If I Could Bring Back: "Trivia Trap" (1/2)

Greetings, folks:

One of many things I like about watching the Game Show Network (or GSN) is the ability to watch game shows that aired either before I was born or before I turned 5...when I would have actually remembered watching those game shows. Some examples of this include: "Match Game", "Password Plus", the original "Card Sharks", "Double Dare" (not the Nickelodeon game show), and the subject of this particular post: "Trivia Trap."

I think "Trivia Trap" (October 1984 - April 1985) was a pretty good game on its own...but since it only lasted for one season, it's apparent that it was not popular enough for a long run. If ever given a chance to revive it, this is how I would run the game (you may want to read the original rules for reference):

First, I would remove the "Juniors vs. Seniors" premise of "Trivia Trap" in favor allowing a greater variety of teams. I'd personally like to see what would happen if two teams of players all under 30, or two teams of players all 30+ competed against each other. Removing the age limitations would for a greater variety of teams. Some examples I would enjoy seeing include: college trivia bowl students and their advisor; a recent college graduate and his/her proud parents; a three-generation team, such as a grandmother/mother/daughter team; etc. There would be many possibilities in addition to the usual groups of brothers, sisters, and best friends...who would most likely be of similar ages already.

Round 1: Original Trivia Trap
The task of removing wrong answers from a question instead of simply going after the right answer was, in my opinion, what make "Trivia Trap" unique as a trivia game show...so why not leave it in? This time, however...there would be 3 questions posed to each team (4 possible answers), giving each player a chance to go first, second, and third. The first wrong answer removed would be worth $25, the second is worth $50, and the third be worth $75...for a total of $150. The reason for this increasing scale is because it's more difficult to pick one of 2 wrong answers out of 3 than picking one of 3 wrong answers out of 4...and to pick the one remaining wrong answer out of 2 is more difficult still. The champions would get to go first in this round by picking either the top set of answers or the bottom set of answers to play with...either of which will be replaced by a new set of answers for the other team to pick from. The other team would then make their choice, and that choice would be replaced by another new set of answers...and so on until each team has faced three questions.

Stay tuned to see how I would run the rest of "Trivia Trap!"