Worst Primetime Game Shows?

[sushibarset11]

I’m gonna divide them by channel and see what you guys think. Here’s my opinion:

ABC: Show me the Money. Trying to mix a Deal or No Deal-like game with trivia, dancing girls, and the over-the-top William Shatner just didn’t work. Shatner himself sounded like he didn’t want to be there. It had your standard Endemol contestants, Endemol gameplay, etc. Just executed very badly.

ABC: National Bingo Night. Oy. This wasn’t good at all. Contestants guessed whether bingo balls were higher or lower, odd or even, red or black, or if they had a specific number on it. And they weren’t even playing bingo! Actually, the entire studio audience was playing bingo. The top prize was usually a prize package of $50,000; which was decent, considering how unnecessarily hard some of these games were. And the fact that the contestant could still lose if they completed their game but someone in the audience got bingo, made it worse. The only memorable aspect was Sunil Narkar, the commissioner (“NOOOO BINGO!”) Host Ed Sanders (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) does ok with his job hosting, but he can get a little loud at times. And, his voice was dubbed in certain parts.

ABC: Set For Life. I don’t know what the people at Endemol were thinking when they came up with this. It’s just pulling lights out of tubes in order to win money. That’s it! And the whole “Guardian Angel” thing just doesn’t help. Jimmy Kimmel was shockingly poor hosting this, and rightfully so. He clearly was bored out of his mind. Worse, they cut out the preliminary game, which, I think was the same as the normal game itself.

FOX: The Moment of Truth. One cannot last watching an episode without just having bad vibes about this. Contestants were forced to answer probing questions about their personal life while a lie detector determined if their answers were true or false. Oh, and it’s you’re stereotypical 2000s prime time game show; you know, money ladder, padding, big jackpot, etc. I just felt bad for the good host in Mark L. Walberg; he just looked so uncomfortable hosting this.

FOX: Million Dollar Money Drop. Another Endemol show. I’m not saying much, but the reason why this was there was because of the errors with their questions. When you compare it to Million Pound Drop in the UK; it makes you wonder if the US should have done better with their set, host, and time. And, the “Quick Change” help was a complete letdown. I wish I could say more, but I can’t.

FOX: The Chamber. How this show managed to even be on the air is baffling. Contestants answered questions in a torture chamber that was either hot or cold; Level 4’s winds in Cold could cause extreme frostbite. 3 episodes in, it was pulled, and thank god, because there would have been water torture, electric shock, and insect chambers.

NBC: Take It All. Need I say more? This show exploited HUMAN GREED. I didn’t really care for the first few rounds, but it was the Prize Fight that ruined it. It was basically your Prisoner’s Dilemma made worse. Aside from Howie Mandel hosting it well, there were no redeeming qualities to this show. One more thing; this aired close to CHRISTMASTIME.

NBC: Identity. We’re just playing a matching game; there’s no need to make it a big money primetime game show with the unnecessary tropes. Don’t get me wrong, I really like Penn Jillette as a magician, but as host of this show, he just didn’t do good. However, despite the bad show it was, it managed to get 3 top prize winners in its short span. But in the second, there were 2 COMMERCIAL BREAK CLIFFHANGERS during the big reveal.

NBC: Who’s Still Standing. This show was worse that Minute to Win It with commercial break cliffhangers. And the gameplay just fell flat. Answering questions (Wheel of Fortune style), ejecting the losers (a la Russian Roulette) and ripping of Millionaire’s shuffle format; it just didn’t work. Ben Bailey was still as good as he was on Cash Cab, but that’s it. Typical million dollar NBC show with sob stories = no fun

(Surprisingly, I have only one for CBS. I know there should be more, but, I actually don’t watch CBS that much.)

CBS: Million Dollar Password. Possibly the worst incarnation of Password in my opinion. Yes, I get it’s Password, but you don’t need to cheapen the budget and bringing in air-headed celebrities like WILLIAM SHATNER. There’s nothing special about this show; just a money ladder and a million dollar jackpot. The set, albeit harsh on the eyes, is actually good, and Regis hosts well, but FremantleMedia did poor when trying to make this.


This is all my opinion by the way. What do you think are the worst primetime game shows you’ve seen? Let me know.

