Your hottest game show takes

[Eric Paddon]

I've never been a fan of "Whew!".    For one thing I missed the show entirely during its original run and was never aware of its existence until the 90s (I think it aired opposite Password Plus in NY ironically).    But the game to me has a fatal flaw in that you have to wait for Tom to finish reading the entire blooper before the charger can answer and to me that's cheating the contestant for the sake of getting a joke in.    And the proof of this flaw is that an overwhelming number of times the charger loses.   Of all the cult favorite game show, "Whew!" is the one that would get an "OVER-RATED!" chant from me.

The Barry-Enright shows for me have become unwatchable as an adult because of their ridiculously unchallenging question format and I've also become turned off to Jack Barry's entire style as a host.    76 "Break The Bank" is the only B-E show that has any level of rewatch to me.

B/W classics for me are better than any post-1983 game show that's ever aired.

[Casey Buck]

I have never found What's My Line anything other than boring. To be fair to the show, this is partially because I don't have any nostalgia for it (I was born in 1989).

It also doesn't help that What's My Line hasn't been done in 50 years (yipes!). Hey, there's a reminder: in a few weeks will be the 75th anniversary of WML.

I find 3's a Crowd entertaining and am disappointed no episodes appear to be on YouTube.

I'll turn this into an even hotter take- in 2025, this is the gem of the Barris catalog and would do numbers on Bravo.

And if they do air it, I'm sure they'll get pushback on social media. The sexism that's fundamentally baked into the secretary/wife format has aged like curdled milk. Heck, it aged badly even at the time! If Buzzr ever leases more of the Sony library, I think that's one show they're not going to touch with a 10 foot pole.

[Jeremy Nelson]

I find 3's a Crowd entertaining and am disappointed no episodes appear to be on YouTube.

I'll turn this into an even hotter take- in 2025, this is the gem of the Barris catalog and would do numbers on Bravo.

And if they do air it, I'm sure they'll get pushback on social media. The sexism that's fundamentally baked into the secretary/wife format has aged like curdled milk. Heck, it aged badly even at the time! If Buzzr ever leases more of the Sony library, I think that's one show they're not going to touch with a 10 foot pole.

Let me clarify that- this as a revived format would do numbers. I've always thought Andy Cohen would be fantastic hosting a relationship show with some messy beats, considering his work on the Real Housewives reunions.

[Chelsea Thrasher]

I have a very strong degree of loathing for Match Game with Gene Rayburn (bonus: MG90 remains my favorite version)

The early-week episodes when the panel aren't sauced are indicative of how funny most of the panelists actually are (not very), the format itself is borderline arbitrary. But the main thing's Rayburn himself: while I know someone is going to come along with "but it was the 70s", I find Rayburn to be 100x the disgusting creep that Dawson (really wasn't) or prime sleaze-era Barker are. At times if he has a burr stuck to him about something, he's also frequently just an asshole to contestants or civilians. (And while the syndicated run and movement into the 1980s toned down some of the worst of it, the show also lost something when Dawson left that it never got back.)

The fact that this is the vintage show that's constantly being rerun 4-6x per day on Buzzr and has even survived on GSN drives me up a wall. I vote with my remote (and the sheer lack of episodes I've kept compared to other shows) but if Match Game disappeared from both networks and streaming on demand tomorrow and didn't come back, I wouldn't be worked about it in the slightest.

[Stackertosh]

The Price is right was getting stale with Bob in the late 90s. Bob stopped being fun, his age was showing, and the set and props were looking outdated compared to the international versions.
Ryan Secrest made Wheel of Fortune more enjoyable.
Doug Davidson wasn't a bad host at all.

[Chelsea Thrasher]

Here's a "Which Came First?" Question from. The Barker Era:

• The Spay & Neuter sign-off, or
• The Adopt A Dog or Cat From Your Local Shelter segment that was occasionally featured during an IUFB?

Spay/Neuter sign-offs were being occasionally used no later than May 1982 (GSN skipped so many episodes from that season that it's unknown where they began).  For the first couple of years, Bob would make a point to do one occasionally but usually only when they had a few seconds, the winner didn't have a mob running up to congratulate them, etc.

As for the person who said January 1984, no.  Earliest one was June 1, 1984 (5355D) in Lucky Seven (the dog's actually relaxing with it's head out the window of the car!) near the tail end of season 12.

[Blanquepage]

For us children of the 80s that like to keep sharp by playing the daily NYT Wordles and Spelling Bees, the GameTV Bumper Stumpers reruns really are the ideal nostalgic brain food.

[BrandonFG]

The Price is right was getting stale with Bob in the late 90s. Bob stopped being fun, his age was showing, and the set and props were looking outdated compared to the international versions.
Ryan Secrest made Wheel of Fortune more enjoyable.
Doug Davidson wasn't a bad host at all.

Agreed on all three counts, and I might be one of the few people who didn't mind eliminating one-bids in the '94 version. I know it defeats the purpose of the game, but it wasn't the worst idea in the world.

I've said this numerous times while chatting with others, but Wheel now has a personality that it hasn't had in 25 years. That and most of the bonus round puzzles are now something other than A(N) (ADJECTIVE) (NOUN) have done wonders for the show IMO.

[tyshaun1]

Card Sharks with Jim Perry is by far the best version of the show. Eubanks was not a good fit for it at all, hence the numerous changes to it and him steering it to be more like The Newlywed Game.

