Game Shows

The world of television is a fiercely competitive one and networks are always looking for shows to engage the audience. Game shows have been popular since the 1950s. They are inexpensive to produce and offer entertainment to a mass audience. Many shows operate a franchise and are exported all over the world in different versions. Many American shows have been successful in this way.

One of the more recent innovations to come from game shows is the dating show. The Age of Love is an example. Mark Consuelos is the presenter and it features the Australian tennis player, Mark Philippoussis. The cameras follow Philippoussis as he looks for a partner to share his life with. The winning contestant was a dancer with the Nashville Predators hockey team. It is not clear if they are still a couple.

The Bachelor is another dating show and is hosted by Chris Harrison. In this show, a bachelor contestant dates 25 women and he selects one of them at the end of the show for an ongoing relationship. There have even been proposals of marriage. Romantic settings have been a feature of the show with Season 8 filmed in Paris and Season 9 filmed in Rome. There was also a spin off called The Bacholorette in which the male and female roles were reversed.

Panel games are never out of favor and keep being reinvented for a modern audience. Without Prejudice? is one of the game shows that began in the UK and transferred to America. The host is Robi Ludwig, a psychotherapist who entered light entertainment. The basic premise of the show is that five people make a decision as to which one of five strangers deserve $25,000. This is done by asking contestants a series of questions and some covert video camera recording. The game is complicated when actors secretly join the contestants.

Reality TV dominates channels across the world today and networks are keen to present different scenarios for contestants. One of the most successful shows is Hell's Kitchen, another British idea that has a version running in the United States. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay presents both shows in which contestants have to learn to be good cooks in a volatile kitchen environment. Ramsay is a controversial figure because of his tendency to swear. He keeps the bleep machine very busy! This show combines the current taste for reality game shows and food programs. Add the larger than life figure of a celebrity chef and it was bound to succeed.

Summary: Game shows are watched by millions of people daily. Reality shows, dating shows, and normal win money and prizes shows are everywhere on the television day or night. More popular shows are Millionaire, The Bachelor, Big Brother, and the Survivor series.

Related Articles

Related Sites