People are Funny: the Movie

[alfonzos]

I did not know there was a movie based on the creation of the People are Funny radio show, which became a television series, existed until today. I saw a DVD case for it at a Salvation Army thrift store today. The disc was missing or I would have bought it on the spot. I may have been lucky that I didn't buy it. The Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038831/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1) warns that since the movie is in the public domain there are many bad copies available. Link to where it could be bought: http://www.moviesunlimited.com/people-are-funny/089218550996

[The Ol' Guy]

Have it. May have to get it out again. Bought it from the old Foothills Video. There were also movies fashioned around Queen For A Day, The Kollege Of Musical Knowledge ("That's Right, You're Wrong", "You'll Find Out") and Pot 'O Gold, all weaving stories about various characters and inserting a few moments recreations of the shows to appeal to their radio audiences.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043947/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2.
Here - save some money, courtesy of YouTube. .

[Jimmy Owen]

James Stewart had a good movie "The Jackpot."  Not sure if it was based on any particular radio show.

[Matt Ottinger]

James Stewart had a good movie "The Jackpot."  Not sure if it was based on any particular radio show.

For the sake of the three of us who care about this and want to Horanically show off what we know:

I'm pretty sure they fictionalized The Jackpot, but it was based on a true story that appeared in The New Yorker about a guy who won an absurd amount of merchandise on Sing It Again and struggled with paying taxes on his winnings.

There was also a movie version of the radio game show Take It Or Leave It.

The best of the lot, by far, is Champagne for Caesar, a comedy about a genius (Ronald Coleman) who is wronged by a soap company president (Vincent Price) and decides to take revenge  by appearing on a double-or-nothing quiz show they sponsor.  For the sake of the plot, the fictional game show put no limits on how often you can "double", and he threatens to bankrupt the company.

[SamJ93]

So aside from Quiz Show, are there any recent movies (past 30 years or so) whose plot centered around a real or fictional game show?

[TLEberle]

At least one, and that's my final answer.

/survey says that The Running Man is on the boundary of your qualification.

[Thunder]

My wife just yelled out "Jerry Springer's 'Ringmaster'". I told her to go away.

[BrandonFG]

So aside from Quiz Show, are there any recent movies (past 30 years or so) whose plot centered around a real or fictional game show?

About 15 years ago, Bill Murray was supposed to play Michael Larson in a movie based on his PYL reign of terror. That never came to fruition.

[Matt Ottinger]

Recently on the art film scene, Slumdog Millionaire and Starter For Ten both had real game shows very much at the center of their stories.

[TLEberle]

Recently on the art film scene, Slumdog Millionaire and Starter For Ten both had real game shows very much at the center of their stories.

That was indeed my oblique reference earlier, though I had forgotten about Starter for Ten. (Since we're here, the book Q&A has several differences and a strange turn at the billion rupee question, and is a marvelous read anyway.)

For the sake of the three of us who care about this and want to Horanically show off what we know:

Not for nothing in particular, I've always thought the difference between eagerness to share what we know and his name should be forever blotted out was that for the most part our dispersal of knowledge comes from enjoying our hobby.

[trainman]

So aside from Quiz Show, are there any recent movies (past 30 years or so) whose plot centered around a real or fictional game show?

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind comes to mind, although it focuses less on the actual game shows and more on fictionalized events surrounding them.

[TimK2003]

And "Catch Me If You Can" began the movie with a slightly altered version of To Tell The Truth when Frank Abagnale, Jr. (played by Leo DiCaprio) appeared as the subject of the round.

[alfonzos]

Of course, J! plays a key scene in "White Men Can't Jump."

[Matt Ottinger]

So aside from Quiz Show, are there any recent movies (past 30 years or so) whose plot centered around a real or fictional game show?

{Emphasis added}

Could we perhaps not have a fifty-page thread of every appearance of a game show in a feature film?

[clemon79]

Could we perhaps not have a fifty-page thread of every appearance of a game show in a feature film?

But how else will we reminisce about that three-second shot from Teh $25,000 Pyramid in Splash?