History Series / MasterMinds

** The third ''Minds'' season lowered the requirement to just two victories. [[spoiler:So far five contestants have pulled it off; Kelly Gerhold, Lauren Cusitello, and Cliff Galiher did so in the third ''Minds'' season, Brendan Sargent and John Rhodes did it in the fourth.]]
** Muffy Marracco has guest-hosted a few season 4 ''Minds'' episodes due to Brooke's brief illness.

** Muffy Marracco has guest-hosted a few season 4 ''Minds'' episodes due to Brooke's illness.

** Muffy Marracco has guest-hosted a few season 4 ''Minds'' episodes.

** In the first two ''Master Minds'' seasons, in the second round, only one player on each side (who buzzed in) could answer each question, and wrong answers caused points to be lost. A number of players secured their spot in the third round by not buzzing in at all while a poor-guessing player knocked themselves out by giving too many incorrect answers. This is no longer possible beginning in Season Three, as the round has been re-tooled so that all players must answer every question, and points are not deducted for incorrect answers.

** The third ''Minds'' season lowered the requirement to just two victories. [[spoiler:So far four contestants have pulled it off; Kelly Gerhold, Lauren Cusitello, and Cliff Galiher did so in the third ''Minds'' season, Brendan Sargent did it in the fourth.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Do you have what it takes to beat the best?[[labelnote:*]]From left to right: Jonathan Corbblah, Arianna Haut, Muffy Marracco, host Brooke Burns, Mark "The Beast" Labbett, [=LaKedra=] Pam, Ryan Chaffee.[[/labelnote]]]]
''Master Minds'' is a GameShow on GSN in which three contestants face off against a set of three resident trivia experts for a chance at $10,000 and, eventually, a spot on the show as a Master Mind themselves.

The series debuted on June 10, 2019, as ''Best Ever Trivia Show'' and was originally hosted by Sherri Shepherd. The resident trivia experts included Ken Jennings, Muffy Marracco, Jonathan Corbblah, Ryan Chaffee, Arianna Haut, Raj Dhuwalia, Susannah Brooks, and David Suchinsky. In this version, contestants and experts secretly locked in answers to multiple-choice questions over three rounds. The winning contestant faced off against the best-performing expert in the [[BonusRound Ultimate Trivia Challenge]], a five-question showdown. If the contestant beat the expert, they won $10,000 and got to play again. A contestant who beat the experts three times was invited to play as an expert themselves in future shows.

The series was renewed under the title ''Master Minds'' and debuted under this new title, with a new format, on April 6, 2020, with Brooke Burns replacing Sherri Shepherd as host. Jennings, Marracco, Corbblah, Chaffee, and Haut all returned as experts (now called [[TitleDrop "Master Minds"]]), along with newcomer [=LaKedra=] Pam. The third season under the ''Master Minds'' title replaced Ken Jennings, who was now too busy with ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'', with ''Series/TheChase'' favorite Mark "The Beast" Labbett. The format was also retooled further, the biggest change being that it now only takes two bonus round victories to become a Master Mind. The following season introduced another new Master Mind, Monica Thieu.

** The third ''Minds'' season lowered the requirement to just two victories. [[spoiler:So far three contestants have pulled it off; Kelly Gerhold, Lauren Cusitello, and Cliff Galiher.]]

The series was renewed under the title ''Master Minds'' and debuted under this new title, with a new format, on April 6, 2020, with Brooke Burns replacing Sherri Shepherd as host. Jennings, Marracco, Corbblah, Chaffee, and Haut all returned as experts (now called [[TitleDrop "Master Minds"]]), along with newcomer [=LaKedra=] Pam. The third season under the ''Master Minds'' title replaced Ken Jennings, who was now too busy with ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'', with ''Series/TheChase'' favorite Mark "The Beast" Labbett. The format was also retooled further, the biggest change being that it now only takes two bonus round victories to become a Master Mind.

* {{Retool}}: Oh yes. The title changed, the host changed, the format got re-worked, the set went from a rainbow motif to all blue...the only thing to carry over from ''Best Ever Trivia Show'' to ''Master Minds'' completely unscathed was the music package.

* BonusRound: The Ultimate Trivia Challenge. The format varied, but in all cases, both the contestant and expert/Master Mind faced a series of questions. If the contestant outscored the expert/Master Mind, ''or'' tied and correctly answered an extra question correctly (the so-called [[SuddenDeath Ultimate Trivia Question]]), the $1,000 they won in the main game was upgraded to $10,000 and they got to play again, up to three times.

* NintendoHard: The questions are not that easy in the first place, and they get harder as you go deeper into the game. Also, the experts/Master Minds are '''smart.''' Usually you'll need most of the questions right in the Bonus Round, if not a perfect score, just to get to the [[SuddenDeath Ultimate Trivia Question]]. Beating them once is hard enough, let alone twice or three times. [[spoiler:Six contestants have managed two wins... but the first three did so when the requirement was ''three'' wins, so they did not join the Master Minds.]] And God help you if you drew Ken Jennings as your opponent in the final round... [[spoiler:During his entire tenure on ''Master Minds'', Jennings was never beaten outright by a contestant; the only wins against him came via tiebreaker. He was beaten thrice on the original ''Best Ever'' incarnation, though.]]

* SuddenDeath: The main example here would be the Ultimate Trivia Question if the BonusRound ends in a tie. The question is directed to the contestant only, and if they get it right, they win; if not, they lose.
** When it crops up among the contestants, the procedure differed between ''Best Ever'' and ''Minds''. On ''Best Ever'', the contestants involved locked in an answer to one more question; fastest correct answer wins. On ''Minds'', the contestants (or, occasionally, Master Minds) involved answered one question verbally on the buzzers; a wrong answer meant that contestant (or Master Mind) was out.

