2007 was the biggest year for primetime game shows in memory. Over the past several years it has seemed that primetime could only handle one hit game show at a time. 2007 changed that; maybe for good.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire premiered in 1999, airing 4 hour-long shows a week at its peak, accounting for one-sixth of ABC's weekly air time. But the public tired of the annoying, "Is that your final answer," tag line and the show folded under competition from The Weakest Link, which made a splash in the spring and summer of 2001 only to fade along with WWTBM until both were cancelled in 2002. (WWTBM continues to produce a syndicated week-day version).

Three years later Deal Or No Deal made a similar splash. It celebrated its second birthday on December 19th, 2007, and continues to regularly rank in the Nielsen Top 10. While only time will tell if DOND continues to hold the public's interest through its third year on air, it has already surpassed WWTBM in terms of the show's ability to withstand competition. In the fall of 2006 NBC brought out 1 Vs 100 and Identity. Then the flood gates opened. Between February and December, 2007, no less than seven game shows premiered on the big 4:

Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? - Fox
Set for Life - ABC
Don't Forget the Lyrics - Fox
National Bingo Night - ABC
The Power of 10 - CBS
Singing Bee - NBC
Duel (6 episode pilot only) - ABC

The competition is tough (Identity, Set for Life and National Bingo Night are on indefinite hiatus), and it's going to get tougher. Mark Burnett is bringing Amne$ia to NBC, which is also doing My Dad is Better than Your Dad. CBS has Do You Trust Me in production and Regis Philbin hosting a pilot-week of Million Dollar Crossword. Moment of Truth - answering increasingly personal questions while hooked up to a lie detector - makes its controversial premier on Fox January 23rd and ABC has Wanna Bet? coming in the spring.

Since fall, 2006, ten game shows have aired in prime time on the big 4. Over the next 6 months another 6 will make their debuts. Six of the original ten are still in production and a seventh, Duel, likely will be shortly, based on the ratings it generated during its pilot-week run. At a success rate of 70%, game shows have returned to primetime with a profile not seen since the 50's. Two years ago, who would have believed that in the spring of 2008 a dozen or more game shows would be airing in primetime? Who'da thunk?

Lyle Burwell

President, VPTV, The Free Directory of Viewer Participation TeleVision. VPTV tracks application information for all North American, English, viewer participation programming.

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