Granite State Challenge is an American television quizbowl game show that airs on New Hampshire Public Television and began in 1983.[1]
Contents |
High schools from around the state compete against each other to win bragging rights and grant money for their school. The first season of the program was hosted by Tom Bergeron (now of America's Funniest Home Videos and Dancing with the Stars fame), one of Bergeron's first jobs appearing on television. Starting in the second season and continuing to today, Jim Jeannotte took over hosting duties. The co-host is Lori Warriner, who interviews the contestants. Prior co-hosts include Tim Estiloz, John Herman[2], 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 1-hour show with extended categories and more questions.[3] Since 1995, part of the funding for Granite State Challenge comes from proceeds of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission.[4] Beginning in 2008, each episode is available to view on YouTube and to download at no charge on iTunes. There have been many fierce rivalries throughout the years of competition, including Bishop Guertin and Nashua (until recently undivided), Alvirne and Pinkerton, and Phillips Exeter Academy and Hollis/Brookline.
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.
This is a list of past GSC winners since 1983.[5]
Schools with Multiple Titles
Three Titles Apiece
Two Titles Apiece