Who's Still Standing?

Who's Still Standing? is an American version of the Israeli game show of the same name. One player (the "Hero") attempts to defeat 10 competitors ("Strangers") in a series of trivia showdowns and win $1 million.

Rules
The Hero stands at center stage, with the 10 Strangers standing around the perimeter and facing in toward him/her. Each participant stands on a trapdoor. The Hero must challenge one Stranger at a time. Bailey asks alternating questions, starting with the Stranger, with a series of partially filled-in blanks showing the words in the correct answer (similar to puzzles on Wheel of Fortune. The participant has 20 seconds to give the correct answer, starting from the moment Ben begins to ask the question. Multiple guesses are allowed, as long as the correct answer is given before time runs out.

The Hero is given two passes at the start of the game. Passing a question forces the Stranger to answer it, with a fresh 20-second countdown. Strangers may not pass; they must answer every question put to them.

Missing a question ends the challenge, and the trapdoor under that person's feet opens to drop him/her through the stage and eliminate him/her from the game with no winnings. If the Hero drops, the Stranger who defeated him/her wins $10,000. If the Stranger drops, the Hero wins an amount of money that is revealed on a screen at the Stranger's position once the challenge is over. The values for defeating each stranger are $1,000, $3,000, $10,000, $15,000, and $20,000. The value of each Stranger is based on the difficulty that the Hero is expected to face in defeating him/her.

Every second round is a "Specialty Round," in which all the questions and answers have to do with one particular theme or word.

Once the Hero has dropped five Strangers, Ben offers him/her a chance to leave the game with all money won to that point, or stay in and try to win more. If the Hero decides to stay in, he/she receives one more pass and will have another chance to leave after each new Stranger dropped.

The final three rounds increase the Hero's winnings as follows:

In addition, the money awarded to a Stranger for dropping the Hero in these rounds increases:

If a game ends early, the remaining Strangers play a round among themselves. Ben asks a question to each one in turn, with 10 seconds on the clock instead of 20. Each correct answer adds $1,000 (later $2,000) to a jackpot, while a wrong answer drops the Stranger with no winnings. The last one left standing wins the entire jackpot.

There have been episodes where the entirety of the program consists of the Hero's head-to-head rounds against the Strangers, with the Hero leaving near the end of the program with Strangers remaining on their trapdoors. For such situations, a Speed Round is still played with the remaining Strangers, but the video is posted on the show's official Web site after such episodes air.

Similar Shows
Russian Roulette - Similar show aired on GSN from 2002-2003

Inventor
Based on the Israeli game show of the same name.

Links
Official Site