A channel-surfing game show where kids answered questions in which the categories are fictional cable TV channels.
Broadcast[]
Discovery Kids: 1998-2000
Packagers[]
Howdy Productions/Discovery Channel
Host[]
Matt Brown
Announcer[]
Adam Whisner
Premise[]
Three child contestants played a Q & A game of channel surfing, physical stunts & answering questions.
Main Game[]
The kid contestants faced a video wall which was constantly surfing through more than 500 different TV channels. Each kid is equipped with a giant remote control used to stop the channel surfing (more commonly referred to as "Zapping it"). When it landed on a channel number, the name of that channel was revealed, and host Brown read a question (mostly multiple choice). While the question was read, film & video clips were played to represent the channel. When the question was finished, the child players were free to ring-in. The first player to ring-in with a correct answer earned points, but if he/she buzzed in and was wrong, the opponent(s) scored the points. The winner of each question earned control of his/her remote.
Round 1[]
To start, each contestant was spotted 20 points. Then host Brown "zapped in" the first channel/category, and the game began. Each correct answer was worth 20 points, but an incorrect answer had the points split between the two opponents (10 for each player). At some point in the round, the player in control of his/her remote would land on "Channel 50", that's "The Physical Channel". So called because the player who zapped it got a chance to play a physical challenge in which if completed earned that player 50 points. But failing to complete the challenge split the points and gave 25 to the opponents. When time ran out in this round, the player with the lowest score was eliminated from the game but received a consolation prize.
Rounds 2 & 3[]
The two survivors of round one competed in last two rounds. While most of the rules remained the same, the two contestants used their zappers for two others things besides zapping on a channel.
- Fast Forward - If a contestant does not like the channel that comes up, he/she can press the "Fast Forward" button to skip over to the next question.
- Rewind - If the player who buzzed in first missed the question but knew the answer, he/she can press "Rewind" for another shot at the same question.
In addition, the opponent scored the entire 20 points should the buzz-in contestant miss.
Surf the World[]
Near the end of round two, the player in control would zap on "Channel 40" which was "Surf the World". This was a channel where a bunch of pictures that fit under the same category come up on the video wall one square at a time. While each picture revealed itself, Matt gave clues to each picture. The first player to buzz-in and correctly identify the picture scored 20 points, but an incorrect identification gave 20 points to the opponent.
Note: Sometimes, Surf the World would be replaced with a two-player Physical Channel Challenge in which the person who won the challenge scored 50 points.
Lightning Round[]
Near the end of round three, the player in control would zap on "Channel 25" which was "The Lightning Round". This was where host Brown announced a category, then gave a series of rapid-fire clues. The first player to buzz-in and correctly identify the clue scored 50 points, but an incorrect answer gave 50 points to the opponent.
The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner, had his/her points converted into cash, and went on to the bonus round.
Bonus Round[]
In the bonus round, the Zap It video wall consisted of nine channel numbers. Behind each of those numbers are questions. The winning player had 60 seconds to pick off as many channels and answering questions correctly as he/she can. Each time that player was right, the chosen question was replaced with the show's title card. Each time that player was wrong, the chosen question was replaced with a bolt of lightning. If the winning contestant can get six or more correct answers in 60 seconds, he/she won a grand prize package. Anything less than six won a consolation prize.
Rating[]
TV-Y