The Top Game Shows of All Time

What follows is a directory of the 115 most important American game shows of all time, as selected solely by your webmaster, along with airdate and host information and a very brief synopsis of each. These synopses are purposely somewhat vague so as not to compete with the true reference guide for the genre, The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows, which you should reference for specifics, photos and great memories of these shows and hundreds more. It's available at better bookstores everywhere.

Please note that although I may consider a show culturally important, this does not necessarily mean that I enjoyed it.

A note on syndication (for non-USA readers): The term means the shows were offered to individual local stations, rather than through a broadcast network. Generally, syndicated shows were weekly offerings (with some more popular shows airing twice weekly) until the very late '70s, with "Family Feud" being one of the first to go to 5 days/week. Since the '80s, the majority of syndicated shows aired 5 days/week.

THE AMAZING RACE

CBS/Bruckheimer/2001, 2002, 2003-

11 teams of two compete in a race around the world, stopping along the way to complete a wide array of challenges. The last team to check in at each "pit stop" is eliminated from the Race. The first team to the finish line splits $1 million. A simple premise, but great television. Host: Phil Koeghan.

AMERICAN GLADIATORS

Syndication/Samuel Goldwyn, 4-Point Entertainment/1989-1997

Physical contests with two male and two female contestants battling series-regular "Gladiators." Each year was a tournament crowning one grand champion of each gender. Games included "joust," "powerball" and the winner-deciding "Eliminator." Hosted by Mike Adamle, with football Hall of Famer Larry Csonka as his longest-running co-host.

BAFFLE

NBC/Heatter-Quigley/1973-74

Teams of two tried to guess words and phrases with as few letters as possible. Hosted by Dick Enberg, based on a nearly-identical syndicated 1965 show called "PDQ".

BATTLESTARS

NBC/Heatter/1981-1982, 1983

Similar to Heatter's former "Hollywood Squares" with six celebrities seated in connected triangles. Players "captured" the stars by agreeing or disagreeing with the stars' answers to host Alex Trebek's questions.

BEAT THE CLOCK

CBS/Goodson-Todman/1950-58, 1979-80 ... ABC/Goodson-Todman/1958-61... Syndicated/Goodson-Todman/1969-74... PAX/FremantleMedia/2002-present

Couples compete in silly stunts to win cash and prizes. Starting in '69, the couples were in direct competition with each other, and celebrities often played as well. Hosts: Bud Collyer (to '61), Jack Narz ('69-'72), Gene Wood (to '74), Monty Hall ('79-'80), Gary Kroeger.

THE BETTER SEX

ABC/Goodson-Todman/1977-78

Six men compete against six women to correctly answer survey questions, with the winning team getting a chance at $5000 by taking on 50 opposite-gendered members of the audience in a bluffing game. Cancelled before its time due to the expansion of ABC's daytime soap operas. Hosts: country-music star Bill Anderson and Sarah Purcell.

BIG BROTHER

CBS/Endemol/summers only, 2000-

The show that made voyeurism hip. Contestants are confined to a cramped house and watched 24/7 by the show's camera crew and internet feed. Every week or two, someone gets voted out, and the last one standing wins a half-million. Host: Julie Chen.

THE BIG SHOWDOWN

ABC/Lipp-Greenberg/1974-75

Three contestants answer questions of categories worth 1 to 6 points, trying to reach "payoff points" - scores that they can't go over until they've been hit exactly. Correct answers give the conetstant the right to choose how many points the next question can be worth, blocking those opponents who may be put over the payoff point from getting a chance to answer. Winner rolls a pair of dice for a shot at up to $10,000 in cash. Host: Jim Peck. Famous blooper: Peck tripped coming down the stairs to open a show.

BLOCKBUSTERS

NBC/Goodson-Todman/1980-82... NBC/Goodson/1987

A team of two players faces a solo player, answering questions for the right to place their color on one of the game board's hexagons. Completing a chain (left-to-right for the pair, top-to-bottom for the solo player) wins the game; winning two games rewards them with a shot at $5000 in the bonus round. Host: game-show god Bill Cullen ('80-'82), Bill Rafferty. Spawned many foreign versions, famously with teen players in the UK.

