Paranoia was a short-lived offering on the Fox Family

Fox Family

Fox Family may refer to:* The Fox Family, a 2006 South Korean film* Fox Family, a former name of American television cable network ABC Family...

 channel that aired from April to May in 2000. The show was the last game show hosted by Peter Tomarken

Peter Tomarken

Peter David Tomarken was an American television personality primarily known as the host of Press Your Luck.-Early life:...

, and the first game show since the 1950s to be recorded live with contestants playing in the studio, by satellite, over the phone, and on the show's website.

Gameplay

An in-studio contestant competed against three satellite players across the U.S. by answering a series of ten multiple-choice questions, each with four answers. The studio contestant began the game with $10,000 in cash.

Before the studio contestants answered each question, the three satellite players picked their answers. The studio contestants then picked an answer. If correct, the studio contestant kept all his or her cash; if incorrect, the studio contestant lost $1,000. In either case, the studio contestant then had to challenge at least one satellite contestant. If the satellite contestant picked correctly, the studio contestant lost $1,000, which went to the satellite contestant (and was kept by the satellite contestant regardless of the game's outcome). If the satellite contestant was wrong, the satellite contestant earned a "strike"; two strikes eliminated a satellite contestant from the game. If a satellite player was eliminated with no money, he or she left with $500.

The studio contestant was also given two elements, each of which could be used once: the studio contestant could "Swap Out" his or her choice of satellite contestants for an unknown alternate, at a cost of $1,000, or the studio contestant could "Knock Out" his or her choice of satellite contestants, immediately eliminating that contestant from the game, at a cost of $3,000. Towards the end of the show's run, those "fees" were given directly to the chosen contestant.

The studio contestant continued playing until he or she ran out of either money, at which point the studio contestant left the game and the satellite player with the highest score returned as the studio player for a future game, or satellite contestants ran out of money, in which the studio contestant won all the money he or she had remaining.

In addition to the above, there was also an "interactive jackpot" of $5,000 over which the contestant had no control: for every question, five on-line players and five phone players were randomly selected; each correct answer earned that player $50 out of the interactive jackpot. Winning studio contestants also won any money left in the interactive jackpot. Thus, a winning contestant could theoretically win $15,000 in the main game.

Bonus round

Ten categories were presented to the contestant, nine of which could multiply the total by ten, while one could multiply the total by 100. After picking the category, the contestant had 15 seconds to answer the question. If right, the value was increased by either 10 or 100 times the total, but a wrong answer did nothing to the total. The contestant's heart rate was shown during this round. The potential grand prize was $1.5 million.

Interactive game

The contestants over-the-phone and online played the same questions, earning $50 for a correct answer. In between the episode, going into the third commercial break and before the end credits, Tomarken asked a question to one on-line contestant and then another to an over-the-phone contestant. If the contestant got his or her question correct, that player won an Intel Pentium III E-Machines computer, complete with a camera.