For much of television’s history, game shows have been an ever-evolving part of the daily viewing cycle, right up through the streaming era. From trivia competitions to guessing games to skill battles and beyond, they’re among TV’s most delectable comfort foods, and many familiar favorites having their recipes rebooted time and again. Audiences love watching both big winners and big losers, we love playing along, and who doesn’t love a great host? (Read our list of the best hosts.) To celebrate this prize-heavy genre, we’ve ranked the 30 best game shows of all-time, with certain caveats.
The round-up below is almost entirely focused on traditional 30-minute game show formats here in the U.S., largely of the syndicated variety, and without series that are geared around competitions, elimination-driven seasons, giant stunts, or anything that also slots into “reality” or “children’s TV.” We’re talking games here that feasibly anyone can play. So everyone grab your buzzers, and don’t let the clock hit zero before you reach the end.
30. Chain Reaction
Hosts:: Bill Cullen, Blake Emmons, Geoff Edwards, Dylan Lane, Mike Catherwood
Many all-ages activity books worth their salt will feature chain reaction puzzles, in which the challenge is parsing through clues to get from one word to another completely unrelated word. That concept has been brought to life quite a few times over the years, with five different iterations of Chain Reaction airing across NBC (1980), USA (1986-1991), and Game Show Network (2006-07, 2015-16, 2021-22) for a total of 12 seasons and around 1,400 episodes combined.
- Standout Element: Every version of Chain Reaction is an equally fun option for an entire family or group of friends to yell answers at.
29. The Newlywed Game
Hosts: Bob Eubanks, Jim Lange, Paul Rodriguez, Gary Kroeger, Carnie Wilson, Sherri Shepherd
The show that ushered the phrase “making whoopee” into the TV lexicon, The Newlywed Game was co-created by Howdy Doody creator E. Roger Muir, with the legendary Chuck Barris as producer, back in 1966. It’s a more enjoyable romance-driven series than The Dating Game, which debuted the previous year, with a lot of the fun coming from watching couples who so very clearly are not meant to be together. Such marital chaos is so interesting to TV viewers that there have been six different versions of The Newlywed Game, from ABC’s runs (1966-74, 1984) to the syndicated versions (1977-80, 1985-89, 1996-99) to GSN’s sole revival (2009-2013), at least so far.
- Standout Element: The couples are usually a joy to watch, but recurring host Bob Eubanks had the magnetism to keep audiences tuned in, to the point where he held hosting duties across five different versions of the show.
28. Win, Lose Or Draw
Hosts: Vicki Lawrence, Bert Convy, Robb Weller, Marc Price, Justin Willman
Essentially the TV version of the home game Pictionary — and existing long before that game’s 2022 series — Win, Lose or Draw is one of few shows where contestants’ artistic abilities are most important, although only as important as well others can guess. Several versions of the series existed in a short window, with NBC’s daytime take (1987-89) airing at the same time as the syndicated version (1987-90), which predated Disney Channel’s Teen Win, Lose or Draw (1989-92) and another youth-oriented version (2014) that dropped the “Teen” from the title. Did I mention Win, Lose or Draw was co-created by Burt Reynolds?
- Standout Element: The best artists = the worst artists, in my book, and I also always loved when there was still enough time at the end of an episode for someone in the audience to try their own hand at earning extra money.
27. @midnight
One of two Comedy Central game shows to last beyond two seasons, the joke-laden @midnight debuted in 2013 laser-focus on Internet culture, from dank memes to Yahoo Answers to The Iron Sheik’s tweets. Like Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the actual competition quickly becomes irrelevant, and the point was for each episodes’ three comedian contestants to make the host and audience laugh as much as possible with a barrage of ridiculous headlines, hashtags and more. With over 600 episodes produced, and CBS’ revamped After Midnight keeping things alive, it’s a smorgasbord of comedy greats.
- Standout Element: Episodes with cast and crew from the same TV show competing against each other, from Archer to The Walking Dead to Rick and Morty.
