Author Topic: The Crown jewel of the networks (Read 4022 times)

14gameshows · « **on:** May 12, 2012, 05:33:38 PM »

In regards to the daytime network gameshows, what would you consider to be the crown jewel of each network daytime schedule.

ABC?
NBC?
CBS?

Let's use the 70s and 80s and if anything from the 90s?

I would love to hear the thoughts and reasoning!

BrandonFG · « **Reply #1 on:** May 12, 2012, 05:41:25 PM »

-CBS-TPiR with MG7x a close second...both helped revitalize the network's game show (and -possibly daytime) lineup
-ABC-Feud...I don't think any of the other games even lasted more than a year
-NBC-Wheel maybe? It was their highest-rated daytime show at one point

Chief-O · « **Reply #2 on:** May 12, 2012, 06:11:43 PM »

NBC---"Wheel" without a doubt, though I'm sure Peter Marshall would like to have a word with them.

ABC---"Feud", definitely, but don't forget LMAD. It'd be kind of a toss-up between them. They really didn't have good luck with game shows in the 70s and 80s---just those 2, and "Password", were all they had for "hits".

/eagerly waits for someone to add something else....
//just have a feeling I forgot one

BrandonFG · « **Reply #3 on:** May 12, 2012, 06:34:49 PM »

I did forget about LMaD. Pyramid as well...maybe even "Newlywed Game". I should've said no shows lasted a year after Feud premiered.

The Ol' Guy · « **Reply #4 on:** May 12, 2012, 06:45:24 PM »

For ABC, I'd have to lean toward the acquisition of Deal. It helped raise numbers for them throughout the daypart and gave them profits that helped upgrade the network overall. Feud was a good buy for ABC, but Deal helped give them a more competitive day sched.

By going into 70s-80s, one classic NBC crown jewel gets the short end of the stick. Concentration (on the net until 1973) was one of the greatest tv games ever...and shares an element with Wheel where you must watch the show for maximum enjoyment, as you can't solve either show's puzzles from the kitchen, where you can always call out Feud answers from the other side of the bathroom door. Concentration should get some crown jewel points. Heck, NBC even brought it back successfully after a syndicated run. If you are thinking prestige for what constitutes a crown jewel, count the number of Emmys for Hollywood Squares vs. Wheel. Ratings and class. IIRC, Wheel historically has had only moderate daytime ratings. It kills at night. Please correct me if necessary.

CBS - by your time frame, then, yes, Price. Otherwise, I'd vote Password.
I know....damn old people......

Vahan_Nisanian · « **Reply #5 on:** May 12, 2012, 07:11:05 PM »

CBS. Not just for TPIR, but also for some of the other ones that I feel best represented CBS game shows circa 70's and 80's.

In the 70's, they were The Joker's Wild and Match Game. In the 80's, they were The New $25,000 Pyramid and Press Your Luck.

As for the 90's, well unfortunately, the only one that I truly feel best represented CBS outside of TPIR was The New Family Feud. Wheel of Fortune with Bob Goen was good, but my god, the payouts!

Lots of NBC GS's are lost forever, and ABC didn't really have much of a selection, outside of FF, LMAD, and $10K/$20K Pyramid.

That Don Guy · « **Reply #6 on:** May 12, 2012, 07:40:09 PM »

Quote from: fostergray82 on May 12, 2012, 06:34:49 PM

I did forget about LMaD. Pyramid as well...maybe even "Newlywed Game". I should've said no shows lasted a year after Feud premiered.

You don't consider ABC's Split Second a "hit"?

My choices:

NBC - Hollywood Squares (I wouldn't call NBC WoF its "crown jewel", especially as they actually mentioned on the air at one point that it was about to be cancelled)

CBS - Match Game (TPIR has been on longer, true, but CBS MG is more "memorable")

ABC - Family Feud (my main problem with daytime LMAD: the Big Deal usually wasn't the most expensive prize that day)

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #7 on:** May 12, 2012, 08:12:46 PM »

I'll expand the topic and say the 1974-75 season was my absolute favorite in regards to network daytime game show scheduling. All networks had something good to watch.

Chief-O · « **Reply #8 on:** May 12, 2012, 09:27:34 PM »

Quote from: fostergray82 on May 12, 2012, 06:34:49 PM

Pyramid as well...

Quote from: That Don Guy on May 12, 2012, 07:40:09 PM

You don't consider ABC's Split Second a "hit"?

I KNEW I forgot some!

RMF · « **Reply #9 on:** May 12, 2012, 11:31:01 PM »

[My logic:

The "crown jewel" is not merely something we like, or even the most popular game show that the network aired in the period, but the one most important for the genre of the daytime game show on the network in question.

I will go in order from easiest answer to hardest:

CBS: The Price Is Right, for all the obvious reasons.

ABC: The Dating Game. ABC as a major figure in the genre post-1965 has its roots in that program's success. The other candidates for the post have issues: Family Feud, while a big hit, seems to have been in a vacuum (note that nothing followed it), Deal and Pyramid were both pick-ups from other networks (and don't feel right for this concept), and there aren't any other real candidates.

NBC: NBC is complicated in this consideration for two reasons. One of these was the fact that it didn't have the lulls that the other two networks had in the 1960s, meaning that its holdovers, while obviously important (Concentration, Hollywood Squares, and Jeopardy! did run for forty years combined, after all), can't be pointed to in quite the same way that the other candidates can be. The other is that, of the game shows that premiered after 1970, NBC had a tendency to produce a great deal of hits that seem a notch below "crown jewel" (and, yes, I'm counting network Wheel). I'll pick Hollywood Squares for now, and admit that this is very liable to change.

wdm1219inpenna · « **Reply #10 on:** May 13, 2012, 08:51:58 AM »

CBS has to be "The Price is Right". It aired since Sept 1972, became more or less an instant hit, and it's still on 40 years later.

NBC is a bit more difficult. The original Jeopardy! and Concentration from the early 1970s. Wheel of Fortune from 1975 - 1989. Jeopardy! & Wheel are still on the air in syndication, so they both also have staying power.

ABC early to mid 70s was Let's Make A Deal. From '76 - '85 Dawson's Feud.

All of these shows had very good "Play along" elements to them. "Deal" was the one that required the least amount of thinking usually. Except for Concentration, all of these other shows are currently airing, because they all have very good play along elements to them. Card Sharks had that too, which is why it is surprising to me that it is not on the air again. The survey questions and the card prediction part of the game were both elements that could easily keep the viewer engaged for 30 minutes, and those giant cards, the cool sets, and the lovely dealers (and the car on CBS) all provided added eye-candy as well!

Though not "crown jewels", honorable mentions for ABC for Split Second and Password. For CBS, Match Game to be sure, and for NBC, The Hollywood Squares.

aaron sica · « **Reply #11 on:** May 13, 2012, 10:28:52 AM »

ABC - The $10K/$20K Pyramid. CBS's loss was ABC's gain. During its time on ABC, it spawned a syndicated version and was still popular enough when it went off the air to have another syndicated version a year later. Feud a close second.

CBS - No question here, definitely Price. MG '7X a close second.

NBC - Hollywood Squares, with Wheel a close second.