[Twentington]

I would argue that while 2000's Twenty-One wasn't a horrible game show, it would go down as one of the worst because of all the ways they screwed it up.

• The strike system led to a lot of anticlimactic games (they didn't take to calling Rahim Oberholtzer "The Accidental Millionaire" for nothing!)
• The questions were, for the most part, way too easy, partly because of the multiple-choice questions, and partly because of the pop culture bent of them. 
• The payout system was especially crappy at first, and even once they changed that, it still didn't hold much of a candle to the $X,000 a point system they should have gone with.
• Why end tied games with a single buzzer question? It'd be a lot more exciting to raise the stakes and start a second game instead.
• What was the point of Perfect 21? There was never much of a point in going beyond the $60,000 mark. It wasn't a bad bonus round, per se, but I think it needed some major retooling.
• I also didn't like how it felt like the show got cheaper as time went on. The show was solid when it had the live orchestra, and fine when they switched to prerecorded tracks, but I feel like the switch to generic dramatic orchestra music took some character out of the show.

This is not to say there weren't things I liked about the show. I kind of enjoyed Maury Povich as host, and David Legler's run to what was then a new winnings record is among one of my favorite moments of the million dollar game show craze. But there was just so much squandered potential, in part because they tried too much to make it like Millionaire. Had they left well enough alone and let Twenty-One do its own thing, I think it could have turned into a decent success.

[billmcdee]

Of all the shows listed, I only watched four of them.

Show Me The Money, after one episode, I had had more than enough.  I kept wanting Klingons to beam down onto the set and stun Shatner, not to mention the overly wired contestants...and the dancing girls, just a very sub-par ripoff of the lovely Deal Or No Deal case girls...

National Bingo Night, I remember watching this on Friday nights and I actually found myself enjoying it to an extent.  I too got a kick out of the "Commissioner" and "Noooooo Bingo!"  But it was a rather "hokey" game, but reminded me a little bit of Price is Right as they played different games for different prizes.

Identity I watched once, and it got stale after about 3 minutes for me.  What's My Line? was a far superior game and this was just a very very weak copy at best.  Small wonder it was off the air after 5 minutes.

Last but not least, I tried twice to watch Million Dollar Password.  I love Regis as a host, I love the game of Password, but not when it's nothing but lightning round after lightning round...Part of the charm of Password was it was a cerebral game and some of the clues and some of the answers lent itself to some of the most amusing moments on the show.  Having the entire game rush rush rush...it was Password meets Pyramid...and it's small wonder this show fizzled out before long... (Parenthetically...hence the parentheses, I have never been a big fan of any of the Pyramids, but Dick Clark hosting it made it much more tolerable to watch).

[sushibarset11]

Jul 16, 2020 16:58:21 GMT -5 billmcdee said:

Of all the shows listed, I only watched four of them.

Show Me The Money, after one episode, I had had more than enough.  I kept wanting Klingons to beam down onto the set and stun Shatner, not to mention the overly wired contestants...and the dancing girls, just a very sub-par ripoff of the lovely Deal Or No Deal case girls...

National Bingo Night, I remember watching this on Friday nights and I actually found myself enjoying it to an extent.  I too got a kick out of the "Commissioner" and "Noooooo Bingo!"  But it was a rather "hokey" game, but reminded me a little bit of Price is Right as they played different games for different prizes.

Identity I watched once, and it got stale after about 3 minutes for me.  What's My Line? was a far superior game and this was just a very very weak copy at best.  Small wonder it was off the air after 5 minutes.

Last but not least, I tried twice to watch Million Dollar Password.  I love Regis as a host, I love the game of Password, but not when it's nothing but lightning round after lightning round...Part of the charm of Password was it was a cerebral game and some of the clues and some of the answers lent itself to some of the most amusing moments on the show.  Having the entire game rush rush rush...it was Password meets Pyramid...and it's small wonder this show fizzled out before long... (Parenthetically...hence the parentheses, I have never been a big fan of any of the Pyramids, but Dick Clark hosting it made it much more tolerable to watch).

If my memory serves me, I believe National Bingo Night had some kind of play along factor at home; printing out game cards at ABC.com. However, most of the balls were edited out, I think to prevent something, I’m not sure.