One of the oldest TV show types, and the granddaddy of
Reality TV; individuals or teams compete for cash and prizes. Descended from radio quiz shows (which are also covered here), they have
fluctuated in popularity since their debut in the 1920s.
Game shows were enormously popular in America during the 1950s when TV became a progressively more viable purchase, until several of the most popular ones
note Twenty One (the most infamous), Tic-Tac-Dough (~75% of the nighttime run), The $64,000 Question (Dr. Joyce Brothers was supposed to lose), The $64,000 Challenge (children!), and Dotto (the smoking gun) turned out to be
rigged in some manner to influence the outcome and manufacture drama.
Mind you, the problem with the rigging wasn't that anyone had done anything illegal (as it wasn't actually a crime back then), but rather that most tried to cover up what they did during the investigations that took place from 1958-60. Nobody went to jail over the rigging, but rather for committing perjury. As a result, a law was passed in 1960 that made it illegal to run a game show that deceives the public into thinking it's a fair contest.
The fallout from the scandals resulted in many low-stakes games, with big-ticket ones (especially quizzes) generally falling out of favor until 1973 and
The $10,000 Pyramid. The 1970s-80s brought flashy sets and
Ear Worm music, with 1975, 1985, and 1987 being particularly good years for the genre.
The 1990s brought with it a sense that ideas were running out, as networks and cable stations dropped games left and right (the last Big Three victim being
Caesars Challenge in January 1994). Only
The Price Is Right,
Wheel of Fortune, and
Jeopardy! remained through the entire decade, with a few other games briefly popping up here and there.
GSN began in December 1994, giving fans a constant home for classic games (although it eventually went into
Network Decay).
In 1998,
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire gave the genre a shot in the arm and brought a new age of
Follow the Leader games that use the editing room to manufacture drama legally.
For the celebrity-oriented variant, see
Panel Game. See also
Game Show Tropes.
Examples:
- 1 vs. 100
- 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show
- 3rd Degree
- 20 Questions
- 50 Grand Slam
- The $64,000 Challenge
- The $64,000 Question
- The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime
- All Star Blitz
- Amazing
- American Gladiators
- Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader
- Avanti Un Altro
- Bargain Hunters
- Battle For Money Sentouchuu
- Battlestars
- Beat the Clock
- Beat The Geeks
- Beat The Odds
- Bet On Your Baby
- The Better Sex
- The Big Payoff
- The Big Showdown
- Bingo At Home
- Blackout
- Blank Check
- Blast Lab
- Blockbusters
- Body Language
- Bowling For Dollars
- BrainSurge
- Break the Bank (1945-57; Wolf Productions series)
- Break the Bank (1976-77; Barry-Enright series)
- Break the Bank (1985-86; Kline & Friends series)
- Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak
- Bullseye (American version)
- Bullseye (British version)
- Bumper Stumpers
- By The Numbers
- Bzzz!
- Caesars Challenge
- Camouflage
- Card Sharks
- Cash Cab
- Cash Explosion
- Catch Phrase
- CBS Television Quiz
- Celebrity Sweepstakes
- Chain Reaction
- Challenges Of Fire
- The Chair
- The Chamber
- Cha$e
- The Chase
- The Cheap Show
- Child's Play
- Choose Up Sides
- Concentration
- Couch Potatoes
- Countdown
- Crash Course
- The Cross Wits
- The Cube
- Dasshutsu Game DERO!
- The Dating Game
- Dealer's Choice
- Deal Or No Deal
- Debt
- Definition
- Dendy: The New Reality
- The Diamond Head Game
- Dirty Rotten Cheater
- Distraction
- Dog Eat Dog
- Don't Forget The Lyrics
- Don't Scare the Hare
- Dotto
- Double Dare (1976-77; CBS quizzer with Alex Trebek)
- Double Dare (1986-93, 2000; Nickelodeon children's game show)
- Downfall
- Down You Go
- Dream House
- Duel
- Estate of Panic
- Eye Guess
- Face The Music
- Families At War
- Family Feud
- Family Challenge
- Family Game Night
- Fantasy
- Fear Factor
- Fetch With Ruff Ruffman
- Fifteen To One
- Figure It Out
- Finders Keepers
- Fort Boyard
- Full Metal Jousting
- Fun House
- Gambit (aka Catch 21)
- Gameshow Marathon
- Game Show Moments Gone Bananas
- Game Show Network Originals
- Get The Picture
- Give-N-Take
- Go
- Going For Gold
- Golden Balls
- The Golden Shot
- The Gong Show
- The Gong Show (1976-80, 1988-89)
- Extreme Gong (1998-99)
- The Gong Show with Dave Attell (2008)
- El gran juego de la oca (from Spain, translated to "The Great Game of the Goose")
- Greed
- Headline Chasers
- High Rollers
- History IQ
- Hit Man
- The Hollywood Squares
- The Honeymoon Race
- Hot Potato
- I'm Telling!
- Inside The Box
- Interceptor
- I'll Bet
- I'll Bet (1964-65; originally aired on KTLA, became national in '65)
- It's Your Bet (1969-73)
- It's Your Chance Of A Lifetime
- It's Worth What?
- It Takes Two
- Ive Got A Secret
- Jackpot!
- Jeopardy!
- The Jokers Wild
- Just Men!
