Double the Dollars

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A staple of Game Shows. After completing round one, the host will usually announce that round two is exactly the same, only all the rewards and penalties are multiplied by two. Often, the associated tasks are more difficult than in the previous round, but not always.

Compare Golden Snitch, for when the dollars are more than doubled.

Examples of Double the Dollars include:
  • Jeopardy!: The Double Jeopardy round.
  • Double Dare: More or less the Trope Namer.
  • Nick Arcade
  • Family Feud: Points are doubled and tripled in some rounds; the sequence changes depending on which version you're watching. Interestingly, the "points" were originally (before the Bullseye round came into play in 1992) dollars.
  • Street Smarts: Questions are worth $100, then $200, and finally $300.
  • You Don't Know Jack
  • The Newlywed Game
  • I'm Telling: Round 1 has questions for 25, 50 and 75 points. In Round 2, it's 50, 75 and 150. Close enough.
  • Sale of the Century: The original 1969 NBC version doubled the dollar value of the questions (from $5 to $10), changing at an undefined point in the show; the final round of questions toward the end of the show offered questions worth $20.
  • Split Second: Round 1 has questions for $5, $10 and $25; and $10, $25 and $50 in Round 2 (for the original 1972 version); and $10/$25/$50 for Round 1 and $25/$50/$100 for Round 2 in the 1986 revival.
  • Remote Control
  • Trashed
  • Cash Cab: After several questions, the question value doubles. Occasionally, there are Double Rides.
  • Win Ben Stein's Money is an odd example. The first round values are either $50, $100 or $150 with a $50 bonus question/toss-up, depending on who got the question right. The second round features questions worth $200, $300, $400 or $500 (very rare), but no bonus/toss-up afterwards.
  • The Weakest Link: In the American version, the final round is played for double stakes. In the UK and other countries, the stakes are tripled.
  • Press Your Luck: The "Double Your $$ (+ One Spin)" space.