Game shows that were on the USA Network

[mets82]

I've looked at a couple of clips on youtube and I see that there seemed to be a lot of game shows on the USA Network back in the 80s and early 90s. My question is would you be able to tell me what game shows were on and what times they were on? I was really surprised. It seemed like THEY were the Game Show Network before Game Show Network.

[JamesG]

These are the original USA Network game shows that I was able to find.
Sorry, couldn't help you with the times:





"Bumper Stumpers" (1987-1990)

Hosted by Al Dubois



Revival of "Jackpot" (1985-1988)

Hosted by Mike Darrow



"Love Me, Love Me Not" (1986-1987)

Hosted by Ross Shafer



Revival of "Chain Reaction" (1986-1991)

Hosted by Geoff Edwards



"Crush" (2000)

Hosted by Andrew Krasny



"Quicksilver" (1994-1995)

Hosted by Ron Maestri



"Smush" (2001)

Hosted by Ken Ober and Lisa Dergan



"Strip Poker" (1999-2000)

This originally aired in syndication on stations owned by USA Broadcasting and aired on USA from 2000-2001.

Hosted by Graham Elwood

[megamanj2004]

You also forgot about Free 4 All, which was Mark L. Walberg's (of The Big Date, Russian Roulette and On the Cover fame) 1st-ever game show he hosted and at the time he was also simultaneously still announcing/co-hosting another Stone-Stanley show Shop Til' You Drop on Lifetime.

Free 4 All debuted the same day as Quicksilver but was cancelled later on in 1994.



There was also another Mark L. Walberg show on USA called The Big Date, which aired during the USA Live-era alongside reruns of the Judge Joe Wapner-era of The People's Court and the Chuck Woolery version of Love Connection.

[mets82]

You'd think USA Network would want to put game shows or something on. Beats the hell out of NCIS, Law and Order marathons that they show all the time.

[megamanj2004]

Here are some of the classics that aired on USA:

All-Star Blitz w/ Peter Marshall - USA aired it the following year after ABC cancelled it in 1985.

Bullseye

Hot Potato

Tic Tac Dough both w/ Wink Martindale and Patrick Wayne

Joker's Wild, The - only the Bill Cullen eps. and Pat Finn's run aired.

Gong Show, The

Let's Make a Deal

Press Your Luck

Scrabble - Mostly the late 1984-pre-1990 finale eps. none of the 1993 eps. ever showed up on USA

Sale of the Century - only the 1988-89 eps. and the entire 1985-86 syndicated nighttime run.

Win, Lose or Draw - the Bert Convy/Robb Weller eps.

Hollywood Squares - w/ John Davidson

Talkabout

(The New) $25K and $100K Pyramids

Name that Tune w/ Jim Lange

Face the Music

Wipeout

High Rollers w/ Wink Martindale

[Vahan]

And USA did a much better job airing PYL from 1987-1995. Not only did they show them with no speed-ups and no credit crunchers, but they also showed most of, if not all of the episodes that GSN didn't air. It helps that USA showed the 1986 ones as early as 1989 and the 1983 ones as early as 1992.

GSN's treatment of the series made no sense whatsoever. Would it have really killed them to start with episode 1 from September 1983 (instead, they started in February 1984)? And why only show part of the 3rd Home Player Spin, without the giant sweepstakes spin worth up to a possible $100,000? I'm surprised neither GSN, nor Fremantlemedia, came up with a lame excuse not to show them.

Very disappointing! It also doesn't help that one of the early promos they showed had a 1986 Whammy. Proof that GSN has (or had, at least) all 750+ episodes in their vaults.

[megamanj2004]

Originally Posted by Vahan

And USA did a much better job airing PYL from 1987-1995. Not only did they show them with no speed-ups and no credit crunchers, but they also showed most of, if not all of the episodes that GSN didn't air. It helps that USA showed the 1986 ones as early as 1989 and the 1983 ones as early as 1992.

