Top Decade for the Genre

[Dbacksfan12]

Almost every decade has had some lasting effect when it comes to gameshows, for one reason or another.  Which decade do you think has had the biggest long-term effect on television history, pop culture, and society as a whole?

[tpirfan28]

Either the 50s or the 70s.

50s: quiz show scandals
70s: debuts of TPIR, Wheel, Family Feud (all still on the air today)

[Robair]

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'232624\' date=\'Dec 21 2009, 08:04 AM\']Either the 50s or the 70s.

50s: quiz show scandals
70s: debuts of TPIR, Wheel, Family Feud (all still on the air today)[/quote]
Unquestionably, the 1970s. The industry was still not afraid to try new and different things, while at the same time paying homage to its storied past with revisits to winning past formats. Many of the hosts of the prior decades were doing stellar work, as new talent continued to break out. Hell, they even started to win Emmy awards. Models became three-dimensional and stars in their own right. Prizes were better, cash was more plentiful. Music started to be more than an afterthought. And people watched. And this was the case for nearly the entire decade, save for 1971, which was an off year if you don't count all the ongoing Goodson-Todman work.

[Vahan_Nisanian]

The 1980's.

[Jay Temple]

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'232624\' date=\'Dec 21 2009, 07:04 AM\']Either the 50s or the 70s.

50s: quiz show scandals
70s: debuts of TPIR, Wheel, Family Feud (all still on the air today)[/quote]
And two landmark shows not presently in production: Pyramid and MG '7x
(If you're going to call TPIR '72 a debut, and I don't disagree, then MG '73 is also.)

I'd say the 70's were the most influential, but the 80's were the best. Pyramid, Wheel, FF, J! and Password each had some version on for at least half the decade. (If the $100,000 Pyramid had debuted a year earlier, I'd consider the 1984-85 season the best ever, as it would have had two versions each of Pyramid, FF and WoF in addition to J! and SP.)

[BrandonFG]

The 70s were more experimental for the new formats (Barker's TPiR, Wheel, Feud, Pyramid). I think by the early-80s, the shows were slicker, more polished, and smoother (although I enjoy the occasional flubs). I've occasionally mentioned that 80s Pyramid and $ale of the Century are the textbook examples of how to produce a game show.

For a happy medium, I'd love to take some of the spontaneity of the last half of the 70s, and mix it with the smoothness of the first half of the 80s. I also love the mix of 70s and 80s technology, i.e. vane clocks or art cards, mixed with eggcrate/vane displays and monitors. Almost as if the producers don't know if they wanna stay in the 70s or move into the 80s. ;-)

You can take the bloated, overproduced Endemol (and its bastard stepchildren) stuff and shove it. Same goes for the Pierce and Dismantle (tm) school of changing what works for the sake of change, then turning it into a complete fustercluck (tm).

[DrBear]

And no good words for the 60s? Consider:
-At least fourof everybody's top-20 shows (Password, HS, Jeopardy!, LMAD) premiered, as did the original Match Game.
-Chuck Barris's arrival with the Dating and Newlywed games.
-Plenty of prime time, albeit mostly spot fillers moved from daytime.
-Bob Stewart  goes on his own with Eye Guess, among others.
-Even the fading of game shows in the late 60s has a silver lining, as G-T discovers syndication and keeps two of its panel classics running well into the 70s.
-And Bill Cullen was darn near everywhere.

[Twentington]

[quote name=\'DrBear\' post=\'232672\' date=\'Dec 21 2009, 03:59 PM\']And no good words for the 60s? Consider:[/quote]

Let's just say I have no good words for Dating or Newlywed — or most of the Barris line in general — but otherwise I agree with you.

My vote also goes for the 1970s just because it was so experimental. Match Game, The Price Is Right and Tic Tac Dough all got seriously beefed-up revivals that outlasted their originals, and iconic shows such as Pyramid, The Joker's Wild, Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud debuted. And we certainly can't overlook the lesser-known shows with solid formats, such as The Big Showdown, Whew!, The Cross-Wits or Split Second.

Even the "what were they thinking?" type shows such as Magnificent Marble Machine are interesting, because it's just so hard to believe that such a thing was ever greenlit — such mindlessness would never fly today, no sir. Not in an era where we have a whole game show dedicated to picking numbered briefcases, and now I hear we've got one about flipping a coin…

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'Twentington\' post=\'232674\' date=\'Dec 21 2009, 04:15 PM\'][quote name=\'DrBear\' post=\'232672\' date=\'Dec 21 2009, 03:59 PM\']And no good words for the 60s? Consider:[/quote]Let's just say I have no good words for Dating or Newlywed — or most of the Barris line in general — but otherwise I agree with you.[/quote]I'm no big fan of Dating Game either; but I think its indisputable the effect these two shows have had.  You still see parodies of Dating done today; and a new version of Newlywed is on the air.