BODY LANGUAGE

CBS/Goodson-Todman/1984-86

Two celebrity-civillian teams play charades to fill in blanks in a statement, then win money by guessing what the statement refers to. Winning team plays more charades for up to $10,000 cash. Host: Tom Kennedy (brother of Jack Narz and brother-in-law of Bill Cullen; Kennedy is Cullen's closest rival in number of series hosted).

BREAK THE BANK

ABC,NBC,CBS/Wolf Productions/1948-57

Contestants chosen from the audience answer questions of rising cash values; those that reached $500 without missing two could answer one more question to "break the bank" and win the show's jackpot. In 1956, became "Break the $250,000 Bank," but nobody made it to the really big money. Host: Bert Parks, Bud Collyer ('53 daytime version only).

BREAK THE BANK

ABC and Syndicated versions/Barry-Enright/1976-77

Different game with nine celebrities seated along two sides of a 5x4 grid of boxes. Two players claimed the boxes by agreeing or disagreeing with the stars' answers to questions (a la "Hollywood Squares"). A player claiming three boxes with a like dollar amount won the game and the money; claiming three "money bags" won a growing jackpot that started at $5000. Host: Tom Kennedy (ABC), producer Jack Barry (Syndicated). Note: There was yet another completely different game called "Break the Bank" in syndication from '85-'86.

BULLSEYE

Syndicated/Barry-Enright/1980-82

Two contestants compete in a Q&A. One contestant stops three spinning wheels, two of which reveal a choice of categories, the third shows the number of questions that must be answered that round. First player to $2000 wins and plays for $3000+ more in cash and stuff. Five-time winners get a car. Host: Jim Lange.

BUMPER STUMPERS

USA Network/Global, Barry-Enright, (Wink) Martindale/1987-90

Produced in Canada. Two teams of two players decipher "vanity license plates" for a shot at $2000 in cash. Host: Al DuBois.

CARD SHARKS

NBC/Goodson-Todman/1978-81... CBS/Goodson/1986-89... Syndicated/Pearson-Fremantle-Goodson/2001

First two versions involved players predicting the outcome of survey questions for the right to try to call their row of five cards correctly (whether each card is higher or lower than the preceeding). Winners play the "Money Cards" bonus, where they bet money on each such card. Top prize: $28,800 on NBC, $32,000 on CBS. Newest version replaced surveys with pre-taped hidden-camera bits and the two rows of five cards with one shared row of seven. Money Cards was raised to $51,800, but everything else about the 2001 version was awful. Hosts: Jim Perry (NBC), Bob Eubanks (CBS), Pat Bullard (Syn). Known as "Play Your Cards Right" in the UK.

CATCH PHRASE

Syndicated/Pasetta/1985-86

Two contestant solve picture-puzzles for cash. Winner tries to solve five in a row on a board of 25 for a big prize (a bigger one if they solved the hardest one in the middle). Host: Art James.

CELEBRITY GAME

CBS/Heatter-Quigley/1964-65

Three audience contestants tried to predict the answers of a panel of nine celebrities to some rather personal questions. The fewer contestants got it right, the more money they won. Host: Carl Reiner, creator of "The Dick Van Dyke Show".

CELEBRITY SWEEPSTAKES

NBC/Andrews-Sugarman/1974-76... Syndicated/Andrews-Sugarman/1976-77

Three contestants and six celebrities. Host reads a question, and the studio audience places odds on which celebrities they think will answer correctly. The contestants could then wager their money on the celebrity of their choice. The final question required a wager of either "nothing" or "all of it." Three-time winners received a car. Became "Sweepstakes Game" in the UK. Host: Jim MacKrell.

CHAIN REACTION

NBC/Stewart/1980... USA Network/Stewart/1986-91

Two teams, each with two stars and one contestant, tried to fill in words of an eight-word chain where each word relates in different ways to the ones above and below it. Winners played for $10,000 by answering questions created, one word at a time, by their celebrity partners. The USA version (taped in Canada) featured teams of two civillians and a more boring bonus game, spiced up in the final season with a $40,000 tournament. Known as "Lucky Ladders" in the UK. Host: Bill Cullen (NBC), Geoff Edwards (USA); Blake Emmons hosted early and little-seen episodes of the second version.

