Game Show Fans 50 Greatest - Results

[BrandonFG]

(I guess the "game show in a Family Dollar" that was announced recently is more indicative and appropriate for today's times.)

Interesting how much the shopping landscape (and by extension, shopping-based game shows) seems to have changed in just 25 years. In the early/mid-90s, you had games set in a mock supermarket and shopping mall. When Shop Til You Drop came back in 2003, the set changed to look like a Costco. Now, a game show set modeled after a Family Dollar.

/Waiting on a game show modeled around shopping on an Amazon-like site

[clemon79]

It means people had fifty shows they thought were Great-er than Cash Cab, not that they thought Cash Cab was an awful show whose tapes should be bulldozed over.

I'm still amazed some people came up with ten game shows greater than Go, much less fifty.

[TLEberle]

Believe me, it was hard doin's.

[PYLdude]

It means people had fifty shows they thought were Great-er than Cash Cab, not that they thought Cash Cab was an awful show whose tapes should be bulldozed over.

Agreed. I liked Cash Cab but it didn't make my list because there were many generic quizzes that were better. Which, despite the gimmicks, was what Cash Cab was.

Then again, this is the guy who put The Amazing Race atop his list the last time. A move which, while it did not earn him any of the over the top scorn he got, was still a head scratcher because not only can you call its place as a game show into question if you're a traditionalist, you could also argue it isn't even the best among those types of shows.

[beatlefreak84]

With regards to Double Dare, I will admit that I had this one on both of my 2006 and 2016 lists, but I ranked it quite a bit higher for the 2016 one because, looking back at it, I just see so many things the show did well.  The biggest is that, even as a 30+-year old, watching reruns on The Splat during "Double Dare Week" was so much fun, and not just for the nostalgia factor.  The game itself did such a good job, appealing to both kids and adults, with a layer of interesting strategy (I still love seeing when teams would bluff and get "Double Dared", only to pull the correct answer out and steal quadruple money).  To me, it was (and still is) the perfect kids game show.

That being said, there was one thing I used to think whenever I would watch the "Family" episodes:  they would up the prizes, but that puts a *lot* more pressure to finish the course.  Yeah; kids would likely be disappointed if they don't win the trip, but they get a lot of cool stuff along the way.  A family who doesn't win the car because little Joey couldn't find the flag in the dog food dish or because Dad tried to go through the conveyor belt without getting hit by the pads (I saw the latter happen on a recent rerun) is going to end the show on a sour note...not to mention potentially a tense trip home.

If I could separate the two, I likely would leave off Family Double Dare/Double Dare 2000 for those reasons, but I'm happy to see the show ranked so high, even though it's been over 25 years since the original kids' version of the show stopped making new episodes.

Anthony

[gromit82]

25. Supermarket Sweep (1965-1967, 1990-1995, 2000-2003)
24. Split Second (1972-1975, 1986-1987)
23. Double Dare (Nickelodeon) (1986-1993, 2000)
22. High Rollers (1974-1976, 1978-1980, 1987-1988)
21. The Joker's Wild (1972-1975, 1978-1986, 1990-1991)

[TLEberle]

One of the things that Maxene Fabe mentions that is to the benefit of a show like High Rollers, Joker's Wild or Gambit is when the contestant needs a thing to happen and lo and behold it does, whether it's rolling a particular number to clear off the board and win all the prizes, or Hal Shear needing three Jokers because nothing else will do, or a team has 20 and needs an Ace to win the round. Card Sharks is all about the excitement of those unknowns, because even though the odds say that a particular thing is more likely than the other, they don't always pan out that way. (Wheel of Fortune would be the boringest thing ever without Bankrupts or a $5,000 space.) I think the use of those elements of randomness in an exciting way make those shows in particular great.

[TimK2003]

I still think of the Finn Joker's Wild at least when it started as a different show with the same name.

seriously the only time I watched it, I had Lloyd Bensten in my head "I knew the Joker's Wild. .   ."

I recently watched a few episodes of the Pat Finn version of TJW.    My favorite format was when you had the choice between two categories and could keep answering and scoring money until you got one wrong -- a Fast Forward category without the risk of losing what you've amassed -- with a race to either $500 or $2000, depending on the round.

