Most obscure game shows

[Dbacksfan12]

Something which I only knew about when I flipped through my copy of the GSE was No Relation on FX.  Here's a link to a news story on it; but I was unable to find anything on Wikipedia.  Nor have I ever seen a clip of it.

[golden-road]

What I seem to remember the most about Knights and Warriors was this really weird and nonsensical final round that had the Warriors zipline across the ceiling and then I think target shooting. Anybody else remember this one?

I do; you used a crossbow to shoot moving targets for :30, earning :5 for each hit. Then the team had another :30 (plus :5 per hit) to shoot at the warriors who were moving on ziplines.

[vtown7]

Speaking of Joe Fowler, I remember another show he did called Wild West Showdown.  It was set in an old West town and the contestants competed in Wild West-themed physical challenges.  I only ever remember seeing it once, but I remember recognizing Fowler's voice (he was the announcer).

I recall several short-lived theme competitions like that, which I think were trying to capitalize off of American Gladiators' success.  Another obscure one from about 20 years ago was Knights and Warriors, with a medieval setting.  I remember watching the first half of this as I was getting ready for work on Sunday mornings in '92-'93.

If anyone's looking for some info, there's a page on Bother's Bar about it.  Of note is the fact that the actress who portrayed Lady Battleaxe now plays the football coach on some show named Glee.

Ryan.

/will give week three as a prediction as to when a future revival of Hollywood Squares puts on a Glee retrospective week

[Jimmy Owen]

Something which I only knew about when I flipped through my copy of the GSE was No Relation on FX.  Here's a link to a news story on it; but I was unable to find anything on Wikipedia.  Nor have I ever seen a clip of it.

Mike Rowe was the host.  Of course, he has gone on to greater fame as host of "Dirty Jobs."  Mike would be good with a "What's My Line" revival--maybe "What's My Dirty Line" to attract young demos.

[tvwxman]

Something which I only knew about when I flipped through my copy of the GSE was No Relation on FX.  Here's a link to a news story on it; but I was unable to find anything on Wikipedia.  Nor have I ever seen a clip of it.

Mike Rowe was the host.  Of course, he has gone on to greater fame as host of "Dirty Jobs."  Mike would be good with a "What's My Line" revival--maybe "What's My Dirty Line" to attract young demos.

Always liked him - but this was a crap show. I think Dick Clark produced it? Somewhere in my collection I have the first ep on tape. I don't think I've watched it since.

[rockinricky]

RockinRicky - could the PBS show have been You Owe It To Yourself with Allen Ludden? It sure would fit the realm of obscurities.

That may be it, I can't find anything on Google or Wikipedia about it. All I get from Google are references to songs with that title and stuff about "You owe it to yourself to eat right/see this movie/read this book/etc". Of course, I only checked 14 pages of Google results. Nothing.

[Fedya]

I did a search on "you owe it to yourself" plus Allen Ludden, and the first link I got was some obscure internet discussion board.  ;-)

[Matt Ottinger]

I did a search on "you owe it to yourself" plus Allen Ludden, and the first link I got was some obscure internet discussion board.  ;-)

Awesome.

[knagl]

One that pops into my head from my yute was called, Time Out for Trivia, and I remember watching it with my dad in what would have been the early to mid 1980s in Shelburne, Vermont (a suburb of Burlington, VT).  If memory serves, the show was a live call-in show where there was a host on TV who would ask trivia questions (for some reason, I think it was mostly sports trivia, but I could be wrong), and would invite callers to call in with their guesses.  I don't know if there were prizes for every question or not, but I do know that one designated caller per 30-minute (I'm guessing) episode would be eligible to win a (bigger?) prize if they got their question correct.  I remember one time my dad called in and he was the designated caller, but failed to answer the question correctly and didn't win the $50 gift certificate to Radio Shack, or whatever the prize was.

About the only other thing I remember is the host would constantly ask, "Who's playing Time Out for Trivia?" as his way of answering the phone for the next caller, who would identify themselves and then attempt to answer the trivia question.


Edit: Heh, so for kicks I Googled the phrase, "Who's playing Time Out for Trivia" and found a Sports Illustrated article from 1988 about the show (here).  It was broadcast nationwide on cable -- anyone else remember the show?

[tvwxman]

Edit: Heh, so for kicks I Googled the phrase, "Who's playing Time Out for Trivia" and found a Sports Illustrated article from 1988 about the show (here).  It was broadcast nationwide on cable -- anyone else remember the show?

The old FNN (financial news net - a precursor to CNBC) aired it, no? My only knowledge from it comes from TV Game Show magazine doing a write-up on it.

[BrandonFG]

Edit: Heh, so for kicks I Googled the phrase, "Who's playing Time Out for Trivia" and found a Sports Illustrated article from 1988 about the show (here).  It was broadcast nationwide on cable -- anyone else remember the show?

The old FNN (financial news net - a precursor to CNBC) aired it, no?

I looked it up about an hour ago, and that seems to be right, on the SCORE Network, which I believe was a FNN subsidiary?

I remember seeing the show on Youtube a few years ago, but couldn't find any clips.

[Jimmy Owen]

Edit: Heh, so for kicks I Googled the phrase, "Who's playing Time Out for Trivia" and found a Sports Illustrated article from 1988 about the show (here).  It was broadcast nationwide on cable -- anyone else remember the show?

The old FNN (financial news net - a precursor to CNBC) aired it, no?

I looked it up about an hour ago, and that seems to be right, on the SCORE Network, which I believe was a FNN subsidiary?

I remember seeing the show on Youtube a few years ago, but couldn't find any clips.

Yeah, FNN/Score was a business during the day, sports after the markets closed network.  Sparce production values as I recall.

[davemackey]

The host of "Time Out for Trivia" was Todd Donoho, who always told his callers he was "Tremendous, my friend." He was also one of the TelShop hosts, along with Michelle Roth.

Has anyone mentioned the short-lived spinoff of "Tony Brown's Journal" called "Can You Dig It?". Couples, identified by first name and astrological sign (eerily reminiscent of the song "Float On") played for cheap prizes like love beads.

[SRIV94]

The host of "Time Out for Trivia" was Todd Donoho, who always told his callers he was "Tremendous, my friend." He was also one of the TelShop hosts, along with Michelle Roth.

Isn't he (or wasn't he recently) anchoring sports in L.A. (KABC comes to mind)?

And would MINDREADERS qualify for obscure (granted, 1979-80 show, but never seen in reruns--just a YouTube clip or trading circuit video seems to be the only remnants)?

[clemon79]

Isn't he (or wasn't he recently) anchoring sports in L.A. (KABC comes to mind)?

Yes. For a while he hosted a live post-game show after Monday Night Football called, creatively, "Monday Night Live," and they would do a call-in trivia segment much in the vein of TOFT. I am told by people who lived in the area that his phone schtick didn't change one iota.

"To the phones we go...WHO'S playing Monday Night Live?"

"Erm, this is Bob from Inglewood. How are ya, Todd?"

"Tremendous, my friend!"

Made me kinda wish I'd seen it. (Apparently he moved back to Missouri and is doing college sports stuff now.)