Game Shows FAQ

All That's Left to Know About the Pioneers, the Scandals, the Hosts and the Jackpots

Adam Nedeff

• Publisher: Applause
• Year: 2000
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781540033178
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Radio

TV game shows are an American pastime, broadcast ratings champ, and cultural institution. Lavishly illustrated and filled with entertaining titbits, Game Shows FAQ presents an unprecedented look at how the game show genre has evolved in the past hundred years. From its earliest days as a promotional tool for newspapers, to the high-browed panel games on radio, to the scandalous years of the quiz shows, to the glitzy and raucous games of the 1970s, to the prime-time extravaganzas of the modern era – this book examines the most relevant game shows of every decade, exploring how the genre changed and the reasons behind its evolution.

Packed with photos and mementos to give a feel of how game shows evolved over the years, the book includes interviews and insights from the shows' beloved hosts, including Wink Martindale and Marc Summers, executives Bob Boden and Jamie Klein, and producers Aaron Solomon and Mark Maxwell-Smith, among others. Game Shows FAQ offers a richly detailed lineage of this American television institution.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 The Pre-History: In The Beginning
• 2 The Uncle and the Professor: The First Big Things
• 3 On the Tube: When TV Got Turned On
• 4 The Brain Trust: Well, What Do You Know?
• 5 Hit the Jackpot: Call, Collect
• 6 TV Takes Over: DO Touch That Dial!
• 7 A Human Puzzle: Who Do They Think You Are?
• 8 When Goodson Met Todman: Some Guys Get All The Credit
• 9 Funny Guys: Hitting the Joke-pot
• 10 The Stunt Men: Time to Win
• 11 Tear Jerkers: A Year’s Supply of Tissues
• 12 Big Money, Big Lies: Do You Want to Know a Secret
• 13 A Pocketful of Ideas: Bob Stewart’s Moment of Truth
• 14 Free Doughnuts and Bob Barker: Beulah Gets Buzzed
• 15 Back to Normal: It’s Safe to Play Again
• 16 Con+¢entr+8ion: A Rebus is Puzzling
• 17 And This is My Partner: Hitch Your Wagon to a Star
• 18 The Lady or the Tiger: Deal Me In!
• 19 What’s the Question: Who is ... Art Fleming?
• 20 Popcorn for the Mind: A Barris of Riches
• 21 Square Biz: A Nine-Star Revue
• 22 Renaissance: Let’s Do It Again
• 23 CBS Names Its Price: The Tiffany Network Comes Out to Play
• 24 Pyramid Climbing: Game Shows Get Their Money Back
• 25 Change of Fortune: Merv Griffin Goes for a Spin
• 26 The One-Hour Experiment: Daytime TV Takes Its Time
• 27 Talk Dirty to Me: Tell Me You Didn’t Just Say That!
• 28 Nighttime Is the Right Time: Games You Play in the Dark
• 29 Bang the Gong Slowly: Talentless Show
• 30 The Redemption of Barry and Enright: Back in Business
• 31 Putting the Games Back on the Shelf: Let’s Play Something Else
• 32 Out of Their Prime: “Feud” Holds Down the Fort
• 33 Spinning Wheel: The Boom Begins
• 34 Mr. Know-It-All: Nowhere-Near-Final Jeopardy!
• 35 Game Glut: They’re Everywhere! They’re Everywhere!
• 36 Changing Fortunes: For Every Flow, An Ebb
• 37 Drought: Where Have All the Game Shows Gone?
• 38 Youth Movement: Letting the Kids Out to Play
• 39 Cable Guys: Taking the Game Somewhere Else
• 40 The Comeback Kids: Everything Old is New Again
• 41 Is That Your Final Answer? Ask the Audience, and They Want More
• 42 Reality Biting: The Tribe Speaks
• 43 Shiny Floor Games: When Game Shows Became an Event
• 44 Social Superstars: When Game Shows Became an Event
• 45 The Summer of the Phoenix: Play it Again!
• 46 What’s in the Future? Where Are We Going Now?
• Bibliography
• Backmatter