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- Initiators / Followers
- Capsule Pitch Description: Description
- Implementation: Implementation
- The Price Is Right (1956-65 run) / Say When!! (1961)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Contestants vie for prizes by not exceeding their value.
- Implementation: Price used a modified auction format; Say When!! had two contestants selecting prizes and trying not to exceed a target value.
- Tic-Tac-Dough (1956) / The Hollywood Squares (1965)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Contestants vie to create three in a row on a magnified Tic-Tac-Toe board.
- Implementation: Tic Tac Dough was a straight-forward quiz game; Hollywood Squares employed celebrities giving answers with contestants determining if the celebrity is right or wrong.
- Password (1961) / You Don't Say! (1963-69 run) & The Object Is (1963)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Two teams of celebrity/civilian players identify subjects based on clues.
- Implementation: Password used words identified with one-word clues. You Don't Say! used names of famous people and places identified using sentences with the last word left off with that word sounding like part of the name. The Object Is combined the name identification of YDS with the clue-giving of Password. Both clones were rather blatant; the set-up of YDS was so similar to Password that Goodson-Todman threatened to sue, with YDS acquiescing by moving Tom Kennedy's host podium to the viewers' left. (Ironically, Tom would become host of Password Plus after long-time host Allen Ludden took ill.)
- Password (1961) / Pyramid (1973)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Two teams of celebrity/civilian players identify subjects based on clues.
- Implementation: Password used words identified with one-word clues; Pyramid – also created by Bob Stewart, a former Goodson-Todman executive who now was overseeing his own company – expanded the clue giving by allowing the clue-giver to use phrases, complete sentences… anything short of giving the actual answer itself.
- Match Game (1973, CBS) / Rhyme and Reason (1975, ABC)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Two contestants predict how a panel of six celebrities complete funny phrases.
- Implementation: Match Game used fill-in-the-blanks while Rhyme And Reason used couplets from poems that the celebrity panel had to complete for contestants to score points.
- Match Game (1973, CBS) / Blankety Blanks (1975, ABC)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Two contestants compete to fill in funny fill-in-the-blank puns.
- Implementation: Match Game used a simple fill-in-the-blank format while Blankety Blanks had the team solving a word puzzle filling in the punchline of a joke.
- Let's Make a Deal (1963) / The Price Is Right (1972-current run)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Contestants use consumer/pricing knowledge – and skill – to win prizes.
- Implementation: In 1963, LMaD debuted, testing contestants on playing hunches and their willingness to risk their current winnings on hopefully winning more ... or losing it all by getting a "zonk" (a worthless, nonsense prize). Very early in LMaD's run, games of pricing skill were added, for instance, asking a contestant to select an item that was worth an announced price, or pricing a row of items in order from cheapest to most expensive. Each program ended with a Big Deal of the Day, which generally had the show's most expensive prizes – or, most lavish grouping therein. The original TPiR was overhauled in 1972 by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, taking the original basic premise of contestants guessing the actual retail price of a given item, adding a variety of pricing games that were based on skill and luck (similar to LMaD's skill-based games). Each episode concluded with a Showcase round, where contestants bid on two final prize packages (one apiece, being the closest on his own showcase without going over).
- Let's Make a Deal (1963) / The New Treasure Hunt (1973)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Contestants use their hunches to win prizes.
- Implementation: Both LMaD (created by longtime host Monty Hall) and Treasure Hunt (the 1970s and 1980s runs, produced by The Gong Show creator Chuck Barris and hosted by Geoff Edwards) had the same basic premise: testing contestants on playing hunches and their willingness to risk their current winnings on hopefully winning more ... or losing it all by getting a a worthless, nonsense prize. On LMaD, it was called a "zonk," while Treasure Hunt referred to these items as a "klunk." The major difference was that Treasure Hunt had the contestants view – or more often than not, participate in – a skit that made them think they had lost, then won, then lost ... and so forth, until the final outcome was revealed. Also, Treasure Hunt had a top prize of $25,000 (up to $50,000 in the 1981 run); LMaD for awhile added an All or Nothing top prize of $20,000 in addition to Big Deal winnings.
- Jeopardy! (1964, 1978, 1984-current run) / Debt (1996)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Three contestants run a board of general knowledge clues.
- Implementation: Jeopardy! presents their clues in the form of statements (or "answers") and the contestant buzzing in must respond in the form of a question. Debt implemented clues prefaced as "I am" and contestants (in the first season) had to respond with the preface "You are." Jeopardy! used the Daily Double as an element while Debt had the Debtonator.
- The Price Is Right (1972-current run) / Bargain Hunters (1987)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Contestants use consumer/pricing knowledge – and skill – to win prizes.
- Implementation: TPiR was created in 1956 by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, under the basic premise of contestants guessing the actual retail price of a given item. The original program continued in this format through 1965, and was revamped into today's best-known format, where a variety of pricing games, based on skill and luck, are played. Each episode concluded with a Showcase round, where contestants bid on two final prize packages (one apiece, being the closest on his own showcase without going over). Bargain Hunters was created in 1987 by Merrill Heatter (best known for creating The Hollywood Squares), and patterned its own pricing-type games around the new home-shopping network fad.
- The Superstars (1973) / Battle Of The Network Stars (1976)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Celebrities compete against each other in different athletic competitions.
- Implementation: Superstars featured athletes from all over the sporting map (Olympics, MLB, NFL, boxing, etc). Battle featured teams of stars from ABC, CBS, and NBC competing against each other.
