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Ultimate game show cult favorite

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Neumms:
I’ve always thought Whew! was the one. I loved Trivia Trap, but it’s kind of a guilty pleasure and has always seemed unpopular around here.

Another great choice is Three on a Match. It’s mostly forgotten, and its scarcity is a plus for cult status. Its rules were idiosyncratic and changed over the run. The set and music were cool at the time and cool now because they’re dated. Its host was the finest ever and hosted more games than anyone, but only one huge hit.

Neumms:

--- Quote from: BillCullen1 on May 12, 2025, 09:19:41 AM ---Double Dare (Trebek) - I've always been a trivia nerd so I always played along when I watched. The game was challenging and the play-along factor was an 11, on a 1 to 10 scale. With the popularity of trivia shows today, I hope that somehow, this show makes a comeback.

--- End quote ---

I hold out hope that since Amazon offered the reruns, it’s on their radar. Great writing, the sight of dual, garishly decorated isolation booths, the daffiness of the Spoilers…if they’re mounting game shows, this one is unique enough to try.

Ian Wallis:
I think another definition of a cult favorite is that there aren't that many episodes around.  Whew! fit the bill until BUZZR repeated it.  Break the Bank kind of fit the bill until GameTV completed the Kennedy run (I'd love to see the Barry episodes on there...).

I'd probably vote for those two.



--- Quote from: TimK2003 on May 12, 2025, 09:13:10 PM ---How did the weekly syndicated Break The Bank do in the ratings?  Was it ever considered as a nightly 5-a-week strip that could have been paired with syndicated Joker?

--- End quote ---

I remember reading a ratings report posted on this forum about a decade and a half ago which (IIRC) showed it at something like 11.  It was around the top 10 of the weekly checkerboard shows but not at the top.  While I agree that it deserved a longer run, it seems that once Jack realized Joker's Wild could do well again he didn't seem very interested in pursuing Break the Bank.  It probably could have had a second syndicated season if those ratings held for the whole year.

MSTieScott:
It's tough because, as we're learning in this thread, "cult favorite" doesn't have a solid definition. The Wikipedia page, citing the Merriam-Webster definition of cult, says it refers to a property that has a group of fans that show great devotion. It then goes on to list Star Trek and Doctor Who as examples, acknowledging that although those shows definitely have devoted fan bases, some people might not consider them cult favorites because of wide mainstream recognition -- I guess the game show equivalent would be The Price Is Right and Wheel of Fortune.

Game show fandom itself is already an extremely niche subculture, so it's difficult to find a niche within a niche. That said, if you asked me to name a cult favorite within the game show community (without defining "cult favorite"), my first and only thought would be Whew!

DoorNumberFour:
Press Your Luck. For a deeper cut, The Big Showdown.

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