The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: danderson on February 28, 2020, 07:50:33 PM
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I usally watched Wheel ad J! with my parents, but American Gladiators was usually alone(since it came on late at night). AG was the first show i was allowed to watch alone by my own self.
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My dad was always a news and sports junkie, while my mom was into All My Children -- neither were into game shows.
And then there was my grandmother. As I would try to follow as many game shows in a broadcast day, she was doing soap operas in the same dosages. I dreaded the days I was at grandma's house: 1970s; one TV; and I couldn't "touch" the knobs.
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With my Dad and Stepmom the 7p hour became not only game show time but also a chance to debrief and share about our day while I was in HS and sister in junior high. With Wheel of Fortune first everyone could relax and share, and by 7:30 we were ready to remove the gloves and do battle over questioning answers. Millionaire caught me harder than the rest but while it aired and I was still at home we would watch it off and on.
While my Dad was studying for the bar in the early to mid 80s he would take a break and watch Tic Tac Dough and Joker's Wild and I would join him. I do not recall the genesis of my enjoyment but that's as good as anything.
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My parents indulged my interest in game shows as a child (we went to two tapings in New York, What's My Line? in 1970 and The Money Maze in 1975), but we didn't really watch them together. At least not until I was an adult (and then it was often Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! after dinner when we were visiting). They didn't really like having me watch with them; I usually solved/answered much quicker.
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Since I became unemployed and had to move back into my parent's house, we usually watch Jeopardy! at 7PM. Sometimes the action is interrupted by a message on the police scanner, and the reason my parents own a police scanner eludes me to this day even after their half-hearted responses. My theory is they own it so mom can get the county gossip quicker than anyone else. Dad watches it because he likes seeing smart people in action, and he likes to see me give a lot of correct responses. My mom watches because dad has the remote controls, but when mom gets a response correct, she celebrates. You will never be as proud of yourself as my mom was when she got 1/3 (not a typo) of a response correct.
/I've been with them for so long, I can tell the subtle differences in the scents between Icy Hot and Ben Gay
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Mom ADORED almost anything done by Chuck Barris, but especially loved The Gong Show. When GSN was doing that 50 Greatest countdown like 15 years ago and I found out they were airing an episode I called her and told her about it and she was ecstatic. Now that she's older and has more free time she's come to really enjoy the current revival shows like Match Game (she also loved the 70s version), To Tell the Truth, and she's real big on The Masked Singer and calls me to talk about it.
Dad was big on Let's Make a Deal and The Hollywood Squares with Paul Lynde in the 70s. Now when I see him if the TV is on he's watching Steve Harvey's Family Feud.
Oddly enough we have a large family but besides my Mom and Dad most of my family dislikes game shows. One of my Uncles appeared on It's Academic in the NYC market in the early 1970s but he doesn't have a lot of positive memories about appearing. I assume he lost. :)
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Wheel of Fortune was appointment TV for my mom and me as a child. I didn't start really appreciating Jeopardy until later. When Hollywood Squares ran opposite Jeopardy, it often won out.
Mom and Dad both enjoyed Millionaire with me during the August run, but by the November run, it was my show.
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My mother was (and still is) into game shows. Grew up watching the CBS block in the 80s with Pyramid, Feud and Price. Once USA and Family Channel started airing reruns a lot of summer afternoons was us watching game show reruns together. Our collective favorite was Wipeout. In fact I knew Peter Tomarken from Wipeout before ever seeing Press Your Luck.
My dad and I shared a lot of things in common but game shows was a "mom and me" thing. It's something I cherish.
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I got hooked on Tic Tac Dough and Joker's Wild when I was very young because my mom watched them. When I was a little older, I in turn got my mom hooked on nighttime Wheel. She was always a Squares fan so it was the end of Wheel in our house once Davidson Squares bowed in '86.
My dad wasn't really into game shows at all but as he got into his '70s, he really enjoyed Price.
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My great-grandmother enjoyed the daytime shows, and I watched plenty with her. I've mentioned before how one of my earliest memories was the neon Joker on TJW and the Tune Topics board on Lange's Name That Tune.
My mother and grandmother watched game shows as well, and my mom has become a big GSN fan in the last decade, but I think they watched because they knew I loved games so much as a kid.
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Marshall HS, Fleming J! Ate lunch at home during that time.
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J! was a regular thing with Dad and me. Still is, even if we don't live under the same roof anymore.
--Charlie
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My parents were not the biggest of game show fans, but would watch with me when I was a child as long as the show was appropriate. I do remember them being fans of Ed McMahon's "Whodunnit," but that was more to them being fans of the mystery TV genre, guessing the culprit at the end, etc. They saw it less as a game show but more of an extension of, say, "Cannon" or "Vega$". They also were casual fans of Davidson Squares, saying they preferred Davidson's hosting to Peter Marshall. (*)
My father and I bonded in front of the TV for a week to watch, of all things, "Hot Potato." Michael Winslow was one of the celebrity players that week, and my parents had just seen the original "Police Academy" on video (I was only 10 or so, so the R-rated "Police Academy" was a no-no). My dad enjoyed Winslow's antics in the film, so he watched specifically to catch Winslow do one of his sound effects (IIRC, Bill Cullen would have Winslow do one of his vocal tricks after an ad break each episode). My father even mentioned to me that he hoped Winslow made "more family-friendly films" as I would enjoy his work.
