History Series / AmericaSays

* CurbStompBattle: One team managed to sweep all three rounds and win the bonus round with ease. The name of the team that performed best on ''America Says''? [[spoiler: The ''[[{{Irony}}Canadians]]''!]]

* CurbStompBattle: One team managed to sweep all three rounds and win the bonus round with ease. The name of the team that performed best on ''America Says''? [[spoiler: The ''[[{{Irony}}Canadians]]''!

* CurbStompBattle: One team managed to sweep all three rounds and win the bonus round with ease. The name of the team that performed best on ''America Says''? [[spoiler: The ''Canadians''!]]

* {{Pilot}}: At least two were filmed on the set of ''The Rachael Ray Show'' in 2017. Richard Curtis was the host, it had a far more lavish prize budget[[labelnote:*]]For one thing, sweeping the board won a large prize; one pilot team won ''four new Toyota Highlanders''![[/labelnote]], and they didn't shy away from profane answers.

* NintendoHard: The bonus round. Guessing ten correct answers in a minute is [[SurpriseDifficulty a lot harder than it sounds]] - considering that it only allows for an average of six seconds to be spent on each answer, getting stuck on even one is practically a guaranteed death sentence. While the Skip does allow them to pass over a question that's stumping them, they do still have to come back to the question they used the Skip on if they have time, and having to deal with other questions in the interim could make it difficult to mull over what the correct answer could possibly be. Add the fact that out-of-the-box answers are regularly mixed in with more typical ones, and its easy to see why so few teams manage to clinch the $15,000.

* {{Pilot}}: At least two were filmed in 2017, taped on the set of ''The Rachael Ray Show''. Richard Curtis was the host, it had a far more lavish prize budget[[labelnote:*]]For one thing, sweeping the board won a large prize; one pilot team won ''four new Toyota Highlanders''![[/labelnote]], and they didn't shy away from profane answers.

Two teams of four take alternating turns attempting to clear a board containing the top seven answers to a survey posed to an unidentified number of Americans (ex. "We asked America... when I think of [[Website/ThisVeryWiki TV Tropes]], I think of _____"). The first letter of each answer is given, with the length of the blank indicating how long the word is; multi-word answers will have the first letter of each word listed. Each team has 30 seconds to guess as many answers to the question as possible, one player at a time. Each player is allowed to continue guessing as long as he or she gives right answers; once a wrong answer is given, play passes to the next player on that team. A 5 second penalty is assessed to the team if any player who talks out of turn. The round continues until the 30 seconds have expired or a team sweeps the board. Each correct answer is worth 100 points; clearing the board earns the full 700 points plus an additional 1,000 point bonus.

* NintendoHard: The bonus round is borderline unwinnable in most situations. Guessing ten correct answers in a mere minute is [[SurpriseDifficulty a lot harder than it sounds]] - considering that it only allows for an average of six seconds to be spent on each answer, getting stuck on even one is practically a guaranteed death sentence. To add insult to injury, the Skip is absolutely worthless as assistance, since it only allows teams to move on to the next question: they still have to come back to the question they used the Skip on if they have time, and it’s highly unlikely the team would have had any epiphanies when they’ve been dealing with other questions in the interim. Astute viewers have picked up on the fact that, on the very few occasions where the bonus round was won, the questions were significantly easier and the answers noticeably more obvious than usual, leading many to conclude that the game is deliberately UnwinnableByDesign until the producers feel it’s time for someone to win.

* NonStandardGameOver: It is not uncommon for the final round to start with the team in the lead, who can then potentially reach a lead that would be insurmountable by the trailing team in their portion of the round and cause the game to end early.
* {{Pilot}}: At least two were filmed in 2017, taped on the set of ''The Rachael Ray Show''. Richard Curtis was the host, it had a far more lavish prize budget[[labelnote:*]]For starters, sweeping the board won a large prize; one pilot team won ''four new Toyota Highlanders!''[[/labelnote]], and they didn't shy away from profane answers.

* EpicFail: Usually, teams that have a teammate call an answer out of turn try to be more careful at least for the rest of the current round, but in at least one episode, one of the team members called an answer out of turn ''three'' times in a row (despite John saying "out of turn" increasingly louder each time) during the '''bonus round''', ensuring that the team wouldn't win the episode.

* TheLoad: Usually, teams that have a teammate call an answer out of turn try to be more careful at least for the rest of the current round, but in at least one episode, one of the team members called an answer out of turn ''three'' times in a row (despite John saying "out of turn" increasingly louder each time) during the '''bonus round''', ensuring that the team wouldn't win the episode.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/americasays_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Guessing how America filled in the blanks.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/americasays.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Guessing how America filled in the blanks.]]

