Game Show Confidential: The Story of an American Obsession

by Boze Hadleigh

Game and quiz shows first started appearing on radio broadcasts in the 1930s, led by the CBS network’s Professor Quiz, hosted by a man who was neither a professor nor even a college graduate, the first of several frauds that seemed to be endemic to the genre. Professor Quiz was followed by other such game shows as Uncle Jim’s Question Bee and Ask It Basket, which in turn spawned successful box games for at-home play. The show Truth or Consequences made the transition from radio to television in the late 1940s and was so popular that a town in New Mexico was named for the show. Television proved to be the perfect platform for game shows since they were very popular and cheap to produce. Even in reruns today, the older shows still draw huge audiences. This book describes the evolution of the game show, its larger-than-life producers and hosts, as well as the scandals that have rocked it from time to time, including bloopers from such “adult” oriented shows as The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and Hollywood Squares. This is an entertaining and lively look at an American phenomenon whose popularity doesn’t seem to be going away.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

304 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2023

Reviews

[Pooja Peravali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Game shows have a surprisingly long history, starting with their roots in radio quiz shows in the 1930s to today's glut of revivals, with plenty of drama and scandals along the way.

It occurred to me over the course of reading this book that I've not actually seen many American game shows beyond Jeopardy - I was more likely to pass my time watching Telugu game shows aired in the early afternoon with my grandmother during summer holidays. But the appeal of game shows in universal, and besides I've always enjoyed a cultural history of anything at all.

In this book, Hadleigh takes us on a tour of the evolution of games shows in the United States, hitting all sorts of genres and angles of the history. Hopping back and forth in time, he discusses the different game formats that became popular formulas, producers and hosts and contestants, and drama such as the quiz show rigging scandals of the 1950s.

It was also fascinating to learn more about how the shows that are pretty much institutions today came to be that way, as well as about the hundreds of pitched shows that sank without a trace. Producers really seemed to thick that throwing ideas at a wall and seeing what stuck was an excellent business plan.

However, I didn't think the content was organized in the best way, as we weave between the years and different types of shows from one chapter to another, making it hard to understand how game shows cross-pollinated each other as the genre became more established.

I also found some of the author's odd asides about personalities involved in the stories distracting, especially when he discussed or speculated on the sexualities of some hosts where it seemed irrelevant (excepting, of course, the chapter discussing diversity among the hosts).

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[IrenesBookReviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a lot of fun facts and show information in this book. There were great tidbits of information throughout on game shows I had heard of and some I hadn't. I appreciated how the information for each show started with the very first show up until when the show ended. Some of the shows started a long time ago and evolved into the show you watch today. I enjoyed the historical aspect of the book as well as the behind the scenes gossip of each show's inception and hosts. I especially liked reading about the history of Password and the connection the incredible Betty White had to the show. If you like gameshows and are interested in how they came about, you will enjoy reading this book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher Rowman & Littlefield, for the temporary digital ARC that I read and gave my honest opinion of.

[Poppy Marlowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love game shows...in fact, when we are bored we go to the Game Show Network and watch and laugh uproariously at the vintage shows' episodes.

Game shows used to be fun and goofy ... "The Newlywed Game" still makes me laugh to the day and I don't mean the hair and moustaches of the contestants. "The Price is Right" has been around since 1956, "Wheel of Fortune" since 1975 (Vanna White has been with the show for FORTY YEARS!) and Jeopardy since 1964. These are not just TV shows, they are cultural institutions!

"The Bachelor/ette" all started as a social experiment that now has declared winners .. winners whose engagements rarely come to fruition. Add in shows like "Love is Blind" and one's mental health and integrity come into game shows of the 21st century as contestants will talk (on scheduled episodes) about the bullying on social media and how their reputations are dragged through the mud via tabloids. "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" continues on, season after season, and now the focus of those shows is not the game, it is the people.

(Quick, name a winner of "American Idol" past season 4's Carrie Underwood who has actually become a wildly successful singer. It may take some time....)

Game shows will always be with us, and this book is a love letter to the genre: I loved it and will recommend it far and wide, especially to the trivia buffs in my life as there is a lot of information and cute facts that one has never heard of before.

