Challenger (game show)
Challenger was an Australian children's game show that aired on the Nine Network in 1997 and 1998. The first host was Diarmid Heidenreich, famous for playing Dougie the pizza delivery guy in Pizza Hut commercials in the mid-1990s. After he left the show in early 1998 he was replaced by hosts Adrian DeVito and Zoe Sheridan. They filmed 265 episodes before the show was superseded by the return of Now You See It.
| Challenger | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Game show |
| Directed by | Greg Harper |
| Presented by | Diarmid Heidenreich (1997) Adrian DeVito (1998) Zoe Sheridan (1998) |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 265 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Simon Phillips |
| Producer(s) | Rani Stainton |
| Production location(s) | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Camera setup | Tom Volmer Steve Atkinson Jonathan Hastings Andrew Bergh Leslie R. Hicks |
| Running time | 26 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nine Network |
| Picture format | 4:3 PAL |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 10 February 1997 – 13 June 1998 |
Format
The format of the show had two teams (Alpha and Omega) with three children a side. The teams consisted of a captain and two other members.
First Round: The highest scoring team dictated which team would undertake the challenges first. During Diarmid's run, the questions were divided into six categories, spanning a range of genres. The first round did not have a name. In Adrian and Zoe's run, the questions were grouped into three categories and the segment was named Mind Zone. At the end of each round, the winning team were allowed to decide who would undertake the physical challenges first.
The categories for Diarmid's run were Cosmix (random), Entertainment, Geography, Language, Nature and Sport. The categories were randomly selected for each contestant, but 20 bonus points were awarded if the categories were the same for each contestant. There were three questions per team. The categories for Adrian/Zoe's run were It's a What?, Pick Your Face and Position Yourself. These all consisted of "what/who/where am I" questions and there was only one question per round.
Second Round: Each team member attempted a separate challenge to earn points. In the original run, some of the challenges involved getting a certain number of a particular object, or reaching a goal to earn points through questions. When Adrian and Zoe took over, some of the challenges remained, but the focus was now on getting discs in order to get the questions, and the discs were random questions rather than specific categories. For each correct question, there were 10 points. If you had all 6 discs/pieces, you received 20 bonus points if you got them all right. Throughout the entire show's run, the teams (or contestants) had 40 seconds per challenge. This was repeated with another team.
Final Round: This found the team leaders in glass containers below a slime showerhead. One of their teammates would be blindfolded, whilst the other would have their hands tied around their back. The four teammates would them look through a blue vat of slime for a disc with a question in it. Whichever team got the disc had the choice to either answer the question themselves, or force the other team to answer the question. Should the answering team get their question right, they would get 50 points and the other team's captain would be slimed. If both teams were holding the disc simultaneously, the question wes read and anyone could buzz in to answer the question. If the answering team answered the question incorrectly, their opposing team would get 50 points and their team captain would be slimed. Occasionally, both captains were slimed.
During Diarmid's run, the lever to operate the slime (a mud-coloured liquid) was pulled by someone unseen. During Adrian and Zoe's run, the lever was pulled by Adrian, who would often make faces at the camera while dramatic music played (the slime varied from episode to episode between green-yellow and blue). When Diarmid hosted, the segment was called "Slime Time". When Adrian and Zoe hosted, the segment (and the tank) were renamed "Hyperflush." Sometimes a guest would be present in the show, such as the team's school principal or a teacher, and they would be slimed with one of the team captains.
Prizes during Diarmid's run included merchandise from the Australian Geographic retail outlets and occasionally, a Sega Saturn gaming console. Prizes during Adrian and Zoe's run included Lorus watches and Sony Music Australia CDs.
List of Challenges
The challenges in this show all had a physical element to them. Most involved collecting discs (or in the case of Go Ballistic, balls) to gain points by answering questions, while some involved merely connecting up pieces in order to earn points. During Diarmid's run, an explanation of each of the challenges was shown prior to the first team attempting each challenge. During Adrian and Zoe's run, the explanation was done after the Mind Zone round.