THE CHALLENGERS

Syndicated/Greenberg-Clark/1990-91

A new version of the '70s show "Who, What or Where Game," with a focus on current events. Each category offered questions of three different values; if more than one of the three contestants wanted to answer a certain question, it became a buzz-in. Early on, three-time winners faced three hard questions for a jackpot of $25,000 or more; later, daily winners faced one such question for $10,000. Host: Co-producer Dick Clark.

CHILD'S PLAY

CBS/Goodson/1982-83

Two in-studio contestants tried to guess the words being described on tape by young children. Winners played a similar bonus game for $5000 cash. Host: The Great Bill Cullen.

(THE G.E.) COLLEGE BOWL

CBS/Moses-Reid-Cleary/1959-63... NBC/Moses-Reid-Cleary/1963-70... Disney Channel/Reid/1987

Two teams of four students representing their college competed in the toughest Q&A show in American TV history. Winning teams earned $1500 in scholarships and returned the following week. Local versions with high school students are still produced all over the USA, while the show's producers still stage live versions on college campuses. Known as "University Challenge" in the UK. Host: Allen Ludden ('53-'59 on NBC radio and '59-'62 on TV), Robert Earle ('62-'70), Art Fleming ('70s radio - one of the last major radio games), Dick Cavett ('87).

CONCENTRATION

NBC/NBC/1958-73... Syndicated/Goodson-Todman/1973-78... "Classic Concentration" NBC/Goodson/1987-91

Two contestants face a board with thirty numbered squares and try to match identical prizes. Doing so puts the prize in their kitty and reveals two pieces of a rebus (picture puzzle). Solving the puzzle wins all the prizes on their board. The latter two versions had bonus games that offered new cars. Host: Hugh Downs (1958-69), show announcer Bob Clayton ('69), Ed McMahon ('69), Clayton again ('69-'73; Downs, who was also host of NBC's "Today Show", talked NBC into giving Clayton the job); Jack Narz ('70s), Alex Trebek ("Classic").

THE CROSS-WITS

Syndicated/Edwards/1975-80... Syndicated/Crossedwits/1986-87

Two teams, each with two celebrities and one civillian, filled in crossword puzzles for points. The winners went to a bonus crossword for a bonus prize; In the second version, a second bonus was also played for a car. Host: Jack Clark (first), David Sparks (second).

THE DATING GAME

ABC/Barris/1965-73... Syndicated/Barris/1973-74, 1978-80, 1986-89... Syndicated/Columbia-TriStar/1996-99

A girl asks questions of three unseen "bachelors" (or vice versa), then chooses one to go out on a date with. The couple goes on a trip with a Dating Game chaperone. Rather tame in the '60s, growing more and more risque with each future remake. Known as "Blind Date" in many other countries. Hosts: Jim Lange ('65-'80), Elaine Joyce ('86-'87), Jeff MacGregor ('87-'89), Brad Sherwood ('96-'97), Chuck Woolery ('97-'99).

DEBT

Lifetime/Faded Denim-Buena Vista/1996-98

"Jeopardy!" knock-off with pop-culture questions and a smart-aleck attitude. Each contestant was playing for the right to eliminate their real-life debt in the bonus round. If successful, they could win that same amount in cash by answering one single question in their favorite category - or plunge themselves right back into debt with a wrong answer. Host: Wink Martindale.

DOTTO

CBS and NBC/Cooper/1958

Different versions aired on both networks simultaneously, a rarity. Contestants answered questions for the right to have dots connected on a picture of a famous person. Being the first to name the face won cash for every dot left unconnected. This was the first show forced off the air due to the game show scandals, when popular contestant Marie Winn was caught studying the answers to upcoming episodes' questions. Host: Jack Narz.

