Trivial Pursuit
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While not a convention game created by fans, Trivial Pursuit was very much an activity at cons.
In recent years, it has become a retro game of nostalgia. From Foz Meadows in 2014:
I spent a not inconsiderable portion of my tweens and teens playing the original edition of Trivial Pursuit for fun, despite the fact that even the most “recent” events on the cards were all older than me by more than a decade. My parents used to beat me hollow, but I loved it, because I always felt like I learned something. [1]
Con Activity
- many, many mentions of the game at Blake's 7 cons
- it was a Stargate SG-1 in 2002 at MediaWest*Con
- In 2021, fans played a Star Wars version of it: "Revelcon’s Annual GhosTEA! What’s better than a nice cup of tea in the afternoon? Tea and games together, of course! Join us for a cuppa and a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit (Classic Star Wars!), Fandom Sentinel Monopoly and more."
Blake's 7: Hugely Popular at Cons
The game was massively popular at Blake's 7 cons.
This is mainly due to the fact that Paul Darrow was a fan of it, and played it often with select groups of fans at conventions.
Blake's 7 Cons
The "Trivial Pursuit-Ship!" Connection
Trivial Pursuit-Ship! is a 50-page Blake's 7 zine of 600 questions to be used with the game Trivial Pursuit.
The questions and answers were written by Jean Graham.
While playing "Trivial Pursuit-Ship!" was a con activity, it is unknown if this game was ever played with Paul Darrow Himself.
Co-opted by Blake's 7 TPTB
The game was used as a selling point by Terry Nation and Paul Darrow in their quest to create a series of for-profit cons, which in itself was a topic in The Blake's 7 Wars. The game was mentioned by Terry Nation and Paul Darrow as part of an open letter in a January 2, 1989 Press Release packet where they addressed many things, specifically Open Letter by "Name Withheld By Request":
Since this is our idea, we want it to be as special for everybody as we can make it. And if that means sitting in the lobby playing Trivial Pursuit until 3:00 in the morning, or gathering in the con suite to watch and discuss episodes together with the fans, we'll be there to do it! [2]
It was also used by TPTB for charitable purposes. From a con report about the 1990 ORBIT:
The next item on the program was another unique "surprise" -this time engineered by Vere [Lorimer]. He had devised, along with the help of the B7 "Trivial Pursuit-ship" game, a Blake's 7 trivia mastermind game. B7 fans were selected as contestants, (based on their ability to answer the trivia questionnaire included in the registration packets). Paul, Janet and Michael asked the questions, and if, after two tries, the fan panel could not answer, it was thrown out to the audience (the audience seemed to know all the answers!). The questions were tough, but not impossible -and eventually one finalist emerged as the victor. [3]
Blake's 7 Fan Comments
1986
The Trivial Pursuit final was that afternoon - they played the Silver Screen edition, which is tough. Again, the guests were amazing, especially Paul, who must have answered 25 questions straight without even consulting his team! He was constantly leading the team in chanting their motto: "CHEAT TO WIN!" To be fair, Michael and Terry answered a great number of questions as well, but I have to say that Paul must know everything about 98% of all movies EVER made. [4]
1988
Programming: Pictionary and Trivial Pursuit ("What’s this? Mundane game playing at a science fiction convention? If you read your schedule you’ll find we’ve set times to play both Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary. If you have never played, we will teach you. If you have, you will know why we are doing it. See you there.") [5]
Paul mingled with the crowd, talking to nearly everyone. He took part in a lively game of Trivial Pursuit -- Paul's team won, of course! [6]
After dinner break, the guest/audience arrangement was turned into a party, where people watched music videos and played Trivial Pursuit-Ship (no, you didn't read that wrong - it’s the B7 version!) Paul mingled and chatted, and eventually challenged the ’Yanks’ to a game of original Trivial Pursuit. Since one fan had a British edition of the game, the two ’sides’ faced off for the duration. ’Yanks’ versus ’Brits’. The result? Well, Paul's team won. (Naturally!) (We have yet to find recorded proof that Paul Darrow has ever lost at this game!) [7]
1989
It turned out to be a wonderfully enjoyable day after all, as Paul and Michael ended up spending a good portion of the day talking with those fans that had arrived early for the con, doing informal interviews, and of course, playing the inevitable game of Trivial Pursuit. Although Michael elected not to participate, claiming it wasn't good for one's health, Paul engaged enthusiastically in several rounds of his favorite game with a small group of fans. First we played the Silver Screen version, and Paul's team won that round handily, aided in large part by Paul's extensive knowledge. When we switched to the Genus Version, our team bounced back on the rematch, and although it was close, we were proud of our victory! It was interesting to note surprising differences in cultural reference sets...Paul was
unfamiliar with our classic 50's TV show "Leave It To Beaver", and had never heard of John Denver! His team seemed to get all the British history questions, though! [8]
1990
Programming: Games: (Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit and Trivial Pursuit-Ship tourneys) [9]
Trivial Pursuit is a feature of any con Paul attends and this was no exception with games running until 2:00 a.m. The Sunday game, featuring another Paul versus Janet line-up, raised 80 pounds for the Charity. The fact that Janet's team had 35 members against Paul's eight says a lot for Janet's recruiting drive during dinner (Paul's team won, despite Janet taking him severely to task for using the 'Avon Look' to psych his opponents out of the answers). [10]
1995
Paul settled down in the lobby with nearly two dozen of us, participants and spectators in the semi-traditional round of Trivial Pursuit. Needless to say, Paul's team won - no surprises so far...[11]
References
- ^ from Exclusion As Default: Female Geeks
- ^ from the open letter: Press Release to Fan Clubs, Fanzine Publishers, Fan Artists, and Fans (January 2, 1989)
- ^ about ORBIT in Aspects #9
- ^ about Scorpio '86, Sally Armstrong from Horizon Newsletter #17
- ^ from the program book for ORAC '88
- ^ about DarrowCon, by Lee Vibber in Aspects #3
- ^ about DarrowCon, by Jean Graham and Pearl Stickler, from Avon Club Newsletter #36, also in Aspects #3
- ^ from Unicon, by Mindy DeLapp, a con report actually titled "Trivial Pursuits," in Aspects #4
- ^ from the program book for ORAC '90
- ^ about Space City
- ^ from Barbara about Visions '95 in Avon Club Newsletter #62