on ''his'' birthday!

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Some catergories - such as "Hannibal, Vegetable, and Mineral" - giving you questions on ... Hannibal, Vegetable, and Mineral.

* BonusSpace: To an extent-- whenever all three players picked the same question to answer in a category, the dollar amounts for all three questions would be instantly doubled; the player who ten got the first question correctly could then try to answer the other two.

* AprilFoolsDay: Following the Sprint on April 1, 1991, the day's categories popped on the board — "Pre-Columbian Architecture", "The Politics Of Burundi", "Quantum Physics", "14th-Century Philosophers", "Anaerobic Zoology" (which Dick didn't even try to read), and "Existential Poets". He had the contestant pick a category (Pre-Columbian Architecture), then asked "Come on, now, what is going on? Let me see what the subjects are-" — and then the video wall displayed "APRIL FOOL!" You can watch the episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCI2VZa0sf4 here]].

The contestants secretly chose which question they wanted to answer. If a question was chosen by one player, s/he was read the question with cash added or subtracted depending on if a right answer was given. If two players selected the same question, Clark read it toss-up style, with the first to buzz-in getting to answer. (For some episodes, if the buzzing contestant failed to answer correctly, Clark gave the other contestant a chance to answer if s/he wanted to. For other episodes, he just gave the answer and moved on.).If all three contestants chose the same question the values doubled, with the player answering correctly first getting to answer one or both of the remaining questions for extra cash. Two rounds of six categories were played, with second round values doubled. See below for how things progressed after that.

* DoubleTheDollars: The second round. Plus dollar values were doubled when all three contestants picked the same question to answer in a category (with the player who gets that question correctly earning the right to answer the other two questions).

Revival of the 1969-74 Creator/{{NBC}} current-events quiz ''The Who, What, or Where Game'' hosted by [[Series/CatchPhrase Art]] [[Film/{{Mallrats}} James]], now a [[FirstRunSyndication syndicated]] series with three players (one a returning champion) and Creator/DickClark at the helm (co-producing as well alongside creator [[Series/TheBigShowdown Ron Greenburg]] and [[Creator/{{Disney}} Buena Vista Television]]). While the basics of the game remained the same through the run, certain aspects of the game were tweaked along the way.

* {{Expy}}: Of ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}''. Some think it's a dumbed-down copy, while others take it as a more enjoyably-relaxed copy that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Revival of the 1969-74 Creator/{{NBC}} current-events quiz ''The Who, What, or Where Game'' hosted by [[Series/CatchPhrase Art]] [[Film/{{Mallrats}} James]], now a [[FirstRunSyndication syndicated]] series with three players (one a returning champion) and Creator/DickClark at the helm. While the basics of the game remained the same through the run, certain aspects of the game were tweaked along the way.

** TheAnnouncer: Don Morrow, who also announced the final few months of 'Series/SaleOfTheCentury'' and most of the 1989 run of ''Series/NowYouSeeIt''.

** On at least two occasions, Don Morrow noted how all three contestants came from the same city (first Boston, then New York), and hence called them "The Boston Challengers'' or ''The New York Challengers''.

* {{Pilot}}: Aside from the above-mentioned 1989 pilot, ''The Who, What, or Where Game'' had one taped in ''1966'', hosted by [[Series/{Concentration}} Jack]] [[Series/NowYouSeeIt Narz]].

Revival of the 1969-74 Creator/{{NBC}} classic ''The Who, What, or Where Game'' hosted by Art James, now a [[FirstRunSyndication syndicated]] current-events quiz with three players (one a returning champion) and Creator/DickClark at the helm. While the basics of the game remained the same through the run, certain aspects of the game were tweaked along the way.

The contestants secretly chose which question they wanted to answer. If a question was chosen by one player, s/he was read the question with cash added or subtracted depending on if a right answer was given. If two players selected the same question, Clark read it toss-up style, with the first to buzz-in getting to answer. (For some episodes, if the buzzing contestant failed to answer correctly, Clark gave the other contestant a chance to answer if s/he wanted to. For other episodes, he just gave the answer and moved on.).If all three contestants chose the same question the values doubled, with the player answering correctly first getting to answer one or both of the remaining questions for extra cash. Two rounds of six categories were played, with second round values doubled.

