They’re still around, but they don’t have the cultural visibility they once did. I think their high point, at least in the U.S., was the 1970s.
They are on Dropout TV and they are amazing.
You’ve definitely got to check out Game Changer, it features one of the best improv casts I’ve ever seen. There are some videos on YouTube.
Make Some Noise is pretty good too.
In the '70s, we had four channels. So not a lot of choice in what we watched.
That made a lot of shows a common touchstone with the rest of Bored American TV Viewers, whether they were good or not.
Seems like EVERYone watched The Price is Right, The Match Game, Let’s Make a Deal, etc… (though I’ll admit I would’ve seen Hollywood Squares and Jeopardy even if I’d had more choices).
And, believe me, if we’d had more channels we wouldn’t have sat through Family Feud… Survey says: We’re all idiots!
Yeah, the monoculture is dead. There’s tons of game shows out there now, but everybody is watching different ones.
And the game shows seem to have evolved into high-energy reality contests with celebrity hosts. What is America’s Got Talent but a glitzy version of The Gong Show? Jimmy Fallon hosts Password. ABC has Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Celebrity Jeopardy.
Some of them are called “reality TV” now. E.g. Survivor, Traitors.
Can you imagine how lame “Survivor” would’ve been in our childhoods?
“Watch as Milton Jablonsky tries to navigate the backyards of his suburb, while clotheslines full of sheets and shrapnel from power mowers cause what the network’s determined is an acceptable level of danger!”
Is Taskmaster a game show?
I feel like the possibilities are broadening.
What happened to them? They appeal to the lowest common denominator now more than ever, especially in the US. Other than Jeopardy!, I can’t stand American game shows any more. It seems like the contestants are deliberately chosen to be the dumbest and lose, thereby saving the shows lots of money. I’d also rather listen to monkeys chattering than the inane bantering that goes on between hosts and contestants simply to fill time.