2008 brought us an interesting year in game shows. We started off with the writer's strike, which bore new unscripted fare like American Gladiators, Amne$ia, and Million Dollar Password. It also brought the demise of fan favorite 1 vs. 100.
Summertime gave us two great shows on ABC, I Survived a Japanese Game Show and Wipeout. We also saw Wanna Bet?, which was lots of fun but didn't translate in ratings.There were several failures throughout the year, including the clever My Dad is Better Than Your Dad, and the over-the-top Opportunity Knocks. We also got a game show for cats, hosted by Chuck Woolery.
Among the cancellations and the ridiculous, however, we also had some great new shows and memorable moments. Deal or No Deal suffered in prime time by the end of the year, but the daytime version is, by all accounts, a resounding success. GSN had an instant hit with Bingo America. We had eight million dollar winners, and five of them were female.
Let's take a look back at an exciting year with the inaugural About.com Game Show Awards, where the categories are completely random, but the winners are carefully selected!
Most Ridiculous Game Show Concept
Okay, let's get this one out of the way first so we can concentrate on better things. Obviously, this award goes to GSN for The Meow Mix Think Like a Cat Game Show. Somehow they snagged the wonderful Chuck Woolery to host this atrocity, but even he seemed like he'd rather be hosting just about any other show. All we can do now is hope that there's never, ever, a sequel.
Best Million Dollar Winner
This one was decided by a viewer poll, and you voted for ... Michelle Loewenstein, who earned her million on Wheel of Fortune. Michelle really had to work for her money, enjoying the perfect combination of skill and luck. She made Wheel of Fortune history, and deserved every penny.
Close runners up were Kathy Cox on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, and Jason Luna for his 1 vs. 100 win.
Worst Reaction by a Game Show Host
I think you know where this one's going already, don't you? The award for Worst Reaction by a Game Show Host goes, hands down, to Drew Carey for his miserable performance on The Price is Right, after a contestant gave a perfect bid in the showcase. I'm a big fan of Carey's on the show, and I think he does a really good job most of the time. But boy, did he drop the ball on this one.
Even if there had been some funny business going on in the audience, the average home viewer would not have known this. Instead, we got a huge, history-making game show moment delivered to us with less enthusiasm than a morning traffic report.
Best New Game Show Host
Here's another award that was determined by your votes, and the results are quite funny. In a category dominated by actors we haven't seen in any real acting roles lately, the two front-runners were a working actor who plays a game show host within a game show, and a rock 'n roll legend.
The runner-up for Best New Game Show Host of 2008 is Meat Loaf, who heads the crazy fun music show Rock and a Hard Place on Direct TV. I wasn't expecting much of him as a host, quite honestly, but was pleasantly surprised at how well he keeps the show going.
The winner of the award, however, is Rome Kanda, who plays the host of the fictional Japanese game show Majide on I Survived a Japanese Game Show. I threw his name into the poll as an afterthought, replacing Al Roker of Celebrity Family Feud, since he wasn't a "new" host. In retrospect, however, Kanda is hilariously funny and upbeat, and really does embody the spirit of game show hosting. Definitely a well-chosen winner.
Worst Game Play
There were a few contenders for this category this year. Any goofball who appears in contestant's row on The Price is Right and consistently bids $69 (or some other number that they believe to be funny) is a serious contender. Likewise, any celebrity who shows up on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and breathlessly exclaims, "I didn't know Turkey was a country!" is almost guaranteed the title.
However, one contestant's game play caused enough of a stir that I think it wins this award for the year, hands down. I'm talking about Richie Bell, who appeared on Deal or No Deal in October. He started off with seven cases worth a million dollars, and ended up with two of his last three cases holding a million, and the third containing one dollar. After turning down $603,000, he knocked out one of the millions. Then he turned down an offer of $416,000. Guess what he walked away with? Yep, a buck. There are calculated risks, and then there is plain old greed and/or stupidity. You can decide which one is which in this case.
Best Celebrity Guest
Many shows brought in some star power over the course of the year, including 5th Grader, Don't Forget the Lyrics, Celebrity Family Feud, and Hole in the Wall. But there's no question as to which celebrity earned this award for 2008.
The Queen of Game Shows herself, Betty White, made Million Dollar Password a legitimate remake by appearing on both seasons so far in 2008. I'm sure you know by know that White has been on over 40 episodes of Password, including every version thus far. Not only that, but at the age of 86, she was still able to get in there and prove that she's an excellent player. Here's to hoping that we'll be seeing her on many more seasons of the show.
