WWTBAM Bored

This past weekend I was trying to come up with an earlier game show where the contestents didn't compete against anyone other then themselves, and couldn't think of one. Even Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life had the high scorer come back for a final round, IIRC. Maybe there was one in the very early days of TV - but I can't think of any.

So, was Millionaire the fist game show where you didn't have to worry about how anyone else did? Other shows of course followed the format after Millionaire took off, but did any show use a similar format before?

It was nice to be in a green room where you could root for everyone to win a million, without worrying that it would somehow work against you.

---Jay

frogman042 wrote:This past weekend I was trying to come up with an earlier game show where the contestents didn't compete against anyone other then themselves, and couldn't think of one. Even Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life had the high scorer come back for a final round, IIRC. Maybe there was one in the very early days of TV - but I can't think of any.

So, was Millionaire the fist game show where you didn't have to worry about how anyone else did? Other shows of course followed the format after Millionaire took off, but did any show use a similar format before?

It was nice to be in a green room where you could root for everyone to win a million, without worrying that it would somehow work against you.

---Jay

Of course there was the fastest finger.

The original WWTBAM was a competitive show. I think it still is in some countries. I was beaten by other contestants on four different FF questions in 2000 and 2001 before I got to play the non-competitive bonus game in the hot seat.

The auditions remain as a key competitive part of the show that is not included in the broadcast. And of course, the phone game was very competitive.

TheConfessor wrote:The original WWTBAM was a competitive show. I think it still is in some countries. I was beaten by other contestants on four different FF questions in 2000 and 2001 before I got to play the non-competitive bonus game in the hot seat.

The auditions remain as a key competitive part of the show that is not included in the broadcast. And of course, the phone game was very competitive.

OK, OK --- yes but the Syndie version is not competitive as an actual game. So excluding actually getting on the show - and not including the Nighttime version - was the Syndicated version the first non-competitive game-play game show (or can you find yet another loophole in my question)?

---Jay

I've Got A Secret didn't feature any direct competition between contestants.

For anyone who might be unfamiliar with IGAS: each contestant individually attempted to stump the panel of celebrities, who asked the player a series of yes/no questions in trying to guess their "secret". The contestant's winnings would increase with each successive "no" answer they elicited from the panel.

mcd1400de wrote:I've Got A Secret didn't feature any direct competition between contestants.

For anyone who might be unfamiliar with IGAS: each contestant individually attempted to stump the panel of celebrities, who asked the player a series of yes/no questions in trying to guess their "secret". The contestant's winnings would increase with each successive "no" answer they elicited from the panel.

Now that you mention it, yes - and that brings to mind both What's My Line as well as What's My Perversion.

I don't think they took the top winners from any of the shows for the day for a bigger prize.

Thanks,

---Jay

mcd1400de wrote:I've Got A Secret didn't feature any direct competition between contestants.

For anyone who might be unfamiliar with IGAS: each contestant individually attempted to stump the panel of celebrities, who asked the player a series of yes/no questions in trying to guess their "secret". The contestant's winnings would increase with each successive "no" answer they elicited from the panel.

Although, now that I think about it, the contestents actually didn't 'play' the game, the panelists did, they were the object of the game - they just had to answer Yes or No - their only real control was having either a really interesting secret or occupation.

So, I'm going to amend the question again:
Was the syndicated version of Millionaire the first game show where the contestents, once they actually got on to play, and were the key players of the game, requiring them to actually drive the game play and use their knowledge/talent/skill to solve the games/questions/challenges - the first game show that they didn't actively compete against other contestants on the aforementioned show?

---Jay (you'll never make a lawyer out of me)

Someone may correct me on this, but I don't recall The Chair having contestants competing against each other. It premiered several months before Syndicated Millionaire.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0306295/plotsummary

The $64,000 question, which BAM is a modern remake of, I don't think had two contestants against each other.

Jack Narz hosted a show in the early 1960s called "Seven Keys". It was just one contestant playing against "the Board". If they won, they chose one of seven keys, each of which opened doors to fabulous prizes. If they won the board game, they could either try their keys, or return for another game to try to win a second key, etc.

I'm tempted to say there are many examples where it's been just one vs. TPTB. I'll keep thinking about this ...

goongas wrote:The $64,000 question, which BAM is a modern remake of, I don't think had two contestants against each other.

You're right! And this TV show, which debuted in 1954, was inspired by a radio show going back to 1940.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_$64,000_Question

MarleysGh0st wrote:

goongas wrote:The $64,000 question, which BAM is a modern remake of, I don't think had two contestants against each other.

You're right! And this TV show, which debuted in 1954, was inspired by a radio show going back to 1940.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_$64,000_Question

They apparently also established the clock precedent, to assure a fast pace. One question per week. I guess people had longer attention spans back then.