Game Show Host Christopher Knight is Pursuing Fun

[Zoneboy]

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Collapsing into an overstuffed chair after 10 hours of shooting his latest show, "Trivial Pursuit: America Plays," Christopher Knight pulls out an elastic band and begins wrapping a black plastic box onto his left arm.

"It's my bone stimulator," Knight says nonchalantly, as the black box begins to softly beep. "For my broken arm. I broke it twice doing 'Celebrity Circus' (in July) . ... It's still broken."

Call it middle-child syndrome, but Knight - best-known for the role he took 40 years ago as Peter Brady in "The Brady Bunch" - can't get enough.

After letting TV viewers creep into his personal space on "The Surreal Life," peer into his married life in "My Fair Brady" and observe his acrobatic prowess (and vulnerability) on "Celebrity Circus," the 50-year-old Hermosa Beach resident is trying his hand at game show hosting.

"When I said to my friends, 'Oh, I'm sort of testing for a game show,' they all said, 'Oh, you'd be great as a game show host," Knight said. "Then after rehearsing for a while, I thought, 'I'm not sure I will be,' because it's really easy to get lost. ... It's a challenge to get used to it when you've never done it before."

But Knight, who has mastered his game show host smile and zippy banter, is doing just fine.

"Trivial Pursuit: America Plays," which premiered Sept. 22, is based on the popular Hasbro board game, except that instead of players battling each other, "America Plays" pits studio contestants against at-home


Viewers submit their videotaped trivia questions - anything from pop culture miscellany ("Who is the head Smurf?") to geographical know-how ("What's the capital of Minnesota?") - through the show's Web site or by mail. If chosen, their questions are aired on the show.

"The questions have to be something that people could have heard or would know," said executive producer Burt Wheeler. "You can't have people asking questions like, 'What is my mother's middle name?' "

If an in-studio contestant gets a question wrong, the monetary value of that question goes to "America's Team," a team made up of the people whose questions appear on that episode. At the end of each show, if "America's Team" has earned more than the in-studio contestant, the money is divided among team members (usually 15 to 17 people). About a million dollars will be given to viewers throughout the season, Wheeler said.

It's a new avenue for Knight, who has spent the past four years doing reality TV, including a season of VH1's "The Surreal Life," which led to his televised relationship and marriage to "America's Next Top Model" winner Adrianne Curry.

Initially, Knight had rejected the idea of doing reality TV after spending more than a decade forging a successful computer marketing career.

"I wasn't a fan of reality television - I had the opinion that it was at the expense of the people in it," Knight said. "I sort of had an attitude about it."

Suffice to say, his attitude changed and his foray into reality television lent new buzz to the Brady name.

But his stint in reality TV didn't sit well with some of his former 1970 s co-stars.

"I had dinner last weekend with Eve Plumb (Jan Brady) who had sort of disowned me," Knight said. "It's not that she had written me off, she just sort of put me in the closet.

"In a way, (she thought) we were cashing in on Brady," he continued. "But for me, I was just letting Brady work for me. It was a quick way to readjust everyone to who I really was."

That said, being perennially identified as a 10-year-old Brady boy can be frustrating.

"It's odd to be pushing 50 and have people saying, 'Oh you're one of the kids from 'The Brady Bunch,' " he said. "People are like, 'Oh you look just the same,' and I'm like, 'Are you crazy?' I'm 40 years older."

[Jude The Obscure]

I haven't been able to see this show since no station in my market picked it up--that I'm aware of. Is there anyway to find out if it is indeed playing in my market?

[friendsfan77]

I'm really liking this show and I think Christopher is doing a really decent job as host.

[MaggieM]

I saw another recent interview with Chris Knight and a couple of the Bradys. It's so funny that they're like a real family. Chris is close to Eve again, but now Marcia Marcia Marcia is on the outs with Eve. And now Chris has Mom Brady mad at him because she doesn't like his wife. It's hysterical.

But I've really been enjoying Chris on his game show. I love Trivial Pursuit and I think the hook of letting viewers across America ask the questions and win money is really inventive and fun. Chris is totally unfake and makes the game exciting and fun.

By the way...here's a funny clip that's floating around from Brady Week on TP. It's supposed to air all week Nov 10th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBqLxQYGImo

[The Great One]

Christopher Knight is doing an awesome job as the host of
"Trivial Pursuit: America Plays."

[phoebe7165]

I'm watching this show right now. I enjoy it and I think Chris is doing a great job hosting. Some of the contestants though, I don't know how the heck some of them get on the show!! They don't know anything. I think I would kick so much a$$ on that show!!