26. Hollywood Squares
Hosts: Peter Marshall, Jon Bauman, John Davidson, Tom Bergeron
In case anyone had any reservations about whether Hollywood Squares slots more as a heady quiz show or a comedic game show, one only needs to know two things: it employs true/false questions, and Paul Lynde was a big part of it for a while. The tic-tac-toe series has seen various incarnations throughout the years, starting with its NBC run (1966-80) and into its various syndicated spans (1971-81, 1986-89, 1998-2004), as well as a few spinoffs such as Hip Hop Squares and Nashville Squares. The show’s biggest strength is indeed the lineup of nutty comedians and celebs brought in across the 5,000+ episodes, from “Weird” Al Yankovic to Vincent Price to Joan Rivers to Whoopi Goldberg to Martin Mull and many more.
- Standout Element: Arguably the most exciting Bonus Round of any version of Hollywood Squares is when the contestant chooses a car key to use on one of the on-stage vehicles, with the hopes that the key turns the vehicle on. There’s nothing like the moment when it’s successful.
25. Idiotest
Host: Ben Glieb
As much as I’d already love a reboot, Idiotest only boasts the lone four-season stretch on Game Show Network (2014-2017) with comedian Ben Gleib as its splendidly smarmy host. Rather than focusing on either general knowledge or esoteric trivia, Idiotest instead has its contestants utilizing (or not) their critical thinking skills for all manner of brain teasers and word puzzles. It’s a show where, as the name implies, people can often walk away feeling pretty dumb, and Gleib is excellent at poking plenty of good-natured fun without going too far.
- Standout Element: The puzzles are so well-crafted from season to season, with the writers putting a lot of effort into keeping things fresh, so that every single episode is automatically worth watching.
24. Remote Control
Hosts: Ken Ober, Colin Quinn
MTV’s first piece of original programming that wasn’t musically focused, Remote Control remains a singular snapshot of the era in which it aired (1987-1990), with the majority of its focus hooked to popular music videos and artists at the time, as well as other slices of pop culture. The crown jewel of Remote Control, however, was the stellar set design that resembled a messy basement, complete with La-Z-Boy recliners for the contestants that flipped backwards into the rear wall whenever someone was eliminated. With lots of celebrities appearing as both guests and contestants, the series spawned a few big names of its own, including host Ken Ober’s sidekick announcer Colin Quinn, with other segments featuring Adam Sandler and Denis Leary.
- Standout Element: The TV game board rocked, but it’s hard to deny the endless pleasure of seeing an unlucky loser being physically removed from the set to the audience singing “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”
23. Lingo
Hosts: Michael Reagan, Ralph Andrews, Chuck Woolery, Bill Engvall, RuPaul Charles
A fun and quizzical mix of bingo chance and mystery words, Lingo arrived on the scene in 1987 for a one-season syndicated run, but the game show truly became a household staple during its first Game Show Network run (2002-07), with Chuck Woolery heading things up. The latter two versions —- GSN (2011) and CBS’ primetime version in 2023 — aren’t quite on the same level, as fine as they are, and it seems pretty clear that Lingo played a big part in everyone getting obsessed with Wordle for a while.
- Standout Element: It’s definitely the Wordle challenge of figuring out short words with limited chances, but there’s also a strange pleasure in watching contestants hold up their balls all wrong.
22. Win Ben Stein's Money
Hosts: Ben Stein, Jimmy Kimmel, Nancy Pimental, Sal Iacono
This Daytime Emmy-winner from Comedy Central is a solid trivia game show in and of itself, with oodles of wordplay on display. But a lot of the show’s fun comes from Ferris Bueller vet Ben Stein flipping from host to competitor midway through each episode, as he tries to thwart the remaining two contestants from winning the money in his “bank.” Stein’s dry comedy complemented well against Man Show vets Kimmel and Iacono. Fairly low stakes for a major game show — $5,000 grand prizes, with latter-day Ben Stein’s Cup episodes inviting past winners to vie for a $25,000 prize — but that’s possibly how it stayed on the air for 6 seasons and more than 700 episodes from 1997-2003.
- Standout Element: As a winking jab at Jeopardy!, the show would “punish” players who accidentally answered in the form of a question by making them wear a dunce cap until the current round ended. Gotta love a gimmick.
21. Concentration / Classic Concentration
Hosts: Hugh Downs, Jack Barry, Bob Clayton, Ed McMahon, Jack Narz, Alex Trebek
First produced in 1958 by NBC, Concentration took its inspiration from the children’s memory game, with contestants matching numbers across a board with a rebus puzzle hiding behind it. Its initial run lasted 14 years, with nearly 3,800 episodes filmed, and immediately gave way to the syndicated version (1973-1978), with the Alex Trebek-hosted iteration airing on NBC from 1987-1991. While memory games may not be the most challenging, the various prizes and ability to steal an opponent’s winnings changed things up enough.
