Mark Walberg Game Shows...

[gsfan85]

Hey everyone,

There are many game shows Mark Walberg hosted that many people don't remember.  Do you remember these?

USA Gonzo Games-Stunt show from Universal Studios, Orlando (1991)
Free 4 All-3 vs. 3 Q+A Show (1994)
Honeymoon Challenge (2002)

One nobody seems to remember is "Star Challenge," a show on PBS around 1995.  Does anyone remember any info about this show?  All I remember is the fact that the set looked almost identical to the look of "The Quiz Kids Challenge."

Thanks!
Adam

[Jimmy Owen]

"Star Challenge"? Was that the Texaco-funded show?  How could you forget "The Big Date"

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Aug 13 2004, 12:18 AM\'] "Star Challenge"? Was that the Texaco-funded show?  How could you forget "The Big Date" [/quote]
 Texaco-All-Star-Challenge, I believe is the correct name of it, but I believe it was A. Syndicated and B. Not hosted by Mark.

[sshuffield70]

"Texaco All-Star Challenge" was based on the Dallas show "Whiz Quiz", both of which were hosted by three time "Jeopardy!" champion Charles "Chip" Beal.

(edited to correct a show title.  It was backwards.)

[rigsby]

Was "Texaco All-Star Challenge" a national show?  I know Chip showed up every year and did a regional show just for the Tulsa area, but I also know he moderated a good deal of one of the national championships, at least in the early 90s.  

And having been on the losing end of a Beall-moderated game (not televised, thankfully), I'm just curious:  when was he on Jeopardy?

[sshuffield70]

I'm having to do this by memory, but I think it was either the '91-'92 or '92-'93 seasons.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Aug 13 2004, 01:11 AM\'] [quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Aug 13 2004, 12:18 AM\'] "Star Challenge"? Was that the Texaco-funded show?  How could you forget "The Big Date" [/quote]
Texaco-All-Star-Challenge, I believe is the correct name of it, but I believe it was A. Syndicated and B. Not hosted by Mark. [/quote]
 For one year the "Texaco All-Star Challenge" (or the U.S. Academic Championships tournament) was aired on public TV (I suspect that American Public Television distributed the show, not the actual PBS network) with Marky Mark hosting.  I recall seeing it once on WYCC, our secondary PBS station in Chicago, perhaps 4 or 5 years ago.

And of course, it was called "Star Challenge" on public TV, since there was still a ban on using underwriters' names in titles, which has been changed, as anyone who watches "ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre" knows.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Aug 13 2004, 11:47 AM\'] For one year the "Texaco All-Star Challenge" (or the U.S. Academic Championships tournament) was aired on public TV (I suspect that American Public Television distributed the show, not the actual PBS network) with Marky Mark hosting.  I recall seeing it once on WYCC, our secondary PBS station in Chicago, perhaps 4 or 5 years ago. [/quote]
 Years later, I heard from someone who was there that Walberg was unmercifully and openly mocked by many of the participants for his lack of knowledge, bad pronunciations and overall ineptitude at handling the hard-quiz format.

Beall's national championships were taped and distributed free of charge to whoever had room for them on the schedule.  They bounced from cabler to cabler until they went to PBS and Beall made the ill-fated decision to go with a more familiar (and younger) host.

Beall still conducts a national championship each year, it's just not televised (nationally, anyway).  It's not nearly the only national quiz-bowl competiton each year, not even the best one.  Frankly, many of his rivals in the quiz-bowl world do not have kind things to say about him.

Chip Beall's site:  http://www.qunlimited.com/

A better group (they write much of the material for QuizBusters): http://www.naqt.com/index.html

[rigsby]

Why are Chip and Questions Unlimited so disparaged?  Things seemed okay enough at the tournament I attended.  Of course, Mark wasn't hosting then.

And I had forgotten you used NAQT material, Matt...I was expecting a reply from someone else who is affiliated with the group and occasionally posts...

(Hopefully, Walberg wasn't as bad as the moderator I saw once who butchered the pronunciation of "bourgeoisie"...)