Game show
Encyclopedia
A game show is a type of radio or television program
in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities
, sometimes as part of a team, play a game
which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while other shows involve contestants playing alone for a good outcome or a high score. Game shows often reward players with prizes such as cash, trips and goods and services
provided by the show's sponsor prize suppliers, who in turn usually do so for the purposes of product placement
.
Over the course of the 1950s, as television began to pervade the popular culture, game shows quickly became a fixture. Daytime game shows would be played for lower stakes to target stay-at-home housewives. Higher-stakes programs would air in prime time. During the late 1950s, high-stakes games such as Twenty One and The $64,000 Question began a rapid rise in popularity. However, the rise of quiz shows proved to be short-lived. In 1959, many of the higher stakes game shows were discovered to be rigged
. Ratings decline led to most of the prime time games being canceled. Only the daytime games survived during this period; game shows remained a fixture of daytime television through the 1960s along with soap operas and reruns. Lower-stakes games made a slight comeback in daytime in the early 1960s; examples include Jeopardy!
which began 1964 and the original version of The Match Game first aired in 1962. Let's Make A Deal
began in 1963 and the 1960s also marked the debut of Hollywood Squares
, Password, The Dating Game
and The Newlywed Game
.
Though CBS gave up on daytime game shows in 1968, the other networks did not follow suit. Color Television was introduced to the game show genre in the late 1960s on all three networks. The 1970s saw a renaissance of the game show as new games and massive upgrades to existing games made debuts on the major networks. The New Price Is Right
, an update of the 1950s era game show The Price Is Right
, debuted in 1972 and marked CBS's return to the game show format in its effort to draw wealthier, suburban viewers
. The Match Game became "Big Money" Match Game
73, which proved popular enough to prompt a spin-off, Family Feud
, on ABC in 1976. The $10,000 Pyramid
and its numerous higher-stakes derivatives also debuted in 1973, while the 1970s also saw the return of formerly disgraced producer and host Jack Barry
, who debuted The Joker's Wild
and a clean version of the previously rigged Tic Tac Dough in the 1970s. Wheel of Fortune
debuted on NBC in 1975. The Prime Time Access Rule
, which took effect in 1971, barred networks from broadcasting in the 7-8 p.m. time slot immediately preceding prime time
, opening up time slots for syndicated programming. Most of the syndicated programs were "nighttime" adaptations of network daytime game shows; these game shows originally aired once a week, but by the late 1970s and early 1980s most of the games had transitioned to five days a week.
Game shows were the lowest priority of television networks and frequently were rotated out every thirteen weeks if they were unsuccessful. Most tapes were destroyed until the early 1980s. Over the course of the late 1980s and early 1990s as fewer new hits were produced, game shows lost their permanent place in the daytime lineup. ABC gave up on game shows in 1986. NBC lasted until 1991, but attempted to bring them back in 1993 before cancelling its game show block again in 1994. CBS phased out most of their game shows, except for The Price Is Right, by 1993. To the benefit of the genre, the move of Wheel of Fortune to syndication in 1983 and the modernized revival of Jeopardy! in 1984 was highly successful, leading to the two games becoming fixtures in the prime time "access period" and several failed attempts at imitation. Cable television
also allowed for the debut of game shows such as Supermarket Sweep
(Lifetime), Trivial Pursuit
and Family Challenge
(Family Channel), and Double Dare (Nickelodeon). It also opened up a previously underdeveloped market for game show reruns; Game Show Network
debuted in 1994.
After the popularity of game shows hit a nadir in the mid-1990s (at which point The Price Is Right was the only game show still on daytime network TV), the British game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
began distribution across the globe. Upon the show's American debut in 1999, it was an instant hit and became a regular part of ABC's prime time lineup until 2002. Several shorter-lived high stakes games also were attempted around the time of the millennium, such as Winning Lines, The Chair
, and Greed
. During this period, several game shows returned to daytime in syndication (e.g., Family Feud, Hollywood Squares, and Millionaire). These higher stakes contests also opened up the door to reality television
contests such as Survivor
and Big Brother
, in which contestants win large sums of money for outlasting their peers in a given environment.
The popularity of game shows in the United States was closely paralleled around the world; Reg Grundy Organisation
, for instance, would buy the international rights for American game shows and create detailed reproductions in other countries, especially in his native Australia
. In the UK, game shows have had a more steady and permanent place in the television lineup and never lost popularity in the 1990s as they did in the United States, due in part to the fact that game shows were highly regulated by the Independent Broadcasting Authority
in the 1980s and those restrictions were lifted in the 1990s, allowing for higher-stakes games to be played.
