Best Classic Game Shows

[Mark Giardina]

The one that comes to mind is the original “What’s My Line?”

That program featured some of the biggest names in show business of that era as mystery guests. Actors who seldom appeared on television.

People like James Stewart, James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and even a slightly drunk Errol Flynn.

I was never a fan of the later remake of that show.

Please list any other classic game shows that you enjoyed watching (or still do on reruns or YouTube).

 

[Corky Marlowe]

I have to give a vote to "WML"s sister shows, "I've Got A Secret" and "To Tell The Truth". I always found the gameplay on "Truth" fascinating, and "Secret" had so many contestants who were interesting in an historical context, like the last surviving witness to Lincoln's assassination, and Neil Armstrong's parents, Their secret was that their son had just become an astronaut, and Garry Moore asked them (this was in 1960 or 1961), "Gee, wouldn't it be something if your son was the first man on the moon?"

 

[Mike Stroud]

With me? Any or all of those classic NBC morning shows between, say, '65 and '73, led off by, of course, the original "Jeopardy!" with Art Fleming. I should say those shows recorded at 30 Rock in NYC, to filter out some of the silly L.A.-based stuff. I think I liked those because the emphasis was on the game play and the smarts of the contestants rather than celeb banter (there was enough of that, really on Mike Douglas or Merv Griffin, when you think about it) and stunts. Personal taste, I know, but you had to be there. Since those games didn't use flashing lights or fancy sets, further, you didn't feel deprived when watching 'em on B&W sets, like would have been the case a few years later. Rule of thumb: if you enjoy a show just as much in monochrome as in solid-state, it's a classic. Just try to stage all the junk we got now in B&W, and you'll see what I mean!

 

[bmasters1981]

One of my favorites is Jim Perry's $ale, especially seeing it from when it had the shopping segment; that's when it was truly a $ale of the Century. When it got to the Winner's Big Money Game, however, it lost something; the Instant Bargains and Fame Game were still there, but the show lacked that oomph that it had in the first 2-3 years.

 

[Mike Stroud]

One of my favorites is Jim Perry's $ale, especially seeing it from when it had the shopping segment; that's when it was truly a $ale of the Century. When it got to the Winner's Big Money Game, however, it lost something; the Instant Bargains and Fame Game were still there, but the show lacked that oomph that it had in the first 2-3 years.

Yeah, I like $ale when I was in junior high. It apparently was one of those few games that did better in revival than it did in its first run (on NBC, 1969-73). It's just a shame that NBC wiped the original $ale with Jack Kelly (that would have been interesting to see James Garner's "brother" as a GS host) and, later, Joe Garagiola. But Perry shined in the '80s, and it looked for awhile like NBC might have started another golden age. I think the main legacy of the '80s $ale, though, was that it inspired Merv Griffin to bring "Jeopardy!" back after the colossal '78-'79 failure. With a quiz doing well in daytime (and later with "Wheel of Fortune"'s astonishing success in syndication), Griffin said to himself, "You know, this time I think it'll work." And thus it did.

 

[FredLeonard]

Password with Allen Ludden
Concentration with Hugh Downs
The $64,000 Question with Hal March
Truth or Consequences with Bob Barker
You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx
G.E. College Bowl with Allen Ludden or Robert Earle

 

[hubcity]

Mark me down for the 70's incarnation of Match Game. For contestants, the prizes were enough that, even if you messed up on the big money round, you wound up with a decent chunk of change and a sense that you'd connected with a bunch of celebrities. If you lost, you still had a good time.

And if you were a celebrity, you were generally there to have a good time, and it showed.

Everyone had fun playing a game, and everyone at home had fun watching it played. Shouldn't that be what game shows are all about?

 

[LKellerIII]

Mark me down for the 70's incarnation of Match Game. For contestants, the prizes were enough that, even if you messed up on the big money round, you wound up with a decent chunk of change and a sense that you'd connected with a bunch of celebrities. If you lost, you still had a good time.

