Play it Back: '80's Game Shows: Review

I do like this special in particular better than last week’s.

As usual, I love the trivia element. I also learned a couple things. For one thing, I didn’t know Bob Eubanks recorded a song.

We do see some of the same clips again -- which I mentioned last time is pretty much inevitable -- but at least it’s nice seeing some fresh material. And I didn’t know Mark DeCarlo was a contestant on Sale of the Century, and it was nice seeing some clips. It's a shame that Fremantle probably doesn't even let them air part of an episode. It looks like the clips shown were from a personal collection. Again, a little bit more fresh material could have been used. But I thought this was a bit better. I’ve seen Pat Sajak kiss Vanna White on his last daytime Wheel of Fortune show, but I’ve never seen it be featured in some sort of documentary. Same with the France-French moment on Password Plus.

Not liking the fact that Love Connection made this special much at all. It’s not that I have a serious problem with this show; I just don’t see much of a gaming element in it. But it was a big part of the ‘80’s and provided decent fodder for the show, and it’s not as if the show was bombarded with Love Connection clips… despite the fact that I hardly think of it as a game show, I can deal with it.

Loved the Betty White part. It’s so true. Betty is a very important part of our game show culture. From being on every incarnation of Password, to Pyramid, and other game shows, especially in the 1980’s… to even hosting a show of her own, albeit short-lived, Just Men!, in 1983. And can’t forget about Vicki Lawrence. Another great and very entertaining game player. Her walking out on The $100,000 Pyramid after a bad week is probably one of my favorite memorable game show moments. I also loved Vanna White’s mention earlier in the show. You can't have an '80's game show special without mentioning her.

Caroline I thought was better on this show too. And it was nice seeing Wink again, and Chuck Woolery this time around. The other commentators I thought were pretty decent again as well.