Comparing Game Show Fans To Other Fanbases

[PYLdude]

What is odd about the game show fanbase on the Internet is that it is almost exclusively male

Both fixed and explained that for you.

But why? Are you implying that women are less capable using the Internet than men?

I don't think there are thousands of women game show fans sitting on their couches saying "Boy, I wish I had somebody to talk to about The Joker's Wild!"

Alright...what?

[J.R.]

I don't think there are thousands of women game show fans sitting on their couches saying "Boy, I wish I had somebody to talk to about The Joker's Wild!"

Guy can dream, can't he?

[TLEberle]

At the height of estrogen, we maybe have had 1% of our membership with two X chromosomes. I work at an office with thirty women (two of 'em related to me, even!), and sometimes game shows come up as a topic of conversation, but that's all. Not the ins-and-outs, not the records, just "I saw The Singing Bee last night, it was neat," or "That couple that lost $880,000 on an answer, wasn't that something." No poring over details or comparisons, just water cooler talk.

We're just a giant water cooler, is all.

[clemon79]

But why? Are you implying that women are less capable using the Internet than men?

Less capable? Certainly not. Is it a stone cold fact that Internet message boards, for the most part, are predominantly male? Absolutely.

[chris319]

I estimate that this board has between 100 and 150 active participants.

I'm not sure about that silent movie comparison. When they were current, silent movies were the only thing the medium had to offer. Except for a period in the '50s and into the '60s when prime time quizzes and panel shows were popular, the majority of daytime game shows were niche offerings. Not many people could tell you anything about Call My Bluff, for example. OTOH, even before their latest incarnations, people remembered and could tell you something about The Hollywood Squares or The Newlywed Game or Password. I suppose this tells us that some games have endured and have become somewhat iconic, where others are long forgotten.

[Jimmy Owen]

But why? Are you implying that women are less capable using the Internet than men?

Less capable? Certainly not. Is it a stone cold fact that Internet message boards, for the most part, are predominantly male? Absolutely.

Facebook may have some answers.  While we have about 150 people here on a regular basis, there are over 130,000 people on Facebook who "like" Family Feud; over 2 million who play Family Feud on Facebook. They like Family Feud, but not enough to go into in-depth discussion.  I see more women communicating on Facebook than I do on our board and IINM we pre-date Facebook.

[Jimmy Owen]

If you ask me, soap opera fans are even more fanatical. Whenever one of their shows gets canned, they tend to "scream bloody murder." The only times we game show fans blew our gaskets was when the original versions of Concentration and Jeopardy were evicted from the NBC line-up.

I really don't recall knowing of or hearing of anyone blowing their gaskets over a game show cancellation.  Disappointment over one's favorite being axed, yes, but I never heard anything to the effect of "OMGLOLZ THOSE MOTHERF***ERS AT NBC TOOK $ALE OF THE CENTURY OFF THE AIR!  HOW COULD THOSE A**HOLES DO THAT?"

Well, 1989 was before I got on the internet.  Actually, I was kind of miffed.  Jim Perry (not the current presidential candidate) had taken to the air weeks before to let us know the show was cancelled.  The test run of "At Rona's" with Rona Barrett was going to pre-empt $ale for a week (or was it two?) prior to $ale's last week.  Jim asked us, the audience, to return for that last week to properly say good-bye.  On the last Friday show, Jim opened the show and wanted to make sure we were there for the end of the show for some special farewells.  When it came time for the final segment of $ale, NBC cut-in in the Eastern time zone with a special report on something making news that day, completely wiping out the last farewell of $ale of which Jim had implored us to stay tuned.  For me, closure was not reached until the advent of You Tube.

[Ian Wallis]

Indeed, thanks to archival databases we actually have a pretty solid idea of which silents exist and which don't, but we're much less certain about many game shows.

I think collectively we have a pretty good idea of what exists and what doesn't in terms of game shows.  There have been some surprising discoveries the past 10 years or so (CBS Joker's Wild and original Hollywood Squares to name two) and more could happen in the future, but some shows just aren't out there at all.

[pownster]

If you ask me, soap opera fans are even more fanatical. Whenever one of their shows gets canned, they tend to "scream bloody murder." The only times we game show fans blew our gaskets was when the original versions of Concentration and Jeopardy were evicted from the NBC line-up.

I really don't recall knowing of or hearing of anyone blowing their gaskets over a game show cancellation.  Disappointment over one's favorite being axed, yes, but I never heard anything to the effect of "OMGLOLZ THOSE MOTHERF***ERS AT NBC TOOK $ALE OF THE CENTURY OFF THE AIR!  HOW COULD THOSE A**HOLES DO THAT?"

Oh, sometimes people will go to extremes lengths to reverse unpopular decisions around game shows.... :-/

The Late Show - Bring Back Jo Bailey (1993)

(did people go to this effort to bring back Sally Julian???)