The 1970s was a decade of rapid change in many ways, including the development of reality T.V. The first reality series aired as early as 1965, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that they took off. In the last forty years, many things have changed, but there’s no arguing that game shows have remained popular and in demand. Here’s a list of the top 22 best game shows in the 1970s.
1. Match Game
Match Game, an American panel game show, debuted on NBC in 1962 and has since been revived numerous times. Like its competitors, Match Game’s purpose was to challenge the contestants’ knowledge of popular songs, movies, and T.V. shows.
2. Family Feud
Mark Goodson is the creator of the American game show Family Feud. To earn money and prizes, two families compete to name the most common responses to survey questions.
The first of the three distinct runs of the show began in 1976. Richard Dawson served as the presenter throughout its initial run from 1976 to 1985, aired on ABC and in syndication. Ray Combs hosted the series revival in 1988, which ran on CBS and in syndication until 1994. When that version ended in 1995, Dawson continued to host.
3. The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right is a Bob Stewart, Mark Goodson, and Bill Todman-created American television game show where contestants compete by estimating the values of goods to win money and prizes. As the announcer shouts out their names and uses the show’s motto, “Come on down,” contestants are chosen from the studio crowd.
4. Jeopardy
American game show Jeopardy! was developed by Merv Griffin. The quiz show’s typical question-and-answer format is reversed in this competition. Instead of questions, contestants receive general knowledge hints in the form of answers, and they must choose the person, place, object, or idea that the clue depicts while wording each response as a question.
5. Password
To earn cash rewards, two teams, each consisting of a celebrity contestant and player, must successfully communicate mystery words using only single-word hints on the American television game Password. Bob Stewart was the show’s creator, while Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions was its first producer. From 1961 to 1967 on CBS, and from 1971 to 1975 on ABC. Allen Ludden, who previously served as the host of the G.E. College Bowl, served as the game’s first host.
6. Hollywood Squares
Two competitors compete in a tic-tac-toe game on Hollywood Squares (formerly The Hollywood Squares), an American game show, with the chance to win cash and prizes. The show started as a pilot on NBC in 1965, and the regular series debuted there in 1966. The game’s board is a three-by-three vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each of which is filled by a famous person sitting at a desk and looking at the players.
7. The Pyramid
Pyramid alludes to a collection of American television game shows that have aired internationally and domestically. 10,000 Dollar Pyramid, the first season, debuted in March 1973. Two players compete in the game, each matched with a famous person. Based on descriptions given to them by their teammates, contestants try to guess a string of words or phrases. The show’s pyramid-shaped gameboard, which has six categories organized in a triangle, is referenced in the title.
8. Wheel of Fortune
The American television game Wheel of Fortune, also known as just Wheel, was created by Merv Griffin. The program has been broadcast without interruption since January 1975. The show involves a competition where people compete to solve word puzzles similar to resembling a hangman to win money and other prizes that are selected by a large carnival wheel.
9. The Newlywed Game
In the American game show The Newlywed Game, newlywed couples compete against one another in a series of revealing question rounds to see how well they know or don’t know one another. The program, created by Robert “Nick” Nicholson and E. Roger Muir (credited on-screen as Roger E. Muir) and produced by Chuck Barris, has appeared in many different versions since its 1966 debut.
10. Let’s Make a Deal
Let’s Make a Deal, often known as LMAD, is a musical comedic variety game show aired on American television in 1963. Since then, it has been produced in several other nations worldwide. Monty Hall hosted the show for almost 30 years, and Stefan Hatos was responsible for its conception and production.
11. The Joker’s Wild
Between 1972 and 2019, many episodes of the American game show The Joker’s Wild was broadcast on television. Participants respond to questions based on random categories chosen by a device resembling a slot machine. The show’s title alludes to the jokers that are part of the slot machine game’s operation.