- Double Dare (1986) / Fun House (1988)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Children answer questions and compete in stunts that get them Covered in Gunge.
- Implementation: Double Dare is basically Beat the Clock with a quiz element. Fun House is a Double Dare with only three stunts and the obstacle course replaced with a grand prix and the Fun House.
- Remote Control (1987) / Couch Potatoes (1989)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Contestants' knowledge of TV trivia is tested in a comedic format.
- Implementation: Remote Control premiered as MTV's first venture out of music videos and featured three individual contestants — usually college students — competing in an oversized basement in hopes of avoiding being thrown "Off the Air". Couch Potatoes was a syndicated program featuring two teams of three (usually older) contestants each competing in an oversized living room in hopes of avoiding being "cancelled".
- Win, Lose or Draw (1987) / Pictionary (1997)
- Capsule Pitch Description: "Picture charades" game.
- Implementation: Although Win, Lose or Draw came on the air before its rival, the Pictionary board game predated both. Fast Draw, a 1968 game hosted by Johnny Gilbert, predated that. And even going back further was The Rebus Game, a 1965 show hosted by Jack Linkletter where contestants had to draw out syllables to names and phrases.
- Nickelodeon GUTS (1992) / Legends of the Hidden Temple (1993)
- Capsule Pitch Description: American Gladiators inspired show for children including physical activity and a giant obstacle course in the finale.
- Implementation: Whereas GUTS relied solely on physical gameplay for scoring, Legends also involved history lessons that needed to be answered correctly to advance in the rounds.
- Robot Wars (1998) / BattleBots (2000)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Demoliton Derby with tricked-out, remote controlled robots.
- Implementation: BattleBots actually was created to compete with the British version of the original Robot Wars. Robot Wars was strictly about the robot-on-robot violence. BattleBots tried to emphasize the human element — with more time given to competitor backstory and announcer wackiness.
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (1999) / Greed (1999)
- Capsule Pitch Description: A multiple-choice exam where the money goes up as the questions get harder.
- Implementation: Millionaire has quite a few people becoming millionaires; Greed had a person becoming a millionaire (and not even claiming the show's top prize, at that; only one person actually played the top question, and lost on the last answer). That's how hard Greed was!
- The Weakest Link (2000) / Friend or Foe? (2002)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Antagonistic game show that whittles down team members round by round. Snarky host.
- Implementation: Friend or Foe is the more savage of the two, because while Weakest Link guarantees that one player leaves with money, it was a distinct possibility that nobody could win anything on Friend or Foe.
- The Chamber (2002) / The Chair (2002)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Kimodameshi Game Shows in which contestants were subject to physical and mental stress while answering questions.
- Implementation: The Chamber was perhaps more torturous; The Chair had a better known host and a much safer atmosphere.
- The Chase (2006) / Pointless (2009)
- Capsule Pitch Description: British game shows broadcast in the teatime slot by dueling channels ITV and BBC1. Actually have their ratings compared on Wikipedia and forums for some reason.
- Implementation: The Chase has contestants compete against a quiz genius in speed rounds. Pointless asks contestants to suggest the least popular answers to surveys for points.
- The Singing Bee (2007) / Don't Forget the Lyrics! (2007)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Karaoke Game Show.
- Implementation: In a double duel, NBC announced Singing Bee for fall 2007. FOX rushed the ripoff into production for summer 2007, which led NBC to announce an earlier start date before casting a host or taping an episode. The shows premiered on consecutive nights in July 2007. DFTL! has one contestant and an overall format echoing other big money game shows, whereas SB has multiple contestants in an elimination format, much like a spelling bee. Don't Forget the Lyrics! lasted three seasons on FOX before being canceled, while Singing Bee lasted only one season on NBC. The former went into syndication for a season, and the latter got Uncanceled when it moved to a Country Music-oriented version on CMT.
- The Chase (2009) / Revenge of the Egghead (2014)
- Capsule Pitch Description: British game shows where teams attempt to defeat quiz geniuses for large amounts of money. Unlike Eggheads, both of these involve the team going against a single opponent, and they're by dueling channels ITV and The BBC
- Implementation: The Chase has Mark Labett, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha and Shaun Wallace, Revenge of the Egghead just has CJ de Mooi. Additionally, some other differences include the individual rounds (The Chase has a game board players have to clear, Revenge of the Egghead has a lives system) and the final chase. (The Chase has players set a target for the Chaser, Revenge of the Egghead has CJ set the target for the team.)
- Figure It Out (2012) / Win, Lose Or Draw (2014)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Teen/tween celebrity performers help other teen/tweens win prizes in a guessing game.
- Implementation: The latest incarnation of FiO is the latest game show offering from Nickelodeon, once a stalwart of teen/tween-themed game shows; WLoD likewise is the latest incarnation to be hosted by Disney Channel (and not the first on that network, either). In WLoD the celebrity guests are actively trying to help their fellow contestants win prizes, while in FiO the celebrity guests are actively working against the guest contestant winning (though at the same time, they're helping random live audience members win prizes).
- Win, Lose or Draw (2014) / Web Heads (2014)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Guessing game shows on kids' networks.
- Implementation: Web Heads, hosted by Carlos Pena-Vega Jr. of Big Time Rush fame, is the first new Nickelodeon game show since the cancellation of Figure it Out and will be dueling with Win, Lose or Draw almost by default. The series will feature contestants trying to predict the outcomes of viral videos.
