A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating and narrating where necessary. The history of the game shows dates back to the late 1930s when both radio and television game shows were broadcast. The genre became popular in the United States in the 1950s, becoming a regular feature of daytime television.
The Weakest Link is a British television quiz show, mainly broadcast on BBC Two and BBC One. It was devised by Fintan Coyle and Cathy Dunning and developed for television by the BBC Entertainment Department. The game begins with a team of nine contestants, who take turns answering general knowledge questions within a time limit to create chains of nine correct answers in a row. At the end of each round, the players then vote one contestant, "the weakest link", out of the game. After two players are left, they play in a head-to-head penalty shootout format, with five questions asked to each contestant in turn, to determine the winner.
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hosted by Mark Lamarr, then by Simon Amstell, and later by a number of guest presenters, with Rhod Gilbert hosting the final series. It first starred Phill Jupitus and Sean Hughes as team captains, with Hughes being replaced by Bill Bailey from the eleventh series, and Bailey replaced by Noel Fielding for some of series 21 and from series 23 onward. The show returned six years later, now hosted by Greg Davies, with Daisy May Cooper as the new captain and Fielding returning as a captain. The show is produced by Talkback. The title plays on the names of the Sex Pistols album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols and the band Buzzcocks.
Name That Tune is an American television music game show. Originally created and produced by orchestra conductor Harry Salter and his wife Roberta Semple Salter, the series features contestants competing to correctly identify songs being played by an on-stage orchestra or band.
Password is an American television game show in which two teams, each composed of a celebrity player and a contestant, attempt to convey mystery words to each other using only single-word clues, in order to win cash prizes.
Lingo is an American television game show with multiple international adaptations. Contestants compete to decode five-letter words given the first letter, similarly to Jotto, with each correctly guessed word earning number draws to attempt filling in a Bingo card.
The Sunday Night Project is a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title The Friday Night Project. Originally broadcast on Friday nights, the show moved to Sunday nights for its seventh series in 2008.
Get the Picture is a children's game show that aired from March 18 to December 6, 1991, with repeats until March 13, 1993 on Nickelodeon. Hosted by Mike O'Malley, the show featured two teams answering questions and playing games for the opportunity to guess a hidden picture on a giant screen made up of 16 smaller screens. The show was recorded at Nickelodeon Studios in Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida. The program's theme music and game music was composed by Dan Vitco and Mark Schultz, and produced by Schultz. Its tagline is The Great Frame Game.
Simon Marc Amstell is an English comedian, writer and director. He wrote and directed the films Carnage (2017) and Benjamin (2018). His work on television has included presenting Popworld and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
Going for Gold is a British television game show that originally aired on BBC1 between 12 October 1987 and 9 July 1996. It was revived for Channel 5 from 13 October 2008 to 20 March 2009.
Catchphrase is a British game show based on the short-lived American game show of the same name. It originally aired in the United Kingdom between 12 January 1986 and 23 April 2004. A revival premiered on ITV1 on 7 April 2013 and is still running as of 2024.
Talk About is a game show produced in Canada by CBC Television, which bears some similarities to the board game Outburst. Originally produced by CBC for the 1988–89 season, it was later picked up for American television syndication, airing from September 18, 1989, to March 16, 1990, with repeats later airing on the USA Network from June 28 to December 31, 1993; on GameTV from January 3, 2011, to September 2015; from July 1, 2019, to September 12, 2021; and since February 28, 2022; and on Buzzr starting May 30, 2022. Taped at stage 40 at the CBC Vancouver studios via local station CBUT in Vancouver, British Columbia, the show was hosted by Wayne Cox with local radio personality Dean Hill as announcer, while Doc Harris filled in for Hill during Season 1.
Catch Phrase is an American game show which ran from September 16, 1985, through January 10, 1986, in syndication. The object of the show was to solve "catch phrases", which were animated picture puzzles designed to represent objects or sayings. Art James was the host of the show, his last game show hosting job before he retired from television, and John Harlan was the announcer. The program was created by Steve Radosh and produced by Pasetta Productions, with Telepictures distributing.
Deal or No Deal is an Australian game show which originally broadcast on the Seven Network from 13 July 2003 to 4 October 2013, hosted by Andrew O'Keefe. On 29 January 2024, a reboot series premiered on Network 10, hosted by Grant Denyer. It was the first international version of the game show, after the original Miljoenenjacht from the Netherlands. It was the first of the versions to use the Deal or No Deal name.
Andrew Mark O'Connor is an English actor, comedian, magician, television presenter and executive producer.
¡Allá tú! is the Spanish version of Deal or No Deal. It was initially broadcast by Telecinco between 2004 and 2008 and later changed to sister channel Cuatro for a comeback in 2011, before returning to Telecinco in 2023.
Wheel of Fortune is a British television game show based on the American show of the same name created by Merv Griffin. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that contestants spin throughout the course of the game to determine their cash and/or prizes.
Vijf tegen Vijf was a Dutch game show based on the original American format of Family Feud. In the game, two teams consisting of five contestants play against each other and have to answer questions based on surveys taken by random people from the Netherlands. They have to guess which answer was given by most of the people involved in the survey.
Lingo is a television game show that aired in the Netherlands between 1989 and 2014, and returned in 2019 on the commercial channel SBS6. Since 2022, it is aired on the commercial channel Net5. The format consists of a word game that combines Mastermind and Bingo.
Family Game Night is an American television game show based on Hasbro's family of board games and EA's video game franchise of the same name. The show was hosted by Todd Newton. Burton Richardson was the announcer for the first two seasons; he was replaced by Stacey J. Aswad in the third season, and Andrew Kishino was hired for the fourth season. The 60-minute program debuted on October 10, 2010, on The Hub ; it was previewed on October 9, 2010, on its sister channel, TLC. Seasons 1 and 2 contained 26 and 30 episodes respectively. Seasons 3, 4 and 5 each contained 15 episodes. Season 2 premiered on Friday, September 2, 2011, with additional games being added. The games added to the second season included Cranium Brain Breaks, Green Scream, Ratuki Go-Round, Simon Flash, Operation Sam Dunk, Trouble Pop Quiz, and Spelling Bee. However games from the previous season were still kept.
