Panel game

A recording of radio panel game Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, featuring, from left, announcer and scorekeeper Carl Kasell; host Peter Sagal; and panelists Adam Felber, Roxanne Roberts and Keegan-Michael Key before a live audience.

A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates.[1] Participants may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on 8 Out of 10 Cats The genre can be traced to 1938, when Information Please debuted on U.S. radio.[2] The earliest known television panel show is Play the Game, a charades show in 1946. The modern trend of comedy panel shows can find early roots with Stop Me If You've Heard This One in 1939 and Can You Top This? in 1940. While panel shows were more popular in the past in the U.S., they are still very common in the United Kingdom.[3]

Format

While many early panel shows stuck to the traditional quiz show format in which celebrities tried to get the right answers and win, the primary goal of modern panel shows is to entertain the audience with comedy, with the game or quiz structure merely serving up subjects that the comedians can joke about.[4][5] With the panelists trying to be entertaining more than win points, scoring is often deemphasized. The American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? acknowledged this with the introduction, "Welcome to Whose Line Is It Anyway, the show where everything's made up and the points don't matter." QI's opaque scoring system is purportedly a mystery even to its creator,[6] I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue dispenses with points altogether, and many other shows reveal points only at the end or declare a winner without mentioning the score.

Panel games can have any number of themes. Many are topical and satirical, such as Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, Have I Got News for You, The News Quiz and Mock The Week. 8 Out of 10 Cats is based on opinion polling; What's My Line? is about occupations; Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Face The Music center on music; A League of Their Own and A Question of Sport are sports-themed; Was It Something I Said?, Quote... Unquote and Who Said That? feature quotations; My Word! involves wordplay; I've Got a Secret is about secrets; To Tell The Truth and Would I Lie to You? deal with lies; and It Pays to Be Ignorant and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue are parodies.

Some panel games are variations of classic parlor games.[7] Twenty Questions is based on the parlor game of the same name, Give Us a Clue is modeled after Charades, and Call My Bluff and Balderdash are based on Fictionary.

Frequently, a panel show features recurring panelists or permanent team captains, and some panelists appear on multiple panel shows.[8]

Most shows are recorded before a studio audience.

International production

United States

The first known example of a panel game in the world is the radio program Information Please, which debuted on 17 May 1938 on the NBC Blue Network. An evolution of the quiz show format, Information Please added the key element of a panel of celebrities, largely writers and intellectuals, but also actors and politicians. Listeners would mail in questions, winning prizes for stumping the panel.

U.S. panel games transferred to television early in the medium's history, with the first known example being Play the Game, a charades show that aired on DuMont and ABC beginning in 1946. The celebrity charades concept has been replicated numerous times since then. The most popular adaptation was Pantomime Quiz, airing from 1947 to 1959, and having runs on each of the four television networks operating at the time. Other charades shows have included Stump the Stars, Movietown, RSVP, Celebrity Charades, Showoffs and Body Language.

TV panel shows saw their peak of popularity in the 1950s and '60s, when CBS ran the three longest-running panel shows in prime time: What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth. At times, they were among the top ten shows on U.S. television, and they continue to experience occasional revivals on daytime television and cable. All three Goodson-Todman primetime shows were cancelled by CBS in 1967 amid ratings declines and trouble attracting younger viewers, although the programs were consistently profitable by being among the cheapest television shows to produce.[9][10] Their cancellations came as attention to demographics and a focus on younger viewers gained currency among advertisers; a few years later, more shows that were demographically challenged but still otherwise popular programs would be canceled as part of the rural purge.[11] The departures of these three New York-based shows were also part of a mass migration of television production to Los Angeles, leaving only one primetime show produced on the East Coast.[10][12]

Later years saw several successes in the format, with Match Game;[13] Hollywood Squares;[14][15][16][17] The Gong Show;[18] Win, Lose or Draw; Celebrity Sweepstakes; Password[19] and Pyramid primarily running in the daytime and airing in their greatest numbers during the '70s and '80s. These panel games marked a shift in the format, de-emphasizing the intellectual conversation of panel games from earlier generations and moving to games that emphasized wordplay and comedy (the panelists themselves increasingly became obscure C-list and D-list celebrities). Later, the U.S. version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? had a primetime run from 1998 to 2004 on ABC, while Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! has become a popular weekend show on NPR since 1998.