DOUBLE DARE

CBS/Goodson-Todman/1976-77

Two contestants, each in isolation booths, saw clues to a person, place or thing. Players who buzzed-in first and answered correctly could earn extra cash by "daring" and "double-daring" their opponent to answer with more clues. The winner tried to stump the show's resident PhD panel ("The Spoilers") by giving the four least-effective clues out of eight available; if any one of the Spoilers failed to guess the subject correctly, the player won $5000. Host: Alex Trebek.

DOUBLE DARE

Nickelodeon/MTV Networks/1986-91... Syndicated/MTV Networks/1988-89... Nickelodeon/MTV Networks/2000

Kids' trivia game, with a twist: if one team didn't know the answer, they dared the other team to answer for double the money. The other team could double-dare back for 4x the money, forcing the first team to answer or compete in a messy physical challenge. Winning team ran an obstacle course for up to eight prizes in 60 seconds. Host: Marc Summers, Jason Harris (2000). Summers also hosted the spinoff "Family Double Dare," which added adults to the mess, from '88-'90 on FOX and throughout the '90s on Nickelodeon.

DREAM HOUSE

ABC/Reid/1968-70... NBC/Reid/1983-84

Two couples competed to answer trivia questions, with the day's winner receiving a room full of furniture. On the original version, seven-time winning couples received a new home; on the NBC version, five-time winners got a house automatically, but a bonus "combination-lock" game gave them a chance to win each day. Host: Mike Darrow (ABC), Bob Eubanks (NBC).

EYE GUESS

NBC/Stewart/1966-69

Eight answers to questions are hidden on the game board. After the contestants are shown the answers for ten seconds, host Bill Cullen read a question. The contestants had to give the number the correct answer was hidden behind.

THE FACE IS FAMILIAR

CBS/Stewart/1966

Celebrity-contestant teams answered general knowledge questions for the right to see one of eight scrambled pieces of a famous face. Correctly identifying the face won the contestant $100; two such wins led them to a bonus game possibly worth $5000. Host: Jack Whitaker.

FACE THE MUSIC

Syndicated/Frank/1980-81

Three players name tunes played by the Tommy Oliver Orchestra (and occasionally sung by Lisa Donovan), then relate the song titles to people, places, and things to win points. Winners faced the previous day's champ in a bonus round worth as much as $10,000. Not a hit, but rerun incessantly for the next 15 years on various cable channels, giving the show a cult popularity (mainly for its many bloopers, which were never edited from the tape). Host: Ron Ely.

FAMILY FEUD

ABC and Syndicated/Goodson-Todman/1976-85... CBS/Goodson-Todman/1988-93... Syndicated/Goodson-Todman/1988-95... Syndicated/Pearson-Fremantle-Goodson/1999-current

Two families compete to give the most popular answers to questions previously posed to 100 people. Winning families play the Fast Money bonus game, where two family members try to score 200 points between them, giving one answer each for five similar questions. Doing so won a grand prize of $5000 (in the beginning) to $20,000 (starting in 2001). America's highest-rated game show from '76-'83. Known as "Family Fortunes" in the UK. Host: Richard Dawson (1976-85 and 94-95), Ray Combs (1988-94), Louie Anderson (1999-2002), Richard Karn.

FANDANGO

Nashville Network/Reid-Land/1983-89

Three contestants competed in a trivia quiz about country music. Taped in Nashville, TN - "Music City U.S.A." Featured "Edgar," the smart-alecky talking jukebox (actually the show's announcer, whose identity is still unknown). Host: Country-music star "Whisperin'" Bill Anderson.

FEAR FACTOR

NBC/Endemol/2001, 2002-present

Often tasteless but undeniably popular competition between 3 men and 3 women, who face remarkable physical (and sometimes disgusting) challenges, with the winner typically earning $50,000 - although sweeps stunts have occasionally raised the prize as high as $1 million. Host: Joe Rogan.

FUN HOUSE

Syndicated/Stone-Stanley/1988-90... FOX/Stone-Stanley/1990-91

Popular but obvious ripoff of "Double Dare." Two teams of two kids competed in stunts and in answering trivia questions for the right to run through the giant fun house for cash and prizes. Host: J.D. Roth. Cheerleaders: twins Jackie and Sammi Forrest.

