I forgot Lingo. I like that one a lot.
I think I need to get digital cable.
I like most of the new original shows. Lingo, Russian Roulette, WinTuition and Cram are my favorites among these. Friend or Foe is okay, other than that it reminds me of how low humanity can go with people saying, “let’s split the money, we both worked hard for it and I know you need it as much as I do”, only for each contestant to Foe each other out and walk out with nothing (serves them right). Whammy was a big disappointment and it just didn’t seem to have the same feel to it as the original Press Your Luck. For example, The spin-passing wars that were common to PYL where each contestant keeps passing one spin back and forth in hopes the other will get a Whammy, is rare on the new show. The dumping stuff on contestants got old quickly, the Whammies seem to appear too often to give a contestant a chance to rack up any major winnings (most of which is prizes). They’re going to air new episodes in March and perhaps they have retooled a few things, so I’ll give it another chance and see how it is then.
I’m also looking forward to the Michael Larson documentary.
As for the classics, Match Game is among my favorites (I remember seeing it as a kid but I had no idea what they were talking about most of the time). I also enjoy Family Fued and $xx,000 Pyramid. There are lots of them I’d like to see, including $ale of the Century, Tic-Tac-Dough, Concentration, Scrabble, plus all the shows that ran on the USA Network. Most of all I’d like to The Price is Right reruns. If they dumped The Newlywed Game to make room for other shows I’d be happy (and why,oh why, did they bring Love Connection on?! Dump this one, too!) Overall I’d like to see GSN show a wider variety of shows instead of repeating shows 2 or 3 times a day.
I enjoy watching the Match Game and other old gameshows like Hot Potato, the Dating Game, etc. if only for the timewarp factor. I’m totally entranced by the giant eyeglasses, flared collars, Herb Alpert theme songs, regrettable hairdos, and long-dead or forgotten B- & C-list celebs of bygone eras–trying to figure out what some of them were ever famous for is my own “home version” game show! The flashing lights, the Day-glo colours, the psychedelic ultramod soundsets…if I didn’t know better I would think all of America was on a collective acid trip during the 70s.
Max,
Thanks for the heads-up. I’ve been asking people for years if they remembered that Press Your Luck run, and no one did. I remember watching the game when I was a kid, and they had to continue it to a second show the next day. It was obvious that the guy memorized the pattern. He nailed Big Bucks + A Spin about 30 times in a row.
Thank goodness for GSN running this program. Now I know my brain still works. (and my wife and family will no longer think I’m bats.)
For all you Press Your Luck junkies and wierdos (how can anybody like this show? ;)), here’s a site with all the info and trivia you could possibly ever want about this show.
Bon Apetite!
Happy
Hey, I forgot about Lingo also.
So, I guess that for original Game Show Network shows, it’s
- Friend or Foe
- Lingo
- Russian Roulette
(They could drop Whammy and Cram and I wouldn’t care less. Win Tuition isn’t too bad, but it’s not that great either.)
For older game shows - Match Game
- Hollywood Squares
- Password
When I was a kid, I loved Tic Tac Toe and Jokers Wild, but watching them now sometimes, they don’t seem as great as they once did.
Heck, for all you Press Your Luck fans, here’s the kick-ass home version (unauthorized).
http://www.crossbearer.com/software/press/pyl.html
GSN is unlikely to carry to old Chuck Woolery Scrabble, even though they seem to be carrying everything else he ever hosted. They are currently developing an original show, which is more like the Scrabble board game.
GSN no longer has the license from Goodson/Todman to carry the old Price is Rights, and Bob Barker didn’t allow the ones with furs as prizes to air when they did. I had heard a theory once, that the most likely way we’d see TPiR on GSN would be with a deal similar to what Conan O’Brien has with Comedy Central.
And I think they run enirely too many of their Original Shows. I especially dislike Friend or Foe.
-M
I’ll bet you are a big fan of Jeopardy!, too. Aren’t you The Man Who. 
I adore MATCH GAME! The costuming and hairstyles alone are worth the price of admission.
I’m not crazy about the new first run stuff.
Hate Newlywed Game!
I hate all the new shows. Well, “hate” is maybe too strong a word, but I dislike Russian Roulette and Friend or Foe intensely. Boring and slow. Lingo is also dull and it drives me nuts when the contestant doesn’t spell the same word I want. There’s no way to know if I’m close to the answer when they don’t guess words with the same letters as mine. Cram…well, the host of Cram is a total smarm and the show doesn’t have the virtue of partial nudity like his old show Strip Poker did. I hated Press Your Luck and I hate Whammy.