There have been several attempts in recent years to bring the conversational comedy-driven UK panel show format to the US. Three US versions of Have I Got News For You have been piloted, including for NBC in 2009 and TBS in 2012.[20][21] A TV version of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! was piloted for CBS in 2008,[22] and a televised special of the radio show aired on BBC America as a backdoor pilot in 2011.[23] Several episodes of a US version of The News Quiz have aired on BBC Radio 4 and WNYC public radio in 2012 and 2013.[24][25] BBC America aired one season of Would You Rather...? with Graham Norton, a panel show recorded in the United States in 2011,[26] and NBC aired The Marriage Ref from 2010 to 2011.[27]

While Wait Wait continues to find success on the radio with conversational comedy, U.S. TV panel shows currently employ other formats. NBC has revived parlor games such as charades, Password and Pictionary on Hollywood Game Night, airing since 2013,[28] as well as on The Tonight Show and Late Night under Jimmy Fallon's tenure. Comedy Central has aired games where panelists win points for punchlines, most notably with @midnight, which got a 160-episode order for 2014 after a successful trial run in 2013.[29] That show followed experimentations with similar panel game segments on Comedy Central's The Burn with Jeff Ross and The Jeselnik Offensive. Both NBC's and Comedy Central's takes on panel games have emphasized points and scoring in the style of traditional game shows, a difference from British panel shows.

Also in 2013, The CW revived Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which features improv sketches.[30] In 2014, Fox debuted Riot, a similar program that only lasted one season.

In 2014, Celebrity Name Game with Craig Ferguson will premiere in syndication, in which players and celebrities team up to identify famous names.[31] In August 2014, FremantleMedia announced a revival of To Tell The Truth, eyed for network primetime, though no network had yet committed to the project.[32] The upcoming series Hot Bench, set for debut September 2014, is a hybrid of the panel game and the court show, with backing from famed television "Judge" Judy Sheindlin.

United Kingdom

Panel games are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where they've found continued success since the BBC adapted its first radio panel shows from classic parlor games.[3][7] Perhaps the earliest UK panel show is the BBC radio adaptation of Twenty Questions, which debuted on 28 February 1947. Panel games can have decades-long runs in the UK: Twenty Questions lasted until 1976, while Just a Minute has remained on the air with the same host since 1967. Other long-running games on radio include I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue since 1972, The News Quiz since 1977, and My Word! from 1956 to 1990.

The British version of What's My Line? may have been the first television panel game in the UK, with an original run from 1951 to 1963 and several remakes in later years. The word game Call My Bluff aired from 1965 to 2005, the charades show Give Us a Clue ran from 1979 to 1992, and the improv game Whose Line Is It Anyway? aired from 1988 to 1998. Current British panel games have become showcases for the nation's top stand-up and improv comedians, as well as career-making opportunities for new comedians.[5] Regular comics on panel shows often go on to star in sitcoms and other TV shows.

The modern British panel show format of TV comedy quizzes started with Have I Got News for You, a loose adaptation of BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz. HIGNFY, as the show is sometimes known, began airing in 1990, and often has the highest ratings of all shows on its night, regularly attracting as much as 20% or more of all homes watching television.[33][34][35] The show's success grew after its transfer from BBC Two to the flagship BBC One in 2000.

After HIGNFY's success, panel shows have proliferated on British TV, including, among others, QI on various BBC channels since 2003, Mock the Week on BBC Two since 2005, 8 Out of 10 Cats on Channel 4 since 2005, Would I Lie to You? on BBC One since 2007, and the annual special, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year on Channel 4 since 2004. On the radio, The News Quiz, Just a Minute, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue and The Unbelievable Truth are among the most popular and long-running panel shows, all of which air on BBC Radio 4.

Australia

Australian panel games include advertising-focused The Gruen Transfer and its various spinoffs on ABC1 since 2008, the music quiz Spicks and Specks on ABC1 from 2005 to 2011 and again since 2014, news quiz Have You Been Paying Attention? on Network Ten since 2013, and tabloid quiz Dirty Laundry Live on ABC2 since 2013. News quiz Good News Week aired on ABC1 from 1996 to 2000 and on Network Ten from 2008 to 2012, sports quiz A League of Their Own aired on Network Ten in 2013, and pop culture quiz Tractor Monkeys aired on ABC1 in 2013.