; although in some cases, they are provided by private organizations or purchased at either the full price or at a discount by the show. There is the widespread use of "promotional consideration", in which a game show receives a subsidy from an advertiser in return for awarding that manufacturer's product as a prize or consolation prize. Some products supplied by manufacturers may not be intended to be awarded at all, and are instead just used as part of the gameplay (such as the low-priced items used in several Pricing Games of The Price Is Right
).
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
, sometimes as part of a team, play a game
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while other shows involve contestants playing alone for a good outcome or a high score. Game shows often reward players with prizes such as cash, trips and goods and services
Goods and services
In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility. It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax....
provided by the show's sponsor prize suppliers, who in turn usually do so for the purposes of product placement
Product placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
.
History
Many television game shows descended from similar programs on radio. The very first television game show, Spelling Bee, was broadcast in 1938. Truth or Consequences was the first game show to air on commercially-licensed television. Its first episode aired in 1941 as an experimental broadcast.Over the course of the 1950s, as television began to pervade the popular culture, game shows quickly became a fixture. Daytime game shows would be played for lower stakes to target stay-at-home housewives. Higher-stakes programs would air in prime time. During the late 1950s, high-stakes games such as Twenty One and The $64,000 Question began a rapid rise in popularity. However, the rise of quiz shows proved to be short-lived. In 1959, many of the higher stakes game shows were discovered to be rigged
Quiz show scandals
The American quiz show scandals of the 1950s were a series of revelations that contestants of several popular television quiz shows were secretly given assistance by the show's producers to arrange the outcome of a supposedly fair competition....
. Ratings decline led to most of the prime time games being canceled. Only the daytime games survived during this period; game shows remained a fixture of daytime television through the 1960s along with soap operas and reruns. Lower-stakes games made a slight comeback in daytime in the early 1960s; examples include Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
which began 1964 and the original version of The Match Game first aired in 1962. Let's Make A Deal
Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer being...
began in 1963 and the 1960s also marked the debut of Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants...
, Password, The Dating Game
The Dating Game
The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s...
and The Newlywed Game
The Newlywed Game
The Newlywed Game is an American television game show that pits newly married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know each other. The program, originally created by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir The Newlywed Game is an American...
.
Though CBS gave up on daytime game shows in 1968, the other networks did not follow suit. Color Television was introduced to the game show genre in the late 1960s on all three networks. The 1970s saw a renaissance of the game show as new games and massive upgrades to existing games made debuts on the major networks. The New Price Is Right
The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)
The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
, an update of the 1950s era game show The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right (1956 game show)
The Price Is Right is an American game show hosted by Bill Cullen which aired on NBC from 1956–1963 and on ABC from 1963-1965 in both daytime and prime time...
, debuted in 1972 and marked CBS's return to the game show format in its effort to draw wealthier, suburban viewers
Rural purge
The "rural purge" of American television networks was a series of cancellations between 1969 and 1972, the majority of which occurred at the end of the 1970-71 television season, of still popular rural-themed shows and shows with demographically-skewed audiences...
. The Match Game became "Big Money" Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
73, which proved popular enough to prompt a spin-off, Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
, on ABC in 1976. The $10,000 Pyramid
Pyramid (game show)
Pyramid is an American television game show which has aired several versions. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973 and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series...
and its numerous higher-stakes derivatives also debuted in 1973, while the 1970s also saw the return of formerly disgraced producer and host Jack Barry
Jack Barry
Jack Barry may refer to:* Jack Barry * Jack Barry , television host and producer* Jack Barry , 1930s radio singer* Jack Berry , an Irish sportsperson-See also:...
, who debuted The Joker's Wild
The Joker's Wild
The Joker's Wild is an American television game show that aired at different times during the 1970s through the 1990s. Contestants answered questions based on categories that were determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine....
and a clean version of the previously rigged Tic Tac Dough in the 1970s. Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
debuted on NBC in 1975. The Prime Time Access Rule
Prime Time Access Rule
The Prime Time Access Rule was instituted by the Federal Communications Commission in 1970 to restrict the amount of network broadcast programming that a local television station, Owned-and-operated station by or affiliated with a television network may air during "prime time"...
, which took effect in 1971, barred networks from broadcasting in the 7-8 p.m. time slot immediately preceding prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
, opening up time slots for syndicated programming. Most of the syndicated programs were "nighttime" adaptations of network daytime game shows; these game shows originally aired once a week, but by the late 1970s and early 1980s most of the games had transitioned to five days a week.
Game shows were the lowest priority of television networks and frequently were rotated out every thirteen weeks if they were unsuccessful. Most tapes were destroyed until the early 1980s. Over the course of the late 1980s and early 1990s as fewer new hits were produced, game shows lost their permanent place in the daytime lineup. ABC gave up on game shows in 1986. NBC lasted until 1991, but attempted to bring them back in 1993 before cancelling its game show block again in 1994. CBS phased out most of their game shows, except for The Price Is Right, by 1993. To the benefit of the genre, the move of Wheel of Fortune to syndication in 1983 and the modernized revival of Jeopardy! in 1984 was highly successful, leading to the two games becoming fixtures in the prime time "access period" and several failed attempts at imitation. Cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
also allowed for the debut of game shows such as Supermarket Sweep
Supermarket Sweep
Supermarket Sweep is an American television game show. Part of the format was similar to other team-based quiz shows; the other part was a live-action race through a supermarket, a novel concept at the time...
