June 1 is National Game Show Day apparently, a holiday one mightn't have thought society required ("Those poor neglected game shows! Let us...let us take a day to memorialize them!") But it does present me with an occasion to solidify the growing presence of this content thread on Travalanche.
I hasten to point out that I am not a fan of the genre. Overall, the form fills me with revulsion, as only a New England Puritan can be revolted by the spectacle of ugly Americans relinquishing all dignity and openly drooling over money and prizes. When there is a quiz component I can become marginally interested sometimes, but far from being addicted, as some people claim to be, I generally give the form a wide berth, having been subjected to daily hours of game show spectatorship in my childhood by a mother who was devoted to them (we only had one television).
BUT...in the world of show business, game shows are not a silo cut off from all other forms. Many of the hosts and panelists on these shows have traditionally been drawn from the ranks of comedians, singers, movie stars, and other entertainers, and in writing about such people I inevitably have touched on whatever game shows they ever had anything to do with. Also, as I began to work in earnest on my upcoming book about radio and TV variety programs, I came to realize that there is no hard line among the forms. Game shows (especially the ones showcasing celebrities) are often full of entertainment, usually in the form of comic banter. In some cases the line between game show and talk/variety show can be blurry.
I have not given them a dedicated section on the blog because game shows staddle both radio and television; rather than split them up, I bunch them together here. Most of them will also be found in the TV variety section of the blog, mixed in with talk and variety shows.
HOSTS/ PRODUCERS/ SHOWS
The Top Nine Game Show Phonies of My Youth
Louie Anderson (several)
Bob Barker/ The Price is Right
Chuck Barris (several)
Jack Barry (several)
Larry Blyden (several)
Major Bowes/ Amateur Hour
Drew Carey (pending)
John Davidson (several)
Richard Dawson/ Family Feud
Clifton Fadiman/ Information Please
Art Fleming/ Jeopardy
Merv Griffin (several)
Monty Hall/ Let's Make a Deal
Robert Q. Lewis (several)
Allen Ludden/ Password
Ted Mack/ Amateur Hour
Howie Mandel (several)
Peter Marshall/ Hollywood Squares
Groucho Marx/ You Bet Your Life
Garry Moore/ To Tell the Truth
Jan Murray (several)
Bert Parks (several)
Gene Rayburn/ Match Game
Jimmy Saville (several)
Herb Shriner (Two for the Money)
ANNOUNCERS
George Fenneman
Ed Herlihy
Ed McMahon
Johnny Olson (pending)
Don Pardo (pending)
PANELISTS
Peggy Cass
Kitty Carlisle
Bennett Cerf
Patti Deutsch
Arlene Francis
Tom Howard
Dorothy Kilgallen
Oscar Levant
Lulu McConell
Henry Morgan
George Shelton
(There are hundreds beyond these, naturally. It's kind of hard to know where to draw the line. But I've listed some that I think many people knew primarily as game show panelists, regardless of they did or achieved in other realms)
For more on show biz history, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, And please stay tuned for my upcoming Electric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety
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