Television Game Shows have entertained audiences for many years and have become a staple ingredient of television programming and schedules. Often set in TV studios in front of a live audience (though not always) game shows have the element of competition at their core. There are several sub genres of Television Game Shows, all of which are appropriate for Unit 1 purposes. These include the following: activity oriented; dating; panel games; puzzle oriented and quiz shows. Among the vast array of UK Television Game Shows that can be selected for study are the following: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Total Wipeout, Take Me Out, A Question of Sport, Countdown, Pointless. These are not prescriptive, but are just offered as examples of the genre. There is no requirement to study examples of Television Game Shows from the past but it would interesting in the study of the topic to cover a wide range of shows and not just contemporary examples. Reality television shows, although having many similar conventions (and often a ‘game element’ to them), differ as they usually have a focus on ‘talent’ or real-life/work scenarios and therefore should not be used in the study of Television Game Shows.
Choose one of the game-shows listed above and prepare a power-point presentation to share with the class.
Please include:
when the show was made,
the host and their role,
the strategy of the game,
what the prize is,
what type of audience it would appeal to (Make sure you're specific and detailed - look back through your blog to identify work on audiences and their socio economic background)
