A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a host, who explains the rules of the game 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.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television, contestants tackle a series of multiple-choice questions to win large cash prizes in a format that twists on many game show genre conventions – only one contestant plays at a time, similar to radio quizzes; contestants are given the question before deciding whether to answer, and have no time limit to answer questions; and the amount offered increases as they tackle questions that become increasingly difficult. The maximum cash prize offered in most versions of the format is an aspirational value in local currency, such as £1 million in the UK or ₹75 million in India.
University Challenge is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. University Challenge aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC revived the programme on 21 September 1994, the programme's 32nd anniversary, with Jeremy Paxman as the quizmaster. Paxman relinquished his role as host following the conclusion of the 52nd series in 2023, after which he was succeeded by Amol Rajan. In October 2022, an ITV documentary, Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's, explored how Parkinson's disease has impacted him and revealed that Paxman recorded his very last episode of University Challenge on 15 October 2022, which aired on 29 May 2023.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian academic quiz competition for high school students. In the past, it has also been a game show nationally broadcast on the CBC. Matches are currently aired online through Reach for the Top's official YouTube channel. Teams qualify for national rounds through several stages of non-televised tournaments held at high schools throughout Canada during the year which are known as Schoolreach.
Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown was a British children's entertainment programme, which was broadcast on ITV from 10 January 2004 to 1 July 2006.
BrainTeaser was a British game show based on the original Dutch format of Puzzeltijd. The show was broadcast live, with phone-in viewer puzzles being announced and played during the show in addition to the studio game. During its run from 5 August 2002 to 7 March 2007, it aired on Five Mondays to Fridays, usually for an hour around lunchtime, and was fronted by various presenters rotating with one another. Beginning in August 2005, a version of the show that exclusively focused on viewer participation was broadcast in a four-hour long block on YooPlay TV every day after the Five broadcast, as part of a thirteen-week trial.
Quiz Call was a TV quiz channel. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom and owned by Ostrich Media. It was also a late night / early morning phone-in quiz TV show, produced by Ostrich Media and broadcast on Five, Five US / Five USA, Five Life and Ftn.
Fan Pan Tae is a quiz show of Thailand.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a British television quiz show, created by David Briggs, Steven Knight and Mike Whitehill for the ITV network. The programme's format has contestants taking on multiple-choice questions based upon general knowledge, winning a cash prize for each question they answer correctly, with the amount offered increasing as they take on more difficult questions. If an incorrect answer is given, the contestant will leave with whatever cash prize is guaranteed by the last safety net they have passed, unless they opt to walk away before answering the next question with the money they had managed to reach. To assist in the quiz, contestants are given a series of "lifelines" to help answer questions.
ITV Play was a short-lived 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued as a strand on the main ITV Network until December 2007.
The Mint was a live, late night, interactive quiz show with celebrity guests and live studio contestants filmed on a large extravagant set designed to look like the inside of a mansion. The programme, which was dogged by criticism that its questions were ambiguous and arbitrary, aired on ITV and ITV2, Sunday to Wednesday. On 26 February 2007, ITV announced that The Mint would return to screens later in 2007, however an announcement on 12 September 2007 confirmed that the show, along with similar late night phone ins, would not be returning.
The Tod Sa Gun Game is a Thai game show produced by Workpoint Entertainment. It was the 2003 runner-up, and the 2005 winner, of the "best game or quiz show on Asian television" award.
Blokken (Blocks) is a Belgian quiz show based on the video game Tetris. It is broadcast on VRT 1 and hosted by Belgian television personality Ben Crabbé. The show is the longest running quiz show on Belgian television, with 22 seasons. On 10 December 2017 the show aired its 5000th episode.
Quiznation is a television programme on the British quiz channel by the same name that was owned and operated by Optimistic Entertainment. In its last year, it featured hours of gaming each day. Quiznation aired all week on Fortune Fever from 6 pm to 8 pm featuring constant tower games. On 31 May 2007, Quiznation aired its last episode.
Quizmania is an Australian phone-in quiz show, based on the British program of the same name, and broadcast on the Nine Network in the late night time slot (post-midnight). The show was produced from Nine's Richmond studios in Melbourne. Its main Director was Rick Maslan.
The Mint is an Australian phone-in quiz show based on the British program of the same name, and broadcast on the Nine Network in selected areas in the late night time slot (post-midnight).
Brendan O'Carroll's Hot Milk and Pepper was an RTÉ television quiz show presented by Brendan O'Carroll and also starring Gerry Browne that was broadcast for two series between 1996 and 1998. The show featured two teams of four competing each week.
Boys and Girls was an English television gameshow broadcast in 2003 by Channel 4.
The Daily Quiz! was a live, phone-in quiz channel, previously a TV programme, which was showing on ITV Play and also on Men & Motors from 3pm-6pm seven days a week. Two presenters were in the studio simultaneously and took it in turns to answer calls, the second presenter waits by the jackpot board or front desk and is brought in every so often to chat. The Daily Quiz! had a newspaper/gossip theme running throughout the show and at regular intervals, the presenters sat at their desk, related celebrity news stories from the day's papers and discussed them in a light-hearted manner. Viewers could win up to £5000 in the jackpot game.