Like them or not; they have indeed had quite the impact.

[Winkfan]

I'm in the majority in saying the 1970s were THE decade for game shows; not just for the shows, but for launching some of our fave emcees' GS careers. (consider the Misters Convy, Peck, Woolery) The 1980s comes a close second.

Cordially,
Tammy

[Ian Wallis]

You know, I’ve been thinking about starting a thread about this for a while, about which decade you thought was the most important:

--the 50s with its panel and big-money shows
--the 60s with its low money “play for fun” type shows
--the 70s where it was “everything goes”
--the 80s where it was mostly remakes but they were very solid
--the 90s where they almost went away but “Millionaire” brought them back to primetime
--the 00s where “reality” and heavy editing started creeping in

I’d probably say the ‘70s.  We’d come through the "after-scandal" ‘60s and big money started creeping in again.  CBS had raised its winnings limit from $1000 to $25,000 in ’72, co-inciding with the debuts of Price is Right, Joker’s Wild and Gambit.  Plus, you had $10,000 Pyramid debuting in early ’73 giving a possible five-figure payout in daytime.  

Games started dominating network daytime schedules again.  Remakes of ‘60s shows became big hits (Match Game 73, Password).  First-run games started flourishing in syndication.  You had the sets, the lights, the music.  Some celebrities almost made livings off of being game show panelists.  Plus, just about everything was tried.  We probably think of them as classics today because we grew up with them (even though some of them weren’t that great), but the craziness of shows like Money Maze, Magnificent Marble Machine and Hot Seat set the ‘70s apart from any other decade.  I'm not saying those shows were good, necessarily, but different and memorable for what they attempted to do.

The ‘70s were also the decade they seemed to be at their most popular – with 1975 having 26 games on the air simultaneously.  Even though other decades have had their ups and downs, that record was never topped.  Networks were willing to take chances with games and try these new ideas – if a game was cancelled, more than likely it would be replaced with another game (at least for most of the decade…ABC’s 45-minute soaps not withstanding).  In the ‘80s and ‘90s, once a game was cancelled it was probably a soap or talk show that replaced it.

I’d rank the ‘80s a close second, but I’d definitely vote the ‘70s No. 1.

[davemackey]

I think the 70's more than any other decade advanced the genre. Game shows were allowed to "grow up" and deal with more adult subject matter. Advances were made in all aspects of game show production. Sets became glitzier, music became better produced, hosts and announcers more polished in their delivery.

It also marked the rise of the a new generation of packagers such as Bill Carruthers and Jay Wolpert, both of whom had cut their teeth working for other companies and decided to strike out on their own.

And it was really the first decade where revivals became big business, led by Goodson-Todman's resurrections of "The Price is Right" and "Match Game" - suddenly everything old was new again.

[Jimmy Owen]

The '70's unquestionably.  I can't think of any important show that wasn't on in one form or another.

[Mr. Game Show]

I'd have to say it was the 70's, for the reasons mentioned in the other posts. I was fortunate to attend many of the NY Based shows in person (Pyramid, Big Showdown, MoneyMaze, To Tell The Truth, Jeopardy, Jackpot, Shoot For the Stars, Musical Chairs, and dozens of Pilots) and met many Game Show legends in person. It was a wonderful time in my life, that I will never forget.

While I am optimistic about the resurgence of Game Shows, I doubt anything will come close to what we saw in the 70's and 80's. Some of my faith was lost, when CBS went with LMAD over Pyramid, though we still may get a chance at Pyramid yet. What really worries me, is when we start to see Game Shows where folks are flipping a coin.... that cant be a good sign of what's to come.

[Mr. Game Show]

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'232682\' date=\'Dec 21 2009, 06:39 PM\'][quote name=\'Twentington\' post=\'232674\' date=\'Dec 21 2009, 04:15 PM\'][quote name=\'DrBear\' post=\'232672\' date=\'Dec 21 2009, 03:59 PM\']And no good words for the 60s? Consider:[/quote]Let's just say I have no good words for Dating or Newlywed — or most of the Barris line in general — but otherwise I agree with you.[/quote]I'm no big fan of Dating Game either; but I think its indisputable the effect these two shows have had.  You still see parodies of Dating done today; and a new version of Newlywed is on the air.

Like them or not; they have indeed had quite the impact.
[/quote]

Totally agreed. Neither Dating Game or Newlywed Game were my favorite shows, but they certainly had a big impact on Game Shows. I feel that Bob Eubanks deserves all the credit in the World for making Newlywed Game a Classic. Without him, I doubt Newlywed would have had the years of success that it had. Remember when Jim Lange and Paul Rodriguez Hosted Newlywed ? It was a total mess. Jim Lange's best show was Dating Game. He was perfect for it.