GSN's treatment of the series made no sense whatsoever. Would it have really killed them to start with episode 1 from September 1983 (instead, they started in February 1984)? And why only show part of the 3rd Home Player Spin, without the giant sweepstakes spin worth up to a possible $100,000? I'm surprised neither GSN, nor Fremantlemedia, came up with a lame excuse not to show them.

Very disappointing! It also doesn't help that one of the early promos they showed had a 1986 Whammy. Proof that GSN has (or had, at least) all 750+ episodes in their vaults.

GSN is so full of crap!

And it's not like they couldn't even try to attempt to convert those 1983 and 1986 eps. into digital format. Hell, if they can attempt to convert those 1985-86 season eps. of The $25K Pyramid (all of which used to air on USA) and rerun those into rerun ad-nausea, then why couldn't they even step up to the plate and at least even bother to even try and do the same for those 1983 and 1986 PYL eps.?, knowing full and well that the promo they used for PYL was from 1986.

And something I just found out: I found out that they did INDEED aired the Rosie O'Donnell one-round guest host S1 episode of HS in the past and yet they skipped over that episode during its 2009-10 reruns.

GSN is a total farce w/ their celebrity clearance b-s issues. Celebrity-clearance my eye!

[mets82]

Originally Posted by megamanj2004

GSN is so full of crap!

And it's not like they couldn't even try to attempt to convert those 1983 and 1986 eps. into digital format. Hell, if they can attempt to convert those 1985-86 season eps. of The $25K Pyramid (all of which used to air on USA) and rerun those into rerun ad-nausea, then why couldn't they even step up to the plate and at least even bother to even try and do the same for those 1983 and 1986 PYL eps.?, knowing full and well that the promo they used for PYL was from 1986.

And something I just found out: I found out that they did INDEED aired the Rosie O'Donnell one-round guest host S1 episode of HS in the past and yet they skipped over that episode during its 2009-10 reruns.

GSN is a total farce w/ their celebrity clearance b-s issues. Celebrity-clearance my eye!

What is S1 of HS your talking about? Btw, are you saying GSN cant air anything with celebrities in them? I agree with your post. They can do what they want but they wont.

[MrCleveland]

Originally Posted by mets82

What is S1 of HS your talking about? Btw, are you saying GSN cant air anything with celebrities in them? I agree with your post. They can do what they want but they wont.

Yes...GSN has went down the crapper. I wish they would show the game shows that they played on USA.





GSN...please redo your network, otherwise they'll be a station that'll play these shows a-la MeTV or Antenna TV and they'll be getting the ratings.

God, seeing these clips makes me want to play this song....

[wiseguy182]

I have almost all of the 1983 and 1986 (and subsequently early 1984 and late 1985) episodes on the trading circuit, which are quite a few, including the episode with the sweepstakes spin. (i'm awaiting on a handful to be mailed to me, but the guy is taking an eternity to send them to me after I already sent him his part of the trade weeks ago)

I do have a theory as to why the 83 and 86 episodes were not shown on GSN, and it's not any of the usual suspects.

the 1983 episodes are unlike the rest that followed for a couple of reasons: First, since the show was new, there were only a handful of whammy animations and it wasn't uncommon to see the same whammy several times per episode. The whammies that they did have were the most boring ones (the rollerskating whammy, the jackhammer whammy). Second, the early episodes had these unbelievably corny poems by Peter at the end. Third, Peter talked alot more than necessary in the early episodes. I don't hold any of these against the show as it was new and they had to iron out the kinks (which they eventually did). As 1984 came, the show hit its groove and settled into a comfortable rhythm.

Sadly, 1986 got off to a bad year for PYL as it was bumped from its cushy time slot as lead-in to the Price is Right, to the 4:00 time slot, which proved to be fatal to the show. It was at this time that the board began to get real cheap, and several of the higher dollar amounts were yanked for lower ones, and the board become flooded with low dollar amounts "+ one spin".

So my theory is that GSN stuck with the 1984 and 1985 episodes as those are the most representative of the classic episodes, when the board was loaded, there were lots of whammy animations, etc. Now that's not to say I don't want to see the 83 and 86 episodes, I do very much, being there are alot of rare prizes being hit and won, rare whammy animations and exciting moments in said episodes. But I think if I were forced to pick a certain timeframe, I would probably go with what GSN did.