The major problem of the Finn version was they took a totally different format and boxed it up using the original Joker's Wild wrapper hoping nobody remembered the original format ("As you know, The Jokers Wild is a game of definitions"), then having to bring back a few of the original TJW elements to have some more relation to it's original game.  Yet you still didn't get to Face The Devil nor was there any risk factor involved in the normal game (during the all-Fast Forward format).

Another problem with the show is that the games were so varied on how long the match was.  Some games straddled to the next episode, while some ended so early, you had to watch audience members spin the wheel at the end of the show for a few bucks to fill the rest of the 30 minute timeslot.  Either you allow the games to straddle and let the games play out at their own pace, or you play until time's up and then have just enough time for the high scorer to play the end game.

Would Kline & Friends had been better off just using the definition format under a different game show name and not try to relate it to TJW?  Hard to say, since K&F's track record outside of Win, Lose or Draw was sub-par at best and game shows were on the ebb at that time overall.

[Ian Wallis]

Unless I've miscounted somewhere, I guess that means Tic Tac Dough is still to come within the top 20.  For the record, while I like TTD, I had Joker's Wild ranked much higher (just below my top 10) than the Xs and Os game.  My ranking is based on the original - I really didn't take the '90s revivals into consideration, but it wouldn't really affect my ranking.  I actually enjoyed watching the Joker reruns on USA for a while.  The '90s Tic Tac Dough didn't really interest me.

I also had Split Second and High Rollers on my list - around the mid-20s, but I didn't have the other two just revealed.  Kids games have never really done it for me, and Supermarket Sweep I can take or leave.

[JasonA1]

Would Kline & Friends had been better off just using the definition format under a different game show name and not try to relate it to TJW?

Probably not. Their pattern was clear, although we have such a limited sample to prove it - Strike It Rich and Break the Bank used familiar titles to interest buyers & viewers, but presented a new game underneath. While it's possible stations would have signed up for a new game with a new title, as they did with Trump Card and The Challengers that year, being able to tout a new Joker's Wild likely tipped the scales.

-Jason

[chrisholland03]

I personally had no beefs with the TJW definition bit - it was the pacing that made it hard for me to watch. 

I think Adam N summed up the problems with BtB - they structured a game that should have been funny and told the host and contestants to play it serious.

Hot Potato (in my opinion) would have worked better with less Family Feud style questions and more Pass the Buck style questions.

I have nothing constructive to say about Strike it Rich.  I'm not a Garagiola fan, I didn't like the gameplay, the set, or the music. 

[TimK2003]

I have nothing constructive to say about Strike it Rich.  I'm not a Garagiola fan, I didn't like the gameplay, the set, or the music.

I actually stumbled upon a few.episodes of the UK version of SIR last night on YouTube.  What a difference.  The game play takes a backseat to the overall comedy and 3 teams play the game in an informal setting (no tuxedos), but damn does the actual game play speed along!!

[The Ol' Guy]

Which may have been a great deal of the problem with the US version - trying to make each game fit into a half hour minus commercial time with no carryover made for a duller show. The three-couple version was more fun. Personally, I liked the original working title of Arch Rivals. There was some potential there to make the game more interesting by creating something in the game play where players could send opponents backwards or block their progress. Something that created a dust-up somewhere, and if a game has to stop and be picked up in the next show, fine. Instead, it was pretty much a straight race to the end square game - and Joe just didn't have any comedic chops.

[TLEberle]

Thought I remembered reading something about a time-filler game where the winning couple would play the end game again and win a smallish charity donation every time they dodged the bandit--was this a thing? The idea of bidding on the number of questions and being shown the answers is moderately interesting but it does have the feeling of something that exists merely to fill the news hole.

[clemon79]

I actually stumbled upon a few.episodes of the UK version of SIR last night on YouTube.  What a difference.  The game play takes a backseat to the overall comedy and 3 teams play the game in an informal setting (no tuxedos), but damn does the actual game play speed along!!

It had to, after Barrymore spent the first damn half hour on the initial contestant interviews.