- Standout Element: Figuring out a rebus puzzle before all of the numbers were gone yet is a good way to feel like a mild genius for part of an afternoon.
20. America Says
Host: John Michael Higgins
A quasi-fusion of Family Feud and Match Game mechanics, Game Show Network’s America Says is similarly as enjoyable and easy to get into as both of the aforementioned classics. The simple concept involves players attempting to guess the top 7 answers to a variety of survey questions, with the first letter revealed for each word, as well as its estimated length based on blank-space size. Longtime comedy vet John Michael Higgins (Best in Show, Pitch Perfect) is an easy-breezy peach of a frontman, with plenty of quips and self-deprecating roasts to keep things amusing during its five seasons (2018-2022).
- Standout Element: The consistent balance between somewhat easy answers and less obvious ones, both within the main game and during the Bonus Round.
19. Supermarket Sweep
Hosts: Bill Malone, David Ruprecht, Leslie Jones
Grocery shopping may not always sound like a grand idea, but if it was anything like Supermarket Sweep, we’d likely never stop. The consumer-focused game show first aired on ABC from 1965-1967, but many fans are no doubt most familiar with the Lifetime (1990-95) and PAX TV (2000-03) versions, for which more than 1,100 episodes were produced. ABC’s reboot (2020-21) hosted by Leslie Jones didn’t quite hit the same highs, but definitely still made me want to start running up and down grocery aisles looking for marked items for higher prize money.
- Standout Element: Game-planning one’s own Super Sweep round and comparing it to what the contestants actually do, while wondering why so many people seemed to only add giant high-price items instead of smaller goods.
18. Weakest Link
Hosts: Anne Robinson, George Gray, Jane Lynch
Based on the UK series, the American take on Weakest Link hit a few years after Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and brought a similar high-stakes approach to the quiz format, only with contestants needing to work together for bigger winnings. For those who enjoy quiz-play over dramatics, the syndicated era (2002-03) is probably more ideal than NBC’s surprisingly short-lived first interaction (2001-02) or its most current version (2020-present). As well, this show features one of the most hardcore catchprases in all of game show TV: “You are the weakest link. Goodbye.”
- Standout Element: Whenever a group of contestants was actually smart enough to know how to properly bank the biggest totals, and also managed to get the right answers.
17. You Bet Your Life
Hosts: Groucho Marx, Buddy Hackett, Bill Cosby, Jay Leno
Kicking off its 75+-year lifespan as a radio series, You Bet Your Life’s transition to TV was a huge success in large part due to its initial host Groucho Marx entering his post-Marx Brothers solo era. In fact, much of the show’s legacy is tied to its lengthy NBC run (1950-1961) with Marx cracking audiences and contestants up left and right with both his witty banter and his trademark facial stylings, with the quiz questions taking a backseat. The syndicated versions of You Bet Your Life (1980-81, 1992-93, 2021-23) similarly opted for past-their-prime comedians as hosts, though with lesser results.
- Standout Element: Groucho Marx’s no-brainer questions were fun and empathetic, but nothing beats seeing the comedy legend chatting it up with other icons such as genre writers Ray Bradbury and William Peter Blatty, boxers Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano, actors Ernie Kovacs and Jayne Mansfield, and more.
16. To Tell The Truth
Hosts: Bud Collyer, Garry Moore, Joe Garagiola, Robin Ward, Gordon Elliott, Lynn Swann, Alex Trebek, John O'Hurley, Anthony Anderson
To date, more than 4,000 episodes of To Tell the Truth have been produced since the franchise debuted on CBS (1956-68), and at least one version of the series has aired in every decade since. Which goes to show just how popular this game show was and largely still is, with Anthony Anderson hosting the most recent primetime run (2016-2022). The gameplay has remained largely the same throughout its many decades, with a set of challengers each posing as the same person while answering questions from a panel of celebrities who are trying to figure out the real deal.