GAMBIT

CBS/Heatter-Quigley/1972-76... ("Las Vegas Gambit") NBC/Heatter-Quigley/1980-81

Two married couples played blackjack, earning their cards by answering trivia questions. Hitting 21 exactly scored a cash prize; in the bonus game, it was also worth a new car. Host: Wink Martindale.

THE GONG SHOW

NBC/Barris/1976-78... Syndicated/Barris/1976-80, 88-89

Part serious talent show, but mostly wild spoof on talent shows from hell. Three celebrity judges watched acts which ranged from the truly talented to the disgusting, each able to terminate the act immediately if they so choose by banging a gong behind them. If the act finishes, the judges score them from 0 to 10, with the highest scorer of the day earning $516.32 in cash ($712.05 on the nighttime show, $701 even in '88). Frequent non-contestant acts showed up in the '70s, among them paper-bag-headed The Unknown Comic and stagehand Gene-Gene The Dancing Machine, who would come out and dance to fill time while people threw stuff at him. Host: creator Chuck "Chuckie Baby" Barris (NBC and '77-'80 Syn), Gary Owens ('76-'77 syn), "True" Don Bleu ('88-'89). Game Show Network did a lame takeoff called "Extreme Gong" from '98-'99, hosted by George Gray; home viewers did the gonging by calling a pay-phone number.

HE SAID, SHE SAID

Syndicated/Goodson-Todman/1969-70

Four celebrity couples tried to match answers to personal questions, attempting to win a vacation for couples in the studio audience. Would be revived as the much more successful "Tattletales" in 1974. Host: Joe Garagiola.

HIGH ROLLERS

NBC/Heatter-Quigley/1974-76, 1978-80... Syndicated/Heatter-Quigley/1975-76... Syndicated/Heatter/1987-88

Two contestants answer questions for the right to roll (or to force their opponent to roll) a pair of dice, eliminating numbers from 1-9 off the game board for prizes. A bad roll lost the game. Two-game winners played a similar bonus game for cash or a car. Host: Alex Trebek ('74-'80), Wink Martindale ('87-'88).

HOLLYWOOD SHOWDOWN

Game Show Network and PAX-TV/S. Stewart/2000-02

Movie/music/TV trivia game with a 'king of the hill' challenging other players to best-of-five quizzes; when the player holding the hidden 'box office' marker (the other players' markers showed an amount of money to be added to the jackpot) is chosen, the winner of the challenge tries to answer five questions for the jackpot of at least $10,000. Host: Todd Newton.

THE HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

NBC/Heatter-Quigley/1966-80... Syndicated/Heatter-Quigley/1971-81... Syndicated/Century Towers-Rosner/1986-89... Syndicated/Moffitt-Lee-One Ho-Columbia TriStar/1998-2002... Syndicated/Winkler-Columbia TriStar/2002-2004

One of TV's most enduring favorites. Nine celebrities (or more) occupy the squares of a giant tic-tac-toe board, with two contestants competing to put their X's and O's in the squares by determining whether the celebrity has answerd their question correctly. Starting in the '70s, bonus rounds of various forms gave winners a shot at prizes, big money or cars. Host: Peter Marshall ('66-'81), John Davidson ('86-'89), Tom Bergeron ('98-present). Regular "center squares" included Paul Lynde, Joan Rivers, and Whoopi Goldberg (who also co-produced the newest version until her departure in '02). See also "The Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour."

I'VE GOT A SECRET

CBS/Goodson-Todman/1952-67, 1976... Syndicated/Goodson-Todman/1972... Oxygen/Carsey-Werner/2000-2002

The most popular of CBS's attempts to clone its popular "What's My Line?", the show featured a panel of four celebrities who tried to guess a secret held by the contestants via yes-or-no answers. Contestants earned $20 for each panelist unable to find the secret on the original version; prizes increased over the years. Host: Garry Moore ('52-'64), Steve Allen ('64-'72), The Great Bill Cullen ('76; Bill and Henry Morgan were regular panelists from '52-'67), Stephanie Miller ('00-today).