New Zealand

New Zealand panel games include the news quiz 7 Days since 2009 and the New Zealand version of Would I Lie To You? in 2012. Both air(ed) on TV3.

Canada

Canadian panel show The Debaters has aired on CBC Radio One since 2006, and in 2014, Super Channel ordered 36 episodes of a panel show called Too Much Information.[36] A revival of Match Game aired on The Comedy Network from 2012 to 2014, the news quiz Front Page Challenge aired on CBC Television from 1957 to 1995, and the charades show Party Game aired in syndication from 1970 to 1981.

France

French panel shows include Canapé quiz ("Sofa Quiz"), an adaptation of Hollywood Game Night on TMC since 2014; and Vendredi tout est permis ("Friday, Everything Goes"), an improv game on TF1 since 2011. Earlier panel games include L'Académie des neuf ("The Academy of Nine"), based on Hollywood Squares on Antenne 2 from 1982 to 1987; Burger Quiz on Canal + from 2001 to 2002; Cluedo, based on the board game Cluedo/Clue on France 3 from 1994 to 1995, Le Francophonissime, a linguistic game on ORTF TV and TF1 from 1969 to 1981; and Incroyables Expériences ("Incredible Experiences"), about scientific experiments on France 2 and France 3 from 2008 to 2012.

Germany

German panel games include 7 Tage, 7 Köpfe ("7 Days, 7 Heads"), Genial daneben ("Idiot Savant"), Kopfball ("Headball"), Die Montagsmaler ("Pictionary"), Noch Besserwissen ("Even Better Knowledge"), Pssst … (similar to I've Got A Secret), Die Pyramide (the German version of Pyramid), Quizfire, Sag die Wahrheit ("Tell the Truth", the German version of To Tell the Truth), Typisch Frau – Typisch Mann ("Typical Woman – Typical Man"), Was bin ich? ("What am I?", the German version of What's My Line?) and Was denkt Deutschland? ("What Does Germany Think?").

Japan

Early Japanese panel shows include 話の泉 ("Source of the Story"), based on Information Please on NHK Radio 1 from 1946 to 1964; 二十の扉 ("Twenty Doors"), based on Twenty Questions on NHK Radio 1 from 1947 to 1960; ジェスチャー ("Gestures"), a charades show on NHK General TV from 1953 to 1968; and 私の秘密 ("My Secret"), based on I've Got a Secret on NHK General TV from 1956 to 1967.

Currently, a wide variety of Japanese variety shows are popular, and many of them feature owarai comedians, Japanese idols and other celebrities playing games.

Some games involve bizarre physical stunts. Brain Wall, adapted in English-speaking countries as Hole in the Wall, has comedians attempt to jump through oddly shaped holes in moving walls without falling into water. DERO and its successor TORE have celebrities solve mental and physical challenges to escape traps and hazards. VS Arashi has a team of celebrities compete against pop group Arashi in physical games, and AKBingo! similarly features members of pop group AKB48 and others competing in physical challenges and quizzes.

Other shows include 日本語探Qバラエティ クイズ!それマジ!?ニッポン ("Is it really!?"), a celebrity word game; くりぃむクイズ ミラクル9 ("Miracle 9"), a show somewhat similar to Hollywood Squares; Numer0n, a celebrity numbers game; and オールスター感謝祭 ("All Star Thanksgiving"), a semi-annual celebrity quiz. There are many other games featuring celebrities within Japan's variety genre.

Prime Minister Ōta is a show featuring many comedians and politicians debating fictional proposals in a sort of game show version of a legislative chamber.

