Game show
"Quiz show" redirects here; for the movie, see Quiz Show. For the scandals of that name, see Quiz show scandals. For the Turkish computer games magazine, see Gameshow (magazine).A
game show involves members of the public or
celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, playing a
game, perhaps involving answering quiz questions, for points or prizes. In some shows contestants compete against other players or another team whilst other shows involve contestants striving alone for a good outcome or high score. Game shows often reward players with prizes such as cash, or holidays and goods and services provided by the show's sponsors. Early television game shows descended from similar programs on broadcast
radio.
There are several basic genres of game shows with a great deal of crossover between the different types.
*The simplest form of game show is a
quiz show whereby people compete against each other by answering quiz questions or solving puzzles. Quiz shows usually involves members of the public, but sometimes special shows are aired in which celebrities take part and the prizes are given to charity.
Wheel of Fortune and
Jeopardy! are examples. Some quiz shows, such as the word games
Password and
Pyramid, pair celebrities and non-notable citizens. Television's most successful quiz,
The Price is Right (premiering in 1956), revolves mostly around how much a merchandise item costs, though the modern version mixes the retail element with games of chance.
*A
panel game usually involves a celebrity panel answering questions about a specialist field such as
sport or
music and is often played for laughs as much as points.
Match Game, which dates from the 1960s but is best known for its
CBS daytime run of the 1970's, is one such example. Other examples include
What's My Line? and
To Tell the Truth.
*The third kind of game show involves contestants completing stunts or playing a game that involves an element of chance or strategy in addition to, or instead of, a test of general knowledge.
Deal or No Deal is an example of this format, combining both luck and strategy.
Reality game shows have become popular in recent years. In a reality show the competition usually lasts several days or even weeks and a competitor's progress through the game is based on some form of popularity contest, usually a kind of
disapproval voting by their fellow competitors or members of the public.
Dating game shows, the original reality games, in which the prize is typically a well-funded
dating opportunity that one can only pursue with the individual one has 'won' on the show. They are also a type of
date auction where competitors compete for dates not with money but with seductive powers or attractiveness or the promise of an enjoyable date or even ultimately marriage.
In the US, television game shows fell out of favor in the 1950s after it was revealed that favored contestants on
The $64,000 Question,
Twenty One and other shows had been given answers and coached by the producers
(see: Quiz show scandals). They came back into favor in the 1960s by adopting merchandise prizes of far less value and by emphasizing larger numbers of simple questions, or physical contests without an advantage.
In the middle of the 1960s,
Chuck Barris conceived a new genre in which the competitor's personal life became part of the show. They were the forerunners of today's reality game show. The prize was typically romantic opportunity (
The Dating Game â€" the first
dating game show) or fame (
The Gong Show) rather than cash. One of his famous shows,
The Newlywed Game, actually led to some divorces. This genre virtually disappeared from US screens in the
1990s.
Blind Date, the British version of
The Dating Game, remained popular in the United Kingdom.
The height of the game show era began in the early 1970s, thanks in part to the success of popular game shows like
The Price Is Right,
Match Game,
The Joker's Wild and
The $10,000 Pyramid. Many of these game shows provided amazing game show sets filled with flashing chase lights and sometimes flashing neon lights. During this golden era, most hosts' wardrobes were supplied by
Botany 500. This era of game shows officially ended in the late
1990s, leaving
The Price Is Right as the only daytime network game show remaining on U.S. television. In syndication, however, a handful of game shows continue to be popular, including
Wheel of Fortune and
Jeopardy!, and to a lesser extent,
Who Wants to be a Millionaire and
Family Feud. (All of those shows were originally network daytime shows except for
Millionaire, which was a nighttime summer limited-run series that became an unexpected breakout hit.)
Another major element in a game show is score displays. The most famous of these displays is the "eggcrate", which consists of seven rows of five bulbs each per digit. The eggcrate display has been used on more game shows than any other score display in history, and is still used today on
The Price Is Right. In recent years, however, video displays have replaced the eggcrate, especially from Sony shows.