Of the old shows I like Match Game and Hollywood Squares best. I would not shed a single tear if every episode of The Newlywed Game in all of its incarnations was consumed in a warehouse fire of suspicious origin. I miss the old b/w shows they used to show on Sunday nights. They pop up at 3 AM or whatever but that’s way too late and I can’t justify taping them to watch later to myself.
No one’s mentioned yet the occasional special ep marathons they run sometimes, like Elvira’s Halloween “horror of dead game shows” or other holiday-themed stuff. I get a kick out of those.
I’d like to see Scrabble, either an old or a new version, along with some of the mid-80s game shows like Sale of the Century and that one based on Atari video games whose name escapes me.
Blockbusters and To Tell The Truth are my favorite oldies. Haven’t really seen any of their original ones. And just what is the set on Match Game made of? Painted styrofoam?
Ocassionally I watch this. I like watching the old shows, sometimes, but some of the newer ones just crack me up (either intentionally or unintentionally). I find Russian Roulette interesting; Friend or Foe has really annoying music, and I dislike the host, so I watched maybe two episodes. And for some reason I like Taboo even though I know, logically, that it sucks. But I like it anyway.
I don’t watch GN regularly. If a show’s on that I know is ok, I might watch it. Otherwise, eh.
Whenever I am up late enough, I like the B&W overnight shows as well…watching the panel smoking, seeing the female guests in their new gowns, celebrity guests who I have never heard of, “in” jokes from those days…a nice time capsule. I especially got a chuckle out of one of the games when they made sure each of the contestants got their carton of cigarettes on the way out…they were all Olympic athletes! Times have changed.
I also like the old Lets Make A Deal…again, a great time capsule as far as the prices for cars, the “new” products (televisions with actual dials), shag carpets and, as I mentioned on a previous post once, my all time favorite prize - a red refrigerator with an AM/FM radio/8 track cassette player built into the freezer door!
There’s a reason why GSN has only the syndicated/nighttime episodes, too. It appears that all but the last year or so of the NBC daytime version of “The Hollywood Squares” was destroyed sometime in the late 70’s or early 80’s.
(This happened a lot to old daytime television. For example, the entire 70’s run of “Password” is missing.)
I love Match Game. I’m like a fifty year old housewife when it comes to that show. 
It’s especially telling to see how different attitudes were in the 70’s. For example, recently one of the questions was, “Marvin is upset. Not only did he just get fired from his job, his replacement was a _____.” I was wracking my brain, thinking, “Robot? Computer? Monkey Butler?” No, the contestant answered “woman”…and matched ALL SIX panelists!! Jeez, nobody would DARE answer the question that way today!
Most of the new game shows on GSN suck. It was so much better in the old days when they only showed classic shows that have stood the test of time. I’d like to see more “Joker’s Wild”, “Price is Right”, “Concentration”, and “The Gong Show”. They did just add “The Weakest Link” which is cool. Hopefully they’ll rerun the original “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” as well.
I was glad I got to see last night episode! The question went something like, “Unlucky Larry is really unlucky! He went on a diet and he didn’t lose any weight, but he lost 3 inches off his _____!” The contestant said neck. Some celebrities said neck, some said nose… Marcia Wallace’s answer had to be bleeped. I bet she said the same thing I said 
PLEASE READ MY POST. PLEASE?
Thank you.
Excellent thread by the way.
I am a game show nut. While I have my favorites, I’ve never met a game show I didn’t like. I even liked the old “Dialing for Dollars” and “Bowling for Dollars” that they used to show here in the early/mid 70’s. I love everything on GSN! I have my favorites, but I love them all.
Anyway…
There was a game show in the very late 1970’s called “WHEW”.
It only ran for about 2 seasons, but it was a very, very exciting show. I’ve been trying for 2 years now to get Game Show Network to play it. I’d appreciate it if people would help by E-mailing them request for it! You won’t be sorry!
I remember that! Don’t remember if I watched it though.
Not one to beg, but I know that CITE is long and it’s asking alot to ask you all to read it.
Anyway, I’ve been emailing them for 2 years now, and I even sent them a letter to no avail. I’m hoping by getting others interested I can get GSN to play it. Strenght in numbers you know.
I think because it was such a short lived program only a handfull of us saw it or remember it.
You’re certainly not the only person asking them to air “Whew,” but I’d be surprised to see it on the schedule any time soon. Whew would hardly be profitably for GSN, and they are REALLY concentrating on their original shows these days.
Then again, fan favoritism was in part responsible for getting PYL on, so who knows?
-M