Challenger (game show)
Encyclopedia
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 boy in the 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
. Adrian DeVito and Zoe Sheridan
continued to film 265 episodes before the show was superseeded with a return of Now You See It.
First Round: The highest scoring team dictating which team would undertake the challenges first. During Diarmid's run, the questions were divided into six different categories, spanning a range of different genres and the first round did not have a name. With 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, however 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: The second part of the show involved each team member attempting 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 certain 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 the challenges, see List Of Challenges. 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.
Final Round: The final round found the team leaders in glass containers below a slime showerhead. One of their team-mates 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 answering 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 are holding the disc simultaneously, the question is read and anyone can buzz in to answer the question. If the answering team answers 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 went between a green-yellow colour and a blue colour, which would vary in episodes). 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.
One of the prizes during Diarmid's run were merchandise from the Australian Geographic
retail outlets and occasionally, A Sega Saturn
gaming console.
Oblivion - People went through mazes with revolving door mirrors on them. 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.
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
that aired on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
in 1997 and 1998. The first host was Diarmid Heidenreich
Diarmid Heidenreich
-Television career:Heidenreich began his television career in 1993, appearing in G. P. as a guest role. Over the next few years, he had guest roles in several drama series, including Echo Point and Big Sky . Heidenreich was also the host of the children's game show Challenger until he left the...
famous for playing Dougie the pizza delivery boy in the Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
commercials in the mid-1990s. After he left the show in early 1998 he was replaced by hosts Adrian DeVito and Zoe Sheridan
Zoe Sheridan
Zoe Sheridan is an Australian television presenter, radio announcer and voice over artist.Sheridan was a co-host of the Hot 30 Countdown on Brisbane radio from 1995 to 1998. She moved to Sydney in 1998 for a regular slot on 2Day FM....
. Adrian DeVito and Zoe Sheridan
Zoe Sheridan
Zoe Sheridan is an Australian television presenter, radio announcer and voice over artist.Sheridan was a co-host of the Hot 30 Countdown on Brisbane radio from 1995 to 1998. She moved to Sydney in 1998 for a regular slot on 2Day FM....
continued to film 265 episodes before the show was superseeded with a return of Now You See It.
Format
The format of the show had two teams (Alpha & Omega) with three children a side. The teams consisted of a captain and two other members.First Round: The highest scoring team dictating which team would undertake the challenges first. During Diarmid's run, the questions were divided into six different categories, spanning a range of different genres and the first round did not have a name. With 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, however 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: The second part of the show involved each team member attempting 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 certain 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 the challenges, see List Of Challenges. 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.
Final Round: The final round found the team leaders in glass containers below a slime showerhead. One of their team-mates 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 answering 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 are holding the disc simultaneously, the question is read and anyone can buzz in to answer the question. If the answering team answers 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 went between a green-yellow colour and a blue colour, which would vary in episodes). 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.
One of the prizes during Diarmid's run were merchandise from the Australian Geographic
Australian Geographic
The Australian Geographic is a quarterly geographical magazine-style journal created by Dick Smith in 1985. It focuses mainly on stories about Australia, or about Australian people in other countries...
retail outlets and occasionally, A Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
gaming console.
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. 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 got 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.