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MSN.com has posted a chronilogical list of the "ten greatest game shows of all-time." As usual with these lists, it's mostly up for debate, but the last entry on the list is just...baffling. Not that it's a bad show but...I wouldn't have put it there.
You can tell you need to click here because it's underlined. (http://\"http://tv.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=216563>1=7850\")
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I only wish they would have gotten some of the dates straight on their entries.
Example:
TPIR ('56) even though the entry concentrates on '72.
TTD ('78)...what happened to '56?
MG ('62)...though again, it talks about '73.
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Not too bad of a list, but it is very baffling that FH gets mentioned and Double Dare didn't (except for the fact that FH's stunts supposedly outgrossed DD).
Then again, I think the Love Connection entry is pretty interesting too.
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I agree mostly about the dates..But they got Price wrong and 1956 began the Cullen version. Either mention Cullen in your writeup or start in 1972 when Barker began hosting
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I too think some of the dates are inacurate in relation to the write-ups. I don't think FH should be in the #10 hole. Here's my list of possible substitutes for #10:
The Newlywed Gane(1966)
Hollywood Squares(1966?) even though Tic Tac Dough was on there, HS used the celebrety angle on tic-tac-toe to its utmost goodness without sacrificing taste.
The Joker's Wild(1972) part of the trifecta of CBS shows that began that year.
Otherwise, the list looks good to me outside of FH.
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[quote name=\'Adam Nedeff\' date=\'Mar 7 2006, 08:22 PM\']the last entry on the list is just...baffling. Not that it's a bad show but...I wouldn't have put it there.
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Not as baffling as Love Connection, which isn't a game show.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to pop some popcorn.
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Where was "Sale of the Century" in the list? I would have thought it should have been given a mention. Mind you - I'm happy Jeopardy! was up there.
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Kind of refreshing to find a top 10 game show list that didn't have the usual WOF or FF.
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I only wish they would have gotten some of the dates straight on their entries.
Example:
TPIR ('56) even though the entry concentrates on '72.
TTD ('78)...what happened to '56?
MG ('62)...though again, it talks about '73.
Not to mention "Millionaire", which was 1999 instead of '98. Hmmm....I guess I just did mention it! :)
I agree that "Love Connection" is NOT a game show...and it's a tad frustrating to keep seeing it on game show lists.
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You all can guess which show I immediately thought should be there that isn't... ;)
My other thing is, instead of putting Love Connection and Fun House (ugh...) on there, why not Pyramid (non-Osmond of course) and Password???
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I was bothered by the omission of Concentration from MSN's list.
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Hey, it's just an opinion. (Although how you leave off a show that ran 20-plus years - you can guess which one, it's bigger than a bread box - I don't know). It did seem the writer is sticking mostly to fairly current shows, but added the earlier dates to give his list a little more depth.
(Oh, and I might have considered Family Feud in there as well.)
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[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 07:04 AM\']Kind of refreshing to find a top 10 game show list that didn't have the usual WOF or FF.[/quote]
On the other hand, a list that includes Love Connection, Fun House and Press Your Luck, but DOESN'T include either WOF or FF, really doesn't have a lot of business calling itself the "All-Time Greatest".
If anything, that list just makes me feel old. I have no doubt that the writer really is a "pop culture junkie", but he's not a historian. I also have little doubt that he's not much more than thirty years old, and like the rest of us, he has a fondness for the shows that were on as he was growing up. Wouldn't totally surprise me that he's never heard of something like What's My Line?.
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I don't understand conflating the original version of "The Match Game" (1962) with the later versions, or listing "Jeopardy!" as 1984 instead of the date of the original version (1964?).
Describing TMG by saying "the wide-grinning host would read the setup of a potentially bawdy statement, and the contestant would attempt to complete it with a blank-filling piece of wit that matched the answers of the celebrity panel" clearly refers to the later incarnation of the show. The original, as far as I can recall, was just a straightforward matching game with tame questions and answers.
And one of the reasons I regret that so little of the original "Jeopardy!" exists is that I would like to know how difficult it would be for me now - when I was watching Art Fleming, I was just a kid and couldn't begin to get most of the answers and questions. I suspect the original was a lot harder than the Trebek version.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 09:33 AM\']On the other hand, a list that includes Love Connection, Fun House and Press Your Luck, but DOESN'T include either WOF or FF, really doesn't have a lot of business calling itself the "All-Time Greatest".[/quote] I think the list was created by someone who was given the task of writing a piece on game shows, and took the easy way out. After all, what they want is publicity. And what are we doing? Discussing his list. Whether he's right, wrong or indifferent, we're doing exactly what he wants us to do.
If anything, that list just makes me feel old. I have no doubt that the writer really is a "pop culture junkie", but he's not a historian.[snapback]112220[/snapback]
I'm sure you're right, but I'm sure each and every one of us would have a different top ten. I like straight quiz shows, and can't stand the panel games, so you wouldn't see "What's My Line?" or "I've Got a Secret" anywhere near my personal top ten. And for that matter, could any list covering such a wide topic as game shows be confined to a "top ten"? The genre is going on what, six hundred or more different shows?
