Granite State Challenge

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Granite State Challenge is an American television quizbowl game show that airs on New Hampshire Public Television and came on the air in 1983.[1]

Contents

[edit] Description

High schools from around the state compete against each other to win bragging rights and grant money for their school. In its first season it was hosted by current Dancing With The Stars host Tom Bergeron.[2] Currently it is hosted by Jim Jeannotte. The co-host is Tim Estiloz, who interviews the contestants. Prior co-hosts include John Herman[3], and Alison MacNair (former host of NHPTV's NH Outlook). The competition features 32 teams in a single elimination tournament competing in half-hour shows that are pretaped over a few weeks and air through the broadcast season. The championship game, called the Superchallenge, is a live 1-hour broadcast with extended categories and more questions.[4] Since 1995, part of the funding for Granite State Challenge comes from proceeds of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission.[5] Beginning in 2008, each episode is available to view on YouTube and to download at no charge on iTunes.

[edit] Rules

The game is played by two teams of four, and uses a four-quarter format. All four quarters are played to a time limit.

The first quarter is a round of toss-up questions worth 10 points each.

The second quarter uses 10-point toss-ups followed by a choice of three bonus sets. There are three questions in a bonus set, worth 5 points each, and teams may confer on bonuses.

The third quarter is the show's lightning round. The trailing team gets the first choice of three categories, and the leading team picks from the remaining two. Each team gets 60 seconds to answer either 10 questions or (rarely) either one 10-part question such as a "put these in order" question or a series of questions totaling 10 parts. Each correct answer is worth 10 points, with a 10-point bonus for going 10-for-10.

The fourth quarter is a final round of 10-point toss-ups.

The winning team advances in a season-long tournament. In the final, titled "Granite State Super Challenge," there are seven rounds: the first, fifth, and seventh are toss-up rounds, the second and fourth rounds are toss-ups followed by bonuses, and the third and sixth rounds are the 60-second lightning rounds.

[edit] Past champions

This is a list of past GSC winners since 1983.[6]

[edit] Similar competitions

 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

Numerous other high-school quiz shows formatted similar to this one air on stations throughout the nation. These include:

  • A version hosted by Eric Boyd, known simply as "Challenge!" which airs on KEDT in southern Texas.
  • High Q, on numerous stations throughout the nation.

The program also bears some similarities to the long-running British quiz program University Challenge.

[edit] References

  1. ^ NHPTV Productions: Twenty Years of Granite State Challenge, Retrieved November 1, 2006
  2. ^ Tom Bergeron's Biography at www.newhampshire.com, Retrieved on November 1, 2006
  3. ^ johnherman.com, Retrieved November 1, 2006
  4. ^ NHPTV Productions: Granite State Challenge, Retrieved November 1, 2006
  5. ^ NH Lottery Commission November 7, 2005 Meeting Minutes, Retrieved November 1, 2006
  6. ^ NHPTV Productions: Past GSC SuperChallenge Champions, Retrieved November 1, 2006

[edit] External links