- Standout Element: While To Tell the Truth deserves pop culture props for giving “The Real Slim Shady” a source for its hook, a big draw here is nearly eight decades of celebrities, such as Johnny Carson, Betty White, Nipsey Russell, Dave Coulier, and Nikki Glaser. And Anthony Anderson’s mom.
15. Name That Tune
Hosts: Red Benson, Bill Cullen, George DeWitt, Richard Hayes, Dennis James, Tom Kennedy, Jim Lange, Jane Krakowski
Though music is a common category in quiz shows, Name That Tune (not to mention its radio show influences) is on a different plane, with questions coming in the form of song snippets that contestants must bet on recognizing. Transitioning from radio to TV in 1953, where it aired on both NBC (1953-54) and CBS (1953-59), before later enjoying syndicated runs (1970-71, 1974-81, 1984-85) and its current incarnation on Fox (2021-present), whose third season featured celebrities as the contestants. That it continues getting rebooted is a sign of the format’s appeal, which certainly helped inspire Jamie Foxx’s Beat Shazam.
- Standout Element: Loudly guessing correct Rice-a-Roni prices and Ibsen plays is fun for other game shows, but it’s a special kind of pride that comes with identifying a song in three or fewer notes.
14. Card Sharks
Hosts: Jim Perry, Bob Eubanks, Bill Rafferty, Pat Bullard, Joel McHale
Card Sharks’ various mechanics largely come from other game shows, such as Family Feud’s group-surveyed questions and answers as well as Price Is Right’s higher-or-lower wagering system. But that doesn’t stop the combination of elements from being a winner, and just about everyone has cashed in. NBC launched it from 1978-81, and it later flipped to CBS (1986-89) and its first run in syndication (1986-87), followed by another (2001-02) ahead of an extended dorman phase that ended with the Joel McHale-hosted stint on ABC (2019-21). The rule changes have helped freshen things up between versions, though all the show really needs is oversized playing cards, and the rest works itself out.
- Standout Element: Card Sharks is another A+ example of Bob Eubanks’ charm, but it deserves credit for helping put future Night Court co-star and regular game show contestant Markie Post in front of TV audiences as a card dealer.
13. Cash Cab
Hosts: Ben Bailey, Beth Melewski, Adam Growe
Another one of many successful American game shows spun out of a UK format, Cash Cab is also one of the longest-running, with always genial comedian Ben Bailey driving the titular quiz-mobile for the bulk of its run across Discovery (2005-12, 2017-18) and Bravo (2019-20); though not the locational spinoff Cash Cab: Chicago or the 2024 AXS revival Cash Cab Music. The premise is simple enough, with myriad New York residents shocked to discover they’re in a traveling game show. Unlike many others in the genre, this isn’t a game show people get rich from, with pretty low-level takeaways even for the highest earners. Rather, Cash Cab boasts randomly timed rounds, depending on trip times, and one of the most hilarious forms of TV elimination: after three wrong answers, the cab stops and the contestants have to find a new ride.
- Standout Element: The final double-or-nothing round, should the riders choose to partake, is a great way to add some gambling-esque risks into the mix, since they players got a free ride out of it no matter what.
12. Match Game
Hosts: Gene Rayburn, Ross Shafer, Michael Burger, Alec Baldwin
One of the first game shows that truly thrived on the bawdy nature of double entendres, Match Game delivered easy-to-understand but not always easy to master gameplay, especially with panels featuring slightly more off-kilter panelists. Gene Rayburn and his signature mic fronted the fan-fave series for the bulk of its early runs on NBC (1962-69), CBS (1973-79), and syndicated (1975-81, 1979-82), with a plethora of familiar faces regularly filling up the panel seats, such as fellow host Richard Dawson, Charles Nelson Reilly, Brett Somers and more. Later versions — syndicated (1998-99) and another ABC run (2016-21) — brought back a lot of the early era’s classic guests while mixing in others. Its latest iteration, hosted by Alec Baldwin, was canceled in April 2022.
- Standout Element: Many of the question scenarios and answers posed in Match Game can be groaners to say the least, but when they pair up completely in the comedy’s favor, and you get a moment like Betty White snorting with laughter, all the groans were worth it.
