Longer running game shows which remained un-tweaked.

[TimK2003]

Got into a coversation with a fellow game-show fan and the question came up as to what longer running game shows (at least 1 year) whose gameplay and format remained the same thought the entire run. This is defined as shows which:

1) Did not have any special celebrity, charity and/or theme weeks.
2) Did not have any special player tournaments or second chance weeks (unless they were brought back due to an error in gameplay)

<edited> Eliminated the 3rd clause of rule changes

We were hard pressed to come up with shows which fit the requirements.   The New Treasure Hunt was one.  Let's see how you fare?

[TLEberle]

Depends on how you define the third element. And what's a special tournament? Lots of shows have had a Tournament of Champions.

Most game shows will do special weeks to raise interest, and most of them will tweak the format for one reason or another.

I think at the you start with the weekly version of What's My Line? and go from there.

[BrandonFG]

I imagine quite a few 50s and 60s shows fit the criteria, esp. from the Goodson-Todman crew. Probably anything in the few years after the scandals.

[aaron sica]

The closest that I could think of was Match Game '7X. They never did any theme weeks, tournaments or second chance weeks. The only asterisk is that third element when the Star Wheel was introduced. Besides that, everything stayed the same with the exception of the set look, which was not part of the question.

[clemon79]

What about the '60s / '70s Newlywed Game? Did they ever do a Bring Back Teh Losers week? I think they did on New Newlywed, but I'm talking the original white-picket-fence version.

[Joe Mello]

The James/Barker version of Price went for 8 years.

[JasonA1]

What about the '60s / '70s Newlywed Game? Did they ever do a Bring Back Teh Losers week? I think they did on New Newlywed, but I'm talking the original white-picket-fence version.

Yes. The 1974 finale GSN aired was an alumni show, with couples who were previously on the show playing for charity.

There's also an episode from the '60s preserved in black & white where Bob reads a letter from an older couple who wanted to play, and responds that they'd try older couples on a future week.

-Jason

[TimK2003]

We were also thinking Tom Kennedy's Split Second.  Neither of us could recall any tournaments or special weeks there.

[BrandonFG]

LMAD from the 60s, maybe?

[Matt Ottinger]

I think this is really just an impossible question to answer, because somebody could make a case against just about any remotely long-running show based on how you define "major" in clause three.  The big three G-T panel shows were pretty much the same from beginning to end, but if you wanted to disqualify them, you could find a way to do so.

Also, I fail to understand how a show that just for fun had an occasional diversion from the norm becomes disqualified.  I understand changing to a celebrity format (Hot Potato, Password All-Stars) as being grounds for dismissal, but a "special" week followed by a return to the traditional format doesn't strike me as such a big deal.

Otherwise, your purest answer is probably going to be something that ran thirteen weeks.

[TLEberle]

I maintain that the third clause is an unnecessary fillip. Quiz Kids Challenge passes the first, second and third clauses, ran sixteen weeks and nobody cares because it was bland as bland could be.

[TimK2003]

I think this is really just an impossible question to answer, because somebody could make a case against just about any remotely long-running show based on how you define "major" in clause three.  The big three G-T panel shows were pretty much the same from beginning to end, but if you wanted to disqualify them, you could find a way to do so.

Also, I fail to understand how a show that just for fun had an occasional diversion from the norm becomes disqualified.  I understand changing to a celebrity format (Hot Potato, Password All-Stars) as being grounds for dismissal, but a "special" week followed by a return to the traditional format doesn't strike me as such a big deal.

That's how the whole conversation started when we were discussing Ray Combs Family Feud's waning years when there were more non-civilian "specials" than normal civilian shows. 

The 3rd requirement was included because we wanted to find the shows which stayed true the entire length of their series, and there were a handful of shows which fit the bill -- not as many as we thought when we threw out some names, like primetime TTTT adding the audience (5th) vote late in the run. 

I will amend the original post to eliminate rule changes to open up the field a bit more but to keep the first 2 requirements in -- I still see that as ways to boosting/saving the ratings.  Let's see how that works...

[TLEberle]

The problem is that the second clause is still vague. By that, Jeopardy falls out (though I'd say that the stay til you lose is a much bigger tweak). Supermarket Sweep was on forever and it was always about chucking things into a grocery cart--nobody cares about Mother-Daughter Week or Sweep of Champions/Second Chance Week because the entire product is entertaining.

As it pertains to Family Feud, the thing is that after you're on the air six years doing the same thing five days a week and probably flagging ratings those in charge will come up with something to perk people's interest--there can't be a game show that has only had ratings that grow with no coasting or nose-dives.

[aaron sica]

As it pertains to Family Feud, the thing is that after you're on the air six years doing the same thing five days a week and probably flagging ratings those in charge will come up with something to perk people's interest--there can't be a game show that has only had ratings that grow with no coasting or nose-dives.

The most minor "tweak" that I can think of concerning Family Feud is one that I believe started when the show became "Family Feud Challenge" in 1992, and even now I watch the Harvey version so little I don't know what it is now. The "tweak" concerns when, after three strikes, the other family tries to pick off one of the remaining answers. IIRC, at that point, if the other family was able to steal, they'd get the points with that answer too. I don't believe that was the case before the show became FFC.

[TLEberle]

I think it came with Bullseye along with single-double-triple-triple to speed it up.