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Game show

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"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.

Contents

Types

There are several basic genres of game shows with a great deal of crossover between the different types.

History

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 — 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 — 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!.



Game shows around the world










  • 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
  • Stani bogat (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire) - a version of the popular Q&A, on Nova televiziya
  • Treska za zlato (GOld Fever) - lotto, on bTV (TV)
  • Vot na doverie (Vote of Confidence) - show that often features celebrities, on bTV (TV)










  • Maailman ympäri
  • SF-Studio
  • Retsi 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)
  • Giljotiini
  • Greed
  • Mitä 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)
















  • A Millon
  • Control Remoto
  • Sabado en Grande
  • Super Sabado





Russian quiz, game & dating shows



Russian 









by Workpoint Entertainment Company Limted









See also



Pop culture



External links
















 




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