# What makes a TV game show good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-tv-game-show-good/357238 "2006-05-18T06:39:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-tv-game-show-good/357238/21 "2006-05-19T00:27:57Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I’d say the play-along-at-home element is at least as important as all others combined. No question about it. “Millionaire”, for example–for me, half the fun of watching it is screaming at the yutz who uses a lifeline for a question I knew the answer to in eighth grade! **Sampiro** , you make some valid points in your ideas for “Millionaire” (not to mention making soda come out of my nose after reading about Bob’s daughter’s naked boobies–but I digress). I especially like the Google lifeline–it’s certainly better than the short-lived “3 wise men” lifeline (what genius thought that one up?) and would probably work better than phoning your Aunt Sadie regarding a question about thermodynamics. I used to think that the first five questions were a waste, too, but they are there to ease the contestant into the game, and at least they edit it down so it doesn’t take too much time. Dunno about the frat boys, though. How about on a version of “DOND” for Logo? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-tv-game-show-good/357238/22 "2006-05-19T02:34:25Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Not if your opponent knows the answers to _thousands_ of questions. If his knowledge is larger than yours, it’s not luck. Nobody knows everything. It helps if you know a lot, but the statement was not that Jeopardy! is ALL luck, it’s that there is an element of luck. You might be a bit smarter than me, but if one of the categories is Baseball, I’m going to clear that sucker in thirty seconds, and if it contains a Daily Double I’m gonna double my money. So I would be lucky if Baseball was a category. Throw in “Canada” and there’s more easy money. There are episodes where I just wipe the board out, and episodes where I feel like an idiot. You just never know. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-tv-game-show-good/357238/23 "2006-05-19T02:58:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > _WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE_ was the show that everybody was talking about for a few weeks several years ago [snip] > > I think there are two main reasons why the show quickly began smelling like old halibut: I’ll add a third reason. Once they started doing a bunch of celebrity shows I lost interest and quit watching. I’d much rather see ordinary folks have a shot at becoming at least semi-rich over seeing celebrities win money for some charity (not that I feel such charities were not deserving of such money). The inter-celebrity banter during the first two tiers (up to the $32,000 question) wasted time and got old quickly. Here’s a fourth reason. When it was on three nights a week it became a bit too much, proving that you can get too much of a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-tv-game-show-good/357238/24 "2006-05-19T07:34:24Z")
to answer the OPs question, I think that having a host like **Bob Barker** at the helm of the show is a key element in success. I haven’t watched The Price is Right since college until one of my friends began working on the show a couple weeks ago, and I finally realized that there’s a good reason this show has stayed on the air for 34 years, and it is because it has a host who is DAMN GOOD at what he does. Even for being 82 years old, Bob really knows how to interact with people, and just what to say at the right moment. How many game shows with generic hosts have survived? Well, other than Pat Sajak 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-tv-game-show-good/357238/25 "2006-05-19T12:58:19Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > I think that having a host like **Bob Barker** at the helm of the show is a key element in success. … or **Gene Rayburn**. Match Game was a hoot! ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-tv-game-show-good/357238/26 "2006-05-19T16:54:12Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > A second element is drama. Deal has that. The episode of Jeopardy I was on got rerun I think because a) we cleared both boards, b) it was my opponent’s fifth win and c) because I made it into the state of possibly winning on the very last question. Very impressive, Voyager. There are times I’ve watched jeopardy and see that I could have done extremely well. Other times I see categories like opera and the history of the Papacy and I thank God I wasn’t on those shows to advertise my ignorance. > [@](#): > > No - you’re overestimating the intelligence of the American public. I bet there was a substantial percentage of Millionaire watchers who thought anyone who got to $1000 was a genius. Plus, we had the fun of watching the clowns who blew the $200 question. I think the reason that _Millionaire_ did so well was because of the early questions. Pretty much every home viewer could answer a few of the questions, even kids, and see themselves in the hot seat. _Jeopardy_ caters to a much smaller, better educated audience. With _Jeopardy_, it’s pretty clear that you have to be quite knowledgable on a broad range of topics to even play. On _Millionaire_, even if you’re not very well read, thanks to the multiple choice aspect and the lifelines, you could do pretty well. Probably become a thirty-two-thousandaire. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-tv-game-show-good/357238.md?page=1)