I seriously don't get the contempt with Bert Convy and Super Password. I felt that his more relaxed style fit the format better, and him "giving away the passwords" is entirely overblown. I think people just remember the show making it a running gag throwing tape at him when he would comment he thought he knew the answer.

[beatlefreak84]

1.  I liked Jeopardy better when it had a 5-day limit and wasn't dominated by people who spend months preparing and training for it like a sporting event.

2.  On the same token, I liked Mayim better than Ken.  Yes; Ken has improved, but I thought Mayim connected with the human aspect of the show better.

3.  I've tried so many times, but I cannot get into classic TJW.  I will admit that TJW 90 was and is one of my guilty pleasures, though.  That said, Wink's TTD is eons better than TTD 90, and that's probably the only B-E show I truly appreciate as an adult (close second is Kennedy BTB).

4.  I appreciate their places in game show history and have watched at least one episode from every major run of them, but I do not care for any of the classic panel shows at all.  If you absolutely forced me to pick one to watch, I'd pick TTTT 90.

5.  Oh, and completely agreed with Chelsea; I've seen so many episodes of Match Game and have tried to appreciate the humor and spontaneity, but I never go out of my way to watch it.

6.  Last one, I promise:  I actually preferred The Chamber to The Chair, but I also admit that's like saying I prefer cat poop to dog poop.  McEnroe was a way better host, but I thought the torture aspect was done much better with The Chamber.  But, if they had done 1000 Heartbeats...

Anthony

[Dbacksfan12]

Here's a "Which Came First?" Question from. The Barker Era:

• The Spay & Neuter sign-off, or
• The Adopt A Dog or Cat From Your Local Shelter segment that was occasionally featured during an IUFB?

Spay/Neuter sign-offs were being occasionally used no later than May 1982 (GSN skipped so many episodes from that season that it's unknown where they began).  For the first couple of years, Bob would make a point to do one occasionally but usually only when they had a few seconds, the winner didn't have a mob running up to congratulate them, etc.

As for the person who said January 1984, no.

I apologize for this error.  For some reason, I thought the timeline started with the first month of the year.

I liked Jeopardy better when it had a 5-day limit and wasn't dominated by people who spend months preparing and training for it like a sporting event.

I agree with this as well.  When there's a contestant on that you don't like, you're cheering against him/her (e.g. James Holzhauer), which I don't think is a great way to watch a game show.

[aaron sica]

The GameTV Bumper Stumpers reruns really are the ideal nostalgic brain food.

Almost mentioned this earlier - I never gave the show much attention back when it aired on USA, but I find it fun to play along with now.

However, my hot take with it - the theme song is the most annoying of all the game show themes.

[aaron sica]

And if they do air it, I'm sure they'll get pushback on social media. The sexism that's fundamentally baked into the secretary/wife format has aged like curdled milk.

Very much. Not to mention that word is not used in that regard anymore - "administrative assistant" is what it's known as now.

I feel like it was wrong even then, but when I was in college in the '90s, I took a CAD (Computer Aided Design) class. The class was almost all men except for two women - the instructor (male) always, when talking to them, called them "you secretaries". How he never got in trouble for that is beyond me.

[Joe Mello]

• Game show fans are not immune to "your tastes peak in adolescence" similar to what happens with music.
• Too many newer games overtune their rubber-banding to allow for comebacks, but I'd rather have a comeback mechanic that's too strong than one that barely does anything
• Lingo without bingo is just L (stands for LACKS)
• The category and called letter should always be below the puzzleboard
• If your final round of The Weakest Link both increases the money ladder and doubles the amount won afterwards, why not just increase the money ladder to those doubled values to begin with
• Japanese game shows of the 70's & 80's are just as varied and interesting as the Game Shows of 75, and I say that without any hint of exoticism
• 45 minutes should be an acceptable length of time for a TV program, with or without ads
• I think an understated reason why game shows feel standardized day-to-day that's hard to put into words is the evolution of the workplace, both in terms of technological advances and changes to how the workplace is viewed

I liked Jeopardy better when it had a 5-day limit and wasn't dominated by people who spend months preparing and training for it like a sporting event.

I question the degree to which this happens. If people are prepping like it's a UFC Fight Camp, then that's a bit extreme, but if you told me I could improve my chance at winning around $20,000 if I just add a few things to my regular routine then I'd be an idiot not to do it. People "train" for other game shows, yet only Jeopardy seems to get flack for it.

I also think the superchamp "problem" became a problem because of the pandemic.

[Nick]

It made sense for [Drew] to do the spay/neuter plug when he first took over the show

I guess my hot take is that I disagree with that sentiment.  Same with keeping Barker's Bargain Bar without a name change, because I guess the fact that it was never played on the Kennedy version wasn't enough of a hint.

1.  I liked Jeopardy better when it had a 5-day limit and wasn't dominated by people who spend months preparing and training for it like a sporting event.

I wouldn't consider this a hot take at all.  I'm in full agreement with keeping the five-timers club as the limit.  Same with not treating the show like it's the Olympics of quiz shows.

However, my hot take with it - the theme song [of Bumper Stumpers] is the most annoying of all the game show themes.

It's cheese, but I don't dislike it.  The car horns and beeps are fitting for a show themed around vanity licence plates.

Now, the love that some have expressed for the '80s Split Second theme, that's one I don't get.  If there was a most uninspiring, stereotypical game show theme of the '80s, that'd be my pick; and the Talk About theme would not be far behind.