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The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: SuperMatch93 on February 24, 2019, 11:52:06 AM

Title: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: SuperMatch93 on February 24, 2019, 11:52:06 AM
I was watching Split Second the other day, and it occurred to me that despite lasting three years, there was never a home version made of it.
 
Anyone have an idea what the longest-running game show to not have its own home game is?
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: BrandonFG on February 24, 2019, 12:05:04 PM
I’ll suggest Cross-Wits and Street Smarts, at 5 years.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Strikerz04 on February 24, 2019, 12:39:30 PM
Super Password (provided that the title had an electronic version in the late 90’s)
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: chrisholland03 on February 24, 2019, 12:41:19 PM
And an Apple ][ version...and a DOS PC version...and a Commodore 64 version...concurrent with the show
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: MikeK on February 24, 2019, 12:43:07 PM
If we're talking specific runs rather than the entire lifetime of a series, the 70s version of To Tell the Truth never had a home game.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: BrandonFG on February 24, 2019, 12:57:26 PM
How about Shop Til You Drop? It wasn’t consistent, but it did air off and on for close to 15 years with only a couple years off in between?
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Casey on February 24, 2019, 02:39:52 PM
Fandango was another one I'd put in this category.  It ran for 6 years.  (Granted it was a cable show, but still...)
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: nowhammies10 on February 24, 2019, 03:03:21 PM
Modern (i.e. not ABC) Supermarket Sweep never got a home game.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: tvmitch on February 25, 2019, 09:24:07 AM
Modern (i.e. not ABC) Supermarket Sweep never got a home game.
9-year old me emptied our pantry to make my own home game version of Supermarket Sweep on a few occasions...my mom was not a fan!

Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Mr. Matté on February 25, 2019, 10:45:23 AM
Modern (i.e. not ABC) Supermarket Sweep never got a home game.
9-year old me emptied our pantry to make my own home game version of Supermarket Sweep on a few occasions...my mom was not a fan!

At least you didn't do it at the local Shop-Rite where while pushing your cart around, you crashed into the mayor.

(OK, I wasn't playing Supermarket Sweep at the time but I did crash a shopping cart into the mayor, that was around 1995-1996 when I was 5 or 6; she's still the mayor)
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: MikeK on February 25, 2019, 11:10:34 AM
Modern (i.e. not ABC) Supermarket Sweep never got a home game.
9-year old me emptied our pantry to make my own home game version of Supermarket Sweep on a few occasions...my mom was not a fan!
15-year-old me wrote Big Sweep material with products already in the kitchen for my 10-year-old sister.  The key was to do it after school, before the parents came home.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: ActualRetailMike on February 25, 2019, 07:57:06 PM
You Bet Your Life (Groucho Marx)

The New Treasure Hunt

Starcade, but that didn't run very long
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: nowhammies10 on February 25, 2019, 08:02:33 PM
Starcade, but that didn't run very long

I would argue your local arcade would count as a Starcade home version.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: TimK2003 on February 25, 2019, 10:03:49 PM
.

Starcade, but that didn't run very long

I would argue your local arcade would count as a Starcade home version.

Or, like my cousin,  who has 3 or 4 video games in his basement!
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: WarioBarker on February 26, 2019, 02:04:31 AM
You Bet Your Life (Groucho Marx)
Had two, actually: Groucho TV Quiz (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/32549/groucho-tv-quiz) in 1954 and Groucho's You Bet Your Life (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/16843/grouchos-you-bet-your-life) in '55.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Matt Ottinger on February 26, 2019, 12:16:35 PM
As with almost anything we discuss, you could define your terms any number of ways.  But to whatever degree I'm still acknowledged as an expert in this field (as I said on my old website "everybody ought to be an expert about something"), I'm digging the idea of Shop 'Til You Drop being the best answer for this.

In terms of what some of us still consider a "traditional" game show run (daily network show) the three longest-running shows without a home game go all the way back to the fifties: Queen For A Day, The Big Payoff and Who Do You Trust.  YMMV, however, on whether any or all of them are traditional game shows.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Dbacksfan12 on February 26, 2019, 12:34:51 PM
As with almost anything we discuss, you could define your terms any number of ways.  But to whatever degree I'm still acknowledged as an expert in this field (as I said on my old website "everybody ought to be an expert about something"), I'm digging the idea of Shop 'Til You Drop being the best answer for this.
Well, I guess I'm curious now:  Outside of shows that aired on Nickelodeon, has any cable game show had a release of any kind?
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: TLEberle on February 26, 2019, 12:39:27 PM
Remote Control had a box game.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: aaron sica on February 26, 2019, 01:01:33 PM
I would argue your local arcade would count as a Starcade home version.

