Now, the contestant who won the game now has a chanceto win a fabulous prizeworth over $5,000at the end of the bridge, but three of them are booby-trapped, a.k.a. Pitfalls. The contestant watches a lightshow at stage level as the eight sections light up one at a time, but there is a hint to the Pitfalls because they are the sections that light up twice while the other five safe sections light up once. The contestant then chooses a number of PitPasses, depending on how many they won in the game (they get one Pit Pass for winning the game. If they won 3 points, they get 2 Pit Passes, but getting 5 points in the game won 3 Pit Passes). After selecting their Pit Passes, Trebek and the winning contestant take an elevatorup to bridge level. Trebek then asks general knowledge questions in a time of 100seconds, and every right answer advances a section closer to the grand prize. When coming to an allotted zone that they have a Pit Pass on, they give it to hostTrebek and cross over safely. However, if a player stumbles upon a Pitfall section that they don't have a pass for, they take an elevatordown to stage floor and mustanswer a question correctly to get out of it. The clock does not stop as they descend, but will stop when they come back up to bridge level. Every section is $100, and if they reach the end before timeexpires, they win the grand prize that was mentioned just prior to the endgame. And just for helpful facts, at the end of each Pitfall round, everyone would find out what the boobytrapped sections were.

FACS:
-Two games were played per show, so there were 2 main games and 2 Pitfall rounds
-In early weeks, Trebek did not remind the players of their Pit Passes, resulting in some taking an unwanted ride down when they had the Pass for that zone.
-Later in the run, money was removed from the sections on the Pitfall bridge. Anytime a contestant made it to the 5th section, they'd win a prize. Making it all the way won the grand prize worth at least $2,500
-Catalena Productions also produced the early 80s version of Let's Make a Deal. Unfortunately, this is where the sad part of Pitfall comes into play. Catalena went bankrupt in early 1982, and as a result, contestants were not paid in the final weeks of the show
-Alex Trebek is a household name to all of us. A fellow Canadian who also hosted The Wizard of Odds, High Rollers, the unsold pilot of Malcolm, but is definitely well-known for being host of Jeopardy!, which he's hosted since 1984. Sadly, Trebek was not paid during his tenure on Pitfall due to Catalena's bankruption. He claims Pitfall was "one of the greatest tragedies of his life." To this day, he keeps the bounced check of his salary framed on a wall in his home office. He also stated that he finds it ironic that his fellow Canadians stiffed him, even as he reminded a 2010 Jeopardy! contestant who loved Pitfall.

MY RATINGS:
I don't care what anyone says. Pitfall was definitely innovative for television, combining luck with knowledge and power to get across the bridge. You have to pay close attention to the lights and remember the numbers, because they're key to getting across the bridge. I feel bad that Catalena went bankrupt and the players did not receive their winnings, nor did Trebek earn his salary for the show, and boy I do feel awful for him, despite he does do well with Jeopardy! today. Pitfall was a great show, and I have a concept for it if it ever returns to television. Great game with audience participation! It just began going downhill when the prize and grand prize worth about $2,500 came in.

5 stars

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