And if you were a celebrity, you were generally there to have a good time, and it showed.

Everyone had fun playing a game, and everyone at home had fun watching it played. Shouldn't that be what game shows are all about?

Me too. It was fun - and amusing. I saw Gene Rayburn interviewed a short time before he passed, and he mentioned that when he was first told the concept of the game show he was going to host - he was horrified because it was so stupid. But unlike some of the other stupid but successful concepts (Family Feud), it was funny.

 

[4dude]

Too many shows for me to list!!!!!! (I loved most games from the 80s and before )

 

[skipeastport]

I always liked Password and the various incarnations of the $10,000 Pyramid. Ok so they didn't have all the bells and whistles of the other games shows, but I did like that the players had to have a pretty good command of language in order to win instead of knowing trivia or having just plain dumb luck like some of the other shows. One thing about 70s game shows was that they all didn't seem alike. There were so many different tones and approaches to games. Everything now seems so ****genized.

 

[bpatrick]

I'd also pick "You Bet Your Life" and "GE College Bowl." Some other favorites:

Two For The Money (I like the game better than the interviews.)
Camouflage (Don Morrow version; I couldn't care less about Tom Campbell's
or Roger Lodge's versions.)
Who Do You Trust? (Johnny Carson was funnier than Woody Woodbury.)
Everybody's Talking (Lloyd Thaxton version; "Hollywood's Talking" with Geoff Edwards
wasn't much.)
Who, What Or Where
The Joker's Wild (CBS and 1977-86 syndicated version, even though
I think Bill Cullen was all wrong for the hosting job)
Gambit (the CBS version; I didn't like some of the changes on "Las Vegas Gambit"
and I never watch "Catch 21")
Tic Tac Dough (Wink Martindale version; I didn't care much for Jim
Caldwell and I never watched the '90s trainwreck)
Press Your Luck (Peter Tomarken version; I can take or leave Todd Newton's)
Sale Of The Century (Jim's version; somebody mentioned it lost something when
it went to the Winner's Big Money Game. I'm a big fan of Don Morrow but I wonder
if it also lost something when he replaced Jay Stewart.)

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

If it were on, I would very much enjoy watching the various editions of the Monty Hall-hosted "Let's Make A Deal." Wayne Brady does a decent enough job on the current version, but there's to often to much emphasis on the banter and improv skits with Jonathon Mangum than on the actual game play. And while I realize it makes blocking camera shots easier, having everything happen down at center-stage takes something away from the interplay with the contestants.

On my days off (Monday and Tuesday) the channel stays on GSN from the time I get up until the end of the classic game show block. Then I'm done for the day as I'm not interested in Karn's Family Feud, Harvey's Family Feud, and only have passing interest in some of the GSN originals that have come and gone.

 

[cool_guy82]

my faviorite game shows would be

Match Game
Family Fued (Ray Combs)
Classic Concentration
Press Your Luck
Win, Lose, Or Draw
Pictionary
I'm Telling
Family Secrets
Tattletales
Lingo

And theese are the game shows i never seen but wouldnt mind watching

Childs Play
Scattagories
Ceasers Challenge (Seen a little bit of it when i didnt have school)

 

[bmasters1981]

Sale Of The Century (Jim's version; somebody mentioned it lost something when
it went to the Winner's Big Money Game. I'm a big fan of Don Morrow but I wonder
if it also lost something when he replaced Jay Stewart.)

That was me who said that. The core game was still good, to be sure, and the WBMG, I will admit, could at times be exciting, but I still think the shopping years were the best.

 

[Markieo]

Concentration, Allen Ludden's Password, Art Fleming's Jeopardy!, Tom Kennedy's Split Second, Dick Clark's Pyramid, Blockbusters

 

[CTListener]

Poor "Password" really got dumbed down in its later incarnations. The Ludden format was classic. "The Match Game," however, was sort of dull in its original format; its transformation into a showcase for nudge-wink double entendres actually improved it, IMO. Amazing thing was that Gene Rayburn hosted both.