Or your Atari cartridges at home...I used to do that.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: snowpeck on February 26, 2019, 01:06:26 PM
Well, I guess I'm curious now:  Outside of shows that aired on Nickelodeon, has any cable game show had a release of any kind?
I don't how widely it was released but there was a Lingo box game during the height of its run on GSN. There have also been home games for the Family Channel version of Trivial Pursuit and Cash Cab.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Bob Zager on February 26, 2019, 01:12:47 PM
Well, I guess I'm curious now:  Outside of shows that aired on Nickelodeon, has any cable game show had a release of any kind?

Though not 100% faithful to the format, there was a box game based on GSN's The American Bible Challenge.

I'm a little surprised they didn't release one based on GSN's The Chase, even though some foreign editions have been produced.  It's very rare for cable tv game shows to get their own home versions for some unknown reason.

Backtracking to the original question, I would've guessed the longest running would've been either Gambit or Tattletales, whose original runs were over 4 years each (plus shorter lived revivals).  There almost was a Tattletales home game, however.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: BrandonFG on February 26, 2019, 02:48:34 PM
As with almost anything we discuss, you could define your terms any number of ways.  But to whatever degree I'm still acknowledged as an expert in this field (as I said on my old website "everybody ought to be an expert about something"), I'm digging the idea of Shop 'Til You Drop being the best answer for this.
Well, I guess I'm curious now:  Outside of shows that aired on Nickelodeon, has any cable game show had a release of any kind?
Depending on whether it started on GSN or PAX, “Hollywood Showdown”.

Never mind. I dunno why I thought there was a board game.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Casey on February 26, 2019, 03:32:12 PM
Remote Control had a box game.
And a computer version for the Commodore 64, Apple II and IBM, if we are counting those.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Winkfan on February 26, 2019, 04:39:26 PM
In terms of what some of us still consider a "traditional" game show run (daily network show) the three longest-running shows without a home game go all the way back to the fifties: Queen For A Day, The Big Payoff and Who Do You Trust.

I was just thinking about TBP not having a home game, myself. I just now thought of another: The Name's The Same.

Cordially,
Tammy
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Matt Ottinger on February 26, 2019, 09:42:03 PM
In terms of what some of us still consider a "traditional" game show run (daily network show) the three longest-running shows without a home game go all the way back to the fifties: Queen For A Day, The Big Payoff and Who Do You Trust.

I was just thinking about TBP not having a home game, myself. I just now thought of another: The Name's The Same.

TNTS ran for a long time, but in relation to my quoted post above, it's important to note that it was a weekly prime-time show, not a daily one.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: chrisholland03 on February 26, 2019, 09:47:34 PM
I'm still waiting for the "Play the Percentages" home game

Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: BrandonFG on February 26, 2019, 09:51:37 PM
I'm still waiting for the "Play the Percentages" home game
I’d hold out for the Second Edition, set for release two months later.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: TimK2003 on February 26, 2019, 11:43:30 PM
Did "Definition" ever make a home game?  If not, that show may fit the category.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: rebelwrest on February 26, 2019, 11:55:39 PM
Did "Definition" ever make a home game?  If not, that show may fit the category.

I own a copy.  It uses the puzzle board and letter tokens from the Milton Bradley "Wheel of Fortune" home games.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: aaron sica on February 27, 2019, 07:00:55 AM
I'm still waiting for the "Play the Percentages" home game

It never made it out of the testing stage - they couldn't build a little stand right to keep the percentages board from crashing. ;)
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: tvwxman on February 27, 2019, 08:10:48 AM
Tattletales comes to mind.

And, for 2 runs lasting 6 years, Card Sharks was surprising.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: nowhammies10 on February 27, 2019, 09:32:51 AM
Card Sharks did finally get a home game around the time of the syndicated revival, but it played like the original show.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: TimK2003 on February 27, 2019, 09:58:43 AM
I'm still waiting for the "Play the Percentages" home game

It never made it out of the testing stage - they couldn't build a little stand right to keep the percentages board from crashing. ;)

I once found a rare mint copy of the Kline & Friends version of The Joker's Wild.  I was very disappointed when I opened it up, as all it contained was a dictionary, because as you know, The Joker's Wild is a game of definitions...
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: SamJ93 on February 27, 2019, 10:31:05 AM
Depending on whether it started on GSN or PAX, “Hollywood Showdown”.