(Lifetime), Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit (game show)
Trivial Pursuit is an American game show that ran on The Family Channel from June 7, 1993 to December 30, 1994, with reruns continuing until July 21, 1995. loosely based on the board game of the same name. It was hosted by Wink Martindale with Randy West announcing.-Format:The show was played in...
and Family Challenge
Family Challenge
Family Challenge is an American game show that aired on The Family Channel from October 2, 1995 to September 7, 1997, lasting for two seasons. Reruns aired on GSN from April 3 to September 25, 1999....
(Family Channel), and Double Dare (Nickelodeon). It also opened up a previously underdeveloped market for game show reruns; Game Show Network
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
debuted in 1994.
After the popularity of game shows hit a nadir in the mid-1990s (at which point The Price Is Right was the only game show still on daytime network TV), the British game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...
began distribution across the globe. Upon the show's American debut in 1999, it was an instant hit and became a regular part of ABC's prime time lineup until 2002. Several shorter-lived high stakes games also were attempted around the time of the millennium, such as Winning Lines, The Chair
The Chair (game show)
The Chair is a game show television program that premiered on ABC in January 2002. It was hosted by former tennis champion John McEnroe and directed by Michael A. Simon...
, and Greed
Greed (game show)
Greed is an American television game show that aired on Fox from November 4, 1999 until July 14, 2000. The game consisted of a team of contestants who answered a series of multiple-choice questions for a potential prize of up to $2 million...
. During this period, several game shows returned to daytime in syndication (e.g., Family Feud, Hollywood Squares, and Millionaire). These higher stakes contests also opened up the door to reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
contests such as Survivor
Survivor (TV series)
Survivor is a reality television game show format produced in many countries throughout the world. In the show, contestants are isolated in the wilderness and compete for cash and other prizes. The show uses a system of progressive elimination, allowing the contestants to vote off other tribe...
and Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
, in which contestants win large sums of money for outlasting their peers in a given environment.
The popularity of game shows in the United States was closely paralleled around the world; Reg Grundy Organisation
Reg Grundy Organisation
The Reg Grundy Organisation was an Australian television production company founded in 1959 by businessman Reg Grundy . It has since branched out into Europe and the USA. The company first produced game shows, before branching into soap operas in 1973...
, for instance, would buy the international rights for American game shows and create detailed reproductions in other countries, especially in his native Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. In the UK, game shows have had a more steady and permanent place in the television lineup and never lost popularity in the 1990s as they did in the United States, due in part to the fact that game shows were highly regulated by the Independent Broadcasting Authority
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
in the 1980s and those restrictions were lifted in the 1990s, allowing for higher-stakes games to be played.
Prizes
Many of the prizes awarded on game shows are provided through product placementProduct placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
; although in some cases, they are provided by private organizations or purchased at either the full price or at a discount by the show. There is the widespread use of "promotional consideration", in which a game show receives a subsidy from an advertiser in return for awarding that manufacturer's product as a prize or consolation prize. Some products supplied by manufacturers may not be intended to be awarded at all, and are instead just used as part of the gameplay (such as the low-priced items used in several Pricing Games of The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...
).
See also
- Game Show NetworkGame Show NetworkThe Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
(American cable networkCable networkA cable channel is a television channel available via cable television. Such channels are usually also available via satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and BSkyB...
dedicated to the format) - Challenge (British network dedicated to the format)
- UKGameshows.comUKGameshows.comUKGameshows.com is a website dedicated to British game shows. The site currently provides information on more than 1,500 British game show formats from 1938 to the present day, over 500 mini-biographies of hosts, along with numerous other background articles....
, British websiteWebsiteA website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
devoted to reviews and descriptions of gameshows - List of game show hosts
- List of international game shows
- List of television programs
- Panel gamePanel gameA panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....
- Quiz bowl
- Quiz ShowQuiz ShowQuiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...
- Quiz show scandalsQuiz show scandalsThe American quiz show scandals of the 1950s were a series of revelations that contestants of several popular television quiz shows were secretly given assistance by the show's producers to arrange the outcome of a supposedly fair competition....
- Reality show
- Apple BowlKYVE Apple BowlThe KYVE Apple Bowl is a televised single elimination competition between high school students. Over a period of one to three weeks, 20-30 high schools come from all over Central Washington to compete at the Apple Bowl studio, which is located on the Central Washington University campus in...