The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows [Paperback]

David Schwartz (Author), Schwartz David (Author), Fred Wostbrock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1999

Fun and informative, this entertaining book is packed with facts about more than 500 game shows, from "You Bet Your Life" to "Jeopardy!" Each entry includes a summary of the program, rules of the game, air dates, hosts, celebrity guests, network affiliations, production companies, producers, and creators. It's been completely revised and updated to include more than 30 news shows, such as:

"Singled Out" "Debt" "Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?" "Idiot Savants" "Peer Pressure" "Pictionary" "Trivia Track" "My Generation" "Make Me Laugh."

More than 170 exclusive photographs offer a look at game show milestones and allow a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the most popular programs in the genre. Whether you'd rather name that tune, come on down, or buy a vowel, The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows is full of trivia and information that will delight every fan.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This updated version includes more than 30 new shows, among them Idiot Savants, Wheel of Fortune 2000, and Win Ben Stein's Money. Appendixes list shows by start date (the first was Truth or Consequences, which debuted as a television series the day commercial television began operating); shows by network; longest-running game shows (The Price is Right tops the list); game-show personalities; and more. The second edition was published in 1995.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Checkmark Books; 3 edition (January 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816038473
• ISBN-13: 978-0816038473
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,356,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #74 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Pop Culture

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A surprisingly first rate encyclopedia of the TV Game Show, December 6, 2001

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (Paperback)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!, September 2, 2000

By 

Anne (Middletown, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (Paperback)

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!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a book!, November 19, 1998

By 

Benjamin F. Schumin "Ben Schumin" (Silver Spring, Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (Hardcover)

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.