Why do so many game shows have episode titles now?

[Kniwt]

Allow me to briefly "harumph," "kids these days," etc. ...

Seeing this tweet from Buzzerblog:

S2E02 of The Chase USA is called "I Can Smell Your Fear From Here." I have a feeling I know who the Chaser will be.

... it got me to noticing that many, if not most, of the U.S. prime-time game shows now running have catchy one-off episode titles. Did this start when ABC got into its revivals, and why? Does it really help ratings?

Fred: Hey, Ethel, lookit what TV Guide says for The Chase this week ... "I Can Smell Your Fear From Here."
Ethel: Fred, you big dolt, are you fallin' for that again?
Announcer: Little do they know that this week's guest chaser is Lucy!

It's more a curiosity than an annoyance, but I haven't seen any discussion of it.

P.S.: Not just America ... there's Taskmaster, of course, and "Absolute Casserole" is an absolute winner of an episode title.

[calliaume]

Just a guess, but since many people now get their TV listings online or through a dedicated cable channel rather than TV Guide or the TV section of the newspaper (both of which rarely showed episode titles), the default for those probably shows an episode title. For scripted series, that's helpful (especially for repeats), for game shows, it's not--so perhaps those are being added to lure viewers.

[JMFabiano]

Just a guess, but since many people now get their TV listings online or through a dedicated cable channel rather than TV Guide or the TV section of the newspaper (both of which rarely showed episode titles), the default for those probably shows an episode title. For scripted series, that's helpful (especially for repeats), for game shows, it's not--so perhaps those are being added to lure viewers.

Especially if you want to be surprised.  Based on the title of this past PYL, I knew who was winning, for example.

[Clay Zambo]

Two words: Story Producer.

[Allstar87]

Especially if you want to be surprised.  Based on the title of this past PYL, I knew who was winning, for example.

The new Millionaire literally titled one of their episodes "The Million-Dollar Win". Guess how that played out.

GSN's good about keeping spoilers out of the titles...the worst I've seen them do is spoil one of the categories that gets played.

[BrandonFG]

Did this start when ABC got into its revivals, and why? Does it really help ratings?

I doubt it does anything for ratings, unless it is like the aforementioned Millionaire win that was spoiled in the title. But to answer your first question, no. The earliest I remember seeing episode titles used on a game show was on one of the NBC prime time shows from the early-2010s. I wanna say Who's Still Standing?...I just remember every episode was named after a movie.

I'm not a huge fan of the practice either. It reminds me a little too much of scripted sitcoms or dramas...game and reality shows are manipulated enough for "drama". But for people who have the season saved on DVR, I kinda get it. I still think it's pretty goofy, but I get it.