Oblivion - People went through mazes with revolving door mirrors on them. One contestant who is not in the maze will need to communicate the contestant who is on the maze for directions. During Diarmid's run, the challenge was called "Get Lost" and the revolving doors were solid colours.
Pro-Pole-sion - Contestants would swing on different coloured poles trying to grab discs that were stuck to the poles. These poles were suspended in the air and had a metal foothold on the bottom, making it difficult (but not impossible) for contestants to use both feet.
The Sphere - The contestant was spun in an orb. Upon being released they had to pop red balloons to find discs. Some of the balloons also contained other substances such as flour. During Diarmid's run, this challenge was called "Cape Sphere".
Vertically Challenged - Contestants would climb up a wall whilst trying to retrieve four discs on the way. At the top of the wall, they could search a UFO for further two discs. Keeping in with the theme of the show, the wall had a volcano effect painted over it. While some of the holes contained discs, others would contain shaving cream or flour. After the challenge was completed, the contestant would either go down by either the fireman's pole, or a ladder.
Go Ballistic - One contestant would stand in a rocket with smoke whilst plastic balls were rained on them from above. Their teammates had six buckets of balls into a conveyor belt. Each bucket had one red ball. The contestant had to catch and place six red balls in a chute to complete the challenge.
Big Squeeze - One contestant would wear a fat suit and run through an obstacle course to collect discs.
Schwing It - This game consisted of an obstacle course involving the following elements: flying fox (over a smoke-filled pit), chain link bridge (over a yellow mat), monkey rings and a smoke filled pit. (some of the discs were hung ON the rings, requiring the contestant to hang one-handed while retrieving the disc) After the contestant completed the course, he/she was able to search the smoke pit (if there was time). During Diarmid's run, the challenge was called "Hang Loose" and one pit consisted of feathers, and the other bubbles.
The Pipe Line - One contestant would be on top of a ladder and undo pipe pieces from the roof and the two remaining would try to attach the pipes to the holes in a series of vertically hanging pipes. After ten seconds, smoke would start pouring from the far-left, obstructing the contestant's view. No team has ever completed the pipeline as the best was done with four pipes attached.
Rampage - One contestant is attached to a bungee line and they required to run forward up a half pipe to grab discs. Four of them are found on the ramp and two on the side wall.
Blockage - All three contestants had to assemble a puzzle made up of blocks. A completed puzzle was shown to the contestants to help with the assembly of the puzzle. Contestants earn a question for every completed part of puzzle. This challenge was only performed during Diarmid's run because the categories are part of the puzzle. No team has ever completed the puzzle fully.
Trivia
- During a challenge, the audience would cheer by yelling the contestant's name, followed by three claps for the first thirty seconds (e.g. "Lucy *clap* *clap* *clap* Lucy *clap* *clap* *clap*"). In the last ten seconds, the audience would countdown from ten to one.
- Only in two occasions has a team ever gotten a three-of-a-kind: one for the sports category and the other for the entertainment category.
- Pipeline and Blockage are the only challenges that have not got all six pipes or assembled the puzzle completely. This is due to the fact the tasks require more than 40 seconds to complete.
- The show was repeated in 1999-2002 on the Nine Network.
- During the final round when the four teammates run and the blindfolded teammates get the disc hidden in a big vat of blue slime, the audience would cheer by yelling the team's name (e.g. "Alpha, Omega, Alpha, Omega...") until the blindfolded contestant found the disc. This only occurred when Adrian and Zoe hosted the show.
- When the slime dumps on a losing team's captain, the audience will start laughing and when the slime runs out the audience will stop laughing.
- Sylvia Jeffreys, a journalist and a newsreader for the Nine Network, appeared on this show. She was in Team Omega. This happened during Adrian and Zoe's run.