Never mind. I dunno why I thought there was a board game.

There was an online Hollywood Showdown game on the now-defunct Boxerjam.

Re: Shop Til You Shop...it doesn't count as a home game at all, really, (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.arcade-history.com/%3Fn%3Dshop-til-you-drop%26page%3Ddetail%26id%3D6142&ved=2ahUKEwjOicjNnNzgAhXCt1kKHYnhBywQFjAHegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw19QgvPkK8gecNtt7A5YZQn&cshid=1551281310753) but the logo and the graphic of a guy carrying a gift box make it clear that it's supposed to be related to the format, albeit in a very loose way.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: snowpeck on February 27, 2019, 10:34:05 AM
Card Sharks did finally get a home game around the time of the syndicated revival, but it played like the original show.
There was also a PC game in the late 80s.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: nowhammies10 on February 27, 2019, 10:57:34 AM
Card Sharks did finally get a home game around the time of the syndicated revival, but it played like the original show.
There was also a PC game in the late 80s.

Oh, right!  I had a copy of it when I was a kid, too!
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: chrisholland03 on February 27, 2019, 01:00:43 PM
I was always the guy with the Card Sharks cap

Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Matt Ottinger on February 27, 2019, 10:56:02 PM
Tattletales comes to mind.

Dammit, I should have thought of that.  Among modern daily network shows, that's the winner by a mile.  Six and a half years between the two runs.

They came close, though.  This almost got released near the end of the first run of the show:

https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1883544/tattletales
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: mmb5 on March 01, 2019, 07:38:29 AM
Tattletales comes to mind.

Dammit, I should have thought of that.  Among modern daily network shows, that's the winner by a mile.  Six and a half years between the two runs.

They came close, though.  This almost got released near the end of the first run of the show:

https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1883544/tattletales

The fights over who got to be Charlie Brill would have been epic.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Casey on March 01, 2019, 11:31:37 AM
As I was looking at that picture, I couldn’t imagine how that game can be played at home and have it be “fun”.  Do we know what the rules were to be?  (Did you need 6 players and a host?)
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Mike Tennant on March 01, 2019, 11:52:16 AM
As I was looking at that picture, I couldn’t imagine how that game can be played at home and have it be “fun”.  Do we know what the rules were to be?  (Did you need 6 players and a host?)
It could probably be done with four (or six) players and one of them acting as emcee, as shown in the ad. The emcee could play since there would be no answers in the question booklet. It looks like the emcee read the question and then half of each couple wrote down his answer (MB recycling its magic slates and wooden styli from its '60s The Match Game), after which the other half would state hers and hope that they matched. Divide the pot among the couples, rinse, and repeat. The couple with the most money at the end of x questions wins.

Whether that would be "fun" or not, I suppose, depends on the players--and perhaps on how many drinks they'd consumed.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Matt Ottinger on March 01, 2019, 12:50:16 PM
Whether that would be "fun" or not, I suppose, depends on the players--and perhaps on how many drinks they'd consumed.

Exactly.  It would be a pretty faithful representation of the show, and couples might have enjoyed it.  Whether it's "fun" would be absolutely no different that whether the various home versions of The Newlywed Game would be "fun".
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: chrisholland03 on March 01, 2019, 01:13:04 PM
Newlywed Game was highly dependent on whoopie
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Bob Zager on March 01, 2019, 01:27:52 PM
After seeing the news that Fox's revival of Love Connection is not returning for a third season, it led me to believe that some people might think it at least qualifies as a game show, because of the audience participation aspect.

If that's the case, then that lasted eleven years in its original run, and never had a home game.

The question of whether or not it was a game show, is difficult to answer, but I'd say more people  would say it was NOT!  Matter of fact, LC was NOT officially listed as one in the EOTVGS, until its third edition!
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Neumms on March 03, 2019, 05:35:56 PM
Whether that would be "fun" or not, I suppose, depends on the players--and perhaps on how many drinks they'd consumed.

