Downfall

Network: ABC
Episodes: Five (hour)
Seasons: One

TV show dates: June 22, — July 20, 2010
Series status: Cancelled

Performers include: Chris Jericho (host)

TV show description:
Hosted by Chris Jericho, this game show puts contestants on top of a 10-story building to see if they can keep their wits about them and answer trivia questions while prize replicas, personal items, or even a friend or family member is dropped over the edge.

Contestants and Jericho stand atop a 10-story building in Los Angeles with an audience looking on. On top of a giant conveyor belt sit replicas of the cash and expensive prizes that the contestant is trying to win. As each of the seven timed rounds is completed, the cash and value of the prizes increase, to as much as one million dollars.

The player is asked to choose one of nine categories of trivia questions and must answer them as quickly as possible. A contestant can take as much time as they want to answer a question but the conveyor belt keeps moving and potential winnings go over the edge and crash below. The cash is the furthest item on the belt.

Contestants can give answers to a question as many times as they want until they get it right. They can stay on a question until it is answered correctly or pass to the next one. Every time a question is passed however, the belt gets faster. If the cash prize falls before a contestant completes a round, the player loses and the game is over. After each round, players can choose to keep what they have won or risk it and continue on to the next round.

If a contestant feels he/she can’t answer their remaining questions before all prizes fall, they can hit the “panic button” at the podium. This ends the current round and allows the contestant to replay the level with a new category from the list. The cash remains in play but the prizes are lost.

The panic button may be used twice: once to allow the contestant to “Surrender a Personal Possession” and to get help by putting a “Friend on the Belt.”

When a contestant chooses to surrender a possession, an item of great importance to him/her is placed before the cash on the conveyor belt. In order to save the item, the contestant must complete the round before it falls 100 feet below.

When help from a companion is used, the partner is strapped into a safety harness and placed in front of the cash on the belt. The companion can help the contestant by shouting answers but all of the final answers must be spoken by the contestant. If the companion falls, he/she can no longer be of use but the round continues until the cash falls or the required number of questions are answered.

When the contestant loses or stops the game, he/she is dropped off the building as well. If the player makes it to the final round that’s worth one million dollars, he or she sits on the belt with the money and has to correctly answer all the questions before falling off the edge.