The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: BrandonFG on April 03, 2024, 12:53:22 PM
-
Matt’s post (https://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,35530.msg411372.html#msg411372) on the “For Love or Money” thread gave me an idea. Have you ever seen a show in TV Guide, and got your hopes up only to find out it wasn’t anything close to a game show?
About 30 years ago, I remember seeing a listing for a CNBC show called “Money Wheel”. I was super excited because I figured it was something like “Wheel of Fortune”. Finally got to tune in and it was about finance or the stock market. Boring when you’re only 9 or 10.
Around that same time, WGN had a show called “Bullseye” and I immediately got my hopes up thinking it was the Jim Lange show. Nope. Chicago Bulls highlights.
Anyone else got any stories?
-
Yep!
Early 1994. TV Guide listing:
9:30 (VH1) Body Language-Game
Considering I hadn't seen the show in nearly a decade, I was very excited to possibly see it again. Nope. Music videos that have to do with bodies. Big disappointment.
Another one was a listing for a show called "The Name of the Game".
-
Additionally...Not a game show, but as a really small child about 4 or 5 I remember either seeing TV Guide listings or just a promo for "Afternoon Playhouse". I was convinced I was going to be watching other kids playing in a playhouse. That sounded fun! Despite my mother trying to tell me that's not what it was. I didn't believe her and was, of course, disappointed.
-
In the mid-80s, I saw a listing for a show called "Photoplay" that aired late night in the market I was in. It sounded like a game show -- something to do with identifying pictures, I presumed, so I set the VCR to record an episode and watch it that weekend.
Very disappointed to find out this was an Entertainment Tonight-like series that profiled Hollywood stars. Believe it aired for less than a year.
JD
-
In the early 2000s, my teenage self visited London and bought a UK TV listings magazine. The magazine stated that "Jeopardy" was on BBC1 at whatever time.
"Cool! A new UK version of Jeopardy!"
Nope. It was THIS Jeopardy (a British kids sci-fi show):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeopardy_(BBC_TV_series)
I felt very dumb. In hindsight, I should have known better - even at the time, I was far enough into Internet game show fandom that if there actually was a new UK version of the quiz show Jeopardy, I probably would have known about it.
-
Yep!
Early 1994. TV Guide listing:
9:30 (VH1) Body Language-Game
This is slowly coming back to me and I wanna say I had the same reaction. Unfortunately we had one of those wonky cable systems where two networks shared a channel. In the morning was VH1; at night it was Comedy Central. And naturally, TCI never had either one going when they had a show I really wanted to watch. :P
-
I can think of two times this happened to me...
1. When I was a kid, I saw a listing for a show on USA in TV Guide that read "It's Your Move". That's it, no mention of the genre or anything. However, I took a guess and thought it was a game show off of the title. With my knowledge of short-lived TV shows being infinitesimal at that time, imagine my disappointment when I watched and saw that it was a sitcom. I wasn't upset for long when I learned, "Wow, I never knew David Hogan & Steve Rhodes did a show together". I stuck it out for the cast and it ended up liking it; it was a fun show. Coincidentally, the episode I saw was the one where the two of them go on a game show!
2. In the late '90s, I was surprised to see this listing on my local Fox affiliate at 3:00AM:
THREE'S A CROWD--Game
Intrigued, I set my VCR to see if they got the rerun rights to the game show or if it was a typo. I checked the tape the next day and sure enough, it was the latter (It was the short-lived Three's Company spinoff with John Ritter).
-
I remember, as a kid in the '90s, going through the cable guide one day and seeing E! was about to air High Rollers. I hit the info button on the remote, and even the cable guide was fooled, because the info was something like "Contestants answer trivia questions and roll dice to win cash and prizes."
Nope. Documentary about how casinos accommodate wealthy visitors.
-
ABC documentary "The Mating Game" of the 60s, the newsified Candid Camera knockoff "What Would You Do?"
-
"Countdown with Keith Olbermann" comes to mind.
-
Have you ever seen a show in TV Guide, and got your hopes up only to find out it wasn’t anything close to a game show?
The Rich List.
-
The Rich List.
Thread. Won.
-
I'm sure there are a few others but one that pops to mind is Money Game, which was on CITY-TV in Toronto in the mid-70s. It turned out to be a recap of the markets aimed for businesses.
-
Have you ever seen a show in TV Guide, and got your hopes up only to find out it wasn’t anything close to a game show?
The Rich List.
(sigh) “Points.”
-
(sigh) “Points.”
We need a GIF of Taylor hitting the button now. :)
-
(sigh) “Points.”
We need a GIF of Taylor hitting the button now. :)
I'll take a GIF of Taylor hitting anything she wants.
-
Spring Break trip out to California in the 80s. Looking for game show tapings to see.