11. What's My Line?
Hosts: John Charles Daly, Wally Bruner, Larry Blyden
While many of the earliest episodes of What’s My Line? have been lost or destroyed, its success kept it on the air from 1950-67 on CBS, and from 1968-75 in syndication, so more than enough episodes survived to have maintained its status and legacy as a hilarious game show. The gameplay traditionally has a panel of regulars attempting to guess the occupation of the episode’s guests, with one round featuring a mystery celebrity that must be identified, with a huge number of Hollywood legends appearing such as Alfred Hitchcock, Doris Day, Lucille Ball, the Rat Pack, Fred Astaire, Ava Gardner and many more as mystery guests. (Even Salvador Dali appeared, with Random House co-founder Bennett Cerf as a longtime regular panelist.) Despite not having aired a new episode since 1975, reruns somehow don’t feel nearly as aged as one might expect, although the use of the phrase “Is it bigger than a breadbox?” will make it feel just a bit dated.
- Standout Element: The fact that the format somehow hasn’t successfully been revived in the decades since it ended, though attempts were made with Harry Anderson in 2000 (with that pilot being skipped over in place of Survivor, which is while), and with David Hasselohoff in 2008.
10. The Chase
Hosts: Brooke Burns, Sara Haines
Based on the British series of the same name, the American take on The Chase started off on GSN (2013-2015) featuring the UK version’s Mark Labbett. But it was with ABC’s primetime iteration (2021-present) that it entered the quiz format’s upper echelon, thanks to additional chasers such as Jeopardy vets Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer, Brad Rutter, Buzzy Cohen, Victoria Groce and Brandon Blackwell. The individual chases are fun enough, but this is the rare series whose final round brings the contestants together as a team, which adds that much more variety to the format.
- Standout Element: Anytime contestants are able to best the chasers and pull out the win feels as earned as any game show victory possible.
9. Password
Hosts: Allen Ludden, Bert Convy, Regis Philbin, Steve Zaragoza, Keke Palmer
An absolute classic game show format that has been built upon by many other shows, as well as a few of its own spinoffs, Password featured memorable host Allen Ludden across its initial CBS run (1961-67), its shift to ABC (1971-75), and its flip to NBC as Password Plus (1979-82). The word association game featured numerous game show regulars like Richard Dawson and Vicki Lawrence in the early days, with Regis Philbin’s Million Dollar Password (2008-09) welcoming comedians such as Norm Macdonald and Chelsea Handler. The latest version for NBC, which debuted in 2022 with Jimmy Fallon as an executive producer, has featured celeb contestants such as Martin Short, Jon Cryer, Heidi Klum and more.
- Standout Element: Even with all the format tweaks over the years, the wildly easy gameplay is key to this show’s long-lasting appeal.
8. Let's Make A Deal
Hosts: Monty Hall, Bob Hilton, Billy Bush, Wayne Brady
The fast-paced and off-the-wall Let’s Make a Deal was co-created by Monty Hall, the very entertainer who served as its host for nearly 25 years across its runs on NBC (1963-68), ABC (1968-76) and its various syndicated runs that spanned on and off between 1971 and 1986. So many elements of this show have remained memorable through to the CBS iteration hosted by Wayne Brady (2009-present), from the bizarre assortment of costumes worn throughout the crowd of potential contestants to the endless number of ways the hosts attempt to get players to trade increasing amounts of money for mystery prizes hidden behind doors and boxes. The show remains unpredictable, as it’s never clear when competitors are going to successfully swap $250 for a brand new car, or when they’re going to foolishly trade out $500 for a lackluster prize like a live burro or a hundred pineapples. I’m also quite fond of the instant-gratification moments where Hall or Brady (or one of the others) will give an audience member a $100 bill if she has a mint in her purse.
- Standout Element: The game’s keep-or-trade offer took on a new life of its own within the world of probability theory as the “Monty Hall problem,” which dictates that it’s always the best bet to take the trade, at least in a game without host manipulations.
7. The $100,000 Pyramid
Hosts: Dick Clark, Bill Cullen, John Davidson, Donny Osmond, Mike Richards, Michael Strahan
No matter what dollar amount shows up in front of the titular structure, just about every version of Pyramid that pops up on TV is worth stopping on, though with Dick Clark as the GOAT host, and Michael Strahan in second place. The gameplay is so solid in this franchise that it’s pretty much stayed the same from its original $10,000 Pyramid run on CBS (1973-74) through to ABC’s ongoing $100,000 Pyramid. Contestants and celeb partners try to land 7 answers for a bevy of themed categories, culminating in bonus rounds within the instantly recognizable chair set-up in front of the giant gameboard. While this series is slightly harder to play at home with ease, since the answers appear on the bottom of the screen, the rounds are quick enough that they’re fun to watch even without doing any guessing.