Wheel of Fortune adopted the look in 2002, followed by
Jeopardy!. CBS also adopted video screens in 2001 for
Hollywood Squares, a show produced by its King World division. Of the major quiz producers,
RTL Television has been the major holdout from this change, as its two US game shows use eggcrate displays.
In
Japan a number of shows emerged that defy classification by most standards. For instance, in one infamous show, failing to answer a question correctly led to one's own mother being buried in tons of rotting fish. In another, those who failed to answer questions correctly were dumped at locations remote from transport or assistance, e.g. in the
Arctic, and had to perform such feats as drinking beer while sitting on blocks of ice â€" first one to run to the outhouse was left behind. In a show colloquially called
Strip Questions, a nude woman stands behind a pane of glass with strips of paper embedded in it; every time she misses a question, one strip of paper is pulled away.
The reality game shows concept really took off in the 2000s with shows like
Survivor,
Big Brother and their clones.
Planet 24 television (owned by
Bob Geldof) devised the concept of
Survivor but were unable to sell it to a British or American broadcaster. It was eventually taken up in 1997 by
Sweden as
Expedition Robinson. The format was an immediate hit in other
Scandinavian countries and it soon caught on around the world. These shows combine elements of
reality show and older reality game shows with traditional game-show elements of physical competitions by contestants.
Some shows (e.g.
The Weakest Link) exploit a
disapproval voting system similar to the reality game show, and play up the realistic confrontation between contestants, but are in fact just conventional game shows, where no bodily torture or emotionally stressful situation is created, other than the failure to answer some question or impress hosts.
Dog Eat Dog was even publicised as a reality show despite being basically a revamp of
The Krypton Factor with a variant of disapproval voting added.
Card games, especially
poker and to a lesser extent
blackjack, have recently become the basis for a number of popular shows on various U.S. broadcast and cable/satellite networks. Although these shows appear to meet the third definition above ("a game that involves an element of chance or strategy in addition to, or instead of, a test of general knowledge") an interesting controversy has erupted over whether these "casino games" should be considered game shows. A question-and-answer element is present in
Card Sharks,
Strip Poker,
Gambit and
Top Card, but not in
(Super) Pay Cards!.
Buena Fortuna*
List of Australian Game Shows*
Roletrando (now
Roda a Roda)
*
Show do Milhão*
10/64 - prime-time Q&A, on
Kanal 1*
Bum (show) (Boom) - Q&A, on
Evrokom*
Kosherut (The Hive) - game show, on
Msat TV*
Minuta e mnogo (A Minute Is Too Much) - Q&A show with higher difficulty of the questions, on
Kanal 1*
Sdelka ili ne (Deal or Not) - a version of successful European game show, on
Nova televiziya*
Koy iska da stani bogat (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire) - a version of the popular Q&A, on
Nova televiziya, almost always referred to as just "Stani bogat" by Bulgarians
*
Treska za zlato (GOld Fever) - lotto, on
bTV (TV)*
Vot na doverie (Vote of Confidence) - show that often features celebrities, on
bTV (TV)Acting CrazyBumper StumpersDefinitionFood for Thought
*Front Page Challenge
*Game On!
*Guess What
*Gutterball Alley
*Headline Hunters
*It's Your Move
*The Mad Dash
*The New Liar's ClubThe Next Line
*Party Game
*Pitfall
*Reach for the Top
*Smart Ask
*Talkabout
*Test Pattern
*This is the Law
*TimeChase
*Uh Oh!
*Video & Arcade Top 10
*Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Canadian Edition
*You Bet Your Ass''
AZ-kvÃzAZ-kvÃz JuniorSabados GigantesMaailman ympäriSF-StudioRetsi ja Jykke (followed by spin-off shows by the same team, until the death of
Jyrki Otila (Jykke))
Haluatko miljonääriksi? (Finnish version of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?)