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t have a ton of knowledge about game shows besides the fact that my family likes to watch them, and I never previously imagined it to be an incredibly enrapturing history— Hadleigh proved me wrong. This book was so much fun to read and I enjoyed many of the things I learned about.

[J.J. Lair · Rating 4 out of 5]

A summary of classic game shows and how they premiered. The author has no negative stories about Bill Cullen. He is one of the few who escape those type stories. Jack Barry and the game show scandal of the 1950s. Richard Dawson had an ego. Bob Barker became a control freak and possibly more. Poor Ray Coombs. Peter Tomarkin got lucky with a good show. Bert Convey overall wasn’t a bad guy. Peter Marshall had a career outside of game shows- who knew?
I had a few laughs, Groucho, Paul Lynde and Monty Hall. I appreciate Drew Carey more.

[Joseph Matuch · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was helpful for writing some trivia questions, but I didn't finish it. Lots of disparate thoughts.

[Martin Maenza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Game Show Confidential: The Story of An American Obsession, written by Jeopardy winner Boze Hadleigh, comes out May 1, 2023. Lyons Press, a subsidiary of Rowman and Littlefield Publishing, provided an early galley for review.

As a kid of the 70's, I grew up on game shows. Whether they were morning fare for days off and summer vacation or early evening offerings, I enjoyed these so much. It was a special time often spent with my grandmother. It is for this reason that this book attracted me so.

Hadleigh takes the reader through the history of game shows by presenting them via different topics (by game-themes, by similar production companies, etc.). As he does, he also drops interesting trivial tidbits and historical markers as well. Though the topics bounce around chapter to chapter, the grouped shows within each chapter are typically presented in a chronological manner.

I was especially pleased by the back-to-back chapters that focused on Match Game and its host Gene Rayburn. This is by far my all-time favorite game show, so seeing it given extra attention here was icing on the cake for me.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this book. I have been a game show fan since my childhood in the 1980s. I grew up with so many of the classic shows that defined that era. My sister and I were going to one day be on a game show (still haven't).

I enjoyed learning about how shows were created and how they evolved throughout the decades. I found myself reminiscing about favorites such as Press Your Luck, The Price is Right, Pyramid, Sale of the Century, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Family Feud, Joker's Wild, Double Dare, and Let's Make a Deal. Hearing about the contestants who were involved in the Quiz Show scandal or who figured out the Whammy pattern intrigued me.

However, this book, while informative, really dragged on. Many times the author repeated himself. He also inserted himself into the narrative on numerous occasions, which I found to be completely unnecessary. Additionally, although it may be interesting to some readers, I found his continual discussion of show hosts' sexuality to be totally inappropriate and bizarre.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Game Show Confidential, by Boze Hadleigh, like its subject, is a fast-paced read. It dives into, albeit not very deeply, the history of many of the game shows that filled your afternoons growing up. The catty asides that pepper the book when talking about the lives of the various emcees/hosts was distracting at best. It soured much of what otherwise could have been a fun read. Thank you to #LyonsPress and #NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book.

[Michelle "Champ" · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love game shows and want to know everything about them, this is the book for you. I am a game show fanatic and was thrilled to read all about my favorite shows, and my favorite hosts. There is even a special section on my favorite, Gene Rayburn!!! This is a well-researched book, it is also fun and at some point, you will say, "I forgot all about that show!!!". GREAT JOB!!!!

Thank you, NetGalley for letting me enjoy this one a bit early.

[Mary Cummins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Net Galley for a e copy of Game Show Confidential by Boze. Hadleigh in exchange for a honest review.This book is full of everything you need or want to know about every game show ever created from the 1940s to the present day.My favorite game shows have been Jeopardy, Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Press Your Luck..This book has all the information about each game show - who was the host, who produced it, was there any scandals associated with it and how it ended.Highly recommend for game show junkies.

[Sarah Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the subject matter was interesting, I found this book to be poorly organized. The structure made it difficult to follow along and retain information. I can't say I'll be eager to recommend this to others.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

It's fun reading about the game shows that became hits and the many, many that didn't. Discretion and taste rarely enter into the picture. There's also a lot of information about the various hosts.

[Jonas Schwartz-Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like reading Wikipedia. A shame because I enjoyed his Lavender Screen.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

For what is was, it was interesting, but there was SO MUCH MORE that could have been explored.