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Game show




A game show is a television program involving 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
may be competing against other players or another team whilst other shows
involve contestants competing on their own. Early television game shows were
directly 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 a people compete
     against each other by answering quiz questions. 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.
   * 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.
   * The third kind of game show involves contestants completing stunts or
     playing a game that involves an element of chance or strategy in
     addition a test of general knowledge.
   * 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. Game shows often reward
     players with prizes such as cash, or holidays and goods and services
     provided by the show's sponsors.
   * 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 Dollar Question and other
shows had been given answers and coached by the producers. 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 1970s Chuck Barris conceived a new genre, in which the competitor's
personal life became part of the show, they were the forerunners of todays
reality game show. The prize was typically romantic opportunity (The Dating
Game - 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 disappeared from US screens in the 1980s. Blind Date, the British
version of the Dating Game, remained popular in the UK. In Japan a number of
shows emegerged 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 off at locales very far from
transport or assistance, e.g. in the Arctic, and had to perform such feats
as drinking beer while sitting on blocks of ice - first one to run to the
outhouse was left behind.

The reality game shows concept really took off in the 1990s 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, Greed) 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.

British game shows

Panel games In these, celebrities compete, usually in two teams.

   * The Brain Drain
   * Call My Bluff
   * Cluedo
   * Gagtag
   * Have I Got News For You?
   * If I Ruled the World
   * It's Only TV... But I Like It
   * Just a Minute (a regular BBC Radio 4 panel game, it appeared on TV
     briefly)
   * Never Mind The Buzzcocks
   * Pop Quiz
   * A Question of Sport
   * They Think It's All Over
   * Through the Keyhole
   * What's My Line?
   * Whodunnit?

Quiz shows

   * Ask the Family
   * Fifteen To One
   * Mastermind
   * Screen Test
   * The People Versus
   * Top of the Form
   * University Challenge
   * Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
   * The Weakest Link

Reality game shows

   * Big Brother
   * Fear Factor
   * Survivor
   * Survivor II
   * Survivor III
   * Newlywed Game

Dating game shows

   * Dating Game
   * Blind Date
   * New Dating Game
   * He Said She Said
   * Temptation Island
   * Who Wants to Marry A Millionaire
   * Fifth Wheel
   * The Bachelor

Other shows

   * 3-2-1
   * Beat The Teacher
   * Big Break
   * Blockbusters
   * Bullseye
   * Catchphrase
   * Catchword
   * Celebrity Squares
   * Cheggers Play Pop
   * Countdown
   * Crackerjack
   * Crosswits
   * Dog Eat Dog
   * Every Second Counts
   * The Fame Game
   * Family Fortunes
   * The Generation Game
   * Gladiators
   * The Golden Shot
   * The Krypton Factor
   * Name that Tune
   * Play Your Cards Right
   * The Price is Right
   * Runaround
   * Scrapheap Challenge
   * Take Your Pick
   * Win Beadle's Money
   * Wheel of Fortune
   * Wipeout
   * You Bet!

US game shows

   * $64,000 Question and $64,000 Challenge
   * Big Brother
   * Blockbusters
   * Concentration (and Classic Concentration)
   * Countdown
   * Double Dare
   * Family Feud
   * The Gong Show
   * Hollywood Squares
   * Jeopardy
   * The Joker's Wild
   * Match Game
   * The Price is Right
   * Press Your Luck
   * Pyramid (all versions)
   * Strip Poker
   * Sale of the Century
   * Tic Tac Dough
   * To Tell the Truth
   * What's My Line
   * The Weakest Link
   * Wheel of Fortune
   * Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
   * Win Ben Stein's Money

French game shows

   * Des Chiffres et des Lettres
   * Fort Boyard
   * Les Jeux de Vingt Heures
   * Le Maillon Faible (French version of The Weakest Link)

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