* BonusRound: The team is given 60 seconds to complete four additional survey questions. The first has one top answer, the second has two, etc. for a total of 10 answers, only one of which usually presents a significant amount of difficulty. The main game rules (including the 5 second out of turn penalty) are enforced. If a team gets stuck on a question, they may hit a Skip button located in the center of the play area; however they may only use it once and must come back and answer the skipped question at the end of the round. The clock only stops when a board is cleared or the Skip button is pressed. Answering all four survey questions within the time limit wins the $15,000.

Two teams of four take alternating turns attempting to clear a board containing the top seven answers to a survey posed to an unidentified number of Americans (ex. "We asked America... when I think of [[Wiki/ThisVeryWiki TV Tropes]], I think of _____"). The first letter of each answer is given, with the length of the blank indicating how long the word is; multi-word answers will have the first letter of each word listed. Each team has 30 seconds to guess as many answers to the question as possible, one player at a time. Each player is allowed to continue guessing as long as he or she gives right answers; once a wrong answer is given, play passes to the next player on that team. A 5 second penalty is assessed to the team if any player who talks out of turn. The round continues until the 30 seconds have expired or a team sweeps the board. Each correct answer is worth 100 points; clearing the board earns the full 700 points plus an additional 1,000 point bonus.

!!We asked America: "When I think of tropes that ''America Says'' provides examples of, I think of:"

Two teams of four take alternating turns attempting to clear a board containing the top seven answers to a survey posed to an unidentified number of Americans (ex. "We asked America... when I think of [[Wiki/ThisVeryWiki TV Tropes]], I think of _____"). The first letter of each answer is given, with the length of the blank indicating how long the word is. Each team has 30 seconds to guess as many answers to the question as possible, one player at a time. Each player is allowed to continue guessing as long as he or she gives right answers; once a wrong answer is given, play passes to the next player on that team. A 5 second penalty is assessed to the team if any player who talks out of turn. The round continues until the 30 seconds have expired or a team sweeps the board. Each correct answer is worth 100 points; clearing the board earns the full 700 points plus an additional 1,000 point bonus.

!!GameShowTropes in use:
* GameShowHost: John Michael Higgins.

!!We asked America: "When I think of tropes that ''America Says'' provides examples of, I think of:"
* ActorAllusion: One episode pitted fans of ''Film/BestInShow'' against fans of the ''Film/PitchPerfect'' series--both of which featured host John Michael Higgins.
* CatchPhrase:
** "We asked America..."
** "When I think of [topic], I think of 'blank'."
* MiddleNameBasis: Although he is credited by his full name, most contestants address John as Michael.
* NintendoHard: The bonus round is borderline {{Unwinnable}} in most situations. Guessing ten correct answers in a mere minute is [[SurpriseDifficulty a lot harder than it sounds]] - considering that it only allows for an average of six seconds to be spent on each answer, getting stuck on even one is practically a guaranteed death sentence. To add insult to injury, the Skip is absolutely worthless as assistance, since it only allows teams to move on to the next question: they still have to come back to the question they used the Skip on if they have time, and it’s highly unlikely the team would have had any epiphanies when they’ve been dealing with other questions in the interim. Astute viewers have picked up on the fact that, on the very few occasions where the bonus round was won, the questions were significantly easier and the answers noticeably more obvious than usual, leading many to conclude that the game is deliberately UnwinnableByDesign until the producers feel it’s time for someone to win.
* PressXToDie: Giving a (correct or incorrect) response that the other team has already given at any time. John usually responds to this with something along the lines of: "Well, the other team said that already, but maybe it's worth another shot?".

!!This series provides examples of:

* CatchPhrase: "We asked America..."

Two teams of four take alternating turns attempting to clear a board containing the top seven answers to a survey posed to an unidentified number of Americans (ex. "We asked America... when I think of [[Wiki/ThisVeryWiki TV Tropes]], I think of _____"). The first letter of each answer is given, with the length of the blank indicating how long the word is. Each team has 30 seconds to guess as many answers to the question as possible, one player at a time. Each player is allowed to continue guessing as long as he or she gives right answers; once a wrong answer is given, play passes to the next player on that team. A 5 second penalty is assessed to any player who talks out of turn. The round continues until the 30 seconds have expired or a team sweeps the board. Each correct answer is worth 100 points; clearing the board earns the full 700 points plus an additional 1,000 point bonus.

* NoBudget: The only prizes mentioned are the $1,000 for winning the main game and the $15,000 for winning the BonusRound. Getting anything short of the 10 answers needed to win the bonus round earns no additional money.