** The third ''Minds'' season lowered the requirement to just two victories. [[spoiler:So far two contestants, Kelly Gerhold and Lauren Cusitello, have pulled it off.]]

* NintendoHard: The questions are not that easy in the first place, and they get harder as you go deeper into the game. Also, the experts/Master Minds are '''smart.''' Usually you'll need most of the questions right in the Bonus Round, if not a perfect score, just to get to the [[SuddenDeath Ultimate Trivia Question]]. Beating them once is hard enough, let alone twice or three times. [[spoiler:Five contestants have managed two wins... but the first three did so when the requirement was ''three'' wins, so they did not join the Master Minds.]] And God help you if you drew Ken Jennings as your opponent in the final round... [[spoiler:During his entire tenure on ''Master Minds'', Jennings was never beaten outright by a contestant; the only wins against him came via tiebreaker. He was beaten thrice on the original ''Best Ever'' incarnation, though.]]

** The third ''Minds'' season lowered the requirement to just two victories. [[spoiler:That turned out to be the tonic; so far two contestants, Kelly Gerhold and Lauren Cusitello, have pulled it off.]]

** Further retooled in the third ''Minds'' season: everyone plays every question in the first two rounds, the BonusRound has been reduced to four questions, and, most importantly, only ''two'' wins against the Master Minds are required to become a Master Mind yourself.

** The third ''Minds'' season lowered the requirement to just two victories. [[spoiler:So far just one contestant, Kelly Gerhold, has pulled it off.]]

* NintendoHard: The questions are not that easy in the first place, and they get harder as you go deeper into the game. Also, the experts/Master Minds are '''smart.''' Usually you'll need most of the questions right in the Bonus Round, if not a perfect score, just to get to the [[SuddenDeath Ultimate Trivia Question]]. Beating them once is hard enough, let alone twice or three times. [[spoiler:Four contestants have managed two wins... but the first three did so when the requirement was ''three'' wins, so they did not join the Master Minds.]] And God help you if you drew Ken Jennings as your opponent in the final round... [[spoiler:During his entire tenure on ''Master Minds'', Jennings was never beaten outright by a contestant; the only wins against him came via tiebreaker. He was beaten thrice on the original ''Best Ever'' incarnation, though.]]

* NintendoHard: The questions are not that easy in the first place, and they get harder as you go deeper into the game. Also, the experts/Master Minds are '''smart.''' Usually you'll need most of the questions right in the Bonus Round, if not a perfect score, just to get to the [[SuddenDeath Ultimate Trivia Question]]. Beating them once is hard enough, let alone twice or three times. [[spoiler:Three contestants have managed two wins... but at the time, the requirement was three.]] And God help you if you drew Ken Jennings as your opponent in the final round... [[spoiler:During his entire tenure on ''Master Minds'', Jennings was never beaten outright by a contestant; the only wins against him came via tiebreaker. He was beaten thrice on the original ''Best Ever'' incarnation, though.]]

* EliminatedFromTheRace: After round 2 on ''Minds,'' both the lowest-scoring contestant and the lowest-scoring Master Mind were out of there.

** In the first two ''Master Minds'' seasons, in the second round, only one player on each side (who buzzed in) could answer each question, and wrong answers caused points to be lost. A number of players secured their spot in the third round by not buzzing in at all while a poor-guessing player knocked themselves out by giving too many incorrect answers.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/masterminds_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Ken Jennings and Brooke Burns]]

The series debuted on June 10, 2019, as ''Best Ever Trivia Show'' and was originally hosted by Sherri Shepherd. The resident trivia experts included Ken Jennings, Muffy Maracco, Jonathan Corbblah, Ryan Chaffee, Arianna Haut, Raj Dhuwalia, Susannah Brooks, and David Suchinsky. In this version, contestants and experts secretly locked in answers to multiple-choice questions over three rounds. The winning contestant faced off against the best-performing expert in the [[BonusRound Ultimate Trivia Challenge]], a five-question showdown. If the contestant beat the expert, they won $10,000 and got to play again. A contestant who beat the experts three times was invited to play as an expert themselves in future shows.

The series was renewed under the title ''Master Minds'' and debuted under this new title, with a new format, on April 6, 2020, with Brooke Burns replacing Sherri Shepherd as host. Jennings, Maracco, Corbblah, Chaffee, and Haut all returned as experts (now called [[TitleDrop "Master Minds"]]), along with newcomer [=LaKedra=] Pam. The third season under the ''Master Minds'' title replaced Ken Jennings, who was now too busy with ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'', with ''Series/TheChase'' favorite Mark "The Beast" Labbett. The format was also retooled further, the biggest change being that it now only takes two bonus round victories to become a Master Mind.

* AscendedExtra: This is the prize for pulling off three wins against the experts/Master Minds (that and $30,000 in total winnings). So far after three seasons, [[spoiler:nobody has won the full $30,000. Only three contestants have ever made it to a third day, and only ONE of those three made it to the bonus round.]]
** The third ''Minds'' season lowers the requirement to just two victories. Time will tell if anyone can finally pull it off.

** Muffy Maracco is "The Historian".

** Lakedra Pam is "The Doctor".
* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Muffy Maracco, Jonathan Corbblah, and Arianna Haut were previously contestants on the Brooke Burns-hosted version of ''The Chase'' prior to being reunited with her on ''Master Minds''.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: The third season of ''Minds'' compared to all prior episodes, by lowering the requirement to two wins, [[spoiler:which had been done three times under the three-win requirement]]. That said, the game itself isn't any easier.