Caesar's Challenge (U.S. Game Show)

Caesars Challenge is an American game show that aired on NBC from June 14, 1993 to January 14, 1994 and emanated from the Circus Maximus Theatre inside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ahmad Rashād hosted the series and, in keeping with the theme of the show's location, he was assisted by a man dressed as a Roman gladiator. Dan Doherty played the role for most of the show's run, with Chad Brown and Zach Ruby handling the earliest episodes before Doherty joined the show.

The show was a co-production of Rosner Television and Stephen J. Cannell Productions.

On Mar. 1, 2017, it was announced that Tribune Entertainment would begin production for a revival of the series for Channel America's afternoon game show block, with Carlos Ponce as the host, and James Denton dressed as a Roman gladiator and being Ponce's assistant.

Gameplay
Three contestants competed, and three rounds were played. The object in each round was to solve a jumbled word displayed on a 9-screen slot machine on stage by placing letters in their proper places. In order to do this, the contestants answered a series of multiple choice trivia questions that had three possible answer choices. Each new word was associated with a specific category, and a new set of questions were played for each word. Correct answers paid off at $100 in the first round, $200 in the second round, and $300 in the third round. Two words were played in each of the first two rounds, with the third round played until time was called with as many words they could get in as possible.

Correctly answering a question won money to the player that did so, as well as the right to place one of the letters. After a letter was placed, he/she got five seconds to guess it. One position in each word was designated the "Lucky Slot", signified by a lighted red border surrounding the screen, and an instant cash jackpot was associated with it. The jackpot started each day at $500 and increased by that amount each word it went unclaimed, resetting to $500 once someone won it.

Once a word was correctly guessed, the player that did so won money based on how many letters were unplaced when the word was unscrambled. The value of each unplaced letter was equivalent to the value of the questions in the round ($100 in round one, $200 in round two, and $300 in round three as previously mentioned). If the player solved the word immediately after placing a letter in the Lucky Slot, the value of the jackpot was also added to his/her score.

If a word was in play when time was called in the third round, signified by the sound of a car horn, the Lucky Slot was taken out of play and the remaining unplaced letters were placed one at a time until someone guessed the word and earned the remaining money left from the unplaced letters. Buzzing in and answering incorrectly during this time locked a player out of the rest of the round. If a word was not in play when time was called in the third round, one final word was played; the letters of that word were placed one at a time until someone guessed the word.

The player with the most money at the end of the game won a prize package equivalent to his/her cash total and advanced to the bonus round. The other players left with parting gifts, including dinner for two and tickets to one of the headliner acts that were at Caesars at the time. In the case of a tie, another speed-up round was played between the tied players.

Bonus Round
The day's champion was given a chance to win a brand new automobile in the final round. Once again, the thematic setting of its location was employed by the show as playing the bonus was referred to on air as "facing Caesars' challenge."

The champion had to unscramble five different words. The words were displayed on a screen placed in front of the slot machine and were not revealed until Doherty pulled a curtain covering the screen away. The screen consisted of words that were five, six, seven, eight, and nine letters in length and displayed them in descending order. Starting at the bottom, the champion's objective was to unscramble all five words within 30 seconds. The letters were automatically placed one at a time and the champion could not advance to the next word until the one in play was correctly guessed.

If the champion correctly guessed all the words, he/she won the car and retired. If not, he/she could return up to two more times to try again and was automatically retired on the third day if he/she still had not won the car.

Audience Game
During the closing credits of every show Ponce and Denton, carrying a large bowl, would go into the audience and give the patrons a chance to try to unscramble words. Each audience member who was chosen had to unscramble a five-letter word without any letters being placed. Every time someone did so correctly, Ponce would allow them to grab something from the bowl. Inside the bowl were gold-covered chocolate medallions, Caesars casino chips, and dollar coins and successful contestants won whatever they could grab in one handful.