It should also be noted that USA did not show all of the episodes either. For instance, the Michael Larsen episodes were never shown on USA and were shown for the first time in 19 years in 2003 when GSN showed them.

GSN was known to have skipped 5/31/84 and 10/4/85 for reasons unknown. I am particularly interested in seeing 5/31/84 as that featured Cindy as the returning champion and she was memorable from the previous episode for being so nervous that she didn't want to stop the board, and she reportedly retires with a ton of money. I will trade handsomely if anyone has that episode.

Anyone interested in trading for any of my Press Your Luck episodes can contact me by PM.

[Vahan]

I don't see anything wrong with having the 83' and 86' episodes on GSN. Mainly due to the fact that then, I'll be able to find out the one question that's been on my mind regarding PYL: Were there any other taped, but never shown episodes?

Someone on YouTube claimed that he remembered seeing the pilot episode in full on USA a couple of times. But there's no way that could have happened given that the pilot was very different from the actual series, and Tyshaun Miles (a PYL expert) told me that USA didn't show the pilot, or the first two weeks.

Just for the record, no, I don't agree with your agree as to why GSN doesn't wanna show them. The only reason they don't wanna show them is because they feel they'll just get the same ratings as the ones they acquired. That, apparently, is their usual excuse. It didn't stop GSN from airing the early episodes of CS (where Jim Perry repeated the rules, as it was a brand show), and if your theory was actually true, USA would never have aired 83' and 86' PYL, would they?

However, I do wonder if you can help me out here. I've been trying to identify all 109 episodes from before the 2/21/84 episode (the first episode GSN showed). Here's a partially complete list (88/109 identified):

http://realitytvrules.com/modules.ph...wtopic&t=19952

I didn't mention the airdates, because I'm not exactly sure when they originally aired. Greg Brobeck (a.k.a. Snowpeck) told me that the information for the 83' and 86' episodes in both episode guides were just random guesses made to fill in the blanks, so they shouldn't be taken as gospel. Still, it doesn't explain how there could be 109 episodes prior to the 2/21/84 episode, when there were three nation-wide preemptions (thanksgiving weekend during Thursday and Friday and new years' day 1984).

[wiseguy182]

"I don't agree with your agree" What?

I'm a member of realitytvrules and saw your post from a few days ago. I've actually consulted the episode guides when typing up my have list, so I can't be of any help there.

One episode that was never shown on CBS was a 6th installment of Back to School week, of what was supposed to be a (naturally) 5 episode week. I don't know for sure why that episode didn't air either, but it may have something to do with the fact that questions were repeated from another episode of that week. Perhaps CBS was embarrased by it and shelved it. it did make it to GSN and I have all 6 episodes from that week.

"I don't see anything wrong with having the 83' and 86' episodes on GSN. Mainly due to the fact that then, I'll be able to find out the one question that's been on my mind regarding PYL: Were there any other taped, but never shown episodes?"

who is to say that GSN would air taped but never shown episodes before? They could air 83 and 86 episodes without having to show those.

"and if your theory was actually true, USA would never have aired 83' and 86' PYL, would they?"

No. What I actually said was I thought that might be the way GSN thinks. I don't agree with them if that's the case. I personally would and think GSN should show the whole run, but I figured that may be their line of thinking.

Unfortunately, since PYL has been off of GSN for almost 3 years now, and with GSN morphing into nothing but boring originals and lame newer shows, I don't think we'll see anything PYL related ever again.

[GameShowDude]

Originally Posted by mets82

My question is would you be able to tell me what game shows were on and what times they were on?

These are all the game shows that USA aired and what years they aired according to The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows, Third Edition, which was published in 1999.

