Top 10 Game Shows!

This thread is obviously about listing your Top 10 Game Shows, arguments for why they deserve to be there or why someone else's list sucks are optional.

1.) Press Your Luck

-Addictive theme music.

-Peter Tabarkin is the quintessential game show host, and died in a plane crash whilst trying to deliver humanitarian aid.

-Great story about the guy who finally discovered the pattern despite the game's previous proclaimations that the spins were completely random.

2.) Jeopardy

-Best, "Play along," game ever.

-The game makes you feel good because, keeping score at home, you would win every single game, but the viewer tends to forget about the pressure and need to buzz in faster than the other players.

-Very little luck involved, with the exception being hitting the Daily Double.

3.) Wheel...Of...FORTUNE!

-Second best, "Play along," game ever.

-Pat Sajak is a Hell of a good host, he's always done a good job building rapport with the players.

-I seem to remember it not always being this way, but if you have money at the end, you get that money even if you are not the winner.

-It's really fun to watch people miss easy puzzles, or get greedy and end up bankrupt on the last (obvious) letter of a puzzle.

4.) Supermarket Sweep

-Great time! I think it is the only thing in the world that can make me yell, "It's the Pepto-Bismol, get the Pepto-Bismol, no, damnit, not the Maalox!!!

5.) Whammy

-Press Your Luck knock-off. We could only wish for a host with half of Tabarkin's skill.

6.) Win Ben Stein's Money

-I would love to see The Wiz go up against Ben Stein, that would be a battle for the ages.

-For someone who has always been cast as, "The most boring guy to ever exist in the history of the Universe," he was actually a very entertaining host with great one-liners...some of which were improv.

7.) The Weakest Link

-That lady was just such a (word that rhymes with witch) with the greatest put-downs ever!

8.) The Price is Right

-The Price is Right would score higher, except many of the games were essentially the same game just played a different way. The Big Wheel, Plinko, the PunchBoard and the Dice Game were all among my favorites, though.

-There were few things more entertaining than someone going for the $1 gambit, especially in the finale...and being wrong.

-It would not be on the list with Drew Carey as host, he has all the energy and charisma of a three-toed sloth.

9.) Deal or No Deal

-Howie Mandel is extremely creepy, but otherwise a good host.

10.) Ninja Warrior

-I'm not sure if this is technically a game show or reality show, but it's pretty fun to watch people constantly biffing it into the water.

Tic Tac Dough?

Anwyay, in Jeopardy you need "luck" to get a category you know something about in Final Jeopardy. If you do well on the first two rounds, (20% or so above the next contenstant), and then get "Austro-Hungarian Royalty" as a category...

With all due respect, I don't consider category draw as a matter of luck. It is a game by which one is expected to know meaningless trivia, just look at Ken Jennings, he was simply more skilled than his competition, luck having nothing to do with it.

If you're not bringing your A Game when it comes to the military conflicts involving the nation of Zaire, then perhaps you need to grab a few of your cousins and go on Family Feud instead!

I think Ninja Warrior should occupy at least 7 of the top 10 spots.

When I play Jeopardy at home, and I havent seen it in years, I only count how many right answers I get. Typically I get creamed in Final Jeopardy, oh, 45-55% of the time.

Quote: Mission146

3.) Wheel...Of...FORTUNE!

-I seem to remember it not always being this way, but if you have money at the end, you get that money even if you are not the winner.

I liked it better when only the winner would get the cash, and the others would get "consolation" Barkaloungers, or small appliances.

No list would be complete without Sabado Gigante. The Univision show has been on for 50 years, making it the longest running television show in the world. Check out the linked article in the Huffington Post for a highlight reel.

Quote: Ayecarumba

I liked it better when only the winner would get the cash, and the others would get "consolation" Barkaloungers, or small appliances.

When it began, each round the winner would spend her money on prizes right there. That was fun, sometimes.

The show is kind fo fun, though I recall watching it more to see what Vanna was wearing that day.

Quote: Mission146

10.) Ninja Warrior

-I'm not sure if this is technically a game show or reality show, but it's pretty fun to watch people constantly biffing it into the water.

As I unerstand it, in the original(?) Japanese version, there is no prize, other than bragging rights. As such, it is clearly Reality TV rather than Game Show. Throw in the pathetic athletic abilities of many of the contestants, where they know going in that all they are gonna win is 15 seconds of fame, yeah, it's Reality TV all right.

Quote: Nareed

When it began, each round the winner would spend her money on prizes right there. That was fun, sometimes.

The show is kind fo fun, though I recall watching it more to see what Vanna was wearing that day.

They really have to offer cash instead of just shopping for prizes if they don't want all the contestants to be locals. No one wants to fly across the country to win a ceramic dalmatian. And you have to pay tax on your winnings so it would cost you cash out of pocket to win the merchandise, so you'd have to sell or refuse the prize if you couldn't afford to pay tax on it.

Jeopardy! had to go to winner-take-all because people would just sit out questions at the end to avoid losing accumulated earnings, but WoF doesn't have to option to skip a spin to avoid hitting Bankrupt so they can leave the structure the way it is.

Quote: FarFromVegas

They really have to offer cash instead of just shopping for prizes if they don't want all the contestants to be locals.

Sure, I understand that. But it was fun seeing the contestants pick items, and Pat letting them know how much they had remaining.

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And you have to pay tax on your winnings so it would cost you cash out of pocket to win the merchandise, so you'd have to sell or refuse the prize if you couldn't afford to pay tax on it.

And yet they still had prizes the last time I watched (around 2005 or so). In some rounds they'd give out trips, cars, etc. In the final round there were cars, too. Do you suppose winners can pick a cash equivalent?

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Jeopardy! had to go to winner-take-all because people would just sit out questions at the end to avoid losing accumulated earnings, but WoF doesn't have to option to skip a spin to avoid hitting Bankrupt so they can leave the structure the way it is.

The mechanics are too different. You could easily skip a round, say by picking a letter that's already on the board, or one that's not likley to be there, like X, Q and Z. But then you risk someone else solving the puzzle before it's your turn again.