Heikoin Lenkki (Finnish version of
The Weakest Link)
GiljotiiniGreedMitä Maksaa (Finnish version of
The Price is Right)
Onnenpyörä (Finnish version of
Wheel of Fortune)
Suuri kupla (children's quiz show)
Napakymppi (Finnish version of
The Dating Game)
Uutisvuoto (Finnish version of
Have I Got News for You)
CresusDes chiffres et des lettresFort BoyardLes Jeux de Vingt HeuresLe Maillon Faible (French version of
The Weakest Link)
Qui veut gagner des millions? (French version of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?)
Winning StreakThe Lyrics BoardQuicksilverDon't Feed the GondolasFame and FortuneYou're A StarWho Wants to be a Millionaire?The Weakest LinkDelegationGridlockBlackboard JungleDodge the QuestionIt's Not the AnswerTalkaboutChallenging TimesTelly BingoTreasure IslandCabin FeverCelebrity FarmCien Mexicanos DijeronEl Rival Más DébilLa SillaJeopardy!PicardÃa MexicánaAtÃnale al PrecioEn Familia con ChabeloSexos en Guerra100 Panameños DicenEl Bille ShowVive la MusicaEl FamilionLG QuizDigital LG QuizKapamilya, Deal or No DealPilipinas, Game KNB?WowoweeGame Na Game NaWho Wants to be a MillionaireWeakest LinkEat Bulaga!A MillonControl RemotoSabado en GrandeSuper SabadoRussian quiz, game & dating shows
AlfavitAllo, TV!Faktor Strakha (Russian version of
Fear Factor)
Koleso IstoriiKto Khochet Stat' Millionerom? (Russian version of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?)
Lyubov' s Pervogo Vzglyada (Russian version of
The Dating Game)
LzhecNarod ProtivO, Schaslivchik! (First Russian version of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?)
Papa, Mama, YaPole Chudes (Russian version of
Wheel of Fortune)
Piramida (Russian version of
Pyramid)
Russkaya Ruletka (Russian version of
Russian Roulette)
Samyj UmnyjSdelka!Shestoye ChuvstvoSlaboye Zveno (Russian version of
The Weakest Link)
StavkaSto k OdnomuSvoya Igra (Russian version of
Jeopardy!)
Tsena UdachiUgaday Melodiyu (Russian version of
Name That Tune)
V TemnoteVremya - Den'gi!Za Sem'yu Pechatyami12 NegrityatBol'shoj Brat (Russian version of
Big Brother)
DomFabrika Zvyozd (or "Star Factory")
GolodKandidat (Russian version of
The Apprentice)
Klub Byvshikh Zhen Narodnyj Artist(Russian version of
American idol)
Nastoyaschij MuzhchinaPosledniy Geroy (Russian version of
Survivor)
Sem' Pod SolncemSerdce Afriki (Another version of
Survivor)
Vozmozhnosti Plasticheskoj KhirurgiiWalk the PlankEl gran juego de la oca (The Big Goose Game - 1993-1995, 1998)
Decison Final (Spanish version of
Russian Roulette)
*
Fan Pan Tae (Chanel5 - 2000-Present)
*
Tod Sa Gun Game(or Who's that)(Chanel9 - 2003-Present)
*
Ching Roi Ching Lan (Chanel7 - ????-Present)
*
Black Box (Chanel3 - 2005-Present)
*
Game Jarachon (Chanel5 - ????-2005)by Workpoint Entertainment Company Limted
*
List of UK Game Shows*
List of USA Game Shows*
GSN - The Network for Games*
List of game show hosts*
List of television programs*
List of reality show winners*
Quiz Show (movie)*
Quiz show scandal*In the 1984 movie
Ghostbusters, at one point Dana (
Sigourney Weaver) remarks to Peter (
Bill Murray), the whimsical leader of the Ghostbusters team, "You don't act like a scientist. You're more like a game show host."
*
GSN: The Network for Games*
QuizTelly.com*
UKGameshows.com - fan site for UK game shows
*
Challenge TV*
Game Show Favorites*
Game Show Congress Industry Association*
Buzzer: The Game Show Blog News Site*
Game Show Convention Center News*
Game Show News Network*
Loogslair.net - Rules Repository
