Trivia Trap (1984)

Short-lived game show which used two formats and implemented the use of celebrities in an attempt to cash in on the trivia game craze. Two three-member teams -- the "Juniors" (whose members were younger than 30 years old) and the "Seniors" (contestants were older than 30 years old); one of them was the returning champions -- competed. Early in the show's run, host Eubanks announced two sets of four possible answers to a trivia question; the captain of the challenging team selected one set, to which Eubanks read the question. In turn, each team member had to eliminate the three incorrect answers, leaving just the right answer. Eliminating all three wrong answers was worth $300 to the team, but finding the right answer ended play on that question (though each wrong answer eliminated was worth $50). Each team played two such questions, with a new set of answers replaced the old one. After each team played two questions, the contestants competed in the "$1,000 Trivia Race," or simply a round of standard general knowledge questions. A member of the team in control selected a category (from a choice of three), to which Eubanks read a question. If that player was incorrect, his/her teammates were given a chance to answer, but if all three were wrong, control passed to the other team. The first 10 questions were worth $100 each, with all remaining questions earning $200. The first team to $1,000 won the game and moved on to the "Trivia Ladder" bonus round. In this two-stage round, the three players line up according to how well they performed in the Trivia Race. The first-seeded player is shown four possible answers and decides whether to play the question or pass it to the second-seeded player (who is also given the choice); the third-seeded player must play the question if given to him/her. A correct answer at this point earns that player $1,000 and the right to compete for the $10,000 grand prize, though a wrong answer eliminated him/her from the rest of the round. If any players are left, one final set of four answers is shown, for which the players secretly lock in their answer. The contestant(s) who are correct, if any, win or split $10,000. Midway through the run, a new first round called "Fact or Fiction" was played in two stages: 1. Each team member answers a true-false question worth $25 each; 2. Each team secretly tries to agree on the right answer to a true-false answer; the team won $50 for each contestant who was correct or $200 if all three were right. Both stages were played twice, and the "$1,000 Trivia Race" and "Trivia Ladder" continued as before. Near the end of the run, teams of celebrities played the game for charity. All non-celebrity teams played for a maximum of five days, with a theorhetical maximum of $60,750 possible.