Game shows have been part of popular culture since the 1930s, with Spelling Bee and Information Please among the earliest examples. They’ve been featured on the biggest TV and radio shows every decade since then, but how is this genre gradually making up a bigger part of the entertainment industry?
Live Game Shows
In the past, we tuned in to see shows like Winning Streak or Who Want to Be a Millionaire? This is a way of enjoying watching other people taking a challenge and trying to win a prize. There’s a lot to like about this format, such as being able to shout out the answers at home with no risk and the pleasure of seeing others get life-changing wins.
However, live interactive game shows we can play online have helped to expand the genre into new areas. An example can be seen with this exclusive live casino game show called Paddy’s Mansion Heist. A human presenter spins a wheel that can lead to a cash prize or one of the four bonus rounds. You place your bet on the screen and wait to see where the wheel stops, with a similar type of gameplay seen in other live game shows such as Crazy Time and Treasure Island. Other game shows have been inspired in other ways, as is the case with Pachinko Live, which is based on the popular Japanese gaming machine.
Mixing with Other Genres
The classic format for game shows includes the contestants answering questions, with an element of chance often thrown in through the use of a wheel or some other prop. However, from this basic starting point, we can see an increasing number of different themes and genres used to add variety.
Sports and music are a couple of the themes that help to add extra to game shows. If we head to Belfast, we can see that Potato TV has been looking for contestants to take part in a sports-based game show called The Finish Line. In terms of music, The Lyrics Board had a long period of success in Ireland, while the American show Name That Tune has been filmed in Dublin in the recent past.
Source: PxHere
New Games and Classics Appearing Regularly
The top game shows can run for years, such as Winning Streak which went through a series of hosts in its 30-year run on RTÉ One. Others have been less successful, but that hasn’t stopped TV executives from constantly pitching new ideas that they feel could be a hit, leading to new game shows being launched regularly.
The Money List was launched by RTÉ’s last year as their new Sunday night quiz. Presented by Baz Ashmawy, it’s based on the American show called The Rich List. Meanwhile. Graham Norton turned up on the British version of Wheel of Fortune earlier this year, proving that there’s still a lot of life left in classic formats like this.
These examples show us how game shows have successfully appealed to a broader audience by venturing into new and diverse subject areas while maintaining the timeless and beloved characteristics that have contributed to their enduring popularity. We can expect to see the range of games to become even wider as new types of gameplay appear and inspire us to take a chance on winning.
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