On a graph, the relationship of drinks to fun would be a bell curve.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Neumms on March 03, 2019, 05:40:01 PM
Card Sharks did finally get a home game around the time of the syndicated revival, but it played like the original show.

It was a terrific home game. I'm surprised Gambit never had one. High Rollers--same producers, another play on casino gambling--had one. I suppose the Gambit Board might not much fun to play, but if you played several matches you could keep a cumulative dollar score.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: That Don Guy on March 03, 2019, 05:42:15 PM
I'm still waiting for the "Play the Percentages" home game

It never made it out of the testing stage - they couldn't build a little stand right to keep the percentages board from crashing. ;)

I once found a rare mint copy of the Kline & Friends version of The Joker's Wild.  I was very disappointed when I opened it up, as all it contained was a dictionary, because as you know, The Joker's Wild is a game of definitions...

I thought that was the home game version of the late 1960s syndicated version of Beat the Odds (where one of the consolation prizes was a copy of the Funk & Waggnals Dictionary).

And if weekly shows count, was there ever a home version of (G.E.) College Bowl, which lasted for something like 13 seasons on TV (and then, after a few years' break, three seasons on CBS radio)?
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Matt Ottinger on March 03, 2019, 08:04:13 PM
And if weekly shows count, was there ever a home version of (G.E.) College Bowl, which lasted for something like 13 seasons on TV (and then, after a few years' break, three seasons on CBS radio)?

In fact, there was.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/14417/college-bowl
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Neumms on March 04, 2019, 11:48:18 AM
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/14417/college-bowl

Curiously, there's nothing electric involved. Matt, did any other game have a ring-in mechanism like this? It just might have worked.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Matt Ottinger on March 04, 2019, 04:07:50 PM
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/14417/college-bowl

Curiously, there's nothing electric involved. Matt, did any other game have a ring-in mechanism like this? It just might have worked.

Not specifically, but there were some creative efforts to solve the electronic-buzzer issue over the years.  The most famous were probably those delightful Jeopardy "cricket clickers," but there were some other ideas that were every bit as creative as the College Bowl solution.  My favorite was the original Sale of the Century home game, where you threw your tiddleywink into a tray, and the person whose "wink" was on the bottom of the stack got to answer the question.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: calliaume on March 04, 2019, 04:40:22 PM
Exactly.  It would be a pretty faithful representation of the show, and couples might have enjoyed it.  Whether it's "fun" would be absolutely no different that whether the various home versions of The Newlywed Game would be "fun".
We gave a copy of the 1986 Newlywed Game to a couple who had just gotten married, and played against them and another couple (both of those couples had been together for five or six years at that point, whereas Karen and I had been together less than two).  And we stomped them - so it definitely wasn't "fun" for them.

Tattletales was already so close to TNG in format similarity that I don't know how much closer it could be for the home game without Chuck Barris' lawyers making a call.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: whewfan on March 04, 2019, 07:32:17 PM
It's funny, I didn't really notice the similarities between Wheel and Million Dollar COAL until I got the home game of the latter. One thing I did like about Wheel's home game is that you could play the game alone, as when you chose a letter, it told you what positions the letter(s) on the board were located. If memory serves I think COAL also did that. I don't think I've ever owned the Deluxe version of Wheel, but one of my friends did. Oddly enough, he never wanted to play it, but that plastic wheel with the added on wedges... AWESOME.

I also would've liked to own the Scrabble TV game show home game. But I was much like that kid from The Middle, that tried to get people to play home games of game shows, and most of my family didn't want to play, but a few did just to humor me I guess.

I was stunned to see a home game of The Moment of Truth... who in their right mind would want to play that game, and how did the lie detector aspect work?

I never owned the Finders Keepers home game, but I saw it at stores. It basically had small boxes with small items hidden inside, and you had to pull out items until finding the item that the clue related to.... not as much fun as trashing your house!

 
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: That Don Guy on March 04, 2019, 09:30:32 PM
I was stunned to see a home game of The Moment of Truth... who in their right mind would want to play that game, and how did the lie detector aspect work?
It comes with a "biometric lie detector." Radio Shack used to sell things like that. I assume it works similarly to how the "lie detector" on Hot Seat worked.
Title: Re: Longest running game show to not have a home game
Post by: Jeremy Nelson on March 05, 2019, 09:10:23 AM
Remote Control had a box game.
And a computer version for the Commodore 64, Apple II and IBM, if we are counting those.
...and an NES version.