- Standout Element: Few game show rounds are quite as satisfying to watch as a perfectly in-sync celebrity-partner pairing who demolish the Winner’s Circle in hardly any time.
6. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Hosts: Regis Philbin, Meredith Vieira, Cedric the Entertainer, Terry Crews, Chris Harrison, Jimmy Kimmel
A series that helped revitalize the primetime game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was a runaway ratings smash in the early days of its ABC run (1999-2002), which helped spark the long-running syndicated version (2002-19) and eventually the short-lived ABC revival (2020-21). A quiz show like no other — well, except for the original UK format — Millionaire gave contestants a feasible shot at winning the titular grand prize by answering just 15 questions, with a variety of lifeline options over the years to latch onto. That immense hype for the show, helped along by Regis Philbin’s enjoyably low-key hosting, wasn’t for the long-haul, but it was strong enough to make “That’s my final answer?” and “Phone a Friend” everyday phrases. This modern-day update to the $64,000 Question concept also remains notable for introducing such highly dramatized camerawork and in-studio lighting, as well as its frequent pregnant pauses that inspire contestants to offer the most delightfully banal exposition behind why they’re choosing an answer.
- Standout Element: Given that contestants are only facing their own lack of knowledge in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, it’s always ideal to see someone go the distance and earn the big prize, especially given how un-fun it can be when players lose on the fifth or sixth question, leading to another cycle of insultingly easy multiple-choice questions.
5. Family Feud
Hosts: Richard Dawson, Ray Combs, Louie Anderson, Richard Karn, John O'Hurley, Steve Harvey
Family Feud has been a TV staple since 1976, with original host Richard Dawson earning quite the lippy reputation throughout his ABC run, which lapsed in 1985, and during his one-season return from 1994-95.. The game show’s formula, which hinges on surveyed answers from 100 men and women, has barely changed a bit since that time, with only ancillary ideas like the Bullseye and Bankroll rounds coming and going.
Its ongoing syndicated run, which started in 1999, has been fronted by the fan-adored comedian Steve Harvey since 2010, after past host John O’Hurley left due to an increase in sexually charged questions. (A fair complaint.) Outside of such mature material, Family Feud remains a show that just about anyone can sit down and play from home as a viewer without feeling the need to study anything first. And the introduction of the Celebrity Family Feud spinoff has only made the star-studded installments even more fun to keep up with.
- Standout Element: No host before Steve Harvey was known for highly animated reactions to contestants’ answers, but the Think Like a Man author will regularly lose all composure and decorum whenever someone’s guess skews overtly naughty or completely illogical.
4. Press Your Luck
Hosts: Peter Tomarken, Todd Newton, Elizabeth Banks
Given how often reruns aired for CBS’ Press Your Luck throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, one might have assumed its run lasted far longer than just three seasons (1983-86). But its admittedly massive 750+-episode stretch was the only show with Big Bucks until GSN’s short-lived reboot (2002-03), to be later followed by the Elizabeth Banks-fronted primetime revival on ABC (2019-present).
Though partly a quiz show, most viewers would probably agree the core part of the Press Your Luck viewing experience is watching players try to avoid going bankrupt or worse on the big board, aiming to seek out giant sums of money without landing on one of the endlessly frustrating Whammies, which are also admittedly always fun to watch. This particular game show is also somewhat infamous for contestant Michael Larson, who took home a fortune during his 1984 appearances after having memorized the board’s repeated patterns at home.
- Standout Element: The 2019 revival’s introduction of the final bonus round, in which the episode’s winner gets a solo shot at potentially winning $1,000,000, raises the stakes quite considerably, to the point where a Whammy can go from being merely annoying to literally life-altering, if the contestant has a big enough total banked.
