MARCH 10 2018 LISTENER 13

E

ven before there was

television – appar-

ently such a time

existed – Kiwis loved

a good game show.

It’s in the Bag, hosted

with booming ebul-

lience by Selwyn

Toogood, had its beginnings

in radio, before becoming the

televised, travelling game show

we were all glued to in the 1970s.

The format was so good, it car-

ried on into the 1980s with host

John Hawkesby and was again

revived in the 2000s by Māori

Television. Honourable mention,

too, to a one-off stage show in

2003 featuring Mikey Havoc and

his lovely assistant, Jeremy Wells,

who wore a dress.

We certainly love The Chase.

An average of 316,000 viewers

watched each weekday last year,

making it our most-watched off-

peak show in the 5+ bracket. It

has been enormously popular on

ITV in Britain, winning several

National Television Awards, and

forcing the BBC to create a rival

game show, Pointless.

Our own version of Family

Feud, on Three, stretched to

more than 350 episodes and was

looking like a keeper until Dai

Henwood quit to host Danc-

ing with the Stars. Three

continues to make special

celebrity episodes of the

show.

Which brings us to the

question of what makes

a good game show.

Wheel of Fortune,

created by Merv

Griffin in 1975 is

still running in

the US, but The

Chair, hosted by

tennis legend John

McEnroe, was gone

after nine episodes.

Why?

Part of the answer

is that it is very hard

to devise a good format. It

must require some level of skill

from contestants; there may be

time pressure; the rules must

not be too complicated; the

competition may be between

contestants; or, as in The Chase,

entrants may have to match

wits with a quiz expert.

The “play-along” aspect

is especially important, says

John McDonald, execu-

tive producer of All

Star Family Feud.

“People like to

test themselves

on their general

knowledge to

see if they could

win – and it does

improve their gen-

eral knowledge.”

“People love to win

money,” says TVNZ’s

head of content,

Cate Slater. “General

knowledge is also really

important. Another

factor is comedy and

GAME

ON!

It’s among the oldest of broadcasting’s

entertainment formats, but the quiz show

has never been so popular. by FIONA RAE

GETTY IMAGES

Bradley Walsh hosts The

Chase, the most-watched

off-peak show on TV.