Flawless game shows (besides TPIR)

[howierules86]

Besides (obviously) TPIR, Wheel of Fortune, & Jeopardy! (depending on how you feel on the recent changes made over the last few years), what do you think were the best game shows made with no flaws whatsoever?

My picks are:
Let's Make A Deal (all Monty Hall versions)
Password Plus (with Allen Ludden hosting)
The $25K/$100K Pyramid (1982-88 Dick Clark versions)
Hollywood Squares (2002-03 season of Tom Bergeron era)
Match Game (1973-82 Gene Rayburn versions)
Starcade (Geoff Edwards version)

[Alfonzo]

While "flawless" is a subjective word, I would pick the 1970s weekly syndicated Name That Tune with Tom Kennedy. A perfect combination of test of knowledge, thrills, big prizes and being able to play along at home. That, and the $100,000 Tune had the perfect combination of suspense and tension.

[Roadgeek Adam]

The current version of Press Your Luck is by far the best of the ABC new block. Fantastic in all facets.

[LiteBulb88]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a 100% perfect game show, including TPiR. But to add another "as close as you'll get" entry, the season of The Cube that just finished airing on TBS was absolutely fantastic.

[imhomerjay]

There is no such thing.

[JayC]

I would add Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, the original primetime version and the syndicated version up to the addition of the clock.

[Ccook]

I'd chime in on this, but last time something along this line came up when I was on GSN's late and unlamented board I got lit up because my selection and reasons thereof were based on the original version of the show, not the revival. I told them to where to get off and left.

[pannoni1]

$ale of the Century (Shopping format after the Speedround was introduced)
Scrabble (Contained format from late 1986-early 1990)
Most of the Marshall runs of The Hollywood Squares
To Tell The Truth (Collyer/Moore versions)
Split Second (Kennedy version)
What's My Line? (John Daly run except for the last two years without Dorothy Killgallen)
Supermarket Sweep (most of the Ruprecht runs)

[ooboh]

There is no such thing.

I think that this is an opinionated question.

[urbanpreppie0004]

I actually agree...There's no game show that is "perfect"- there's a flaw somewhere...even as minor as it could be.

[HQnerd]

As others mentioned, the revival of Press Your Luck is as close to perfect as you can get: the classic frontgame format is there, along with an excellent bonus game that works perfectly on the show, making it personable, high stakes, and keeps people interested until the very last minute of the show.

[wheelfan1991]

I have to agree that flawless is very subjective. And, frankly, no game show is, has been, or will be flawless, even Price, J!, and Wheel. I mean, how many "dud" pricing games has Price had over the years? Professor Price, anyone?

J! used to let the players ring in before Alex finished reading the clue (I would say that's about the only flaw J! has had because in and of itself, the game has remained exactly the same for 38 years with the exception of dollar values changing, not limited returning champs, and set changes.).

Wheel had that dreaded "Buy a Vowel" space in its infancy that forced a player to get a vowel, and if they didn't have $250, well F U then, you're losing your turn. Not to mention the horrid final years of the daytime show. Rolf was horrendous. Bob was great, but the budget and network flip-flopping were the nails in the coffin, not to mention network daytime game shows were fizzling out left and right.

[TPIRfan#9821]

Our Little Genius.

Your game show can't have flaws if it never airs.

[wheelfan1991]

Cancellation
On January 7, 2010, one week before its scheduled premiere, the show's creator, Mark Burnett, announced that he had asked Fox to postpone the premiere of Our Little Genius due to concerns about its integrity. Burnett said that issues with how information was relayed to contestants were serious enough that he felt compelled to reshoot the episodes. Fox supported Burnett's decision, and added that all contestants would keep their winnings.[2] The previously-scheduled American Idol (which had been extended to 75 minutes, with the premiere of Our Little Genius airing for 45 minutes after it)[3] was extended to 90 minutes, and a rerun of The Simpsons episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" filled the rest of the hour.[4][5]

The Los Angeles Times reported that Burnett's main concern was that contestants somehow got more information than they should have prior to taping.[6] An audience report to the website BuzzerBlog suggested that the show had also stopped tape to replace a category that a contestant was not confident with, with a stage manager claiming that there had been a technical error.[7] On February 20, 2010, it was reported that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had recently begun an inquiry into Our Little Genius, based on complaints alleging that the contestants were being coached prior to filming on topics (such as in one case, on the British terms for four specific musical notes they "needed to know"), and that their parents were being given influence over questions.[8][9]

In 2021, The Arizona Republic published accounts from one former contestant, Benjamin Mohler— who was answering questions on palentology. Prior to filming, his father was asked by one of the producers without context to ensure that Benjamin knew about "Harry Seeley" and "1888"—the author and year of publication of the research paper which divided dinosaurs into two clades. Although his father initially suspected that these may have been relating to one of the panelists, they ended up being the answers for one of the questions in the game.[1]

When Mohler answered incorrectly during a question on the four dinosaurs larger than Tyrannosaurus rex, taping abruptly stopped and the stage went dark, with host Pollak believing that it had been a power outage. Mohler stated that in the green room, he was informed that contestants were being guaranteed to win at least $10,000, and that they would reshoot the show. When he returned to the stage, Mohler replayed the game with new questions, but lost on the third question after incorrectly guessing the taxonomy of Smilodon (Felidae).[1]

While this would have been one of the first instances of the FCC having to investigate irregularities in a televised game show since the 1950's quiz show scandals, it was questioned by TheWrap whether the FCC even had jurisdiction, since the offending program did not actually make it to air.[8][9] In 2021, The Arizona Republic found no such record that an inquiry into Our Little Genius was ever performed, likely due to Fox's decision to pull the program.[1]

^via Wikipedia (I know, not the most reliable source); but the whole reason it was canceled was one giant flaw, so....

[mechamind]

Our Little Genius.

Your game show can't have flaws if it never airs.

*** DIVIDE BY ZERO ***