The Challengers (U.S. Syndicated Game Show)

The Challengers is an American game show that aired in syndication from September 3, 1990 until August 30, 1991. The show remained in production for its entire run on the air, differing from most syndicated game shows which usually wrapped in the early summer.

The series was created by Ron Greenberg and was based largely on his 1969 production, The Who, What, or Where Game. Dick Clark presided over the show with Don Morrow announcing. The Challengers was a joint production of Ron Greenberg Productions and Dick Clark Productions, with Buena Vista Television (now Disney–ABC Domestic Television) as distributor.

On June 10, 2017, it was announced that The Challengers would be revived for syndication, with Ken Jennings (who held the longest winning streak in the history of Jeopardy!) as the host of the series.

Gameplay
Three contestants, one a returning champion, competed.

Challengers Sprint Round
The players were each spotted $200 to start the round, and the hosted asked a series of toss-up questions for which players had to buzz in. Correct answers added $100 to a player's score, while incorrect answers deducted $100 and took the question out of play for the other two players.

The round ended after 60 seconds, and the player in the lead gained initial control for the first round. If two players were tied, one final Sprint question was asked, with a correct answer or an incorrect answer by an opponent gaining control.

Round 1
Six categories, each containing three questions, were displayed on a video wall. The contestant in the lead after the Challengers Sprint (or the one who answered the single toss-up correctly when the Sprint was not in use) chose one to begin the round. The contestants were then given clues to the subjects of the three questions, valued at $150, $200, and $250 in order of increasing difficulty (later reduced to $100, $150, and $200). Correct answers added the value of the question to the contestant's score, while incorrect answers subtracted the same value.

Each contestant secretly chose one of the three questions using buttons on their podiums, and their choices affected the gameplay as follows: In each case, the category was eliminated from play and the last contestant to give a correct answer chose the next one. Play continued until all six categories were played or time ran out.
 * Each contestant chose a different question. The three questions were asked in increasing order of value, with each contestant answering his/her own question.
 * Two contestants chose one question; the third contestant chose a different one. The two questions were asked in increasing order of value. The solo contestant had to answer his/her own question, while the two who chose the same question used their buzzers. If the first contestant of the two who chose the same question answered incorrectly, the other could either pass or try to answer.
 * All three contestants chose the same question. All three question values were immediately doubled, and the chosen question was asked as a toss-up open to all three contestants. The same toss-up rules as above applied. A contestant who answered correctly could either end the category or attempt either of the remaining two questions unopposed. Correctly answering this second question again gave the contestant the option to stop or try the third question. An incorrect answer on either the second or third question subtracted its doubled value from the contestant's score and ended the category.

Round 2
Six new categories were introduced and play continued as described above, with all question values doubled ($300/$400/$500, later $200/$300/$400).

As in Round One, play continued until all six categories were played or time ran out. Any players who finished the round with a zero or negative score were eliminated from the game.

Final Challenge
One final category was presented. This time, each of the three questions in it had a different level of difficulty. The contestants were given fifteen seconds to choose a question, for which they would each wager a portion of their score totals. In the event that more than one contestant selected the same category, the one who made the highest wager was the only one allowed to attempt it.

Corresponding with the level of difficulty of each question were the betting odds attached to them. The easiest question was given "even" odds, meaning answering it correctly added the value of the wager to the contestant's bank. The question of intermediate difficulty was given "double" odds, with a correct answer paying 2:1 (bet $500, win $1,000). The most difficult of the three question was given "triple" odds and answering it correctly paid 3:1 (bet $1,000, win $3,000). If any of the contestants answered their respective questions incorrectly, only the value of the wager was deducted from their score.

In the event that only one player was left to play the Final Challenge, he/she could either play the round or skip it entirely. If the player decided to play the round, he/she chose one of the three questions and wagered a portion of his/her score. A correct answer paid off the wager at the appropriate odds, and the player could then stop or continue with a different questions. Play continued in this fashion until the player either chose to stop, answered all three questions, or gave an incorrect answer to any question.

The player in the lead after this round won the game and returned as champion the next day, although all contestants kept what they had earned. Each contestant had a Citi Visa/MasterCard (depending on what the contestant chooses) account opened in their name before the show started and any money they won was deposited into that account. Contestants could also choose to receive their winnings in cash rather than open the account.

Champions remained on the show until they were defeated.

Ultimate Challenge
The Challengers featured a bonus round in which champions could win thousands of dollars.

When the Ultimate Challenge was introduced, it was a game played for an accumulating cash jackpot.

The champion had to qualify for the round by winning three consecutive matches, and would them play the round at the start of the next program. A choice of two categories was available, each containing three questions. The questions each focused on a different subject within the category and were arranged in order of increasing difficulty.

After the champion chose a category, the host would inform him/her of the subjects of the questions and would ask them one at a time. Following each question, the champion was given five seconds to think before responding. Giving an incorrect answer at any point ended the round, while correctly answering all three questions won the jackpot.

The jackpot begins at $25,000 and was to increase by $1,000 every time a champion played for it and did not win. When an Ultimate Challenge was played, the first round of that episode was shortened to end after three of its six categories had been played.