12. High Rollers
Competitors rolled dice in the American game show High Rollers to win prizes. Shut the Box was used as the model for the format. High Rollers had its NBC daytime television premiere in July 1974. An auxiliary series began airing once a week on regional stations in September 1975 after being released into syndication.
13. Name That Tune
The American music game show Name That Tune airs on television. The series, which includes competitors attempting to accurately identify songs played by an on-stage orchestra or band, was initially devised and produced by orchestra director Harry Salter and his wife, Roberta Semple Salter. Beginning in 1952 and running until 1954 on the NBC Radio Network, Name The same network broadcast That Tune on television in 1953. In the summer of 1953, CBS decided to continue the television show, and they did so until 1959.
14. Card Sharks
An American game show on television is called Card Sharks. For Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, Chester Feldman produced it. Two competitors must correctly guess the answers to survey questions to control a row of enormous playing cards and win the game. They must also decide whether the next card to be chosen will be higher or lower. A person adept at playing cards is referred to as a “card sharp,” thus the name Card Sharks.
15. Concentration
The American game show Concentration was inspired by the identically named children’s memory game. Matching cards represented competition awards. Matching pairs of cards were slowly taken off the board, revealing pieces of rebus puzzle players had to complete to win a match.
16. The Gong Show
The Gong Show is a U.S. amateur talent competition that Sony Pictures Television has licensed internationally. From June 1976 to July 1978, it aired on NBC’s daytime schedule. It aired in first-run syndication from 1976 to 1980 and 1988 to 1989. It ia in 2017 for an ABC broadcast. Chuck Barris was the creator and first producer of the program, and he also hosted it on NBC and in syndication from 1977 until 1980.
17. The Dating Game
The American television show The Dating Game had its debut in December 1965. Chuck Barris produced several series from the 1960s through the 1980s, and The Dating Game was the first. The show was canceled by ABC on July 6, 1973, although it was shown in syndication as The New Dating Game for an additional year (1973–1974). The show was resurrected three more times in syndication, first from 1978 to 1980 as The All-New Dating Game, then from 1986 to 1989, and last from 1996 to 1999.
18. What’s My Line
Initially shown in black and white and then in color on the CBS Television Network in the United States from 1950 to 1967, What’s My Line? Has since undergone many U.S. revivals. Celebrity panelists are called upon to interrogate and correctly identify a weekly celebrity “mystery guest” while blindfolded. Contestants are asked questions to ascertain their occupation, or “line of employment” occupation in the game.
19. Supermarket Sweep
An American game program on television is called Supermarket Sweep. The format mixes a typical team-based quiz show with the innovative idea of a real-time, timed sprint around a grocery store. Cameras watch the teams pulling shopping carts in a timed race through a vast, empty supermarket with several aisles; the winning team is determined by the cost of the products tossed into the cart.
20. Truth Or Consequences
The American game show Truth or Consequences was first presented by Ralph Edwards (1940–1957) on NBC radio, and then by Edwards (1950–1954), Jack Bailey (1954–1956), Bob Barker (1956–1975), Steve Dunne (1957–1958), Bob Hilton (1977–1978), and Larry Anderson on television (1987–1988). The T.V. program aired on NBC, CBS, and in syndication. The show’s idea was to combine crazy stunts with the traditional question portion of game shows.
21. Tattletales
American game show Tattletales is created by Goodson-Todman Productions in collaboration with Fremantle. Between February 1974 and June 1984, the show aired twice during the midday slot on CBS. Bert Convy served as the host, while several broadcasters occasionally provided voiceovers, including Jack Clark, Gene Wood, Johnny Olson, and John Harlan. Olson announced during the 1980s, and Wood served as the show’s lead announcer during its initial run.
22. Beat the Clock
In the American game show Beat the Clock, contestants must accomplish tasks in time to earn rewards. Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions were responsible for the show’s conception. Time’s A-Wastin’, a radio program presented by Bud Collyer, debuted in 1948.