The Game Show Show

The first episode, which aired May 10, 2023, discusses the early history of game shows from the 1950's quiz scandals to the introduction of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 1999, a show which changed the landscape of television and brought a revival of game show interest. The show also mentions the origins of Jeopardy!, which was created as a direct result of the quiz show scandals. In the 1950's, television networks decided to rig game shows in an attempt to boost their ratings, but eventually failed once contestants came forward saying that the shows were rigged.[6] As a result, laws were introduced to prevent game shows from future rigging. The most notable being the Prohibited Practices in Contests of Knowledge, Skill, or Chance law, which barrs television or radio stations from rigging game shows. If law is broken, stations may face a $10,000 fine or one year in prison for those responsible for cheating.[7]

In the 1960's, Merv Griffin had wanted to develop a new game show for television, but he was initially unsuccessful as networks were still hesitant to air game shows due to the scandals which took place several years prior. While having a conversation with his wife, Julann Wright, Wright told him to come up with a show that gives the answers while contestants come up with the questions; Griffin liked the idea and decided to develop a show based off an "answer-question" format. This idea led to the creation of Jeopardy! in 1964. Jeopardy was first hosted by Art Fleming, who hosted the show on NBC from 1964 until 1979. Fleming died of pancreatic cancer in 1995. In 1984, a revival of Jeopardy! began airing in syndication and has continued ever since. It was previously hosted by Alex Trebek from 1984 until his death in November 2020. Trebek also died of pancreatic cancer.

Towards the end of the show, the documentary covered Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which premiered on August 16, 1999, with then-host Regis Philbin. At the time, game shows were widely unpopular and were in a rapid decline, with the exception of The Price is Right. To revive interest in the game show genre, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was introduced and the show became a primetime ratings success. At the time, the show was watched by nearly 30 million people daily, mainly due to the suspenseful and dramatic nature of the show and because of Philbin, who became internationally famous as a result of the show. The primetime version ran until 2002, when it was re-launched in daytime syndication with new host Meredith Vieira, who hosted the show until 2013. Philbin briefly returned to the show in 2004 and 2009, the latter being for a 10th Anniversary primetime special. Philbin died in July 2020. Vieira was interviewed and mentioned how much the show meant to her and how it changed television forever, especially while Philbin was host. The segment also features Justin Peters, who appeared on the show in 2015 with then-host Terry Crews. Peters said he was inspired to be on the show since it first started in 1999 and felt convinced that he would one day become a millionaire on the show. Once on the show, Peters made it to the $500,000 question and, after considering the risk, decided to go for it. Peters missed and lost $225,000, dropping to $25,000.

The show ended with a summary of everything that was covered and previewed the next episode which will air on May 17.