What are your all-time favorite game shows?

[Gordon B]

Mine was a short-lived show called "The Big Showdown" with Jim Peck. It aired from December, 1974 to July, 1975.



My favorite game show of recent vintage was "Greed", hosted by Chuck Woolery. Fox's response to "Who Want to be a Millionaire" was a much better show, but never caught on with viewers.


My most-hated game show is "The Newlywed Game".

[Chris D]

My sister won 40K on "Greed."

I have to go with "Jeopardy." Even with the softening of categories and questions over the years, it's the best brain tester on TV. As a family, we dig watching "Wheel of Fortune," because it helps us work on letter recognition with our 4 year old, and I kill at it.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Because of the panelists, the most entertaining game show ever was "What's My Line?"

I've dug 'To Tell The Truth,' '21,' and 'Jeopardy.'

My father had a question used on 'Down You Go,' a very cool old radio show. We won a home version of the game, which was very awkward to use. (Had he stumped the panel, we'd have won some appliance, I think.)

My current favorite game show is NPR's current events oriented 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me,' perhaps because it is the only game show I catch with any kind of semi-regularity.

[RBS]

I liked "The Gong Show."

Does that count?

[walto]

Monty Python's "State Your Claim."

There was also a good one on "The Young Ones" once--Emma Thompson was one of the panelists--but I can't remember what it was called.

[Gordon B]

Originally posted by walto
Monty Python's "State Your Claim."

There was also a good one on "The Young Ones" once--Emma Thompson was one of the panelists--but I can't remember what it was called.

"The Young Ones" doesn't qualify as a game show anymore than Cheers does for featuring Cliffie on Jeopardy! in one episode.

Once I turned on Greed to see former JCS and JC regular Bruce Massey ! At the beginning of the show a question would be asked of 5-6 potential panelists. The person who's answer was furthest off the true answer, would be eliminated. The others would become the Greed team. Bruce was eliminated.

[Ron Thorne]

Here are my Top Ten in no particular order. Match Game may have been the funniest, most cleverly hosted show because of the quick wit of the late Gene Rayburn.

What's My Line w/ John Daly
Truth or Consequences
Name That Tune
You Bet Your Life w/ Groucho Marx
Match Game w/ Gene Rayburn
The Price Is Right w/ Bill Cullen
I've Got A Secret w/ Gary Moore
To Tell The Truth w/ Bud Collyer
Password w/ Allen Ludden
Pyramid

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Groucho! How could I forget Groucho? Thanks, Ron! I'd put 'You Bet Your Life' as tied with 'What's My Line?' as my all-time favorite. It wasn't as consistently witty as WML?, but when Groucho was really on he was the best host ever.

The Feud, baby!!!!!!

[moneyp]

Smile Big Smack Hamster!

[Gordon B]

Who, What or Where with Art James.

That was on 12:30 on NBC. Split Second with Tom Kennedy was on the same time. I used to switch to Split Second at 12:58 to see if the day's winner would win a new car.

[GoodSpeak]

Jeopardy.


'Natch.

[john williams]

Mastermind

[bostontricky]

From the deep, ugly depths of my memory, and I'm missing a few - mind you, most of this banality was appealing to a 5 to 8 year old. "Press Your Luck" was a big-time college time waste, though...(no whammies).

Eye Guess (with Bill Cullen) - OK, a three year old. Cut my teeth on this when an aunt was my daytime caregiver when mom was finishing work on her med tech certificate. Probably explains my fascination with all things Cullen (Pyramid, Three on a Match, etc etc)

Concentration
Sale of the Century (with Joe Garagiola!)
Celebrity Sweepstakes!
Who, What or Where?
The Match Game (starring Gene Rayburn)
Tattletales (Bert Convy) - the Banana Section!
Jeopardy, with Art Fleming (shame on you, Goody)

- - - -

Don't look here, or here, either.

[walto]

You don't like Monty Python or Young Ones entries?! Does that mean I don't get a 10-point toss-up question?

Can you take it Northwestern?

[Captain Hate]

The $1.98 Beauty Show

[MRS]

. . .watching the Feud at a friend's house in Denver last summer. The category was 'things you cross.' One of the contestants responded with 't' and, I shit you not, Dawson comes back with:

"T. . . T. . .hah hah hah. . .T. . .sounds like wunnuh-dem lil' black kids wit the wiiiiiild, frizzy hair. . .T."

[moneyp]

That game show where they put a computer technician on an island with a dozen supermodels and see how long it is before he wakes up.

I always lose that game.

[Jon Abbey]

Press Your Luck.

"no whammies, no whammies, STOP!"

currently in a new-fangled version on the Game Show Network.

[Derek Taylor]

Joker's Wild w/ Jack Barry, hands down.

[Gordon B]

Originally posted by bostontricky
Eye Guess (with Bill Cullen) - OK, a three year old. Cut my teeth on this when an aunt was my daytime caregiver when mom was finishing work on her med tech certificate. Probably explains my fascination with all things Cullen (Pyramid, Three on a Match, etc etc)

I liked Eye Guess as a 12-14 year old. Bill Cullen was one of my favorites. Jack Clark and Don Pardo were announcers on Eye Guess. Pardo is 86 and alive. Clark was the emcee on a show I liked called "Dealer's Choice."

I liked "Sports Challenge" with Dick Enberg, mostly to see the old starts like Tommy Henrich.

[walto]

College Bowl, goddamit!

[stonemonkts]

Jeopardy

Concentration (when I was a kid I even had the home game)

Password (only with Ludden)

[Noj]

I'm with the Jeopardy crowd, but have you seen the Asian gameshow where the people have to try to run through these impossible obstacle courses and subsequently take very awkward falls? Holy smokes, I saw this the other night and laughed myself to tears!

[bostontricky]

The actual Japanese version, or the (perhaps even funnier) American version, the same show with English dubbing, probably written by a bunch of sixteen-year olds?

- - - -

Actually, the last time I laughed myself to tears was watching a rerun of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (which I guess might qualify as a game show). Whoopi Goldberg and Drew Carey are playing "Foreign Film Dub" and the two of them are wandering around the stage yammering in fake Chinese, complete with Chinese-style intonation and hand gestures.

[walto]

What was that supermarket sweepstakes thing where everybody headed for the filet mignon? That was a pretty stupid game. Not as good as the one on The Young Ones, though.

[Gordon B]

Originally posted by walto
What was that supermarket sweepstakes thing where everybody headed for the filet mignon? That was a pretty stupid game. Not as good as the one on The Young Ones, though.

I never saw it but was it "Supermarket Sweep?"

[walto]

That musta been it. Extremely stupid show.

[GoodSpeak]

Originally posted by bostontricky

Jeopardy, with Art Fleming (shame on you, Goody)

sorry.

[Gary Sisco]

My favorite is Firesign Theater's "Guess That Disease" where the contestants are all innoculated with a disease. The winner who guesses correctly gets the antidote. The others die.

The Gong Show was cool, though.