Examples

References

  1. ↑ Russell Davies, host (9 April 2011). "Episode 2". Let's Get Quizzical. 1 minutes in. Retrieved 19 May 2011. In the old days, quizzes and panel games were easy to tell apart, because quiz competitors were people you'd never heard of, and panellists were more or less well-known figures. More recently, though, the rise of the celebrity quiz has complicated the picture. Text "BBC Radio 4 Extra" ignored (help)
  2. ↑ "Quiz show". Britannica Online Encyclopedia.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Davies, Serena (10 July 2008). "For an extra point, why are panel games so popular?". London: The Telegraph.
  4. ↑ Armstrong, Stephen (23 November 2008). "A very British tradition". The Guardian (London).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Czajkowski, Elise (28 July 2011). "A Guide to the Hilarious World of British Panel Shows". Splitsider. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "QI Trivia". BBC Nordic. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Fingers On The Buzzer". Daily Mail (UK). 11 January 2001.
  8. ↑ Heritage, Stuart (26 March 2011). "Is it good news that there's so many topical comedy shows?". The Guardian (London).
  9. ↑ "'What's My Line?' Leaving TV in Fall". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Only One Prime-Time TV Show Will Be Produced Here In Fall". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ "Mature Programs Dying As TV Woos Young Folks". The Oregonian.
  12. ↑ "Last New York-Based Shows On The Way Out Due To Lack Of Space". The Evening Independent.
  13. ↑ Cynthia Lowry (1 January 1963). "Newest Quiz Game Bows". The Telegraph-Herald (Dubuque, Iowa). The Associated Press. Retrieved 18 May 2011. Skillful chefs of television cooked up a panel show called "What's My Line?" more than a decade ago. ... Now still another variation of the good old recipe has been launched, "The Match Game."
  14. ↑ Maxene Fabe (25 September 1975). "Celebrities love to play TV games, but some personalities never make it". The Modesto Bee. Los Angelese Times Syndicate. Retrieved 18 May 2011. The most complex and entertaining panel game ever devised is Hollywood Squares...
  15. ↑ "Wally Cox (obituary)". Los Angeles Times. 15 February 1973. Retrieved 18 May 2011. ...was a regular on the NBC daytime panel show "The Hollywood Squares,"...
  16. ↑ Cynthia Lowry (25 November 1971). "Hollywood Squares easy income source to its guest stars". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. Retrieved 18 May 2011. ...NBC's "Hollywood Squares," the most popular game or panel show on television today.
  17. ↑ Vernon Scott (21 February 1969). "Dual Format TV Show Reflects Generation Gap". Schenectady Gazette. UPI. Retrieved 18 May 2011. The daily "Hollywood Squares" series is a tic-tac-toe game with a panel of nine performers...
  18. ↑ Brian Lowry (16 July 2008). "The Gong Show With Dave Attell/Reality Bites Back". Variety. Retrieved 18 May 2011. ...creating a "panel show," as they used to call them in the '50s, with a "Man Show" sensibility.
  19. ↑ Cynthia Lowry (17 May 1963). "Panelist, Show Host Plan Marriage in Vegas June 14". Ocala Star-Banner. The Associated Press. Retrieved 18 May 2011. Apparently romance finally bloomed on a panel show—but in truth "Password" had little or nothing to do with it.
  20. ↑ Rigby, Sam (13 November 2012). "'Have I Got News for You' records US pilot for TBS". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  21. ↑ "Americans tape their own HIGNFY". Chortle. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  22. ↑ ""Wait, Wait" To Become TV Show?" (6 SEPTEMBER 2008). FishbowlDC. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  23. ↑ Johnson, Steve (22 December 2011). "'Wait Wait' for TV worthwhile". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  24. ↑ McCarthy, Sean (20 September 2012). "Andy Borowitz to host two "News Quiz USA" episodes for BBC Radio 4 in October 2012". The Comic's Comic. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  25. ↑ "News Quiz USA". WNYC. 28 June 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  26. ↑ "Would You Rather...? with Graham Norton". BBC America. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  27. ↑ Lowry, Brian (1 March 2010). "The Marriage Ref". Variety magazine. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  28. ↑ "Let's all play 'Hollywood Game Night'!". Los Angeles Times. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  29. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (15 November 2013). "Comedy Central's '@Midnight' Gets 40-Week Pickup". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  30. ↑ Faughnder, Ryan (17 July 2013). "'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' debuts strong for CW". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  31. ↑ O'Connell, Michael (28 October 2013). "Craig Ferguson to Host Syndicated Game Show 'Celebrity Name Game'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  32. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (29 July 2014). "FremantleMedia North America & Jeff Gaspin To Revive ‘To Tell the Truth’". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  33. ↑ Curtis, Beth (26 October 2013). "BBC One's 'HIGNFY', 'Graham Norton' lead Friday's primetime ratings". Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  34. ↑ Curtis, Beth (19 October 2013). "'Have I Got News For You' leads Friday night ratings with 4.67m". Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  35. ↑ Martin, Liam (14 December 2013). "Have I Got News For You leads Friday night ratings with 4.68m". Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  36. ↑ Middleton, Richard (1 May 2014). "Super packs comics into panel show". C21Media. Retrieved 23 May 2014.

External links