Top 5 Game Shows of All Time

The Price Is Right

Who can forget Plinko, contestant’s row, and of course the Showcase Showdown? Bob Barker, in his prime could have easily run for congress and won. "Oh, and by the way, you’ve just won a new car"!

Jeopardy!

I’ll take Game Show trivia for for $500, Alex. That’s what makes “Jeopardy!” such a treasure. I perosnally think that Ken Jennings incredible 74-game winning streak was a conspiracy to win back some of the game show marketshare from Regis...but it sure worked. He took home over $3 million in total prizes and the country was glued to the set.

Let's Make a Deal

I don’t care how much I need a new dining room table, I’m not dressing up as a chicken on national television. It could be a grand piano or a box of macaroni and cheese. And who could resist a "Monty Hual"?

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

“Do you want to use a lifeline?,” “Should we ask the audience?,” “Is that your final answer?” When the $1 million was won the first time, it made the front page of USA Today. Of course, ABC, began to show too many episodes and the game soon lost its appeal...but it did have a good run.

Press Your Luck

"Big Money. No Whammies!" The phrase became a mantra for a generation (OK that might be a bit ambitious); but it was good entertainment value. The game show actaully was responsible for launching the career of day time talk show host Jenny Jones. It also introduced Michael Larson, a self-described unemployed ice cream truck driver who became famous for using a VCR to beat the network and show producers. Larson discovered that the presumed random patterns of the game board were not random; instead, they lit up in one of only five preset patterns. Larson identified two spaces on the gameboard where the Whammy would never appear and which always contained money plus a free spin, allowing him to increase his score and also retain control. Larson was able to memorize the sequences to help him stop the board where and when he wanted. On the single game in which he appeared, Larson hit a Whammy on his first spin, but then spun 45 times without hitting a Whammy, earning a total of $110,237. His total was a record for a single appearance on a daytime network game show up to that time. Stick that in your pipe, Bob Barker!!