The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows

by Steve Ryan, Fred Wostbrock, David Schwartz

Book Overview

Provides information about the packager, broadcast history, hosts, announcers, producers, and rules for over five hundred television game shows.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816038473
• ISBN13: 9780816038473
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Checkmark Books
• Length: 377 Pages
• Weight: 2.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.4" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

A surprisingly first rate encyclopedia of the TV Game Show

The Editors of "The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows" have done a surprisingly nice job of covering a particular niche in the history of television programming. Except for the mania over the big prize game shows in the early 1950's and the brief resurgence of their popularity with "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," game shows have mostly been the province of day time programming and syndication. Consequently, a reference book like the Brooks and Marsh "Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows" is only going to cover those relatively few series that went on the air at night. "The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows" not only has the virtue of covering every single Game Show in the history of television, it is done with an enviable balance between the historian's concern for air dates, hosts, assistants and rules of the game with the fans need for compelling pop culture details and television trivia with their "Did You Know" sections. Certainly, this is the best of both worlds collected into one reasonably priced volume. I picked up this book hoping it would be almost as good as Brooks and Marsh, but it turns out to be much better in terms of its particular corner of the television universe. Whatever you want to know about Game Shows, whether it is how many were hosted by Gene Rayburn, which has been on the air the longest, or which had the contestant who won the most money, you can bet this book has it and not even need to worry about what is behind Curtain #2.

Excellent!!

I must admit that I'm only 13, but I watch Game Show network a lot! I found game shows in here that I never even heard of and ones I had forgotten about like "Press Your Luck"(used to be my favorite). Now I can show my friends these old game shows that I watch! This book has every game show thinkable and a little blurb about when it was started, syndicated, the rules, and the general description. Some even have highlights of certain moments. Very well done!

A Must For Game Show Fans!

The Encyclopedia Of TV Game Shows is a must for all TV Game Show Fans! (and who isn't?) It's "SUPER! " With all my popular favorites like "Pyramid" and "Press Your Luck"...(Did you know the latter was an updated version of 1977's "Second Chance") as well as more obscure game show treasures like "The MoneyMaze" and "Whew!". They're all here in this great book! My first copy was read by friends and co-workers so I'm buying an additional one to keep in "mint" condition! I can't wait for edition 4 ...and 5!

Well-researched history of a TV genre

This encyclopedia, which I first came across in 1989, gets better with each revision. All the authors are closely associated with quiz shows. Their love for and knowledge of the game show form shows in their attention to detail. And in the odd case when little is known of a particular program (often the case with 1940s and 1950s shows), they say so.The items are often cross-referenced several ways, such as specific programs a host/announcer did and number of Emmy Awards won. And the minutiae is woven in with wonderful photos, some of them rare. One burning question I'd like answered in any future revision is exactly how involved other Goodson staffers were as the actual creators of TV games that are usually credited to Mark Goodson himself. The book doesn't make clear, for example, whether or not Bob ('Pyramid') Stewart himself created 'Password,' 'To Tell the Truth' and 'The Price Is Right' during his tenure with Goodson-Todman Productions, as most reference books say he did. (Nothing against Goodson, who was a true genius as a producer -- the authors might also want to mention how very important Goodson was in supporting actors who were otherwise out of work during the dreaded McCarthy era.)All in all, though, this is a wonderful volume.

What a book!

This book is absolutely super! When I first looked at it, I went through and found all these old game shows I remember from when I was little that I didn't think anyone remembered (like All-Star Blitz, Chain Reaction, The New Chain Reaction, Press Your Luck, etc.). I was truly impressed by this book. The book is absolutely wonderful! It's a comprehensive guide to game shows from the beginning of television to the present! It's a great reference book about game shows, plus it's great for reminiscing about old game shows you used to watch, learning things you didn't know about your favorite game shows, and learning about game shows that you'd never heard of before. Plus, this book introduced me to Bill Cullen, Peter Marshall, Allen Ludden, Bert Convy, and other hosts that I had never seen before, or saw but was too young to remember (Chain Reaction and All-Star Blitz come to mind). In conclusion, this is a great book. The only thing I can think of that would make this great book even better would be to add more pictures.