 

[dogdaze]

Here are a couple from the late 60's on NBC: Snap Judgement, hosted by Ed McMahon and PDQ, hosted by Dennis James.

 

[Robnoxious]

I absolutely loved the Match Game 7x... it was everything a game show needed; Humor and celebrities. Gene Rayburn is a mold that will never ever be duplicated, he personified that game and the reason why any attempt to reimagine it will always fall short of the mark.

Dick Clark's $10K,25K,100K Pyramid comes in a very close second. The game itself is rudimentary (and for all intents and purposes, is a tweak on Password) but it features the most tense and nerve racking endgame ever televised. The Winner's Circle round is exactly why we watch and love game shows. Every nuance of Pyramid's end game should be studied, it's so perfect. "HERE IS YOUR FIRST SUBJECT... GO!... **tink tink tink tink tink*" Simply outstanding edge of your seat tension television.

No top 3 about game shows can be made without a nod to the obvious elephant in the room, The Price Is Right. You can mix and match your slots accordingly but I'm pretty comfortable with my top 3 no matter the order. TPIR has enjoyed a longevity of being the most watched daytime television program in it's 35++ year history. With it's constant mix of different pricing games every show is different in it's own way. Oh sure, the shows run a pattern in that 2 cars will be up for grabs in any program but HOW they play to win said prizes runs a gambit. Bob Barker perfected the game to the point of it being stale and blase. Drew Carey is often panned for his hosting abilities but I find him refreshing in that at least the show now does thing differently. TPIR taped on All-Plinko Episode, something that never would have happened with Barker at the helm. Yeah, Drew doesn't have that same gravitas as Barker, but he fills the role well albeit differently. It does go to show that Barker can be replaced whereas anyone other than Gene Rayburn hosting Match Game is a damn waste of time and effort.

Honorable mentions to Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, even though I've never been a fan of the Wheel but I completely understand it's popularity.

 

[bpatrick]

Has anyone even mentioned the original "Hollywood Squares"? While I admit
that Gene Rayburn can never be replaced on "Match Game," running that show
almost like a party, Peter Marshall was the perfect straight man. How can you
ignore a guy who gets responses to questions like these:

MARSHALL (to Paul Lynde): Why are motorcyclists so partial to leather?
LYNDE: Because chiffon wrinkles.

And so many other funny people he had to play off: Charley Weaver,
Wally Cox, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, George Gobel, Vincent Price
(yes, he had a keen sense of humor), and Karen Valentine in particular.

Tom Bergeron came close, but in my book Peter is the true "master of
the Hollywood Squares."

I noticed, too, a reference to "PDQ," hosted by Dennis James in the late '60s.
That show was revived in 1973 as "Baffle" with host Dick Enberg. It wasn't
nearly as successful as the original. Both shows, and "Squares," BTW., were
produced by Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley (who also did "Video Village,"
"Shenanigans," "Gambit," and Alex Trebek's first U.S. success, "High Rollers,"
as well as Gene Rayburn's "Amateur's Guide To Love," which began the return
of games to the CBS daytime schedule in 1972.)

Also, today (Sept. 4) marks the anniversary of the debuts of Barker's "Price
Is Right," "The Joker's Wild" (which permanently reestablished Jack Barry on
the game-show scene), and "Gambit" (Wink Martindale's first big hit after several
short-lived efforts in the '60s and early '70s). Every one of these shows deserves
to be considered a classic; they certainly ate away at NBC's morning block of "Dinah's
Place," "Concentration," and Garagiola's "Sale Of The Century."

 

[Mario500]

Poor "Password" really got dumbed down in its later incarnations. The Ludden format was classic.

Were you referring to the format for the original version as the "Ludden format"?

As for the later incarnations, specifically "Password Plus" and "Super Password" (my personal favorites), I don't believe their formats were less intelligent than the original format. I believe those incarnations improved upon the original format with their puzzles and bonus games (I found the ones in "Password Plus" and "Super Password" very fun and challenging).