Caesars Challenge
Encyclopedia
Caesars Challenge is an American game show that aired on NBC
from June 14, 1993 to January 14, 1994. Ahmad Rashad
hosted the show and Dan Doherty, dressed as a gladiator, served as the show's assistant. Chad Brown
and Zach Ruby also served as assistants early in the show. Steve Day announced the program, which was taped at Caesars Palace
in Las Vegas, Nevada
. Caesars Challenge is the last daytime game show to air on NBC.
Each new word fit into a category that was originally revealed to everyone, but later only revealed to home viewers. Rashad asked the players a toss-up question with three choices based on the category, and a player who buzzed in with the correct answer won money and the right to choose a letter to be placed into the word. Correct answers paid off at $100 in the first round, $200 in the second round, and $300 in the third round, and if two of the three players failed to answer any question correctly, the money and letter choice was awarded to the third player by default.
After the player's selected letter was placed, they were given five seconds to try to guess the word. Doing so won the player additional money based on how many of the letters were not placed; otherwise, play continued until the word was correctly guessed. The first two rounds were played with two words apiece, and the third round was played until time ran out, with as many words as possible played.
During the time when the category was only revealed to the home audience, Rashad announced the category of the word to the contestants after the word had been correctly guessed.
showroom at Caesars Palace. In the case of a tie, another speed-up round was played between the tied players.
The nine letters were then displayed on the slot machine screens in the order that they rolled down the ramp. A champion was able to place one letter on the first day and one additional letter for each subsequent day they returned to the round. Once the champion placed their allotment of letters they had 10 seconds to try to guess the word. A correct guess won the car and retired the champion. Otherwise, they returned on the next show. The theoretical maximum amount of days a champion could return to the round was eight.
. The program preceded Days of Our Lives
. Caesars Challenge suffered against the first half hour of CBS
's The Young and The Restless
. Some NBC stations preempted the program with local news broadcasts which often aired the entire noon hour. Caesars Challenge was NBC's last game show to air in daytime.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from June 14, 1993 to January 14, 1994. Ahmad Rashad
Ahmad Rashad
Ahmad Rashād is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. An All-American running back and wide receiver from Oregon known as Bobby Moore, Rashad was the fourth overall pick in the 1972 NFL Draft, drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals...
hosted the show and Dan Doherty, dressed as a gladiator, served as the show's assistant. Chad Brown
Chad Brown (poker player)
Chad Lewis Brown is an American actor, poker player and color commentator, based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life & acting career:...
and Zach Ruby also served as assistants early in the show. Steve Day announced the program, which was taped at Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, an unincorporated township in Clark County, Nevada, United States in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Caesars Palace is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp....
in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
. Caesars Challenge is the last daytime game show to air on NBC.
Front game
Three contestants competed, and three rounds were played. The object in each round was to solve a jumbled word displayed on a 9-screen slot machine on stage. Seven-letter words were used in round one, eight-letter words in round two and nine-letter words in round three.Each new word fit into a category that was originally revealed to everyone, but later only revealed to home viewers. Rashad asked the players a toss-up question with three choices based on the category, and a player who buzzed in with the correct answer won money and the right to choose a letter to be placed into the word. Correct answers paid off at $100 in the first round, $200 in the second round, and $300 in the third round, and if two of the three players failed to answer any question correctly, the money and letter choice was awarded to the third player by default.
After the player's selected letter was placed, they were given five seconds to try to guess the word. Doing so won the player additional money based on how many of the letters were not placed; otherwise, play continued until the word was correctly guessed. The first two rounds were played with two words apiece, and the third round was played until time ran out, with as many words as possible played.
During the time when the category was only revealed to the home audience, Rashad announced the category of the word to the contestants after the word had been correctly guessed.
Scoring
| Rounds | Number of Letters in the Word | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | 7 Letters | $100 (x Unplaced Letters) |
| Round 2 | 8 Letters | $200 (x Unplaced Letters) |
| Round 3 | 9 Letters | $300 (x Unplaced Letters) |
Lucky Slot
One of the nine screens in each word was designated the "Lucky Slot", signified by a red border surrounding the screen. If a player placed a letter in the Lucky Slot and solved the puzzle immediately after, they won an instant cash jackpot that was added to their score along with the money the player earned from unplaced letters. The Lucky Slot began each day at $500, increased by that amount for each word it wasn't won, and reset to $500 once it was claimed.Speed-Up round
When time was running short (signified by a car horn), the Lucky Slot was taken out of play and letters were automatically placed one at a time into the word. The first contestant to buzz in with the correct answer won whatever money was available from the unplaced letters. An incorrect answer locked a player out of the remainder of the round.Winning the game
The player with the most money at the end of the game won and advanced to the Bonus Round. Originally, the winner shopped for prizes with their winnings; later, they were given a prize package equal to their winnings. The other players left with parting gifts, including dinner for two and tickets to a headliner show at the Circus MaximusCircus Maximus
The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy. Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire...
showroom at Caesars Palace. In the case of a tie, another speed-up round was played between the tied players.
Bonus round
Caesars Challenge employed two different bonus rounds. The prize in both formats was a car.Format #1
A giant rotating bingo cage filled with 200 lettered balls lowered from the ceiling. One by one, the letters spilled out of the cage and Doherty announced the letter as the ball rolled down a ramp. Once a dictionary-certified nine-letter word could be formed from the letters, a gong sounded, the cage stopped rotating, and Caesar announced, "Caesar says stop!".The nine letters were then displayed on the slot machine screens in the order that they rolled down the ramp. A champion was able to place one letter on the first day and one additional letter for each subsequent day they returned to the round. Once the champion placed their allotment of letters they had 10 seconds to try to guess the word. A correct guess won the car and retired the champion. Otherwise, they returned on the next show. The theoretical maximum amount of days a champion could return to the round was eight.
Format #2
On November 22, 1993, a new bonus round format was introduced. The champion faced a computer-generated board with five scrambled words with each word having one more letter in it than the one before (the first had five letters, the second six, and so on up until the last word with nine). Each of the five words had its letters automatically placed one at a time each second, and the champion had 30 seconds to unscramble them all. Doing so won the car. If the champion made three consecutive bonus rounds and failed to win the car, they retired undefeated with whatever they had won in the main game.Audience game
During the closing credits of every show, Rashad and Doherty went into the studio audience and gave audience members an opportunity to unscramble five-letter words. Correctly guessing the word won a handful of casino tokens and gold foil-covered chocolate medallions from a bowl held by Doherty.Broadcast History
Caesars Challenge aired at 12:30 PM EST replacing ScattergoriesScattergories (game show)
Scattergories is an American game show on NBC daytime hosted by Dick Clark, with Charlie Tuna as announcer, that aired from January 18 to June 11, 1993...
. The program preceded Days of Our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
. Caesars Challenge suffered against the first half hour of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's The Young and The Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
. Some NBC stations preempted the program with local news broadcasts which often aired the entire noon hour. Caesars Challenge was NBC's last game show to air in daytime.