Play it Back: 90’s Game Shows: Review

Finally got a chance to review this, sorry about the delay.

Anyhow… I must say this was pretty okay.

I wasn’t too big a fan of the dating segment. I mean, I don’t blame them for being apart of the show, they really first took off in this decade, but I just don’t see Studs as much of a game show, and I repeat what I said about Love Connection in the ‘80’s special here. And for what it’s worth, that barking guy on Love Connection was just creepy to me -- I NEVER want someone to snarl at me like that during anytime on a date.

I did enjoy the parts about Hollywood Squares, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy!. Although it’s my favorite version of the show, It’s been a really long time since I’ve seen really early episodes of Bergeron’s Hollywood Squares, so I don’t remember any Baldwin brothers appearing. And of course, the "YOU FOOL!" clip surfaces again, except on this special, no celebrity faces are blurred like on Most Outrageous Game Show Moments. It’s been played before several times but still worth a laugh -- as I mentioned before, the repeating is inevitable in most cases. It was nice seeing clips from the earlier days but I wish we had seen a bit more.

Good for them for remembering a very important element of Wheel of Fortune -- the puzzle board change. I remember when it first happened. It’s hard to believe that was almost 12 years ago. And I couldn’t believe that they even referred to the late ’90’s set of Jeopardy! as what the more hardcore members of the game show community always called it -- the sushi bar set! I found that to be quite funny for some odd reason.

And of course, you can’t have a ‘90’s retrospective without the mention of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. It was only on for a few months in 1999, but this show had managed to become a huge hit very quickly. I remember very well how much this impacted the country. With parodies everywhere and my own self annoying my mother by asking "Is that your final answer?" over and over. I liked this part, although I’m not a fan of John Carpenter. Sorry, I just found him to be a bit cocky.

Pretty decent overall but I do think the 1980’s was the best special. This one I would rate second, with the ‘70’s retrospective last. I found the 1970’s one to be rather disappointing.