Underrated, but Appreciated

[TheInquisitiveOne]

Good evening.

There are plenty of shows we discuss on here that are established pieces of game show history, whether they’re long runners, living through reruns on Buzzr or GSN, or are revivals of shows we loved.

What about those shows that we like that don’t have the longevity or established footing - whether its due to being wiped from existence, or not making it past a season or two (due to low ratings or otherwise)? I wanted to have a discussion to salute the shows that were underrated, but still appreciated.

One show I have been watching again recently was Talk About. I remember watching this show in the late morning on WFLD Fox 32, and I enjoyed watching some episodes on YouTube. I thought Wayne Cox was a good host and the gameplay was fun. Simple and effective, and I wish the show ran a bit longer. Definitely deserving of another season.

Another show I was fond of was Shopping Spree on the Family Channel. I liked the goofiness and simplicity of the show, and I really liked how Ron Pearson handled the proceedings. I wished it ran longer than it did, but it appeared it was set to be doomed no matter what after the mid-1998 conversion from the Family Channel to Fox Family.

What are some shows you think were good and deserved better? Show them some love here. Thank you as always for your responses.

The Inquisitive One

[TLEberle]

I'm going to give some props to two short series that I think had legs: Studio Seven and The Exit List.

[Loogaroo]

Idiot Savants and Ultimate Fan League. Both run by the same production company, both criminally short-lived.

[WilliamPorygon]

MTV's painfully-shorted lived Idiot Savants would probably be my top pick even if Adam's Archives hadn't reminded me of it recently.  GSN's Camouflage and That's the Question also come to mind.

[BrandonFG]

The Challengers. I know a current events-based game show has virtually no shelf life for reruns, but with the 24-hour news cycle being bigger than it was 30 years ago, I'm surprised a format like this hasn't been tried in recent years.

Idiot Savants was a great show that had an irreverence reminiscent of both Remote Control and You Don't Know Jack. Outside of RC and Double Dare, it seems the Viacom cable networks never put much faith into their game shows. Crank out 65 or 130 episodes and let them quickly fade away.

I'll second Shopping Spree and TalkAbout. The latter would possibly need some tweaks to be self-contained, but would make a great GSN original.

Tomarken's Wipeout was a fun show that deserved longer, and for years I've said Caesar's Challenge was a solid format that was either five years too early or too late. I'd maybe ditch the shopping format and play straight for points.

[TLEberle]

Idiot Savants and Ultimate Fan League. Both run by the same production company, both criminally short-lived.

Good answers! Good answers!

I think both had things against them that were out of their control, but UFL was funny in a way that Sports Geniuses couldn't duplicate--the category title thing was done better on Ben's Money. Idiot Savants was a great package for some great ideas that were awkward in execution and totally out of place on MTV.

I think that Grand Slam loses some of the oomph if it isn't played by game show champions and most of the bouts ended in routs, but I will add it and World Series of Pop Culture to my list with Winning Lines of shows that didn't get a full shake.

[SuperMatch93]

For as fun and fast-paced a show as it was, I'd say Whew! qualifies. If only there were a way to maintain the pace of the show while still being able to appreciate a lot of the wit of the clues without blazing through them.

[Sodboy13]

Idiot Savants is an eternal favorite of mine, as well. Deeply disappointing that it didn't last longer, but also surprising that it got made at all, given what a black hole 1996-97 was for game shows.

I'd like to submit Australia's Minute To Win It, which improved on the American show in every way imaginable, but only made it one season.

[Chief-O]

One show I have been watching again recently was Talk About. I remember watching this show in the late morning on WFLD Fox 32, and I enjoyed watching some episodes on YouTube. I thought Wayne Cox was a good host and the gameplay was fun. Simple and effective, and I wish the show ran a bit longer. Definitely deserving of another season.

This was the first show I thought of when I opened this thread.

The other big one I can throw out is "Now You See It". It still boggles my mind how they were able to assemble the boards for all the shows, and come up with the questions for each of them. And--once again showing my Jack Narz fanboy-ism here---Jack was just brilliant on there.

[Strikerz04]

I found a copy of the Talk About board game (and bought it off eBay), so suffice to say that the show was underrated. And it was part of the WFLD game show block too (what little memory I had of it since I was 4 at the time).


Put my cap into Caesar's Challenge as well. Probably deserves a revival, if not putting the reruns back on.

[beatlefreak84]

I completely agree with both Talk About and Caesars Challenge.  Fun, easily accessible word games that I'm surprised have never been revived since their original airings.

There were three that came to my mind besides these:

Treasure Hunt:  No, not much game there, but it was just plain fun to watch, both for the skits and the contestant reactions, and I'm shocked that the show hasn't been revived since 1981.  I mean, this show was on for a combined 5 years, yet I don't know *anyone* outside of fandom that even remembers it.

Bumper Stumpers:  You won't see this show on anyone's Top 10 (or likely even 25), but I have always liked trying to solve the creative license plate puzzles, and Al DuBois really seemed to enjoy his time doing the show.  Easy to get involved with, fun to watch, and anyone who I've shown an episode of the show to really likes it.

Jackpot:  I was just talking about this show a few days ago as one of my favorites because of the creative riddles, the massive amount of contestants playing, and never knowing when someone was going to have a chance at that big Super Jackpot.  Another member of that WFLD game show block in 1989-1990 (I think The Last Word was the other) that I'm sad has never been revived nor really reran other than the Dark Period and that one-off during Viewers Choice.

Anthony

[Strikerz04]

Jackpot:  I was just talking about this show a few days ago as one of my favorites because of the creative riddles, the massive amount of contestants playing, and never knowing when someone was going to have a chance at that big Super Jackpot.  Another member of that WFLD game show block in 1989-1990 (I think The Last Word was the other) that I'm sad has never been revived nor really reran other than the Dark Period and that one-off during Viewers Choice.

Anthony

I'd be inclined to agree, except that Hollywood Showdown was kinda a Jackpot revival. Just with a fraction of the panelists.


/Yet still underrated

[PPatters]

I think that Two Minute Drill may qualify. Certainly, being based on a more famous UK show Masterminds, many recognize its quality, but with just two seasons — it was gone far too soon. I’ve been rewatching some of the few episodes available on YouTube and, I say this as someone who is NOT a sports fan and has absolutely 0 play-along with the show, I always enjoyed it. I would love to see a reboot — either specifically as a sports show, or more general.

[SamJ93]

Split Second: The 1986 version was pretty mediocre in almost all repects...but in spite of that, the Countdown Round could still produce some of the most nail-biting finishes in any game show ever. That says a lot.

Every Second Counts: Doing You Don't Know Jack's "Dis Or Dat" round long before it was cool has to count for something, right? I could see a comedy-flavored revival working very well today.

[jage]

To Say the Least: I had never seen an episode until a couple of years ago, but this show was quite fun, especially as the series went on and people figured out strategies for messing with the other team.

Russian Roulette is my obvious pick from the GSN pile, though there are a few that didn't last very long.

Agreed on Idiot Savants.