Calling out Hard Quiz - an Australian game show. Four contestants in a series of elimination rounds, about half based on their own special topic, which can be pretty much anything, and the rest being general knowledge. Main difference is the banter between host - comedian Tom Gleeson - and the contestants. Pacey, funny and playing for a token big brass mug.
Personally, I think a good guide for quiz shows is the moment that the final prize value is more than a novelty item or any cash prize, it does something bad to the watchability of the show.
On the game show thread you shared, I could not get past the long intro music, introduction of comedians on the show & the reintroduction of a piece of fun from the comedian’s life. It was 17:35 min/sec before they started the game.
That’s what’s nice about youtube, you can skip around. I usually skip to the beginning of the prize category (the first round where they bring something in), then jump to the first actual task and I usually skip the parts where Alex is tallying the scores. I like the games and most of the banter, I’m generally not all that concerned about the scores.
I get that 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown takes a while to start the game, but really, the game is just an excuse for the comedians to do their thing. If the game is all you’re interested in, you probably want to watch the regular, non-funny Countdown show.
I suspect that, on the whole, U.S. game show producers have generally decided that, beyond Jeopardy!, there isn’t much interest in game shows that feature questions to which the typical viewer isn’t likely to even have a good guess at the answer.
My gut tells me that, in the U.S., at least, part of the appeal of knowledge-based game shows (Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, even The Price is Right) is that a typical viewer will know (or at least have a good idea at) many of the answers, and thus, feel good about their own knowledge and intelligence – and, maybe, feel a little smug when they know an answer and the contestant gets it wrong.
I agree on most games shows, but not Jeopardy. Some of those questions are hard. You may not like the format, but it definitely qualifies as an intelligent game show.
If it’s still around, Cash Cab with Ben Bailey was (is?) a good game show. One episode had a guy go the entire round and thanks to the editing it was almost a nail-biter.
The original, with Bailey, finally ended production in 2020 (though I have no doubt that reruns will be available somewhere, in perpetuity). It was revived last year, with Adam Growe (who had been the host of the Canadian version) as the new host, and apparently runs on AXS TV (a lower-tier cable channel).
Jeopardy being a hodgepodge of trivia is a feature, not a bug.
I’ve been enjoying The Floor. I like the huge and wide-ranging categories and the visual recognition aspect. Contestants are shown pictures in a category and have to quickly identify what our who it is (sometimes with words missing from a phrase).
There’s a little bit of excessive taking between rounds, but it’s mostly focused on players’ tactics (which neighbor to challenge - each one ‘owns’ a category) and strategy (go big for daily prizes or lay low to last longer).
I’ve taken the online tryout test for Jeopardy! several times, and even though I have a head for trivia and knowledge, and kick my friends’ and relatives’ asses when we play trivia games at home, I have enough blind spots in that knowledge base (particularly in literature, and TV shows or music from the last 25 years) that I simply don’t score well enough to even be considered. One needs to not only be a nerd and a knowledge geek, but a very well-rounded one, to be successful on the show.
Same, I like that they inherit the opponents category when they win, which they may know nothing about.
Sometimes I will know all the answers on the board and sometimes I don’t know a single answer in a not so knowledgeable category. So sometimes I feel like a genius and sometimes a giant dunce. It’s why I like wheel better, I always feel like a genius.
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