Are you a fan of game shows?
At one time, I was an avid follower of Wheel of Fortune. Pat Sajak’s snarky yet
gracious personality mixed with the fun of trying to solve the puzzle before
the contestants drew me in. Then life got busy, and I watched fewer and fewer
episodes.
Today, television is home to dozens of game shows: The $100,000 Pyramid (which started out
as The $10,000 Pyramid in 1973), 25 Words or Less, Are You Smarter Than a
Fifth Grader, Beat Shazam, Brain Games, Cash Cab, and Family Feud, just to name a few.
Radio hosted game shows long before television, with
one of the first being Ralph Edwards’s Truth
or Consequences. In an interview, Edwards stated the idea came from a
favorite parlor game called Forfeits. A Victorian era pastime, Forfeits had
many iterations, but the commonality was the requirement for the loser to
perform a stunt such as barking like a dog, making three people laugh, singing
a song, dancing, walking in a circle backwards, or some other silly action.
First broadcast on March 23, 1940, Truth or Consequences was a huge success
with listeners. On the show, contestants had two seconds to answer a trivia
question before “Beulah the Buzzer” sounded. If the individual didn’t complete
the “Truth” portion, there would be “Consequences,” usually an embarrassing stunt.
Years later, Edwards would say that most of the contestants preferred to answer
incorrectly in order to do the stunt.
On July 1, 1941, the show was the first game show to
air on broadcast television. However, the airing was a one-time experiment, and
the program didn’t air again on TV until 1950, when the medium had caught on
commercially.
Other milestones for the show were the appearance of
Superman in Action Comics #127 in December 1948, and the renaming of Hot
Springs, New Mexico to Truth or Consequences when the town agree to host a
radio episode in exchange for the name change.
A savvy producer, Edwards arranged to have Truth or Consequences to be recorded on
35mm film, using multiple cameras simultaneously-the first TV program recorded
before a live audience to do so. In January, 1957, the show became the first
program to be broadcast in all time zones from a prerecorded videotape.
Truth
or Consequences went off the air in 1958, then attempted a
failed revival during the 1977-78 season, and again during the 1987-88 season.
In 2012, discussions were had about yet another revival, but the show never
came to fruition.
Do you enjoy game shows? If so, what is your favorite?
_______________________
Linda Shenton Matchett
writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A
volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is also a
trustee for her local public library. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland
and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. Linda has lived in historic
places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite
activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the
imaginary worlds created by other authors. Learn more about Linda and her
book on her website or connect with her online: http:www.LindaShentonMatchett.
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