Greetings,
Before reality television became a genre all its own, we had another form of such known as the television game show. Sure, we still have a few of them, here and there, but when I was growing up it was an all day thing. Literally, daytime television was soap operas and game shows, until about four when the talk shows started. Of course, the youngsters can check some of them out on GSN, but for a lot of us, it's pure nostalgia doing that. We hearken back to those days of yelling at the TV screen because some guy doesn't know when Lincoln's birthday is or the name of the somehow disappeared dog on The Brady Bunch. So, in honor of these sweet additions to the world of television, I thought I'd do a top ten list of my personal favorite game shows.
Before I start, let me just say that I limited myself here to only the straight up, good, old-fashioned game shows. So, no reality/competition shows, no dating shows, no panel shows. Just the ones where random people got chosen to play a game against one other contestant or got called up from the audience, the ones where you better have some fascinating story about how you have three dogs and they're all named after presidents... or else. Yeah,news flash game show contestants, no one cares. Just play. And yes, I am bitter because I never got to play. Moving on. Let's just get to the list.
#10. Jeopardy - Okay, I know I alluded to the fact that game shows can often make us, the viewers, feel very smart, due to people's lapses in intelligence, but things were different with Jeopardy. This show could sometimes make us feel very dumb, probably more so than any other quiz show ever. But when you did know the answer to one of those valuable questions, it did make you feel really special. And, hopefully, you were surrounded by family and friends as you did so. Oh, and I think there is one thing we all can agree on when it comes to this show. And tell me if this sounds familiar. "Yeah, Alex, easy to smug about knowing the answer when it's been right in front of you the whole time!"
#9. Wheel of Fortune - Let's just get this out of the way - it's Hangman! Alright, done. There are a few things I really like about Wheel of Fortune, or The Wheel, as we call it. First, I love Pat Sajak as the host, and I certainly love Vanna White. She amazes me, that lady does. Never has a woman been paid so much money to do so little work and still be adored by millions of people. It's unbelievable. The other thing I love about this one is the utter greed and possibly arrogance of some of the contestants. We've all seen this scenario. Okay, we've been working a puzzle and here's what we see - MICH_EL KE_TON IN B_TM_N. Okay, we all know what the answer is, the contestant knows, and do they solve? No, they spin to get more money, and they get a BANKRUPT! It has happened. Sure, the show's a gamble, but let's have some sense here, people.
#8. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? / The American Bible Challenge - Yeah, gotta have a tie here, mostly because they are both hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. Good times. If you don't know, the first one was a game where adults had to answer grade school level questions up to, obviously, 5th grade, alongside actual 5th graders. It didn't pan out all that well for a lot of those adults, by the way. I think the show was intending to expose how much we have forgotten about our education, but it kind of ended up making people think that all that schooling was totally pointless. Whatever. Next up, a fairly new addition to game show country, The American Bible Challenge. It's exactly what you think it is, a Bible quiz show, and I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS MADE IT TO AIR!!! Seriously, all things considered, I can't believe that there weren't protests and whatnot to keep it from being on TV, for fear of offending someone. But it prevailed, and it's actually a really entertaining show.
#7. The Price Is Right - Be it with Bob Barker or Drew Carey, this is one of the classics. Now this is one that makes me feel smart, mostly because I know that they make it in California, and I remember that when doing the price guessing. Yeah, that jar of pickles is going to be about twice as much as it is in my neck of the woods. And is there anything better than watching that sad person who bids a dollar under when the trick is to bid a dollar over? Oh, honey. But the real fun is the games. I would tell you my favorite game, but what would be left for my top ten list of those?
#6. Supermarket Sweep - This may have placed higher, but I have just spent far too much time in supermarkets. FAR too much time. I don't know what it was about this game that made me like it so much. Again, it may have been a slew of contestants who just did not get it. Get the pricey stuff, guys. Get the pricey stuff!! I guess this game would be much easier to play these days.
#5. Win, Lose or Draw - Again, let's just get this out of the way - it's Pictionary! But it's Pictionary with celebrities so ... whoo! And, as per usual, we use the term 'celebrity' fairly loosely. Now I think it was predetermined for every person who appeared on this show that they could not be able to draw ... at all. And yet, so many of them pulled that thing where they thought what they drew was so perfect that they just went over it with the marker again and again, hoping against all hope that their team member would get it. Dude, they can't tell that it's an apple. Just draw something else.
#4. Press Your Luck - Whammies. Just ... Whammies. Is there anything better? And stop giving them a hard time for taking peoples' money. It's their job. They're Whammies. It's what they do. And they are the most memorable thing about the show. Second most memorable would be the chanting of "Big Bucks!" by the contestants, which sometimes worked, sometimes didn't. And of course, we remember the scandal. I won't get into that right now. Too complicated. Google it, if you're interested. And, in closing, may I just say, Whammies!
#3. Cash Cab - You've gotta love people who take one of the worst experiences that can happen in someone's life and turn it into the best. Like getting into a NYC cab and having it become a chance to win money! That's what Cash Cab did. Host Ben Bailey went around New York in a cab and the passengers became contestants, answering trivia questions and hopefully make it to their destination. I like innovative ideas, and, as far as game shows go, I'd say this is one of the most original ideas I've ever come across. It was just plain fun, and worst case scenario, you get a free cab ride. Or part of one.
#2. Hollywood Squares - Remember that thing I said about the term 'celebrity' being used loosely? Yeah, well, times nine. Oh, wait, I forgot. Let's just get this out of the way - it's Tic Tac Toe, but with 'celebrities'. In all fairness, though, this was actually one of the funniest shows on TV, and not just in the game show genre. I don't know who the writers were (yes, writers. Most of those celebrities are not that quick witted) but they were great. It must have been good to someone. It did have several incarnations. And I'd watch a new one.
#1. Win Ben Stein's Money - Oh, Ben Stein. You are a treasure. If you've never heard of this one, what the heck? It was fantastic! The premise was that contestants competed to - wait for it! - win Ben Stein's money, which was ... sort of true. Look, wherever the money actually did or did not come from, who cares? That wasn't what made the show so entertaining. So first, contestants competed against each other, ans eventually one would compete with Ben Stein himself, who is a very, very smart man, by the way. Now what was really entertaining was the banter, especially between Ben and his co-host, Jimmy Kimmel. Yes, that Jimmy Kimmel. They did have two other co-hosts, but he was the one we all remember. But, of course, there was one extremely memorable thing about this stellar game show. God forbid, anyone answer in the form of a question! Heaven help that poor soul, because, if you did, the dunce cap was brought out and they had to wear it for the duration of the show. However, Ben, being the nice guy that he is, usually let them take it off earlier. Yeah, this show was great, and I really wish they would bring it back.
So there you have it, my personal best of the game show genre. Like I said, we still have a few, one way or another, but I'm hoping for a big resurgence one of these days. Frankly, I could use the money.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
