In My Write Mind

This week, the Game Show Network (GSN) began airing a series determining the “50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time.”

Can I just say how much I love this network? To think that there’s a channel totally devoted to playing games just … just … makes me smile. This is the network that has such a variety of show hosts, Wink Martindale and Chuck Woolery now share a lunchroom with friggin’ Danny Bonaduce!!! Whew, can you imagine the conversations?!?!? Love.it. The only network that airs game shows that were originally broadcast when I was four years old.

How can life get any better?!?!?

I was going to put together a list of my top five game shows of all time, but because I have a lot to do before I travel, I will talk about my top two: “Match Game” and “Family Feud”. In that order.

Any time of day, I can tune in and catch my cousin Richard on both shows (where he holds the distinction, hands down, as the best player in Match’s history … gotta love family. LOL).

I like them both for different reasons.

I grew up on Feud — the corny honky tonk intro music, the cheesy poses the families would agree to while being announced, the insane answers that came out of family members mouths that clearly got them beat up once they got back to [insert home city here], the weird red X’s that appeared on the screen and had such a loud sound effect it must’ve felt like somebody shot you when you had a wrong answer. It was all the ancilliary stuff that kept me glued to the set.

Throw in the “Fast Money” round, where having 35 seconds to get to 200 points seemed like the greatest challenge in the world. I loved the start of each question (”Out of 100 people surveyed, the top 5 answers are on the board … Name …”), the later years where they had stars from soap operas, movies, TV shows, et al, competing.

It was just a great family show.

I just knew that my family would be on there one day, and I’d get to introduce them to our cousin Richard *insert dream sequence here* “Richard, this is your cousin and my father Albert, my sister Linda, my niece Nickol and my brother Butch.” And then my niece would go “Ewwww” when Richard tried to kiss her and get us kicked off the show */end nightmare sequence*

Sigh. Never mind. I did have the home version of the game, though, and I was the best at it. I’d break it out during parties, family reunions … anything. It was the greatest. I’d play Richard, complete with three-piece suit, specially picked flower on my lapel (ok, it was a dead rose from my mom’s garden … lol), and kisses for the lay-tees. hehehe

And that’s why it will go down as one of my most favorite game shows of all time.

Followed closely by “Match Game”, which I recently discovered through GSN. Apparently, the show was hot during most of the 1970s, which were my toddler to elementary school years, so I had no idea it was on. Here’s how GSN.com describes it:

Played with an emphasis on risque humor and bawdy punch-lines, this six celebrity panel game show became extremely popular during its original 1973-79 run. The show was hosted by Gene Rayburn. Match Game (70’s), where you Fill in the BLANK and match answers with Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Richard Dawson and the visiting guest stars. The contestant with the most matches after two rounds proceeds to the ‘Audience Match’ where three stars are asked to match responses.

The questions were outrageous. Here’s an example: “Dumb Dora was so dumb … (audience: “How dumb was she?”) She was so dumb that when she moved to the North Pole, the first thing she got for her igloo was a blank.”

The fashion sense, the looseness on the set, the clear sign that heavy drinking took place before, after and maybe even during shows?!?!? How can you not sign up for this stuff? I’m downright giddy watching these classic episodes. It’s reached DVR status. Seriously, ask anyone that’s been around me this summer and they’ll tell you: Match Game will be on my TV screen at some point during the day. I think I need the new seasons of “Flavor of Love” or “Being Bobby Brown” to start ASAP to distract me.

If there isn’t some sort of intervention, I can totally see myself going to Radio Shack and buying one of those long, pointy microphones and donning a plaid 70’s suit to a party in the near future. That’s how obsessed I am. Not.a.good.thing. Sigh.

Well, those are my favorite game shows. Both from back in a different era, back when TV wasn’t as advanced, bloopers and flubs happened in real time and made it on the air, back when people could still laugh at themselves. I loved that time. I’m definitely a 70s baby. And proud of it.

Below is a list of some of the game shows that air on GSN. Take a look, and then tell me … what are some of your all-time favorites? In My Write Minds wanna know.

$100,000 Pyramid
Beat The Clock
Blockbusters
Card Sharks
Chain Reaction
Dog Eat Dog
Family Feud (Combs)
Family Feud (Dawson)
Greed
Hollywood Squares
I’ve Got A Secret (2006)
Jeopardy!
Lingo
Love Connection
Match Game (70’s)
Newlywed Game
Password Plus
Playmania
Press Your Luck
Starface
Street Smarts
Super Password
The Amazing Race
To Tell The Truth
Weakest Link
Whammy! The All New Press Your Luck
What’s My Line?
Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Win Ben Stein’s Money

“The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time” airs on GSN Tuesday through Thursday, from July 18th until August 31st, when the top show will be announced. Check it out.