JACKPOT

NBC/Stewart/1974-75... USA Network/Stewart-Global/1985-88... Syndicated/Stewart/1988-89

Sixteen contestants competed for a full week. One player, "the expert," chose one of the other fifteen, who read a riddle and revealed the amount of cash it added to the Jackpot. If the expert answered correctly, they continued on, otherwise the riddler became the expert. One riddler held the "jackpot riddle;" if the expert answered it correctly, the riddler and expert split the jackpot. If the jackpot ever matched a pre-set target amount, the riddler and expert could split a "Super Jackpot" that could be as much as $50,000 (but not nearly that much on the USA version, which was taped in Canada). Host: Geoff Edwards (first and third), Mike Darrow (second).

JEOPARDY!

NBC/Griffin/1964-75, 78-79... Syndicated/Griffin-Columbia TriStar/1974-75, 1984-present

The classic "A&Q" question, where the questions are phrased as answers and the players preface their answer with "What is...?" A correct answer wins money, but an incorrect answer costs the player the same amount. In round one, answers were worth $10 to $50; in "Double Jeopardy!", the amounts doubled; and in "Final Jeopardy!", each of the three players risked any or all of their winnings on one last question. The first-round answers grew to $25-$125 in 1978, $100-$500 in 1984, and $200-$1000 in 2001. Host: Art Fleming ('64-'79), Alex Trebek ('84-today). A music spinoff, "Rock & Roll Jeopardy!", hosted by Jeff Probst, has aired on VH1 since '99, and a kids' version, "Jep!", with Bob Bergen, aired on Game Show Network in '98. Contestant Ken Jennings became TV's richest winner ever in 2004, amassing over $2.5 million in 74 consecutive appearances; he'll soon return in the show's $2 million ultimate Tournament of Champions.

THE JOKER'S WILD

CBS/Barry/1972-75... Syndicated/Barry-Enright/1977-86... Syndicated/Kline & Friends-Barry/1990-91

Classic Q&A game. Two contestants took turns spinning a huge slot-machine full of categories and jokers, trying to make pairs and doubles to answer questions worth $50, $100 or $200. The first to $500 won the game and continued on to the bonus round, the longest-running of which involved spinning the wheels (now filled with various dollar amounts), trying to reach $1000 in cash before seeing The Devil. Doing so won the cash plus about $2500 in prizes. Five-time winners earned a car. The 1990-91 format was almost completely different, and not as good. Host: creator/producer Jack Barry ('72-'84, when he died), The Great Bill Cullen ('84-'86), Pat Finn ('90-'91). Barry also hosted a kids' version, "Joker Joker Joker," from '79-'81.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

NBC/Hatos-Hall/1963-68... ABC/Hatos-Hall/1968-76... Syndicated/Hatos-Hall/1971-77, 80-81, 84-86... NBC/Greenberg-Clark/1990-91... ("Big Deal")FOX/Stone-Stanley/1996... NBC/2003

The classic game of speculation. Contestants dressed in outrageous costumes vied for the chance to trade something they brought to the host for possible cash, cars, trips and more. Most games involved several chances to trade and required more luck than skill (although some games required knowledge of product prices to win). The trick? Some prizes, "Zonks", were worthless. At show's end, the biggest winners were offered the chance to trade one more time for the Big Deal of the Day, which was usually worth over $9000 on the syndicated versions. The 1996 version was an insulting remake that included embarassing stunts; the 2003 version was better, but had a worse host. Host: "TV's Big Dealer", creator/producer Monty Hall ('63-'86), Bob Hilton ('90-'91), Hall again ('91, after the new producers begged him to return), Mark DeCarlo ('96), Billy Bush (2003). From '63 to '76, Hall's supporting cast was Jay Stewart and "The Lovely" Carol Merrill. As of 2005, Spanish-speaking Universion airs the show as "Trato Hecho" ("Done Deal"), hosted by Guillermo Huesca.

