Great, but forgotten, long-running shows

[SamJ93]

I thought about this when I was going to suggest Three On A Match for the short-lived shows thread, before I looked it up and realized that it ran for almost three years. Similarly, $ale and Scrabble had very healthy lifespans in the '80s, but seem mostly forgotten by the general public nowadays. What are your favorite examples of shows that were fairly popular in their day but are only remembered by die-hard fans today? And why do you think that is?

[SuperMatch93]

In addition to $ale and Scrabble, I'd say that What's My Line? qualifies. The last American run ended almost 50 years ago and neither it nor the CBS era had been in reruns for a while until recently, so I feel like it's dropped out of the public consciousness to a great extent.

[Matt Ottinger]

I thought about this when I was going to suggest Three On A Match for the short-lived shows thread, before I looked it up and realized that it ran for almost three years.

Even before I clicked in the thread and saw your setup, I said to myself, "Oh, Three on a Match."  Nobody remembers it besides us, but three years is a perfectly respectable run and by golly, it was fun!

[TimK2003]

High Rollers is another show that seems to fit the bill.  It's been off the air -- including reruns -- for nearly 30 years, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone outside of the game show fandom who could answer what other shows besides J! and Classic Concentration did Trebek host.  Many have forgotten Wink's syndie version as well. 

But the format is solid -- 1978's version preferred -- and fast paced, it is due for a return somewhere.

[Blanquepage]

For me it's The New Treasure Hunt, a gem that defied game show tradition. Geoff and crew didn't take the backseat to let the contestants shine, they WERE the drivers of the entertainment. The only consistent play-along element was picking a number and seeing at the end if you guessed correctly which box the prize was in. The '81 series may not have had the same feel to it, but the spirit was still there and was also a fun watch IMHO.

[BrandonFG]

Can we add “Chain Reaction”? It had a nice run on USA and three separate but forgettable runs on GSN. In spite of that, it never really left the network after 2006. The original Dylan Lane run lived on in reruns a good decade after its cancellation.

“Supermarket Sweep” gets a lotta love on 90s nostalgia pages, but “Shop Til You Drop”? Not so much, which is interesting considering they both ran back-to-back for years on Lifetime and PAX/Ion.

[Winkfan]

I could mention a ton of shows in this thread; instead, here's five of them.

The Big Payoff
Say When!!
Seven Keys
Gambit
Bumper Stumpers

Cordially,
Tammy

[BillCullen1]

WML was my favorite of the Big Three panel shows. I'll also add these to the Great but Forgotten shows:

Pay Cards
The Who What or Where Game
Truth or Consequences

[carlisle96]

WML was my favorite of the Big Three panel shows. I'll also add these to the Great but Forgotten shows:

Pay Cards
The Who What or Where Game
Truth or Consequences

I second the nomination of The Who, What, or Where Game

[JasonA1]

The Cross-Wits. 5 years, and unfortunately, no second life in reruns on USA, Family Channel, etc. Every newly discovered episode has me eager to see what crazy clues they managed to come up with.

-Jason

[Chief-O]

I may be underestimating its popularity, but "Tattletales" seems to me to be in this category. I'd also say "Sports Challenge", but some may debate if it was a "great" show.

Seconded on "Cross-Wits"; it's a bummer only the Sparks episodes have been rerun since original broadcast.

[Kevin Prather]

I'd imagine that Shop Till You Drop has faded into obscurity beyond our borders. That had a pretty healthy run including one reboot.

[beatlefreak84]

As soon as I saw the topic, I immediately said "Treasure Hunt" since that ran for four years and no one has heard of it that I've talked to, but everyone seems greatly intrigued by the premise.  But, I'm going to strongly second "Scrabble" (seriously; 6 years in its original run plus 4 years of reruns on USA...haven't seen it rerun or rebooted since!) and "Shop Til You Drop".

I would have also answered "Split Second" had GSN not revived it, though I wonder how many people know it's a revival?

Oh, and on the kids' side, "Fun House".  Understandably, "Double Dare" gets all the love, but "Fun House" was its own parallel phenomenon that practically no one I know outside of fandom remembers, though I find it somewhat funny that its spiritual successor gets a ton of love ("Legends").

Anthony

[Joe Mello]

When there was the discussion on here about what NBC was doing with their shows, I thought of how You Don't Say was one of several contemporary examples that made OG Password look like a game for squares.

[Mr. Matté]

Until Buzzr brought it back, Concentration? Even today, I bet the (relative) popularity is more because of love for Alex Trebek than the game itself. I'm sure the original version ("The guy from 20/20 used to host that." "What's 20/20?") and Narz version are long forgotten.