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[quote name=\'MrBuddwing\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 01:30 PM\'] I suspect the original was a lot harder than the Trebek version.[/quote]
I'm in the same boat you are -- while I liked watching Fleming when I was a kid, the material was far beyond me. Still, if you look back at the half dozen shows we can still see today, I really don't think you'd find them to be harder than the Trebek version, and certainly not as well written. The dated current-events questions would naturally be obscure today, but that's about it.
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[quote name=\'TLEberle\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 01:51 PM\']I'm sure you're right, but I'm sure each and every one of us would have a different top ten. I like straight quiz shows, and can't stand the panel games, so you wouldn't see "What's My Line?" or "I've Got a Secret" anywhere near my personal top ten. And for that matter, could any list covering such a wide topic as game shows be confined to a "top ten"? The genre is going on what, six hundred or more different shows?[/quote]
About thirty of which you could consider genuine classics. I'd like to think that most informed people, putting together a true "All-Time Greatest" list and not just a list of personal favorites, would end up with a top ten that came from those thirty shows. He's got two that are just preposterous (Love Connection and Fun House) and one that's very questionable (Press Your Luck), and what they all have in common is their 80s time frame.
I'm usually the first to say that opinions are subjective and these lists shouldn't be taken seriously, but this one specifically is badly researched, badly fact-checked and just plain ignorant.
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[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 06:04 AM\']Kind of refreshing to find a top 10 game show list that didn't have the usual WOF.
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If it had, the year 1983 probably would have been referenced as the premiere with no mention whatsoever of the Todd Russell era. It's time to honor Todd!!!!!
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 10:07 AM\'][quote name=\'MrBuddwing\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 01:30 PM\'] I suspect the original was a lot harder than the Trebek version.[/quote]
Still, if you look back at the half dozen shows we can still see today, I really don't think you'd find them to be harder than the Trebek version, and certainly not as well written. The dated current-events questions would naturally be obscure today, but that's about it.[/quote]
The one person who would seem to be in the best position to know, Fleming era uber-champ Burns Cameron, is on record as saying that the show was more difficult circa 1990 than it was when he was on ('65, IIRC).
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[quote name=\'MrBuddwing\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 12:30 PM\']I don't understand conflating the original version of "The Match Game" (1962) with the later versions, or listing "Jeopardy!" as 1984 instead of the date of the original version (1964?).[/quote]
It's pretty simple, I think. "Hmm, I should add the years each of these shows premiered to my article. (google google) Match Game premiered in '62? Well, if this site says so, I'll go with it."
Laziness, in other words.
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This article is obviously badly written. It is hard trying to choose 15 or 20 shows to fill a list of 10- however, there are quite a few questionable shows on the list. To add insult to injury, good shows on the list are tarnished with poor research. Still, I'm too relaxed today to get worked up over the opinion of some dumbass who probably knows nothing more about game shows than what he wrote.
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If it had, the year 1983 probably would have been referenced as the premiere with no mention whatsoever of the Todd Russell era. It's time to honor Todd!!!!!
LOL...interestingly enough, a similar gambit occured in Australia, where long before WoF's 1981 debut, there was a show w/the same name in the early 60s hosted by some guy named Reg Grundy...wonder what happened to him... :-D
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 11:33 AM\']but DOESN'T include either WOF or FF, really doesn't have a lot of business calling itself the "All-Time Greatest".
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If I was looking at the show from merely an opinionated stance, and not a subjective one; I can't say I'd include either the former nor the latter in my list either.
Not that this one wasn't a joke.
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[quote name=\'Steve McClellan\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 04:12 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 10:07 AM\'][quote name=\'MrBuddwing\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 01:30 PM\'] I suspect the original was a lot harder than the Trebek version.[/quote]
Still, if you look back at the half dozen shows we can still see today, I really don't think you'd find them to be harder than the Trebek version, and certainly not as well written. The dated current-events questions would naturally be obscure today, but that's about it.[/quote]
The one person who would seem to be in the best position to know, Fleming era uber-champ Burns Cameron, is on record as saying that the show was more difficult circa 1990 than it was when he was on ('65, IIRC).
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Well, now that you bring it up, I would say that Trebek's "Jeopardy!" has ebbed and flowed over the years in terms of difficulty. I remember shows that were extremely difficult - and they weren't even "Tournament of Champions" episodes. Lately, I've noticed that "Final Jeopardy!" has gotten considerably easier than it used to be - at least, I'm getting more answers right.
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[quote name=\'MrBuddwing\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 03:39 AM\']Well, now that you bring it up, I would say that Trebek's "Jeopardy!" has ebbed and flowed over the years in terms of difficulty. I remember shows that were extremely difficult - and they weren't even "Tournament of Champions" episodes. Lately, I've noticed that "Final Jeopardy!" has gotten considerably easier than it used to be - at least, I'm getting more answers right.[/quote]
Behind-the-scenes books and articles would agree wth you. The Trebek shows have definitely gone back and forth between easier and harder over the years. That's not accidental, either, it's something that the writers are exceptionally good at doing when instructed to do so.