It was quite by accident that a few months ago (around the time that "lockdown" began), I discovered there's a plethera of old game show episodes available to watch on You Tube. Now rarely a day passes by that I don't watch at least a few episodes (and often "a few" has turned into several hours of auto play.)Does this make me a game show guru? Not really, but I was inspired to create 'Midway' and I have done plenty of research all about the classics.
Here's a few of my favourites.
Concentration aired on and off from 1958 to 1991. The game consists of a puzzle type board featuring 25 numbered squares. Behind the squares are prizes and behind those a drawing that represents a popular saying. The contestant who solved the puzzle won the pries they accumulated and a chance at to win a car. In 1987 the show returned as Classic Concentration hosted by Alex Trebek.
Despite attempts at bringing the game back, NBCUniversal, which owns the rights to Concentration, has yet to authorize a new version.
Sale of the Century originally ran from 1969-1973 and returned for 6 years from 1983-1989 (hosted by Canadian game show star Jim Perry.)
The premise had high cost prizes made available for a mere fraction of what they actually cost. A leather jacket for $10, a new car for $600? Yep. On Sale of the Century this was possible. Of course the "catch" was that contestants won very low dollar amounts. It was not unusual for the day's big winner to have less than $100 as their total earnings, meaning that $600 car would only be possible to get by returning...and winning, several consecutive episodes.
One of the things I liked best about this show was the way the announcer said "Sale of the Century" at the beginning of each show. The word "Sale" was loud and echoed like he was in a cavern somewhere, and always made me smile.
Surprisingly, Blockbusters (US version) only aired for a brief period of time, first on NBC from 1980-1982 and then a brief 5 month run in 1987. The original version was hosted by the legendary Bill Cullen, who played host to 18 games shows throughout his career.
The game was played on a board that consisted of four interlocking rows of five hexagons. On each hexagon there was a different letter of the alphabet, which represented the first letter of the correct answer to a question. For example, if the letter P was chosen, a sample question might be: "What 'P' is a North American mammal whose body is covered with thousands of bristles called quills?", in which case the correct answer would be "Porcupine". Contestants attempted to correctly answer a row of hexagon questions to win.
Not sure why I like this one so much. Possibly it's because Bill Cullen was a charming gentleman who often veered off script, interjecting his quirky humour within the game play. But more likely, I enjoyed this show because unlike shows like 'Jeopardy' or 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire', I actually knew the correct answers to many of the questions.
