Trivial Pursuit (American game show)

*Trivial Pursuit*
Trivial Pursuit
Genre	Game show
Developed by	Bill Hillier; Wink Martindale; Peter R. Berlin; Rob Fiedler;
Directed by	Rob Fiedler; John Adams
Presented by	Wink Martindale; LeVar Burton
Narrated by	Randy West
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	130
Production
Executive producers	Bill Hillier; Wink Martindale;
Producers	Peter R. Berlin; Rob Fiedler;
Production companies	LeVar Burton Entertainment (2024–present); Talpa Studios (2024–present); Lionsgate Alternative Television (2024–present); Hasbro Entertainment (2024–present)
Original release
Network	The Family Channel
Release	June 7, 1993 –; December 30, 1994
Network	The CW
Release	October 3, 2024 –; present
Related
	Trivial Pursuit

Trivial Pursuit is an American game show that ran on The Family Channel from June 7, 1993 to December 30, 1994. Loosely based on the board game of the same name, it is hosted by Wink Martindale with Randy West announcing.

A revival hosted by LeVar Burton premiered on October 3, 2024, on The CW.^[2]

Format

The show is played in two halves. The first half is an interactive game show, while the other half is a traditional game show.

Interactive game

Nine players (originally twelve) compete for three spots in the second half of the show.

In the first round, five questions with four multiple-choice answers are asked by the host. The players have 10 seconds to answer by pressing a number from 1–4 on a keypad in front of them. They score points based on how fast they answer the question correctly, with a maximum of 1,000 points available. After five questions, the six players with the highest scores play round two and the other players are eliminated.

In the second round, the scores are reset and the three highest-scoring players win a prize and a chance to play Trivial Pursuit in the next half-hour show.

Classic game

Main game

As in the board game, the object for each player is to fill in all of the colored wedges on a large pie-shaped game board in front of them. Each wedge is a different color and represents a different category, with the categories requiring two correct answers to fill a wedge. Red replaces the brown (now purple) wedge from the board games.

In the first three rounds, each player receives two turns consisting of a category choice followed by a question posed by host Martindale. A correct answer lights up a wedge, but an incorrect answer gives the two opponents a chance to ring-in and steal the wedge with a correct answer.

Round One

In the first round, the six traditional Trivial Pursuit categories are used.

Geography
Entertainment
History
Art & Literature
Science & Nature
Sports & Leisure

Rounds Two & Three

The second round uses either the categories from the Movie Edition or Television Edition.

Movies	Television
Settings	Classics
Titles	Sitcoms
Off Screen	Drama
On Screen	Kids & Games
Production	Stars
Portrayals	Wild Card

In the second half of Round 2 (later known as Round 3), a new set of categories are played. (In early episodes, the questions related to a certain year in history.) The category sets used are different each show and are borrowed from multiple versions of the board game.

Personalities	People & Places	Personalities	People & Places	World of Places	Products & Progress
Entertainment	Entertainment	Entertainment	Good Times	World of Music	Sports & Leisure
In the News	History	Headlines	Science & Technology	World of People	History
Around the World	Science & Nature	Music	Art & Culture	World of Fantasy	Personalities
Sports & Leisure	Sports & Leisure	Sports & Leisure	Natural World	World of Science	Entertainment
Wild Card	Wild Card	Wild Card	Games & Hobbies	World of Leisure	Wild Card

Rounds 2 and 3 include three bonus questions hidden behind three of the categories—one in one half of the round and two in the other. When chosen, the player who answers an audio or video question correctly has an opportunity to answer a follow-up question which awards the player $100 and another half-wedge in the color of their choice with a correct answer.

Final Round

The final round again uses the traditional basic categories as in Round 1, but the round is played in a different manner. The round starts with a toss-up question, and the first player to ring-in and answer correctly is given control of the game, keeping it as long as he/she keeps answering questions correctly.

If the player in control misses a question, the question is fielded as a toss-up for the other two players, and the one who answers correctly receives control and the half-wedge, if it has not already been filled in on their pie. If nobody answers correctly, another toss-up is played to determine control.

The final round continues in this manner until either a player completely fills in their pie, therefore becoming the day's champion, or time is called, whichever happens first (a warning tone chimes 4 times signaling one minute left in the final round if it occurs). If time is called, the player who has filled in the most wedges in their pie is declared the champion.

The winner of the game receives a $500 cash prize and advances to the Trivial Pursuit Challenge Round.

The Trivial Pursuit Challenge Round

The day's champion plays the bonus for a trip and $1,000 in cash.

