50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time (TV Guide)
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For GSN's list, see 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time (TV series).
The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time was a list compiled by TV Guide, which included the 50 greatest American game shows ever. The detailed list with summaries was the cover story on the January 27, 2001 issue of the magazine. Many game show fanatics and experts were skeptical of the list, arguing that many shows were ranked higher than where they deserved to be ranked and that some did not even belong on the list at all.
[edit] The list
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The complete list of the top 50, with tenures[1]:
| Rank | Show | Airdates |
|---|---|---|
| 50. | Supermarket Sweep | ABC 1965 - 1967 LIFE 1990 - 1998 PAX (ION), 1999 - 2004 |
| 49. | Love Connection | SYN 1983 - 1994 SYN 1998 - 1999 |
| 48. | People Are Funny | NBC 1954 - 1961 NBC 1984 |
| 47. | Where In The World is Carmen Sandiego? | PBS 1991 - 1996 |
| 46. | Who Do You Trust? | ABC 1957 - 1963 |
| 45. | Win, Lose or Draw | NBC/SYN 1987 - 1990 |
| 44. | Ready.. Set... Cook! | FOOD 1995 - 2001 |
| 43. | Play Your Hunch | CBS 1958 - 1959 ABC 1959 NBC 1959 - 1963 |
| 42. | Shenanigans | ABC 1964 - 1965 |
| 41. | Sale of the Century | NBC 1969 - 1973 SYN 1973 - 1974 NBC 1983 - 1989 SYN 1985 - 1986 |
| 40. | Scrabble | NBC 1984 - 1990 NBC 1993 |
| 39. | High Rollers | NBC 1974 - 1976 SYN 1975 - 1976 NBC 1978 - 1980 SYN 1987 - 1988 |
| 38. | Liar's Club | SYN 1969 SYN 1976 - 1979 1988 - 1989 |
| 37. | Card Sharks | NBC 1978 - 1981 CBS 1986 - 1989 SYN 1986 - 1987 SYN 2001 - 2002 |
| 36. | Remote Control | MTV 1987 - 1990 SYN 1989 |
| 35. | Pantomime Quiz | CBS 1950 - 1957 NBC 1952 DUMONT 1953 - 1954 ABC 1955 ABC 1958 - 1959 |
| Stump the Stars | CBS 1962 - 1963 CBS 1968 - 1970 |
|
| 34. | The Big Payoff | NBC/CBS 1953 - 1959 |
| 33. | 2 Minute Drill | ESPN 2000 - 2001 |
| 32. | The Joker's Wild | CBS 1972 - 1975 SYN 1977 - 1986 SYN 1990 - 1991 |
| 31. | Tattletales | CBS 1974 - 1978 CBS 1982 - 1984 SYN 1977 - 1978 |
| 30. | Win Ben Stein's Money | COM 1997 - 2003 |
| 29. | Double Dare | NICK 1986 - 1988 |
| Super Sloppy Double Dare | NICK 1987 NICK 1989 |
|
| Family Double Dare | FOX 1988 NICK 1990-1993 |
|
| Double Dare 2000 | NICK 2000 | |
| 28. | The Dating Game | ABC 1965 - 1973 SYN 1973 - 1974 SYN 1978 - 1980 SYN 1986 - 1989 SYN 1996 - 1999 |
| 27. | I've Got a Secret | CBS 1952 - 1967 SYN 1972 - 1973 CBS 1976 OXY 2001 GSN 2006 - present |
| 26. | Name That Tune | NBC/CBS 1953 - 1959 NBC/SYN 1974 - 1981 SYN 1984 - 1986 |
| 25. | Wheel of Fortune | NBC 1975 - 1989 SYN 1983 - present CBS 1989 - 1991 NBC 1991 |
| 24. | You Bet Your Life | NBC 1950 - 1961 |
| 23. | Beat the Clock | CBS 1950 - 1958 ABC 1958 - 1961 SYN 1969 - 1974 CBS 1979 - 1980 PAX (ION) 2002 |
| 22. | The $64,000 Question | CBS 1955 - 1958 |
| 21. | Truth or Consequences | NBC 1954 - 1965 CBS 1966 - 1975 |
| 20. | Concentration | NBC 1958 - 1959[2] NBC 1958 - 1973 SYN 1973 - 1978 NBC 1987 - 1991[3] |
| 19. | Hollywood Squares | NBC 1966 - 1981 SYN 1971 - 1981 SYN 1986 - 1989 SYN 1998 - 2004 |
| 18. | Let's Make a Deal | NBC 1963 - 1968 ABC 1968 - 1976 SYN 1971 - 1977 SYN 1980 - 1981 SYN 1984 - 1986 NBC 1990 - 1991 NBC 2003 |
| 17. | Video Village | CBS 1960 - 1962 |
| 16. | The Gong Show | NBC/SYN 1976 - 1980 |
| 15. | Twenty-One | NBC 1956 - 1958 NBC 2000 |
| 14. | Family Feud | ABC 1976 - 1985 SYN 1977 - 1984 CBS 1988 - 1993 SYN 1988 - 1995 SYN 1999 - present |
| 13. | Queen for a Day | NBC 1956 - 1964 |
| 12. | Survivor | CBS 2000 - present |
| 11. | The Newlywed Game | ABC 1966 - 1974 [4] ABC 1967 - 1971 [4] SYN 1977 - 1980 ABC 1984 SYN 1985 - 1989 SYN 1997 - 2000 |
| 10. | Match Game | NBC 1962 - 1969 CBS 1973 - 1979 SYN 1975 - 1982 ABC 1990 - 1991 SYN 1998 - 1999 |
| 9. | To Tell the Truth | CBS 1956 - 1968 SYN 1969 - 1978 SYN 1980 - 1981 NBC 1990 - 1991 SYN 2000 - 2002 |
| 8. | Masquerade Party | ABC/NBC/CBS 1952 - 1960 SYN 1974 - 1975 |
| 7. | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | ABC 1999 - 2002 SYN 2002 - present ABC 2004[5] |
| 6. | Pyramid | CBS 1973 - 1974 ABC 1974 - 1980 SYN 1974 - 1979 SYN 1981 CBS 1982 - 1987 SYN 1985 - 1988 CBS 1988 SYN 1991 - 1992 SYN 2002 - 2004 |
| 5. | What's My Line? | CBS 1950 - 1967 SYN 1968 - 1975 |
| 4. | Password | CBS 1961 - 1967 ABC 1971 - 1975 |
| 3. | G.E. College Bowl | CBS 1959 - 1962 NBC 1962 - 1970 |
| 2. | Jeopardy! | NBC 1964 - 1975 SYN 1974 - 1975 NBC 1978 - 1979 SYN 1984 - present ABC 1990[6] |
| 1. | The Price is Right | NBC 1956 - 1963 ABC 1963 - 1965 SYN 1972 - 1980 CBS 1972 - present SYN 1985 - 1986 SYN 1994 - 1995 |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Airdates are current as of 2006, despite the list being published in 2001.
- ^ This version of Concentration was a nighttime version.
- ^ This version was called Classic Concentration.
- ^ a b ABC had two shows running at the same time: one during ABC daytime, the other during ABC primetime.
- ^ The 2004 edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, was actually Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire, in which contestants played for a possible $10,000,000.
- ^ The 1990 incarnation of Jeopardy! was actually Super Jeopardy!, a special prime-time tournament.
