GSN/Awesome

As you may expect for a network devoted to airing Game Shows, GSN has had some awesome moments.

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• In general, Black and White Overnite (formerly Sunday Night In Black And White).
• While the so-called "Dark Period" (Midnight of October 11, 1997 through 8:00 AM on April 18, 1998) ousted nearly all the Goodson-Todman shows, their replacements were a whole lot of shows that GSN very likely wouldn't have shown otherwise. So, in fact, losing the main Goodson-Todman license was a good thing.
• Getting the rights to show the CBS version of The Joker's Wild and the Peter Marshall version of The Hollywood Squares, both long thought to have been destroyed. GSN stopped airing both about 14 months after they started, but as the saying goes — when a pig starts flying, you don't complain if it doesn't stay up long.
• At various times, airing pilots that for the most part didn't sell. Marathons of the unsold games aired in 1998 and 2000 as "Game Show Turkeys" and "Raise the Dead", respectively. Among the pilots aired there (and elsewhere) were, in chronological order of taping...
  • Let's Make a Deal! (May 25, 1963), very different compared to the earliest circulating episode (December 30, 1968). This pilot was aired as a standalone special with an introduction by Hall, the inclusion of his (rather sexist) sales pitch, and even the NBC "In Living Color" and "snake" IDs.
  • The Game Game (1969), an obscure Chuck Barris entry (that sold) which tested psychoanalysis.
  • He Said, She Said (1969), with one celebrity couple (Gene and Helen Rayburn) playing against three civilian couples.
  • Second Guessers (December 29, 1969), a Bob Stewart format whose audience couldn't wait to leave.
  • Monday Night Quarterback (late 1970), a Stewart game hosted by Jerry Kramer that centered on calling football plays (specifically, the St. Louis Cardinals games of September 27 and October 25, 1970).
  • Says Who? (May 28, 1971), another Stewart production and the second game hosted by Geoff Edwards. ^[1]
  • Cop-Out! (February 15, 1972), a Barris game hosted by Geoff Edwards whose broken format and eight-celebrity panel mean the entire game hinges on the last answer...which is also the only one anybody gets right. (Two pilots were made [three according to Barris], but GSN only aired #2.)
  • The Parent Game (1972), two pilots with a slightly different set and Charlie O'Donnell announcing. Recycled into the first two episodes of the series, which is how GSN reran them.
  • The $10,000 Sweep (August 4, 1972), a Stewart show hosted by Jack Clark; notable for showing its tapedate on a giant check in the opening.
  • Hollywood Connection (May 20, 1975), a Barry-Enright format that eventually aired from 1977-78; this pilot was aired during GSN's Faux Pause.
  • Shoot The Works (1976), a Stewart format which sold as Shoot For The Stars. (Two pilots were made, but GSN only aired #1 {with Anita Gillette and Bill Cullen}.)
  • The Riddlers (November 4, 1977), a Stewart format helmed by David Letterman...who turns out to be the only thing that really makes it watchable. (Two pilots were made, but GSN only aired #1. Dave may have been joking {or his memory was foggy}, but he stated during this 1991 interview with Michael McKean that The Riddlers was so bad they originally planned to tape #2, but the producers came up to Dave after #1 and said "Iiiii think we got what we need, Dave...")
  • Get Rich Quick! (November 30, 1977), the first attempt by Stewart to make the format of Go; notable for the contestant area looking quite a bit like Pyramid, as well as using a Bonus Round not seen in any Stewart game before or since.
  • 3's A Crowd (December 1978), three pilots with a better-looking set and host Jim Peck lacking the "perm" he sported when the show somehow made it to air. Recycled into the first three episodes of the series, which is how GSN reran them (#1 is linked).
  • Dollar A Second (February 7, 1981), a Barris attempt to revive the Jan Murray-hosted classic; notable for host Bob Eubanks outright saying it's a pilot less than five minutes in.
  • Twisters (March 1982), a Stewart game (notice a pattern here?) hosted by Jim Perry.
  • The New Newlywed Game (February 1984), a special Valentine's Week on ABC with a slightly different set to the eventual series, Rod Roddy announcing, and Jim Lange hosting. (#5 {February 17} is linked, although GSN showed one other.)
• The "Feast of Favorites" in 2002 and 2003 where on Thanksgiving Day, the network dedicated 12 hours to the top 12 favorite games as voted on in a fan poll. Despite having not been on the network in several years, The Joker's Wild was #2 and appeared again the second year, where massive voting among the fanbase pushed |Bullseye (which had seldom been seen on GSN before) into the #12 slot.
• "The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time" showed the rarely-seen Bullseye and 1970s Treasure Hunt, plus an episode of Shop 'til You Drop (which had never aired on GSN before).
• Almost any time the network randomly decides to dig up some show that's otherwise rarely aired by them for a special occasion. Rather notable is the Wheel of Fortune marathon run after Merv Griffin's death, which had three episodes of the (not aired before or since by GSN) daytime version, including one hosted by...Chuck Woolery? From 18 months in (June 7, 1976)?! And the Fandom Rejoiced!
• After Dennis James' death in 1997, showing an episode of The Price Is Right with him hosting.
• This was the whole point of "Game Of The Week" (GOTW), an episode of a short-lived and/or rare game. Among these were three games that have only one full episode known to exist apiece — Number Please (May 1961), Eye Guess (November 8, 1967), and Winning Streak (August 9, 1974).
• "Wide World Of Games" had a few similar elements to GOTW, and among the rare games shown here were two episodes each of The Better Sex and The Fun Factory.
• Airing two episodes of Art Fleming's Jeopardy! — the 2,000th NBC show (February 21, 1972) as a GOTW, and Fleming's Grand Finale (March 2, 1979) during the Y2Play marathon on December 31, 1999.
• Airing Game Show Moments Gone Bananas, a series of clip-filled VH-1 specials consisting entirely of Fremantle-owned games (NBC owns Concentration), mainly since it was pretty much the only time GSN would be showing most of the stuff GSMGB featured.

1. ↑ (The first was Lucky Pair, a local California series produced by Bob Barker.)