5.8 /10 1 Votes
5.7/10 TV Original network Fox Sports Net Final episode date 23 June 2000 | 5.8/10 IMDb Running time 30 minutes First episode date 27 March 2000 Genre Game show | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Presented by Matt Vasgersian with Lisa Guerrero Original release March 27 (2000-03-27) – June 23, 2000 (2000-06-23) Similar Game show, The World Series of Pop Cultu, The Best Damn Sports Sh, Win Ben Stein's Money, The Big Idea with Donny D | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sports Geniuses was an American sports-themed game show that aired for 65 episodes from March 27, 2000 until June 23, 2000 on cable channel Fox Sports Net. It was the network's second game show (Ultimate Fan League was the first, airing in 1998 and 1999, and only other).
Contents
Sportscaster Matt Vasgersian hosted, with Lisa Guerrero as his co-host.
Format
The show was divided into four separate segments.
The first round was played similar to Jeopardy!, with four categories each containing five questions that ranged in value from 10 to 50 points. Two questions in the round were designated Double Plays, and were questions that employed video clips and had follow-up questions attached which if answered correctly doubled the value of the question.
After the round was over, a speed round called the 30 Second Blitz was played. In this, the players would be shown a photo of an athlete and had to identify who it was. 30 points were paid for each correct answer.
The next round of play was almost identical to the first round, with the following exceptions:
In addition, a special guest athlete or other sports personality would appear to read all the questions from one category.
A new wrinkle was added for this round, called "The Shaft." The third place player was given The Shaft (which was a silver shaft of a baseball bat, hence the name) to start the round and could use it at any point in the round to force one of his opponents to answer one of the questions on the board. Each player could only be "Shafted" once, and once The Shaft returned to someone who had already used it, it was taken out of play.
At the end of this round the two highest-scoring players advanced to a final showdown. A category would be given for each question (i.e., Super Bowl winners), and the value would start at 100 points and increase by 10 points for each correct answer given by the contestants, who alternated giving answers. If a player gave an incorrect answer or froze, their opponent would receive the points in the pot and play would continue, otherwise the value of the pot would roll over to the next question. Each subsequent question's starting value would increase by 25 points.
Play continued in this fashion until time ran out, at which point the contestant with the highest score was declared the winner and won a prize package.
Tournament
Sports Geniuses ended its run with an invitational tournament featuring the show's biggest winners to compete for a chance at a new truck and trips to each of the four major American sports' championships (the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals). Daniel Katz won the tournament.
Play-Along
Before the final commercial break, co-host Lisa Guerrero would introduce, via webcam, comic Sal Iacono, and he would ask a question to a person playing via telephone. A correct answer won a bonus prize.
Link
Official Website