Went to NBC Burbank and saw the list of shows taping while we were there. Among the shows on the list for one particular day was Super Password, Davidson Squares, and Saved By The Bell (IIRC the first year after changing from "Good Morning Miss Bliss").
Fortunately, we stuck with the tickets to Squares and Password. It was later when we found out that SBTB was a kids TV sitcom.
-
Not a specific show, but my old newspaper's TV guide would list a "Post Game Show" after a sporting event and I'd wonder excitedly what a "Post Game" was.
-
Not a specific show, but my old newspaper's TV guide would list a "Post Game Show" after a sporting event and I'd wonder excitedly what a "Post Game" was.
Around that same time, WGN had a show called “Bullseye” and I immediately got my hopes up thinking it was the Jim Lange show. Nope. Chicago Bulls highlights.
Both of these for me. For several months, 8 year old Jeremy from Chicago thought he was missing out on some elusive Saturday night game show for these stupid Bulls highlights- I legit watched this, and the Bears Post Game Show for a while thinking maybe I'll catch a bonus round. Nope. Didn't help that Instant Riches was often postponed due to these non-game shows.
-
Going in the other direction, having seen the Pennsylvania Game News (http://www.penngamenews.com/)in my school library, I recall thinking that when the listings said "Pennsylvania Game," it was a show about hunting--especially since it was on PBS. I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled across it (discussed here (https://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,35412.0.html) not long ago) while channel-surfing.
-
Not so much game shows, but seeing just "Pennsylvania Game News" by title I was excited, thinking it was about board games. I was rather disappointed when it wasn't.
-
The HGTV show Dream House figured it would be reruns of the Eubanks run or perhaps a revival .... Nope
-
Not a specific show, but my old newspaper's TV guide would list a "Post Game Show" after a sporting event and I'd wonder excitedly what a "Post Game" was.
Same goes with pregame show
-
I remember someone on this forum came here in Italy in the 90s and found a program titled "Pressing" on TV listings and believed it was Press Your Luck. It was a soccer show (which is still on the air btw)
-
In seventies daytime television, it seemed like there were either game shows or soap operas, so whenever a show like The Girl In My Life popped up that clearly wasn't going to be a soap opera, I would go in assuming it was going to be a game show, only to be disappointed.
-
Not exactly an example, but when reading TV Guide at 5 years old, for some reason it didn't gel with me that "To Be Announced" wasn't the name of an actual show. I was always left curious as to what a show named that would be like.
-
Not exactly an example, but when reading TV Guide at 5 years old, for some reason it didn't gel with me that "To Be Announced" wasn't the name of an actual show. I was always left curious as to what a show named that would be like.
This actually happened to me as well…I might’ve been about 7.
I vaguely recall seeing that “That Girl” under the USA listing and thinking it was along the lines of what Matt described. Didn’t find out for a few years that it was Marlo Thomas’s sitcom.
-
In seventies daytime television, it seemed like there were either game shows or soap operas, so whenever a show like The Girl In My Life popped up that clearly wasn't going to be a soap opera, I would go in assuming it was going to be a game show, only to be disappointed.
And yet in the case of that particular show, they gave away prizes and had a really catchy Score Productions music package, so it's at least game-adjacent.
(I was disappointed, too--except for the music.)
-
I'll second "The Girl in My Life." Also, the promos for "That's My Line," hosted by Barker and done in 33, made it hard to believe it wouldn't be a game show.
But the one that stands out to me (although not quite on topic) was the old game show that turned out to be a new one. When what was then CBN began airing "Jackpot!" in the afternoons, TV Guide used the same description used in 1974 when the show premiered (including the reference to $50,000), so I was elated that I'd finally get to see the show, as the Atlanta affiliate didn't carry the show back then. Imagine my disappointment when that was not the case.
-
Could be the Mandela effect again, but speaking of "Jackpot!", I remember seeing promos for it leading up to the premiere, and they used footage of the old version in the promos, complete with Solari. I also was disappointed when the version turned out to be new, and not the old one.
-
Nope, they DID use footage from the NBC show.to promote the Mike Darrow version.
-
I also was disappointed when the version turned out to be new, and not the old one.
I was too, but it got immediate points for using the Shoot For The Stars theme (where's my onion?), and Mike Darow grew on me in a hurry.
-
And I quite enjoyed the travel music employed when they swapped contestants in the '85 version
-
Same. Felt like a holdover from Chain Reaction.
-
Not exactly an example, but when reading TV Guide at 5 years old, for some reason it didn't gel with me that "To Be Announced" wasn't the name of an actual show. I was always left curious as to what a show named that would be like.
I figured it was a show where they announced local events and such. Since it sounded very boring, I never tuned in to see what it really was.
-
Same. Felt like a holdover from Chain Reaction.
