The History of Game Shows

The first game show, Spelling Bee, was first broadcast on 31st May 1938. This was two years after the launch of the BBC. The show was light-hearted and the only task was spelling words. The first game show on commercial licensed television was Truth or Consequences which first appeared in 1941. During the 1950s as television became more popular and accessible there were more game shows on TV. The prizes on prime time game shows had become higher stakes and there were lower-stakes game shows on during day-time TV to appeal to new groups of people.  The prizes increased because of the money that was gained from adverts. Towards the end of the 1950s some game shows started to appear with more stunts and jokes. In the 1960s many of the popular games stayed as there where in the 50s with University Challenge being one of the few new successes. In the 1960s more technology started to be used in the shows. In the 1970s families appeared a lot more in game shows. Examples of this were The Generation Game and Ask the Family. Some game shows also became more futuristic like The Krypton Factor. During the 1980s game show became a lot more about action and went to different location. This is because of the developments in technology and the American influence. Sports game shows also became popular. In the 1990s game shows for children became popular but many game shows from the 80s became much less popular. Many game shows also became a lot more physical. During the 2000s many lifestyle game shows became very popular. This lead to game shows in cooking, housing and DIY. Game shows all started to go with the Lottery however the early attempts where not very successful. During the 2000s game shows became increasingly less popular with 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!' being the only new game show to be a major success.