Pitfall (game show)

Pitfall is a Canadian game show that aired in American and Canadian syndication from September 14, 1981 to September 1982. The host was Alex Trebek and the announcer was John Barton (who also served as co-producer). The show was filmed at Panorama Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia and produced by Catalena Productions, with distribution provided by Rhodes Productions.

Gameplay

Main game

The front game for Pitfall involved the studio audience answering questions and the contestants trying to determine what answers were chosen.

For each question, the contestants and audience were shown four possible answers. The audience would vote on which answer they thought was correct, after which Trebek would ask each of the contestants to choose one of the answers. If one of the two contestants picked the answer that received the highest percentage of the audience vote, that player earned a point and a "Pit Pass", which would come into play in the Pitfall round. Two additional Pit Passes were available to the contestants; one was earned when a player hit three points and the other when the player hit five points.

Play continued until one contestant reached five points or time was called (usually after five minutes). The player who reached five first or who was ahead when time ran out won the game and advanced to the Pitfall round.

Pitfall round

The object of the "Pitfall" bonus round was for a contestant to cross a bridge composed of eight numbered sections in less than 100 seconds by answering general knowledge trivia questions.

Prior to the beginning of the round the contestant was shown, with the help of some flashing lights, which of the sections were safe zone and which were Pitfalls. The Pitfalls, of which there were three, were lit twice, while the safe sections were lit once.

After seeing the flashing light display, the Pit Passes were shown to the contestant and each one was numbered to correspond with one of the eight sections on the bridge. Each Pit Pass enabled the contestant to skip a section of the bridge, regardless of whether it had a Pitfall or not. The contestant then chose his/her allotment of Pit Passes and could choose any of the eight he/she wanted. Once the Pit Passes had been selected, Trebek and the contestant rode an elevator to the top of the bridge.

Once at the top, Trebek began asking questions and the clock started running. A contestant could not pass to the next section, unless he/she had a Pit Pass, until he/she answered a question correctly. Contestants were prompted to hand Trebek their Pit Passes once they reached a zone where they had picked one (initially, Trebek did not ask for the pass). If the contestant crossed into a Pitfall, he/she was taken by elevator down to the stage floor. Trebek would not ask a question until the elevator touched the floor, but the clock would continue to run. In order to get out of the Pitfall, the contestant had to provide a correct answer. Once he/she did, the clock stopped and the player was brought back onto the bridge.

The contestant was given $100 for each section on the bridge he/she passed regardless of how it was done. If the contestant managed to cross from one end of the bridge to the other within the time limit, he/she won a $5,000 prize package. Later in the run, the prize package was cut in half and a small prize was awarded for passing the fifth section of the bridge.

Cancellation

Catalena Productions, which also produced the 1980-1981 syndicated revival of Let's Make a Deal, went bankrupt in early 1982. As a result, most contestants who appeared near the end of the show's run did not receive their winnings, nor was Trebek ever paid for his hosting duties.^[1] Because of this, Trebek called the show "one of the great tragedies of [his] life" and keeps the bounced check for his salary framed on a wall in his home office.^{[citation needed]} Trebek also commented that he found it ironic that the only time he has ever been stiffed was by his fellow Canadians.^{[citation needed]}

About two years after Pitfall was cancelled, Trebek went on to host the syndicated revival of Jeopardy! – a position he holds to this day.

Reruns

In Canada, the series continued in reruns on Global for several years after its cancellation.

A number of stations in the United States aired reruns of Pitfall during the 1985-86 season, among then WLIG in Riverhead, New York and KHJ in Los Angeles.

References

External links

• Interview with former contestant Eileen Mintz