In true Cobert fashion, it's a holdover from Supertrain:
https://youtu.be/uM0Yg6ftMdc?t=1976
-
I was looking through British TV schedules last night (I do that once in a while to find out, among other things, what game shows air when and where) when I came upon a BBC1 show that will premiere on the night of May 18 called "Rebus." Hmm, I thought -- new show that's premiering on a Saturday evening (where the UK channels tend to air their "big event" shows) and the name alone screams game show. So I clicked on the description and ...
... it's a crime/mystery drama centered around a detective named "John Rebus." Never mind ...
JD
-
I was looking through British TV schedules last night (I do that once in a while to find out, among other things, what game shows air when and where) when I came upon a BBC1 show that will premiere on the night of May 18 called "Rebus." Hmm, I thought -- new show that's premiering on a Saturday evening (where the UK channels tend to air their "big event" shows) and the name alone screams game show. So I clicked on the description and ...
... it's a crime/mystery drama centered around a detective named "John Rebus." Never mind ...
JD
Did they pay homage to Jack Linkletter?
-
Going waaaay back: "Hidden Faces" turned out to be a soap opera.
-
Before I realized that the show I was taking a meeting on to buy 65 episodes of was a hit international soap opera, I thought NEIGHBOURS was a foreign version of the forgettable Regis Philbin game show. Worse yet, the actual episodes from ABC
-
Off on a tangent, but this thread triggered a thought and a story that might be of interest. The ending is the opposite of this thread's intent - but it was a game show!
Like a lot of us, I've always enjoyed thumbing through old TV listings. I grew up in a small-medium sized area of the deep south that had a unique TV landscape because of geography.
Anyway, digging through the listings of old newspapers and TV guides laying around my grandparents house circa mid-80s. Come across a show on the CBS affiliate after the late news - Pitfall. I'm thinking it has something to do with the Atari game I've been playing. Imagining an Indiana Jones-esque action series with a guy in a brown overcoat and hat. Think nothing of it.
Parallel - I vaguely remember a gameshow that has elevators. No reason to remember this. But it's a nagging memory. Strike it up as confabulation.
Fast forward a few years to early 90s, get CompuServe, find ATGS. Discover there was a gameshow that has elevators. It's named Pitfall. Do a tape trade and bingo, I'm not crazy - this is exactly what my vague memory was. But why on earth would I remember this?
Fast forward a few more years and I make the connection between the memory and the discovery as a kid and it makes me crazy. I start digging online, and the timing was right - CBS affiliate aired Pitfall for about 6 months in the Spring/Summer of 1982 after the late news. But there's no way a small-medium market in the deep south would air Pitfall after the late news, right? That feels like alternate reality level insanity from a programming decision.
I've become good friends with a local meteorologist who started her career at the hometown CBS affiliate in the late 80s. This thread reminded me of all of this and I mentioned it to her the other day. She told me it was before her time, but she knew who to call. A few days ago I get a call from the retired program engineer at the hometime CBS affiliate. He confirmed they absolutely aired Pitfall the gameshow in 1982 for a brief period, and does not remember why they made that choice. All he remembers is that the ABC affiliate was kicking everybody's butt in local news, and that it was probably something the New York Times (their owners) had negotiated with someone, and was probably a directive to fulfill a contract. He was more shocked that anyone would remember something so vague and random, followed by 'glad to know there was at least 1 person watching, even if it was a kid'.
So the sometimes the cool thing is - it was a game show!
-
And with that, TIL that the NYT owned TV stations, all in the South for some reason (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_the_New_York_Times_Company#Television_stations)
-
And with that, TIL that the NYT owned TV stations, all in the South for some reason (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_the_New_York_Times_Company#Television_stations)
TIL that Scranton, Des Moines, and Quad Cities IA/IL are in the South.
-
I’m almost certain the Times owned a station in Huntsville Alabama at one time. Maybe that’s the one that did it.
Do remember the same distributor not only had let’s make a deal but I believe they also offered Hollywood squares the previous year.
In the south many distributors were personal friends with management. Even if they had done deals as reps for other companies in the past. Sort of a code of the west, or at least the south.
Perhaps that’s what happened here.
-
Rhodes distributed HS, LMAD 80 and Pitfall.
-
I remember seeing "Let's Make a Deal" in my local paper's TV listings, but it turned out to be an infomercial for the LMAD telephone game.
-
Something came to mind earlier today...in the mid-90s, A&E had a show called Time Machine. Basically a documentary profiling historic events. I remember tuning in and being a little disappointed that John Davidson wasn't asking contestants questions about history.
I know that sounds odd, given how boring the show was but at that age there weren't too many game shows I wouldn't have watched.
-
There was a show around 1970 called "The Most Deadly Game."