Trivial Pursuit: America Plays

Trivial Pursuit: America Plays
Premiere	September 22, 2008
Finale	April 10, 2009
Creator	board game: Scott Abbott, Chris Haney
Host	Christopher Knight
Network/Provider	Syndication
Style	30-minute game show
Company	Debmar-Mercury
Seasons	1
Episodes	170 (List of episodes)
Origin	USA

Trivial Pursuit: America Plays is a game show that aired in syndication. It was the second American show based on the popular board game Trivial Pursuit, following a 1993 show simply titled Trivial Pursuit. Three contestants in the studio have to answer questions submitted by regular people who make up America's team. When a contestant gets the question wrong, the dollar value of that question goes to the America's team bank, if they get it right it goes to the studio bank. At the end of the game, if the America's team bank has more money, than the total amount is divided between every person who had their question on the show. If the studio bank has more, than the remaining contestant gets all of the money in that bank.

Gameplay

First Round: There are three contestants, and six categories are revealed, each with a different color wedge. For each question, a category and dollar value (between $250 and $500) is randomly selected, and a video of the question being read by someone is played. The person who asked the question is now a part of America's team. The first question is an all-play, meaning anyone can answer it. If someone answers the questions correctly, they get one wedge that is the color of the category, and the dollar value goes into the studio bank. If any contestant answers wrong, the money goes into America's bank, but another player can still answer correctly to get the wedge. If a contestant answers the question correctly, they get to have first shot at answering the next question. If they get it wrong, the other contestants get to try and answer it. If nobody gets it, the next question is another all-play, where anyone can answer. If a contestant answers a question correctly, but they already have a wedge the color of the category, they do not get a new wedge, but the money still goes to the studio bank and they get first shot at the next question. Once two contestants get three different wedges, the third contestant leaves and the first round is over.

Second Round (Hot Pursuit): The two remaining contestants try to be the first to fill up their wedges by answering three more questions correctly. There are no categories in this round, so any correct answer fills one wedge. Each question has a dollar value of $500, and the money still goes to either the studio bank or America's bank depending on if the question is answered correctly. The first contestant to answer three questions correctly goes on to the final round.

Final Round (Head-to-Head): Six categories are revealed, which are then randomly ordered. These categories are then assigned dollar values based on their order, with the first category having $500 and the other categories go in order from $1000 through $5000. As before, if the contestant answers correctly, the money goes to the studio bank, if not, it goes to America's bank. After the questions are answered, if the studio bank has more money, the contestant wins that amount, but if America's bank has more, the money is divided between all of America's team, made up of all the people who asked questions. If the contestant reaches a point where it is impossible for America's team to catch up (ie the studio bank has $11000 and America's bank has $5000, with only the $5000 question remaining), the contestant wins, but gets the opportunity to answer the question for double or nothing. If they choose to take the question, if they get it right they double the studio bank, but if they get it wrong they go home with no money.

Cast

Person	Role	Duration
Main Cast
Christopher Knight	Host	1

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale	#
Syndication
Season One	September 22, 2008	April 10, 2009	170

In Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

There has not been a DVD release for this show.

External Sites

• Official website for Trivial Pursuit: America Plays