Years later, while in college, I interviewed Winslow to promote a stand-up set he was doing near campus. Near the end of the chat, I mentioned watching "Hot Potato" with my dad and how we both got a kick out of his act. He was surprised I could remember the show (he said everyone asks him about "Police Academy" and "Spaceballs), but thanked me for the memory. He also mentioned that Bill Cullen told him that his vocal antics would have been a hit on Ed Sullivan, and he considered that a great badge of honor.
JD
(*) -- This may be a family thing. My grandparents on my mother's side vented a few times about how Dennis James was a far better host than Bob Barker on TPIR because James was a "Jersey guy" and Barker was a "farmhand." My mother explained after their passing that they were still upset that their oldest son (my uncle) moved from NYC suburbia to Nebraska for college and adulting and pretty much dismissed all Nebraskans as nothing but farmhands. They also watched anyone but Johnny Carson after the late local news for the same reason.
Yes, I know Barker was born in Washington state and raised in South Dakota. But the fact my grandparents rejected both Barker and Carson because they are somehow connected to my uncle going all "Green Acres" is, well, different.
JD
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My dad was always a news and sports junkie, while my mom was into All My Children -- neither were into game shows.
And then there was my grandmother. As I would try to follow as many game shows in a broadcast day, she was doing soap operas in the same dosages. I dreaded the days I was at grandma's house: 1970s; one TV; and I couldn't "touch" the knobs.
I had one TV in my bedroom, so it really didn't matter.
In the fall of 90, it was Tic Tac Dough, the NBC ones, then Price. Then, once the soaps were done, i'd switch to the CBS affiliate to watch The Joker's Wild and The Challengers, then Wheel and J! on the ABC one. American Gladiators on late Saturdays on the ABC station too, either at 12am or 1am. I did not touch the knob while the soaps were on. When i started school in December of 90, i'd still watch TJW, as it was on at 4pm(about 90 minutes after i got out of school). AG of course was on weekends.
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My mother was (and still is) into game shows. Grew up watching the CBS block in the 80s with Pyramid, Feud and Price. Once USA and Family Channel started airing reruns a lot of summer afternoons was us watching game show reruns together. Our collective favorite was Wipeout. In fact I knew Peter Tomarken from Wipeout before ever seeing Press Your Luck.
My dad and I shared a lot of things in common but game shows was a "mom and me" thing. It's something I cherish.
I watched $ale of the Century with my mom in the 80s. Same with Price is Right. I remember my grandmother watching with me sometimes, if my mom was working. I think it me and my grandmother watching when Rani White won the 50K on $otc in the WBMG in 88.
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Often times my father and I would watch the current versions of LMAD and Family Feud.
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Dan, I know I'm basically talking to a wall here, but you do understand that the post you replied to had already been up for over two weeks the last time anyone -- specifically, you -- posted in this thread NEARLY TWO MONTHS AGO, right?
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Watched Wheel and Jeopardy! with my father; I vividly recall being thrilled that he specifically invited me to watch J! with him on his own small TV he had set up in the den on the day it premiered in syndication. The one rule was that I had to say “got it” instead of blurting out the solution on Wheel so he didn’t spend five minutes waiting for the contestants to get around to solving the puzzle themselves, but I was freely encouraged to go to town on J!
That same rule applied for Quizbusters, which at one point used to air at noon on Sundays. Dad would race the family home immediately after church services ended; we typically got home around the first pop quiz segment.
Just before he passed, we would watch WWBTAM together, despite his longtime disdain for Regis Philbin; he had attended a taping of The Neighbors on a trip to California in the mid-1970s.
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My parents were never big game show fans, but we did watch Supermarket Sweep and Shop 'Til You Drop over dinner, and more recently, Family Feud.
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Grammy gave me the game show bug. She pledged allegiance to NBC in the morning watching Card Sharks and Chain Reaction. Then after her stories were over (and I was out of the inflatable pool for the afternoon), she'd hit CBS for Match Game before we ate and sat back down for the Barry & Enright shows. Grammy was a hoot during Joker: "Wish to god she loses" was her big phrase every time a player went for a spin. Crosswits, Tic Tac Dough, Price Is Right, Face The Music and Bullseye were nighttime staples for us. Mom never really got the bug, but she happily tagged along with us as Grammy and I engrossed ourselves.
Grammy also had a fair selection of game show board games in the attic: I distinctly remember Video Village, Joker's Wild and Pay Cards among her jewels. Now I have my own copies of them - and a bunch more - in my attic.
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Rehashing: My grandma was a CBS loyalist, so we always watched the Pyramid in the morning while it was on. I watched Sale of the Century too but I think that was with my mom. Grandma didn't watch too many NBC game shows except for Wheel and Concentration. Only times I caught Scrabble was on USA; we'd watch that too.
Only rule? No Press Your Luck. Hated it to the day she died, so I could only watch when I was home by myself..
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When The People's Court wasn't on, my grandma and I watched the USA game show block. At home, my family and I would watch Wheel of Fortune during dinner.
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That same rule applied for Quizbusters, which at one point used to air at noon on Sundays. Dad would race the family home immediately after church services ended; we typically got home around the first pop quiz segment.
I will never not want to hear stories like this. Thank you.
I remember watching the 70s version of To Tell The Truth with my grandmother. Today I don't consider it one of my favorite shows. It's not even my favorite panel show. But there's no question that it had an outsized influence on my interest in the genre, and in Bill Cullen specifically.
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My dad loved Truth or Consequences, which may be what set me on the road to being a Barkerphile. (I watched the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants when I was far too young to appreciate the contestants' pulchritude, but I didn't want to miss Bob.) Other than that, I was pretty much alone in my enjoyment of game shows.