All players with positive scores after two rounds played the "Final Challenge", based on one category and three as-of-yet unannounced questions, each rated by difficulty (the easy question paid at even odds, the medium-difficulty question paid at 2:1 odds, and the most difficult paid at 3:1 odds). The contestants secretly chose which question they chose to answer and how much of their current winnings (up to all they had) to bet. If two or all three contestants chose the same question, the player with the highest wager got to answer. If two players wagered the same amount on the same question (as happened at least twice, on January 14 and August 1), those contestants would be asked to re-wager on that same question and re-declare. All three contestants kept their winnings, either on a Citibank Visa card or in cash, with the high scorer returning the next day.

Champions who won three games got to play the Ultimate Challenge for $50,000 plus $5,000 per failed attempt (later $25,000 plus $1,000 per show unclaimed). Clark announced one of two categories from which all questions were taken; if the contestant answered all three questions correctly in the chosen category, s/he won the cash jackpot; there was no GameShowWinningsCap. (Starting on November 21, the Ultimate Challenge was played on every show and worth $10,000; later on, it was dropped altogether.)

* BonusRound: The Ultimate Challenge, as described above.

** TheAnnouncer: Don Morrow.
** GameShowHost: Dick Clark.

* SpeedRound: The Challengers Sprint.

* ObviousBeta: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkGyZ5kT4Zk This promo]] contains quick shots of what appears to be an unaired {{pilot}} taped on a slightly different set with different graphics.

* UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}: The November 7, 1990 show had two contestants from Boston, found via a contestant search in that city. In light of this, Don Morrow changed the opening intro to "...Dan and Jay, you are ''The Boston Challengers''!"

* XMeetsY: ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' (the basic game format) meets ''Series/{{Pyramid}}'' (Dick Clark and the punny category titles).

* BonusRound: The Ultimate Challenge.

* PunnyName: "Fun with Last Names" had questions on Gary Oldman & Henny Youngman, Fred Frendly & George Meany, and Sammy Cahn & Immanuel Kant.

!!GameShow Tropes in use:

* AprilFoolsDay: Following the Sprint on April 1, 1991, the day's categories popped on the board — "Pre-Columbian Architecture", "The Politics Of Burundi", "Quantum Physics", "14th-Century Philosophers", "Anaerobic Zoology" (which Dick didn't even try to read), and "Existential Poets". He had the contestant pick a category (Pre-Columbian Architecture), then asked "Come on, now, what is going on? Let me see what the subjects are-" — and then the video wall displayed "APRIL FOOL!" You can watch the ep [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCI2VZa0sf4 here]].

All players with positive scores after two rounds played the "Final Challenge", based on one category and three as-of-yet unannounced questions, each rated by difficulty (e.g., the easy question paid even odds, while the most difficult had 3:1 odds). The contestants secretly chose which question they chose to answer and how much of their current winnings (up to all they had) to bet. If two or all three contestants chose the same question, the player with the highest wager got to answer. If two players wagered the same amount on the same question (as happened at least twice, on January 14 and August 1), those contestants would be asked to re-wager in that same question and re-declare. All three contestants kept their winnings, optionally on a Citibank Visa card or in cash, with the high scorer returning the next day.

''The Challengers'' is notable for being one of the very few TV shows to prominently display each episode's airdate during the open and on a screen behind Clark, primarily because episodes were taped close to their airdate to keep with current events. Notably, this featured was dropped during their sweeps-period tournaments, so that they could be rerun during the summer hiatus without being ''literally'' dated. (Technically, there was no hiatus, as the show lasted only one season.)

* HomeParticipationSweepstakes: At least two, which hurt them because A) they took up at least two questions worth of playing time, leaving some categories untouched at the end of the round, B) opening questions such as "What is the color of a cue ball?" made the show look even '''more''' dumbed-down in the eyes of ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' fans and C) they made reruns very difficult without heavy editing.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Some catagories - such as "Hannibal, Vegetable, and Mineral" - giving you questions on ... Hannibal, Vegetable, and Mineral.

** "[[ShoutOut Hoo, Watt, or Wear]]" had questions about owls, James Watt, and the fashion industry.