They're bringing back all the game shows

RIB’S RAMBLINGS

Mark Ribble

The recycling of old TV game shows continues with an ultra-cheesy version of the Dating Game on Monday nights.

This incarnation is a celebrity version that puts single celebrities on stage trying to pick a prospective suitor.

People such as Carmen Electra, Taye Diggs and other B-list celebrities apparently have a hard time finding dates. Who knew? Zoey Deschanel hosts along with Michael Bolton, who ‘surprisingly’ sings all of his lines.

Deschanel is an awkward host at best, who’s being fed cheesy lines from the teleprompter — lines that usually make her co-host break into song.

I’ve been rather enjoying the other game shows of the past that have been recycled in today’s world but that just doesn’t do it for me.

The modern versions of To Tell The Truth, Match Game, Family Feud and Card Sharks are all pretty entertaining.

And of course Press Your Luck, everyone’s guilty pleasure from the 1980s, is back with those annoying Whammies on the game board.

My first memories of game shows take me back to Truth or Consequences with Bob Barker as the host. I remember an early version of Concentration too that was always enjoyable.

Before the days of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, there were some great classic game shows like Beat the Clock, What’s My Line and the Let’s Make a Deal.

When Barker left Truth or Consequences for the upstart Price is Right, everyone wondered if he’d made the right decision. The years have shown that he indeed made the right decision.

Another game show I enjoyed was You Bet Your Life which was hosted by Groucho Marx. I only saw those in syndication because the show stopped airing three months after I was born, but it was still fun to watch years later when it aired on channel 20 late at night.

Name that Tune was a favourite of mine as a kid with a young Kathy Lee Johnson (now Gifford) singing the melody to a lot of the tunes. It also aired in the 1950s with a live orchestra. The 2021 version is actually pretty well done, so if you enjoy music you’ll have to have a look at it.

The Ellen Degeneres Game of Games is also fun to watch and I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to Fear Factor, which aired for three or four years and had people eating live bugs or having a barrel of snakes dumped on them. It’s no longer on the air.

They don’t make game shows like they used to… or do they?