GSN Turns 18

[aaron sica]

Having already had GSN by the time DirecTV picked it up, I would tune the receivers at stores to it, not to watch it, but just to see passersby's reactions of seeing these old game shows on TV. At this point, where I lived, DISH/DirecTV was the only way to get GSN. It wouldn't arrive on cable for another 5 or 6 years or so, once digital started making a footprint. "Look how young Bob Barker looks", I  remember hearing.

My favorite time for GSN was when I got it - from November 1996 until the Dark Period began. I wasn't a huge fan of the DP because it took off quite a few shows I enjoyed, some of which never found a home on GSN again ("Family Feud Challenge", for example).

[TLEberle]

That's how I caught Treasure Hunt, Three's A Crowd, and so many others.

The pinnacle and the nadir, all in one.

/saw ads for it on Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Went to Wheel of Fortune's tapings at Seattle's Convention Center and as a bonus got to see Peter Tomarken host some episodes of Decades from the Wheel set. Whenever they had Go, Ruckus and Feud '94, that's when we jumped aboard for the first time.

[SRIV94]

Knew it had been in existence, but couldn't get it until 1998.  Seem to remember the first things I saw were MG7x and TATTLETALES.  As soon as Convy said "the banana section," I was hooked.

[Matt Ottinger]

I'm off a day, but it was December 1, 1994 that the "Game Show Network" was born, and so were classic and modern game show reruns, including Match Game, which was the first show to air on the network.

It's almost strange how many random and unnecessary "facts" you can throw out there that are wrong.  I didn't catch this at first because I try not to read your posts too closely.  The doctor says I should watch my blood pressure.  Still, a GSN insider pointed this out to me and told me what I already knew and should have told you sooner.  Match Game was not the first show to air on the network, regardless of what you or your GSN board buddies might want to believe.  GSN began with a 24-hour marathon featuring a single episode of every show in their library, roughly in chronological order.  Therefore, the first show featured on the network was an episode of What's My Line?, specifically (so I'm told) one with Jackie Gleason as the Mystery Guest.

[Chelsea Thrasher]

At some point during 1997(?), they began running promos during Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy for GSN.  Being intrigued and awestruck by the idea of an entire channel for game shows, I flipped through my cable lineup, and no GSN. First time it ever really hit me that there were entire channels of TV out there that I didn't get.

Though the promos during Wheel/J! kept the channel's existence in my mind, I moved on. That Thanksgiving, the family went to my aunt's for Thanksgiving dinner. They had satellite, and after flipping channels for a minute or two on one of the TVs, there it was. GSN. An episode of Jeopardy was just starting, and I was marveled at how it had the "old" (read: early 90s) set they'd gotten rid of.  Watched J! and the first half of $25K Pyramid that day, and was hooked.

Got to see the channel in very limited quantities for the next few years. Hotel stays and visits to my aunt's. Loved every fleeting glimpse I got. Was out of my mind for probably the first two months after they added the channel in 2001 - if my TV was on, it was on GSN. Eventually programming changed and the novelty wore off, of course, but the concept of a channel of nothing but game shows, to a younger me, was truly marvelous.

[Ian Wallis]

I had it from the beginning, and loved it dearly from 1994 to around 2000 or so.  I had it on C-Band satellite (G7, T6) and watched it until it left that transponder in March 2004.  My dish hardly left that channel for years!

I mainly watched it for the classic shows, and wished they could have kept more shows from what some people refer to as "the dark period" on the schedule even after the GT shows came back.  It didn't have to be "one, or the other, but not both!"

I'm not really interested in their originals - although a few have been decent.  If they ever went back to an all-classics channel from the '50s-80s, I'd be back in a minute!

[BrandonFG]

As much as I love the original format from the late-90s, what they had in 2002-03 was probably their best showing. You had a nice mix of classics in the mornings, the "Vertivision" blocks on certain nights, and a nice crop of well-produced originals. The rarities during the Feast of Favorites were also a nice touch.

