Top 10 Game Shows
- The Top1022
- Caroline Westbrook’s version
- Your version
×Deal or no Deal
Quite possibly the best gameshow ever made, Deal Or No Deal works because it not only throws normal gameshow conventions - such as quiz questions - out of the window, but because it's so brilliantly compelling. Who'd have thought the simple task of opening boxes to see what money is inside them could provide such edge-of-the-seat viewing and so many shout-at-the-screen moments? Because it does. Frequently.
×Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?
This is another example of a brilliantly simple idea which somehow manages to be compulsive viewing; there's something very compelling about watching the contestants on this show inching their way further towards the magic million mark (especially when they're puzzling over a question and you're shouting the answer at the screen). It's also the only show on this list to have inspired a movie, namely the Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire - which built a whole movie around the Indian edition.
×Jeopardy
One of those shows which has nigh legendary status on US TV (there was also a short-lived British version), Jeopardy's concept is thus: we'll tell you the answer, you tell us what the question is. Which is a bit silly, yet somehow it works. And it's been working since 1964, when the series first aired on US screens - to this day, it's still going strong.
×The Price Is Right
The ultimate mad escapist gameshow, The Price Is Right has been through several incarnations in the UK, from the 80s version hosted by Leslie Crowther right through to the Joe Pasquale-helmed 21st century remake. The US version is infinitely more entertaining however since it provides a golden opportunity for its lucky contestants to shriek, whoop hysterically and generally make everybody see how thrilled they are that they're on TV and face the prospect of winning a dishwasher. Or something along those lines.
×The Generation Game
If like me you grew up in the 70s and 80s, this is the show that you would have been watching round the TV with your mum and dad come Saturday night. It featured Bruce Forsyth presiding over contestants (usually mother/son or father/daughter duos) as they stumbled their way through a series of tasks in a bid to reach the final and nab the prizes on the 'conveyor belt'. The early 70s version was the original and best; later versions with Larry Grayson and Brucie's briefly revived version several years later just weren't the same.
×Wheel Of Fortune
Another show that is a staple of US telly, Wheel Of Fortune has been seen on screens all over the world, with the likes of Russia, Malaysia, Australia and Denmark having produced their own versions of the show. In the UK it was originally hosted by a pre-Watchdog Nicky Campbell, and while it's never been quite as compelling as the likes of Deal Or No Deal, it's still good fun.
×Family Fortunes
Originally hosted by the late, great Bob Monkhouse, I do love this show even if some of the actual 'surveys' featured in it are a tad daft (you're left wondering half the time if they really did ask 100 people some of those questions.....). It's not quite the same since Vernon Kay took over and it became All Star Family Fortunes but underneath it's still the same old fun gameshow it always was.
×Countdown
OK, so it's not quite as flashy as some of the other shows on this list, it's all a bit intellectual and the prospect of winning a set of dictionaries pales in comparison with a new car or a fancy holiday. But Countdown deserves its place here - it was the first programme ever to be shown on Channel 4 in the UK when it launched in 1982, and to this day it's still going strong and showing no signs of stopping. The late Richard Whiteley is much missed of course but the show has survived through a series of replacement presenters and remains as popular as ever.
×Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
Whether this show is actually rip-roaring Saturday night entertainment or just an excuse for Ant and Dec to do a load of daft things, I'm not quite sure. But there's no denying its popularity, and the concept of winning what's shown in the ad breaks is inspired.
×Sale Of The Century
Here's another one which is popular around the world, having been a hit on US and UK screens. The UK version is probably best remembered - apart from some wonderfully tacky prizes - for an appearance by a pre-X Factor Simon Cowell, who was a contestant on the show in 1990. And very good at it he was too.
