Game Show Fans 50 Greatest - Results

[Matt Ottinger]

Reading the list, I still don't know how I missed Whew! or Lingo.

Whew is not on my list, and I'm comfortable with that.  Of all the shows we talk about around here, I find that one and Press Your Luck are disproportionately loved.  Maybe it's an age thing. I can admire the execution of Press Your Luck (which was on my list), but I just find Whew to be horribly flawed in almost every meaningful way.

[TLEberle]

It could be worse.  I forgot to include Concentration.

Clearly, you weren't concentrating.

If Matt can win the internet three more days in a row he'll also win a Buick Skylark.

[Jimmy Owen]

What this list proves is the genius of Bob Stewart.

[PYLdude]

My top ten (in order) were Jeopardy, Match Game, Pyramid, TPIR, Password, Feud, Concentration, Card Sharks, The 3ws/Challengers (vote was cast for the latter but I did consider both editions) and Sale of the Century.

Looking at my ballot, here's the shows that I voted on that missed out on the top 50 but ranked 51-100.

-Double Dare (had it at #30)

-The Cross-Wits (had it at #35)

-Greed (#41)

-Bumper Stumpers (#21)

-Trivia Trap (#43)

-Finders Keepers (#46)

-Pass the Buck (#48)

-Winning Lines (#33)

-Shop 'til You Drop (#36)

[The Ol' Guy]

Jim makes a good point. I still have in my files the 2006 list of a revered member of this group who called it, based on preferences, a very Stewart-centric list. Personally, it's easy to forget that Password, To Tell The Truth and The Price Is Right are Bob Stewart creations because these rough diamond (and they are diamond) ideas were given the brutal polishing and buffing Mark Goodson laid on top of every idea that came out of his company. The solo Stewart productions still had rough edges, mostly in presentation, but the core ideas were incredibly entertaining. Pyramid is probably the closest Bob came to giving one of his formats real polish, but in some ways, many of his other shows had that Little Rascals feeling - "Let's put together a big show in old man Miller's barn!" They may have been rough around the edges, but they were still very entertaining - even when flawed. Some of them had an energy (Jackpot, Shoot For The Stars), others needed Bill Cullen to cover the flaws. Stewart deserves a lot of praise for his contributions to game shows. 

[Joe Mello]

I was the first place vote for Millionaire (and Pyramid 4th) but I'm okay with this result. Thank you Scott and Jason for putting this together.

[gromit82]

5. Family Feud (1976-1985, 1988-1995, 1999-present)
4. Password (1961-1967, 1971-1975, 1979-1982, 1984-1989, 2008-2009, 2015)
3. Jeopardy! (1964-1975, 1978-1979, 1984-present)
2. The Price Is Right (1956-1965, 1972-present)
1. Pyramid (1973-1988, 1991, 2002-2004, 2012, 2016-present)

[gromit82]

I refer to Pyramid these days as "the greatest game ever created for television", but strangely enough, I had it second to Jeopardy ten years ago.  While I'm surprised to see it the number one pick, Sam's right.  A decent revival and the general feeling from some fans that Price just isn't as good anymore both must have been factors.  I doubt the smaller sample had much to do with it.  You had almost fifty and I think we were a little shy of seventy the first time around.

We actually had 80 voters in the 2006 poll.

While Jeopardy! was my #1 choice, I had Pyramid at #2 and I'm happy to see it overtake TPIR for the top spot. (I had TPIR at #5.)

[Dbacksfan12]

1. Pyramid (1973-1988, 1991, 2002-2004, 2012, 2016-present)

I don't believe the Clark versions were one continuous run, were they?

[TLEberle]

If you gave everyone here the task to pick the ten greatest, I suspect there would be lots of overlap, and a few stragglers. Same if you said to pick the top twenty or twenty-five. We have a good idea of what are the greats, the near greats and the onlookers. When you get to fifty I think you run out of greats and start to look for shows to fill out the last of your ballot. The fact that there was a lot of clumping at the top shows me that as a group we're of like mind and know what great means more than some silly TV network or magazine.

My last ten were: Supermarket Sweep, Hot Streak, Hollywood Showdown, Dirty Rotten Cheater, Talk About, Chopped, Late Night Liars, Remote Control, Million Dollar Mind Game and finally Estate of Panic, because by golly I just enjoy it. The point I'm making to allay the "well, I did thus and so, and here's why" is that of course this exercise isn't purely scholarly, there has to be some amount of opinion and feeling and personality that goes into it and that's what makes it fun.

To Mark's question: they weren't. $20k ended in 1980, $50k went a year-ish in 1981 and New $25k picked up in Fall 1982. $10k was also off the air for a month and a bit in 1974 when CBS cancelled it and ABC scooped it up.

[PYLdude]

1. Pyramid (1973-1988, 1991, 2002-2004, 2012, 2016-present)

I don't believe the Clark versions were one continuous run, were they?

Not continuous in the proper sense but I get what he did because a Pyramid aired every year from '73 through '88. There were just two large gaps in between.

[gromit82]

1. Pyramid (1973-1988, 1991, 2002-2004, 2012, 2016-present)

I don't believe the Clark versions were one continuous run, were they?

No, as TLEberle and PYLdude indicated, that was a simplified listing for the start-and-stop pattern of the era, taking into account the network and syndicated runs.

[jjman920]

Don't dismiss my opinion because I expressed it in a way that you don't care for.

Did I though? I thought I expressed why I thought your opinion undersold Press Your Luck. Sorry if it came off as out and out throwing it aside. It's certainly a valid opinion.

I guess I was the sole 1st place vote for Password. It was really, really close when it came to Password and Pyramid.  I chose Password for its pure word play. Pyramid has so much excitement, and I believe that the Winner's Circle is probably the best segment in all of television. It was tough for me to rank Password ahead of it.

[Flerbert419]

The show I had highest that did not make the top 50 was Truth or Consequences at #11.

The show highest on the list that I did not have on mine was The Chase at #26. I felt like the American version did not have enough impact to consider it as one of the greatest.

The top 7 shows matched my top 7 shows, but in a slightly different order.

I had Password one slot above Pyramid because I felt as though Password paved the way for Pyramid's success. There was no moving Price from my top spot.

The only two shows on my list that did not make the top 100 were Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and Stump the Schwab.

Thanks to Jason and Scott for running this!

[BillCullen1]

I think I've figured out what the Top Five shows are. 

I had them all, but not in the order they appeared. I figured TPIR would be #1, with Jeopardy or Pyramid being #2. So of the Top 5, three were created by Bob Stewart and three came from G-T. Of the Top 10, G-T had four, and Merv Griffin had two - ooooh! 

Good job by those who compiled this list. Thanks.