The ceremony airs September 15 on ABC; no host has been named yet.

Except that the game show categories will be presented at the Creative Arts Awards, which are held the weekend before the big show.

The thing I've been trying to figure out over the years is just who loves all the contestant backstories. There must be someone. I know they have their place on a longer-form competition show. But I can't help but remember all the comments I've read and heard to the contrary -- and not just from "us."

I was watching an episode of one of the newer shows with a friend who enjoys some of the older shows.  It might have been Tune.  One of the contestants was a dance instructor, or some similar nonsense.  The host then invited her to come out on stage and show off her dance moves.  And my friend made a comment to the effect of:  "Who gives a [fig], where's the game?"  The channel was changed shortly thereafter.

This individual is not in our circle, nor would they ever be.  But they found this particular part of modern shows annoying as well.

The thing I've been trying to figure out over the years is just who loves all the contestant backstories.

My theory:

Producers realize, either consciously or subconsciously, that game shows are more compelling when the viewer has a rooting interest in the contestant. Which is true: I think even the most jaded of us will perk up our ears when we learn that a contestant is from the same hometown or enjoys the same hobby.

Problem is, a basic "where are you from, what do you do" will always only captivate the small fraction of the viewing audience that shares that very specific biographical detail. And there are very few contestants who can win over lots of strangers with naturally likable personalities that will shine through a twenty-second television interview (especially if the host isn't experienced at interviewing people).

So the way to try to entice the audience to sit through the entire episode -- which is important if there isn't much game to play along with -- is to create an emotional rooting interest by sharing the most root-worthy biographical details of a contestant's life. "Everybody loves a person who rescues dogs, so here's a person who rescues dogs! Stay tuned to see if this dog rescuer wins!"

And I think it does work -- in moderation. I was once with a non–game show friend and we were watching American Ninja Warrior -- a show that's especially guilty of this practice -- and after each two-minute package about an athlete who overcame some kind of adversity, he would be more invested in their run... and more excited/devastated when they succeeded/failed.

The problem is that when every contestant on every episode of a show is accompanied by a feel-good package, and when every competition show introduces every competitor with a feel-good package, the impact is diminished and the viewer is annoyed by being overexposed to the manipulation.

For the record, I don't think yours is a "hot take." If you watched more than one episode, you did better than a lot of people. And if you were turned off, hey, they had their chance to keep you as a viewer.

Lately, there's been too much made out of having a strong opinion one way or the other, as if that can't be a genuine feeling. Sure, some people get in a proverbial I Love Nothing New Camp, but I don't think people should shy away from expressing themselves on this board. Selfishly, it would be great to see what people like and don't like about modern shows.

The thing I've been trying to figure out over the years is just who loves all the contestant backstories. There must be someone. I know they have their place on a longer-form competition show. But I can't help but remember all the comments I've read and heard to the contrary -- and not just from "us."

-Jason

/Knew it was bunk when they ranked NTT and Password in the Top 5

One of the reasons I started the thread was to see how this article's opinion aligned with ours, because it felt a tiny bit more doted upon, unlike a best hosts list that put Peyton Manning in a high position after just one episode of College Bowl aired.

I was thinking there had to be a reason Name That Tune was getting multiple seasons, but not a lot of love on this board. What about the show makes you want to rank it lower?

-Jason