Trivia Trap
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| Trivia Trap | |
|---|---|
 Trivia Trap title logo. | |
| Created by | Mark Goodson |
| Starring | Bob Eubanks (host) Gene Wood, Bob Hilton, Charlie O'Donnell (announcers) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 25 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | 1984 – 1985 |
Trivia Trap was a U.S. game show created by Mark Goodson Television Productions. It originally ran from October 8, 1984 to April 5, 1985 on ABC. The game featured two teams of three players each, who competed against each other to answer trivia questions in various formats; these formats would change throughout the show's run. Bob Eubanks was the host of Trivia Trap; Gene Wood, Bob Hilton, and Charlie O'Donnell alternated as announcers.
Original format
Two teams of three players played. One team was the Juniors, who wore the blue sweaters, and all the players were under 30 years of age; the other team was the Seniors, who wore the red sweaters, and who were over the age 30. These two teams each played games of trivia (whose formats changed as the run went on) to reach a goal of $1000 in cash.
Round One
Teams were shown two rows of monitors, with four answers in each row. The team in control chose one of the two rows, and then a question was asked pertaining to those answers. The team members took turns selecting an answer that they thought was wrong, until all three wrong answers were eliminated, or the correct answer was chosen. The team received $50 for each wrong answer, and another $200 for eliminating all three, for a total of $300. After one team played their question, a new row replaced the one used, and the second team chose which row to play. Each team played two questions.
$1,000 Trivia Race
Round Two was called the $1,000 Trivia Race. In it, control began with the team in the lead; in case of a tie, a coin toss determined control. Three categories were shown and the team in control of the board chose which category they wanted. After a category was used once, a new one replaced it. Bob would read the question, and one at a time, the players would answer. If one answered correctly, they kept control and would choose another category. $100 was awarded for each correct answer; starting in the show's second week, each correct answer from the 11th question onward was worth $200. If none of the players answered correctly, the other team would get control. Teams would play until they either missed or reached the $1,000 goal. The first team to reach the goal won the game and would go on to play for a possible $10,000.
Second format
Round One (Fact or Fiction?)
Later in the run, the front game was changed. The first round was called Fact or Fiction?. The champions were given the choice of two colored envelopes (Red or Black). Then one player at a time, Eubanks would ask a True/False question, each worth $25. The other team would then play the other envelope. For the second part, the challengers had the choice of envelopes. Each team played two envelopes.
Round Two (The Trivia Trap Round)
In the second round, the team in the lead (or the champions, in case of a tie) played first and had a choice of two categories. After the category was chosen, four answers were shown. One player would answer, then the other two had a choice to agree with that answer or disagree. Whether the players agreed or disagreed determined the value of a correct answer. If all of them agreed and the answer was right, they would win $200. If one agreed and it was correct, they'd win $100. If everybody disagreed it would be worth $50. But if they disagreed correctly, they would then be able to choose the correct answer, in the same way explained above. Like before, the other player could disagree to try to save the team. After the question, the other team played the other category. Each team played two questions.
This second format retained the Trivia Race round mentioned above, played after the Trivia Trap round.
$10,000 Trivia Ladder
Both formats of the show used the same bonus round, called the $10,000 Trivia Ladder. This time, the players on the winning team played for themselves. The three players played in order by their success in the Trivia Race. A row of monitors rose to the first level of the Trivia Ladder. Four answers were shown to the best player. That player could then play that question or pass it to the next player, who, in turn, could either play that question or pass it to the last player. If a player answered correctly, he or she won $1,000. If the player answered incorrectly, that player was eliminated, but did return to play the next day.
After the first question was asked, the row of monitors rose to the next level of the ladder, and four new answers were shown to the better-ranked player of those remaining. As before, that player could either answer or pass to the last player. For the third question, the remaining player had to answer.
Any player who answered a question correctly on a lower rung of the ladder played for $10,000. Four answers were shown as before, and a question was asked. The players locked in the answer they believed was correct on a hidden panel in their podium. (If only one player was playing for the $10,000, that player simply said which answer he or she believed was correct). Any player who correctly answered the question won $10,000. If more than one player gave the correct answer on the final question, those players shared the $10,000. Any team which played The Trivia Ladder five times would retire undefeated.
The highest collective total earned during the run was $65,496, won by a Junior team. The highest single player winner was Kandi Doyle, who won over $40,000.[citation needed]
Sound effects
The sound heard when the first two wrong answers were cut in the original format's first round was used in Classic Concentration when a number flipped. It was also used as the sound effect when a game board was revealed in the 1989 version of Now You See It. It was also used in many Saturday Night Live game show sketches as a ring-in sound. The "Trap" sound from cutting the right answer in the original format's first round, losing control to the other team in the $1,000 Trivia Race, and picking a wrong answer in both the Trivia Ladder and the later format's second round, was later and still used on the Price Is Right pricing game "Pathfinder" when a wrong number is stepped on. It was also used on the Illinois game shows Illinois Instant Riches and Illinois Luckiest when a bad choice was made, including on another game show Super Decades when time ran out on answering questions. The "reveal" sound used in the Trivia Ladder, the original format's first round, and the later format's second round are used to reveal the answers in Fast Money on Family Feud since 1988, as well as the buzz-in sound in the Celebrity Jeopardy! parody seen on Saturday Night Live and on Super Decades when a picture was revealed for a question. The sound used for the rising rung on the Trivia Ladder was later reversed and used for when the Star Wheel was lowered in the 1990 edition of Match Game.
In the final portion of the bonus round, when both or all three contestants lock in their answer choices, the vowels-left signal from Wheel of Fortune (used before 1989) sounds. This Wheel of Fortune sound effect was used for the first three weeks and was replaced by the buzz-in sound effect from Family Feud.
When all the wrong answers have been knocked off, when a team reaches $1,000, and when correct answers were given both during the later format's second round and the Trivia Ladder's lower 3 rungs, you would hear the last bar of the rarely heard end of the Family Feud theme, which is also heard on The Price Is Right's Grand Game.
Episode status
All episodes exist.
As of now, Trivia Trap is airing Wednesday through Saturday mornings (Tuesday through Friday Pacific Time) at 1AM on the Game Show Network.