Because there were a whole bunch of trivia gameshows out there at the time, this one had to set itself apart somehow. So it's trivia, but in reverse, which was novel for the time. The format and content were a hit formula, enjoyed by the well educated and the uneducated alike. We forget the weird gimmick because it has been a nightly fixture in homes for several generations. It's just good, high paced trivia with little filler and, for almost the whole series, a beloved host.