Game Shows

[Firuthi Dragovic]

So I had a thought recently about game shows I used to watch when I was like, 9 or 10.

For those that don't know, the '90s were full of them (at least in the United States).

You've got your surviving standbys like Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and The Price is Right. Those are still around and I think some of them existed before the '90s as well.

The ones I remember from my days, though?

• A geography game show (Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?)
• An athletic competition for teens (Nickelodeon Guts)
• A second competition game show that involves a lot more slime (Double Dare - I'm familiar with the family version)
• A mall shopping game show (Shop Til You Drop)
• A grocery store shopping game show (Supermarket Sweep - this is the one that sparked those thoughts)
• A physical competition with large teams (Wild and Crazy Kids)
• A history competition with some physical challenges in the later half of each show (Legends of the Hidden Temple)

There were a couple other shows but I don't remember the specific context of them. (And I don't count that one Japanese game show called Takeshi's Castle from the late '80s - I only know that one because it was the source of an utterly absurd gag dub sometime in the 2000s.)

So now I'm curious. Does anyone here have any fascinating game shows they remember?

 

[Mambi]

I remember all the ones you listed, plus dozens more. My mother and grandmother used to have them in the background all the time. I was always impressing them with Jeopardy. BUT I have my absolute 2 favourite ones for very different reasons.


DISTRACTION (the Jimmy Kerr hosted one)

This was the best. It's basically a trivia show but there would be absurd distractions like:
-being blindfolded and the buzzer is surrounded by cactuses.
-Literal nudists (and purposely the non-sexy OTT kind) rubbing against them or wrestling while answering the question.
-You get shocked if you blink...while they blow smoke clouds at you.
-Paintballs fired at you while you try and answer.

...and many, MANY more creative ones!! They'd start with 4 people and each round the loser would drop out until one remained. Then the best part. They'd win a car...100% guaranteed on the spot. BUT what CONDITION the car is in depends on the next three questions, as the losing contestants get to destroy the windshield, paintjob, and headlights with sledgehammers right in front of them if they get a question wrong!




The next one was "WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE"...the only truly FAIR game show I've ever seen. I remember being blown away by one simple point: You can take all the time you need to pick an answer out of 4. The host patiently walks you through your decision. You can chose to skip 2 entire choices by removing them. You can literally ask the audience what they think in a voting system. You can call your best friend (prearranged) and ask them on the spot what THEY think. And if you still don't know, you can say "I got nothing...I'll take my prize right now" and they'll GIVE it you as you hadn't committed a wrong answer so limited pressure. Best of all, they'd even show you the question BEFORE you had to decide whether to risk it all or not. NO other show I ever saw did that...it was always a mystery gamble. This one? Nope..."Here's what we're gonna ask you. Know it? Not too late to leave with your money if you don't." instead of "Risk it all for the question behind the curtain? You have 15 seconds to decide...GO!"

It was frankly refreshing rather than seeing people giving in to gamblers fallacies and other bad habits encouraged. This was a show that felt like it was a fair chance to win money and they were actually happy for you when you did. No pressure gambling, just "here's your chance, wanna take a fair swing? Hell we'll make it unfair in OUR disadvantage! Need more time? NO problem, we'll run a commercial and get back to you afterwards...take a few minutes more! If not, enjoy your winnings so far". Enjoyed the change of pace...

 

[UnknownAspect]

The next one was "WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE"...the only truly FAIR game show I've ever seen. I remember being blown away by one simple point: You can take all the time you need to pick an answer out of 4. The host patiently walks you through your decision. You can chose to skip 2 entire choices by removing them. You can literally ask the audience what they think in a voting system. You can call your best friend (prearranged) and ask them on the spot what THEY think. And if you still don't know, you can say "I got nothing...I'll take my prize right now" and they'll GIVE it you as you hadn't committed a wrong answer so limited pressure. Best of all, they'd even show you the question BEFORE you had to decide whether to risk it all or not. NO other show I ever saw did that...it was always a mystery gamble. This one? Nope..."Here's what we're gonna ask you. Know it? Not too late to leave with your money if you don't." instead of "Risk it all for the question behind the curtain? You have 15 seconds to decide...GO!"

That show was amazing back when it first came out. It is a perfect, textbook example of how a show can be great through proper presentation. It's a very basic premise where all you do is answer 15 questions, one after another, from a selection of 4 possible answers, but the show built up tension so very well that we were all on the edge of our seats whenever a contestant reached those high amounts. Knowing that a contestant could lose thousands upon of thousands from getting a question wrong was gripping television.

A classic, and childhood favourite of mine back in 90's Britain was the Crystal Maze, where a team of contestants would have to complete challenges of skill, strength or puzzle solving to earn crystals, which translate to time for the final challenge, which determines what they win, if anything. That could get quite tense, since each challenge was timed, and if a contestant failed to leave a room before the time elapsed (regardless of whether they got the crystal or not), they would get locked in, leaving the team a member short and they'd have to give up a crystal if they wanted that member back. There's plenty of moments where you just scream at the telly, where the answer is obvious to you but not to them. I just love the theming too, given that the challenges are all styled on one of four zones; medieval, industrial, futuristic and aztec. Plus the host was a legend, always put on a show. I like to think escape rooms nowadays are the natural evolution of what the Crystal Maze did.

 

[Faust]

I used to quite like "The Generation Game", which was one of those weird "WarioWare" style formats involving numerous weird mini-games.

I also liked 'Family Fortunes', which is the UK version of 'Family Feud'.

 

[Marius Merganser]

I remember whenever I was sick, I'd stay home from school and there were daytime game shows on TV.
Dating myself but I remember Press Your Luck (I think that show failed because the randomizer wasn't random and people were able to figure out the patterns to win). $10,000 Pyramid, and Let's Make A Deal.

But I remember a game show style show back in the 2000s where teams were dropped off in famous haunted places and had to complete spooky tasks to win money. It wasn't Fear, but it was similar. There were two teams and two players would be separated and then have to find each other to complete the tasks and they could drop out and lose everything if it got too scary for anyone.