3. Wheel Of Fortune
Hosts: Chuck Woolery, Pat Sajak, Rolf Benirschke, Bob Goen, Susan Stafford, Vanna White
One of producer Merv Griffin’s greatest creations, Wheel of Fortune is as much an American institution as most contact sports and Starbucks, with word puzzles based on the children’s game Hangman and a weighted wheel sliced into various dollar amounts. Though the long-gone daytime edition featured several hosts including Chuck Woolery, the evening version of Wheel of Fortune has always featured Pat Sajak as its frontman, and will until his retirement following Season 43. And that longevity goes a long way in cementing WoF as one of the best game shows of all time, as it implies a kind of consistency that few small-screen competitors can commit to.
Which is to say nothing of the always enjoyable gameplay, the crafty (though occasionally questionable) puzzles, and the variety of on-wheel prizes for contestants to vie for, all while avoiding the dreaded Bankrupt space. The series has spawned a plethora of commercial board games, video games, and more ways to enjoy the puzzle-solving life from one’s own couch, if without the stars of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.
- Standout Element: Watching a contestant pull off a majestical solve based on a single letter is only slightly less awesome than being the one to make that superb solve. But I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t fun watching players offer up the worst guesses humanly possible.
2. The Price Is Right
Hosts: Bill Cullen, Bob Barker, Dennis James, Tom Kennedy, Doug Davidson, Drew Carey
The daytime TV staple The Price Is Right originally ran on NBC from 1956-63 before last two more seasons on ABC(1963-65) — and featured both Don Pardo and Johnny Gilbert as announcers — but it’s the 1972 revival hosted by Bob Barker that most TV viewers above a certain age will always hold as the most classic iteration. The show has produced more than 10,000 episodes across all iterations, including the New Price Is Right syndicated edition (1994-95) and the continued daytime run with Drew Carey taking over as host in 2007.
It’s a series that remains go-to programming for bored retirees and homemakers, as well as those home sick from school or work, with viewers’ valuation skills being put to the test through a variety of different games and gimmicks. (Many would agree that Plinko remains a #1 part of the show, despite being based far more on chance than more intuitive challenges.) From the iconic visual of the big wheel to crafty wagering in the Showcase Showdown, every level of The Price Is Right is gamified for players’ and viewers’ enjoyment. The phrase “closest without going over” is also a memorable takeaway from this series’ existence, though perhaps not so much as Johnny Gilbert's signature "Come on down!"
- Standout Element: While I could probably watch a game show that was wholly fixated on the big wheel, I think possibly the best thing about watching The Price is Right is how unfiltered and authentic some of the contestants’ reactions are, even before they actually win anything.
1. Jeopardy!
Hosts: Art Fleming, Alex Trebek, Mike Richards, Mayim Bialik, Ken Jennings
For over 36 years, Jeopardy! and Alex Trebek went together like peanut butter and chocolate, with the oft-mustachioed host taking the reins in 1984 following prior NBC iterations (1964-75, 1978-79) fronted by Art Fleming. (As depicted in “Weird” Al Yankovic’s famed single and music video “I Lost on Jeopardy.”) It’s in part because of Trebek’s stoic and honorable run that Jeopardy!’s popularity surged over time, pulling in some of its biggest modern-day ratings during James Holzhauer’s win streak.
Though the show’s quality took a temporary dip after Trebek’s death in 2020, as producers went through a revolving door of guest hosts before giving the job to executive producer Mike Richards for a single day, the ship mostly righted itself thereafter. First with the record-breaking champ Ken Jennings sharing duties with The Big Bang Theory vet Mayim Bialik, and then with Jennings being promoted to lone host in December 2023. It’s already the greatest American quiz show, but by focusing more on tournaments centered on former champions’ returns, Jeopardy! continues thriving and evolving into an even more challenging series. And it would be easy enough to argue that the extended edition of Celebrity Jeopardy! and its six total Daily Doubles are a welcome charitable reprieve from the daily games.
- Standout Element: Though not everyone will agree on this, Jeopardy! became a far more competitive and unpredictable viewing experience once players such as Arthur Chu and James Holzhauer turned the Forrest Bounce into the new normal for incoming hopefuls, where only big wagers are welcomed.
There you have it, game show fans. Maybe in the near-to-distant future, more recent series such as Mario Lopez's Blank Slate, the Rob Lowe-hosted trivia show The Floor, or a show that hasn't even premiered yet will make the final cut. But for now, in the immortal words of Bob Barker: "Have your pets spayed or neutered."