LIAR'S CLUB

Syndicated/Andrews/1969, 1976-79... Syndicated/Four Star/1988-89

Four celebrities give descriptions as to what an odd object is actually used for. Four contestants bet money on which celebrity is telling the truth. Host: "Twilight Zone" creator Rod Serling ('69), Bill Armstrong ('76-'77), Allen Ludden ('77-'79), Eric Boardman ('89).

LOVE ME, LOVE ME NOT

USA Network/MGM/1986-87

Based on the Italian show "M'ama, Non M'ama." Two contestants tried to capture the most members of the opposite sex by setermining whether the love-and-romance stories they were telling were true. The winner and the most successful storyteller then chased each other around a giant daisy bonus game for cash and prizes. Taped in Canada. Host: Ross Shaffer.

THE MAGNIFICENT MARBLE MACHINE

NBC/Heatter-Quigley/1975-76

One of the most fondly-remembered flops. Two contestant-and-celebrity teams competed in a nominal word game for the right to play a giant pinball machine for cash and prizes. Host: Art James.

MAKE ME LAUGH

ABC/Program Service/1958... Syndicated/Lukehil-Paramount/1979-80... Comedy Central/Four Point-Buena Vista/1997-99

Contestants faced three stand-up comedians, one at a time, and earned $1 for every second they could keep from laughing. In the '70s, winners got their cash doubled to $360, and celebrities occasionally played for audience members; the '90s version tried a number of different sub-games for more money. Host: Robert Q. Lewis (first), Bobby Van (second), Ken Ober ('97-'98), Marc Cohen ('98-'99).

THE MATCH GAME

NBC/Goodson-Todman/1963-69

Two teams, each with two contestants and one celebrity, tried to match answers to odd questions posed by the host. $25 was earned per match, with the first team to $100 trying to match audience answers for up to $450 more. Host: Gene Rayburn.

MATCH GAME

CBS/Goodson-Todman/1973-79... Syndicated/Goodson-Todman/1975-81... ABC/Goodson/1990... Syndicated/Pearson-Goodson/1998-99

One of TV's greatest hits. Originally as tame as its predecessor, but soon evolved into a hilarious and bawdy double-entendre-thon. Two contestants tried to match a panel of six celebrities' answers to the hosts' increasingly bizarre statements; high-scorer played an audience match for up to $500, then a final match with one celebrity for ten or twenty times their winnings to that point. TV's most popular game show from '73 to '76. More info at http://matchgame.gameshowpage.com . Known as "Blankety Blank(s)" around the world. Regular panelists ('73-'81): Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly (also in '90-'91), Richard Dawson (to '77). Host: Gene Rayburn (to '81), Ross Shaffer ('90), Michael Burger ('98 - a version with only five celebrities and terrible writing).

THE MATCH GAME HOLLYWOOD SQUARES HOUR

NBC/Goodosn-Orion/1983-84

Ill-advised combination of the two formats into one, hour-long game. Two new contestants played Match Game; the winner faced a returning champion on Hollywood Squares (after a third row of celebrities was brought in to complete the board); then the winner played Match Game's bonus round for up to $30,000. Hosts: Gene Rayburn (MG) and Jon Bauman (HS).

THE MOLE

ABC/Stone-Stanley-TTTI/2001, 2002

Contestants are flown to Europe and compete in a number of mental and physical challenges, hoping to add money to the team jackpot. One of the players, though, is The Mole - a double agent working for the producers - and it's the Mole's job to prevent the team from completing their challenges as subtly as possible. In each episode, the players take a quiz on the Mole's identity, and the lowest scorer is eliminated. The final player standing takes the whole jackpot. Host: Anderson Cooper. Reborn in 2003 for two short runs as "Celebrity Mole" with new host Ahmad Rashad (Cooper had chosen to return to news).

THE MONEYMAZE

ABC/Lipp-Daphne/1974-75

After a short front game, the fun began as one member of each of two married couples ran through a huge, on-stage maze trying to light up screens that displayed prizes. The winning couple sent that member back in to light up four zeroes and "the all-important One" for as much as $10,000 cash. Host: Nick Clooney (actor George's dad).