/Plus the squeezed credits were done at a minimum
//They sure as hell didn't cut out in the middle of a closing back then

[jjman920]

1999 was when the channel was added to the lineup at my house. I hadn't seen it outside of the Wheel/J! promos. The best memory is sneaking into my parents room to watch B&W Overnight before I had to go to bed (I'd also flip between that and early Adult Swim). So many memories, so much fun playing along, so much history to absorb. It was absolutely thrilling. While that same channel I fell in love with isn't exactly there, I still love to catch it when I'm in the mood. The allure is still there, for me, eighteen years later.

GSN began with a 24-hour marathon featuring a single episode of every show in their library, roughly in chronological order.  Therefore, the first show featured on the network was an episode of What's My Line?, specifically (so I'm told) one with Jackie Gleason as the Mystery Guest.

Would you by chance know the last show (newest) they aired that day?

[Matt Ottinger]

Mr. Davis would live to have a word with you...

http://buzzerblog.co...ebuts-day-1994/

"...The very first show ever showed on Game Show Network was Match Game. What's the first show that appears on its schedule today, it's birthday? Match Game."

Mr. Davis is free to contact me if he wishes.  The fact that he's wrong too doesn't really change the fact that you're wrong.  I know you don't often read other people's posts when they're not about you, but you might want to go back to the part where I say I have the first twenty-four hours on tape.

[Matt Ottinger]

Would you by chance know the last show (newest) they aired that day?

The tapes themselves are in storage, but I'm pretty sure it was that classic hit All About the Opposite Sex.

[aaron sica]

Mr. Davis would like to have a word with you...

http://buzzerblog.co...ebuts-day-1994/

"...The very first show ever showed on Game Show Network was Match Game. What's the first show that appears on its schedule today, it's birthday? Match Game."

Disagreeing with a moderator? BAD IDEA. Not to mention that Matt was one of a few here, who, *AS HE SAID EARLIER* was able to see the station at launch. And you're arguing with that? Go back to your playpen and grab your pacifier while you're at it, put it in your mouth and shut yourself up. Have a nice day.

[BrandonFG]

It's almost strange how many random and unnecessary "facts" you can throw out there that are wrong.  I didn't catch this at first because I try not to read your posts too closely.  The doctor says I should watch my blood pressure.  Still, a GSN insider pointed this out to me and told me what I already knew and should have told you sooner.  Match Game was not the first show to air on the network, regardless of what you or your GSN board buddies might want to believe.  GSN began with a 24-hour marathon featuring a single episode of every show in their library, roughly in chronological order.  Therefore, the first show featured on the network was an episode of What's My Line?, specifically (so I'm told) one with Jackie Gleason as the Mystery Guest.

Mr. Davis would like to have a word with you...

http://buzzerblog.co...ebuts-day-1994/

"...The very first show ever showed on Game Show Network was Match Game. What's the first show that appears on its schedule today, it's birthday? Match Game."

And one of the comments debunks the myth for the precise reason Matt gave. I found a tentative premiere schedule on ATGS, that did have MG first at 7:00pm. That list was also from November 1994, enough time for the schedule to change.

The thread in question: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!searchin/alt.tv.game-shows/GSN$201994/alt.tv.game-shows/mWZCnaBw3MI/BgAE_QZB3poJ

[TLEberle]

Disagreeing with a moderator? BAD IDEA.

It isn't so much the disagreeing (after all, I'm still here) but the stubborn disagreement in the face of reality.

At this point, everybody who I care about has made their decision about this guy, and I don't think it will change. If our FNG decided to pick up stakes and mosey, I'd be OK with that.

[The Pyramids]

I believe I had it first in 1999. In 2002 I was watching Louie Anderson 'Family Feud' and decided to check the networks listings to see if the original I enjoyed so much as a boy were on the network. I saw that it was on in prime time, and I tuned into Dawson 'Feud' that night. Soon thereafter every Saturday & Sunday afternoon from 4 to 6 PM CST I would watch the 'Feud' hour as well as the '$100,000 Pyramid' and 'Match Game' which were two other shows I remembered. By the time the network brought back 'Blockbusters' to weekend mornings that winter I was regularly taping a variety of shows off the network.

[Matt Ottinger]

Disagreeing with a moderator? BAD IDEA.

It isn't so much the disagreeing (after all, I'm still here)

Funny, I was about to bring up Keynotes.