Jan 21 2023

Selects: How Game Shows Work

Selects 73 min 5 movies discussed
Listen

Join Josh and Chuck and a whole bunch of great people at the Gothic Theatre in Denver for this live show on game shows and their place in cultures around the world, recorded on June 28, 2018. You just come right on down, why don’t you?

AI Summary

# Game Shows: From British Quiz Bores to American TV Gold

Chuck and Josh take the stage in Denver to explore the wild history of game shows, from the surprisingly snoozefest British origins of "Spelling Bee" in 1938 to the golden age of primetime quiz shows that nearly destroyed television through massive rigging scandals. They dive into how producers manipulated shows like "21" and "The $64,000 Question," explain why Mark Goodson's genius move was to make game shows deliberately dumber (creating the format we know today), and celebrate the iconic hosts and shows that defined eras—from Bob Barker's marathon run on "The Price is Right" to the boozy celebrity chaos of "Match Game" and the bizarre magic of "Queen for a Day."


Movies Discussed

Eddie and the Cruisers
Eddie and the Cruisers
1983 1h 35m
★ 6.7
"Michael Pere from Eddie and the Cruisers. Little bit of trivia. — Referenced as a film featuring actor Michael Pere, who was married to Lace from American Gladiator." — Josh
Home Improvement
Home Improvement
1991 TV-PG
★ 7.4
"a guy named Richard Karn, who. I don't know. He was from home improvement. — Referenced to identify Richard Karn, another Family Feud host, by his TV role." — Josh
Quiz Show
Quiz Show
1994 PG-13 2h 13m
★ 7.3
"there was this one show called 21. You guys might have seen the movie quiz show with John Traturo and Ray finds. — Discussed as a film depicting the actual scandal involving the game show '21' and rigged quiz shows." — Josh
Seinfeld
Seinfeld
1989
★ 8.3
"John O'Hurley is either. From Jay Peterman, Seinfeld. — Mentioned to identify John O'Hurley, a Family Feud host, by his role in the TV series." — Chuck
The Running Man
The Running Man
1987 1h 41m
★ 6.5
"I think it also inspired the movie the running man, pretty clearly, if I'm not mistaken. — Mentioned as being inspired by American Gladiator, a game show featuring physical competitions." — Chuck

💬 Comments

Log in to leave a comment.

No comments yet. Be the first!