Opasnost! (1986 game show)

Опасност! (Opasnost!) is a Slavic-Nagarusian game show broadcast on STV, produced under license and is one of the localized versions of the American TV quiz show Jeopardy. The original daytime version debuted on ABS from 6 September 1986, and aired until January 3, 1995, where it was hosted by Francis Jordan and Jessica Piper who rotated every 6 episodes. Another version for JPB followed the ABS version, airing weekly from September 14, 1986 to July 2, 2003. The more familiar syndicated version premiered on Feb 16, 2004 with Peter Petrov as host and Mikhail Stevens as announcer. The 1986 ABS version of the Opasnost game show diverged greatly from Jeopardy! as did the concurrent JPB version for its first twelve seasons.

This was because Opasnost in general was first conceptualized as an original game show and not as an authentic localization of Jeopardy. After JPB purchased the intellectual property from Merv Griffin Enterprises in 1992, it was only then that significant adjustments were done to the JPB iteration to make it more genuine to the American syndication after half a decade.

Format
The rules of the game have changed over the years since Opasnost debuted on ABS in 1986. However the show has followed a general format that reverses the question and answer format of competing quiz shows; each question is presented in the form of a statement about a certain subject, and the contestant must give their answer in the form of a question, naming the desired subject. Much like the Russian spin-off of Jeopardy, the questions in Opasnost prior to the show's reform in the late 90s were designed not so much for pure knowledge, but rather for the ability to think logically. Later, the questions were more direct and intended to test the knowledge of the contestants.

In the 1986 to 1990 edition of the program, three players sit at desks and tasked to answer questions from various areas of knowledge. The desks each feature a miniature digital game board consisting of six categories with five clues each which come in handy in the Opasnost! and Supreme Opasnost! rounds. Players competed for gifts instead of monetary prizes, and clue values were in a made up currency called "bucks" rather than in dollars. The clue values in the first round ranged from 10 to 50 bucks in the Opasnost round and clue values in the second and final round ranged from 20 to 100 bucks in Supreme Opasnost.

Starting with the 1990 to 1998 edition of Opasnost, the first incorrect response entitled the player's fail "meter" to rise, represented by a gauge on their desk. When the needle reached "Opasnost!", the desk's image scanner used to scan the player's question would turn off and the question displayed on the desk's screen would turn from black to red, being reactivated after a 2 minute timer. If the player were to answer incorrectly a second time, the gauge's needle would move slowly towards "detention" instead of the scanner disabling again. Once the needle reached "Detention!", the contestant's desk would sound a quiet alarm for 4 seconds and disable the desk entirely, being set on a timer to reactivate. With this, the game board would turn red and display "Detention!", locking them out of gameplay for one clue.