The Gong Show: Oct. 1, 1984-Oct. 9, 1987
Make Me Laugh: Oct. 2, 1984-Sept. 26, 1986
Bullseye: April 1, 1985-June 26, 1987
The Joker's Wild (Cullen): April 1, 1985-April 24, 1987
Jackpot (Darrow): Sept. 30, 1985-Dec. 30, 1988
All-Star Blitz: March 31, 1986-Dec. 16, 1986
Anything for Money: Sept. 29, 1986-June 24, 1988
Chain Reaction (Edwards): Sept. 29, 1986-Dec. 27, 1991
Love Me, Love Me Not: Sept. 29, 1986-Sept. 11, 1987
Let's Make a Deal: Dec. 29, 1986-Dec. 30, 1988
Play the Percentages: April 27, 1987-June 23, 1989
Bumper Stumpers: June 29, 1987-June 23, 1989
Hot Potato: June 29, 1987-June 23, 1989; Sept. 10, 1990-Dec. 28, 1990
Press Your Luck: Sept. 14, 1987-Feb. 3, 1995; April 17, 1995-Oct. 13, 1995
Tic Tac Dough (Martindale): Oct. 12, 1987-Sept. 7, 1990
High Rollers (Martindale): Sept. 19, 1988-Sept. 13, 1991
$25,000 Pyramid (Clark): Oct. 17, 1988-Nov. 4, 1994
Name That Tune (Lange): Jan. 2, 1989-Sept. 13, 1991
Face the Music: Jan. 2, 1989-Sept. 8, 1989; March 26, 1990-Sept. 14, 1990
Couch Potatoes: Sept. 11, 1989-March 23, 1990
Hollywood Squares (Davidson): Sept. 11, 1989-June 25, 1993
Wipeout: Sept. 11, 1989-Sept. 13, 1991
Win, Lose or Draw: Dec. 31, 1990-Dec. 24, 1992
Scrabble: Sept. 16, 1991-Feb. 3, 1995; April 17, 1995-Oct. 13, 1995
USA Gonzo Games: Oct. 6, 1991-March 29, 1992
The Joker's Wild (Finn): Dec. 30, 1991-Sept. 11, 1992; March 29, 1993-June 24, 1994
Sale of the Century (Perry): Sept. 14, 1992-July 29, 1994
$100,000 Pyramid (Clark): Dec. 28, 1992-Sept. 8, 1995
American Gladiators: Jan. 4, 1993-Oct. 8, 1993; June 27, 1994-Sept. 8, 1995; July 1, 1996-Sept. 13, 1996
Tic Tac Dough (Wayne): March 29, 1993-June 24, 1994
Talk About: June 28, 1993-Dec. 31, 1993
Quicksilver: June 27, 1994-Oct. 13, 1995
Free 4 All: June 27, 1994-Nov. 4, 1994
Caesars Challenge: June 27, 1994-Nov. 4, 1994
Love Connection: Oct. 16, 1995-June 6, 1997
The Big Date: June 17, 1996-Sept. 19, 1997
Grill Me: Sept. 19, 1996-Sept. 15, 1996

[mets82]

I hope GSN isnt crying poverty as to why they dont air classic game shows because they dont have the money. They got re-runs of Dancing with the Stars. Im sure that wasnt cheap to get those rights. And btw, am I wrong or is Dancing with the Stars NOT a GAME SHOW??!?!

[let'swatchtv]

Originally Posted by mets82

I hope GSN isnt crying poverty as to why they dont air classic game shows because they dont have the money. They got re-runs of Dancing with the Stars. Im sure that wasnt cheap to get those rights. And btw, am I wrong or is Dancing with the Stars NOT a GAME SHOW??!?!

mets82, my good man your not wrong at all because i also think that DWTS is definetley not a game show as it was one of the most if not the most dumbest acquistion ever in the history for the netwotk.when i heard the news from buzzerblog last year and i not going to tell you a lie it started to piss me off i mean who the hell wants to a see a "reality show" airing on "game show" network but i tell you things started to go down hill in 2004 when game show network change it's identity to the so unpopular GSN airing boring as hell card shows like high stakes poker,world series of blackjack,poker royale;to reality shows like the amazing race,spy tv,average joe,average joe:hawaii and so on to crappy originals like american dream derby and kenny vs. spenny and well, you know the rest.