- Knightmare
- Knockout
- The Krypton Factor
- The Last Word
- Legends Of The Hidden Temple
- Lets Ask America
- Let's Go Back
- Lets Make A Deal
- Liars Club
- Lingo
- Lottery Games:
- Love Connection
- The Love Experts
- The Magnificent Marble Machine
- Make The Connection
- Make The Grade
- Mastermind
- Match Game
- The Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour
- Merv Griffin's Crosswords
- Million Dollar Mind Game
- The Money Drop
- Mindreaders
- Minute To Win It
- Missing Links
- The Money Maze
- Monopoly
- Mr. & Mrs.
- Musical Chairs
- Musical Chairs 1955 (panel game with Bill Leyden and Gene Rayburn)
- Musical Chairs 1975 (finish-the-song game with Adam Wade)
- The Names The Same
- Name That Tune
- National Bingo Night
- The Newlywed Game
- Nick Arcade
- Nickelodeon Guts
- Ninja Warrior
- Now You See It
- Number Please
- Oh Sit
- Only Connect
- Our Little Genius
- Paranoia
- Parlamentet
- Pass The Buck
- Password
- Pay Cards!
- Peer Pressure
- Penny To A Million
- Phone In Game Shows:
- Glitterball
- Midnight Money Madness
- The Mint
- Quiz Call
- QuizMania
- Quiz TV
- PlayMania
- Pictureka!
- Pitfall
- Play The Percentages
- Play Your Hunch
- Pointless
- The Power Of Ten
- Press Your Luck
- The Price Is Right
- Pyramid
- Queen for a Day
- Quick As A Flash!
- Red Or Black
- The Reel-To-Reel Picture Show
- Relatively Speaking
- Remote Control
- Rhyme And Reason
- Run For Money Tousouchuu
- Sale Of The Century
- Satellite Bingo
- Scattergories
- Schlag Den Raab
- Scrabble
- Set For Life
- Sex Wars
- Shenanigans
- Shoot For The Stars
- Shoppers Casino
- Shopping Spree
- Shop Til You Drop
- Show Me
- Silent Library
- The Singing Bee
- Singled Out
- Skedaddle
- Snap Judgment
- Split Second
- Sqrambled Scuares
- Starcade
- Stop The Music
- Street Smarts
- Strike It Lucky
- Studs
- Stump The Schwab
- Super Bingo
- Supermarket Sweep
- Take Me Out
- Takeshi's Castle
- Take It All
- Take the Money and Run
- Talk About
- Tattletales
- Think Fast
- Three On A Match
- Three's A Crowd
- Three's A Crowd (1979-80)
- All-New Three's A Crowd (1999-2000)
- Tic-Tac-Dough
- Temptation (1967-68 game by Heatter-Quigley)
- Top Shot
- Total Blackout
- To Tell the Truth
- Trashed
- Treasure Hunt
- Treasure Mall
- Trivia Trap
- Trivial Pursuit
- Trivial Pursuit: The Interactive Game (1993)
- ESPN Trivial Pursuit (2004; five-episode pilot)
- Trivial Pursuit: America Plays (2008-09)
- Trump Card
- Truth or Consequences
- Twenty One
- Two For The Money
- Two-Minute Drill
- Unbeatable Banzuke
- Un Dos Tres
- University Challenge
- The Video Game
- Video Power
- Wait Til You Have Kids
- Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
- The Weakest Link
- Wha'dya Know?
- What's My Line?
- Wheel Of Fortune
- Wheel Of Fortune (1952-53; Peter Arnell series)
- Wheel of Fortune (1975-; Merv Griffin series)
- Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
- Whew!
- Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
- The Who, What, or Where Game
- Who's Still Standing?
- Wild And Crazy Kids
- Win Ben Steins Money
- Win, Lose or Draw
- Winner Take All
- Winning Lines
- Winning Streak
- Wipeout (1988-89; Syndicated quizzer with Peter Tomarken)
- Wipeout (2008-; ABC obstacle-course show)
- Yahtzee
- You Bet Your Life
- You Deserve It
- You Don't Know Jack
- You Dont Say
- You're in the Picture
- Yours For A Song
- Zoom (not the PBS show)
Producers:
- Ralph Andrews (You Don't Say!, I'll Bet/It's Your Bet, Liars Club, 1969-70 It Takes Two, Celebrity Sweepstakes, 50 Grand Slam, 1987-88 Lingo, Yahtzee)
- Peter Arnell (1952-53 Wheel of Fortune)
- Chuck Barris
- Jack Barry and Dan Enright
- Mark Burnett
- Stephen J Cannell (Caesars Challenge)
- Bill Carruthers (Give-N-Take, Second Chance, Press Your Luck)
- Carsey Werner (Bill Cosby version of You Bet Your Life)
- Desilu Studios (By the Numbers, Show Me, Zoom)
- Ralph Edwards (Truth or Consequences, 1970s-81 Name That Tune, The Cross-Wits, Knockout, Bzzz!)
- Fremantle Media (and its predecessors, All-American Television and Pearson Television)
- Mark Goodson and Bill Todman
- Merv Griffin
- Reg Grundy (Hot Streak, Scrabble, 1980s Sale of the Century, Time Machine, almost every Australian adaptation of an American game)
- Stefan Hatos and Monty Hall (Let's Make a Deal, Split Second)
- Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley
- Wink Martindale (Headline Chasers, Bumper Stumpers, Family Channel's interactive games of 1993-94)
- Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir (Pay Cards!, Spin-Off)
- Allan Sherman (creator/producer of I've Got a Secret, 1952-58)
- Scott Sternberg (Let's Go Back, Wheel 2000, Jep!)
- Bob Stewart
- Talent Associates (1960s Supermarket Sweep and The Honeymoon Race, among others)
- Jay Wolpert (Whew!, Hit Man, Blackout, Shopping Spree)