To accomplish this, the champion needs to correctly answer one question in each of the six basic categories within 45 seconds. Each category is played one question at a time in sequence, starting with Geography and ending in Sports & Leisure.

Answering a question in a category correctly causes its respective wedge to light up in the pie. Answering incorrectly or passing leaves the wedge blank until a question is answered correctly.

Each wedge lit up awards the contestant $100. A grand prize is awarded if the champion manages to fill the pie within the time limit.

Audience game

If there is extra time at the end of the show, an audience member is called on stage and given the opportunity to answer five multiple-choice questions (much like the "Interactive" portion of the show) worth $20 apiece, for a maximum payoff of $100.

Interactive components

The show launched a series of "interactive" games called playbreaks, all produced by Martindale and his associates. Originally, ten "Trivial Pursuit" playbreaks were interspersed throughout FAM's game show block. Three of them were during Trivial Pursuit: The Interactive Game and one was during Trivial Pursuit: The Classic Game.

During playbreaks, a question is shown on screen with four choices, and the answer is revealed 10 seconds later. During its original run, home viewers were given an opportunity to call a special 1–900 number ($4.98 per call) and play a "TP: Interactive Game", using a slightly modified scoring system, and players answered by using their touch-tone telephone. The winner of each "playbreak" won a prize and competed on Friday in a playoff game against the other winners for a vacation. The ad would last about 100 seconds, as seen by an on-screen clock (even though the clock read ":99" as it faded in).

On New Year's Day 1994, all of the weekly playoff winners up to that point were given the opportunity to compete in a "Tournament of Champions"-style grand playoff for a 1994 Ford Explorer, which aired in between a Trivial Pursuit marathon FAM was running that day. The winner of the Ford Explorer was Alisa Standow.

Trivial Pursuit proved popular in its initial airing during the summer of 1993, as The Family Channel's ratings vastly increased during the 12:30–1:00 pm time slot. MTM Entertainment, an independent distribution company owned by the network's parent organization, International Family Entertainment, planned to syndicate a new version of the show to local stations for the 1994–1995 season. The plan was to produce 130 new episodes and air them along with the 130 episodes already taped for The Family Channel. However, efforts to interest local stations were largely unsuccessful, and the syndicated version never materialized.

Other interactive games aired on the network – a board-game adaptation of Boggle, the list-oriented Shuffle, and an adaptation of the newspaper game Jumble.

Home game

A home version of the game was released by Parker Brothers in 1993 as Trivial Pursuit Game Show. Some question material was taken directly from the show, and the box cover featured Martindale on the slightly different set of the show's 1993 pilot (which was intended for syndication; producer Jay Wolpert also produced at least one pilot in 1987 with Worldvision Enterprises that was not picked up; Martindale posted both pilots to his YouTube channel in 2014). This was the second home version that was based on a board game itself; the first was TV Scrabble by Selchow & Righter in 1987 and then Celebrity Name Game (based on the board game Identity Crisis) by PlayMonster (formerly Patch) in 2016.

2024 revival

In February 2024, it was announced that Trivial Pursuit would be revived and air on The CW, with LeVar Burton as host. The revival premiered on October 3, 2024.^[3]^[4]

International versions

Country	Name	Presenter(s)	Channel	Date of transmission
Austria	Trivial Pursuit	Bernadette Schneider	ORF	February 9 – December 28, 1991
Germany	Trivial Pursuit	Birgit Lechtermann	VOX	1993–1994
Soviet Union Russia	Счастливый случай Schastlivyy sluchay	Larisa Verbitskaya (1989–1990) Mikhail Marfin (1989–2000)	Programme One (1989–1991) Channel 1 Ostankino (1991–1995) ORT (1995–1999) TV Centre (2000)	September 9, 1989 – August 26, 2000
Spain	Trivial Pursuit: Spain Plays	?	Antena 3	September 2008
Spain	Trivial Pursuit	Silvia Jato	Veo7	January 24, 2011 – May 2011
United Kingdom	Trivial Pursuit	Rory McGrath Tony Slattery	BBC1 (1990) The Family Channel (1993–1994)	September 4, 1990 – 1994
United States (original format)	Trivial Pursuit	Wink Martindale LeVar Burton	The Family Channel The CW	June 7, 1993 – December 30, 1994 October 3, 2024 – present
United States (original format)	Trivial Pursuit: America Plays	Christopher Knight	Syndicated	September 22, 2008 – May 22, 2009