12 Forgotten Game Shows from the ’70s That Wouldn’t Air Today
Here's a wild ride through the forgotten, bizarre, and often cringeworthy game shows of the 1970s, which prove that not everything vintage deserves a comeback.
- Alyana Aguja
- 4 min read
The 1970s were a heyday of experimentation in game shows — daring, bizarre, and frequently zealously ill-considered by contemporary standards. From volcano trivia to series that matched wives against secretaries, these long-forgotten shows pushed boundaries that would never be permitted in a contemporary television environment. The following list explores 12 of the most shocking and neglected examples, and it turns out just how bizarre daytime TV used to be.
1. The Diamond Head Game (1975)
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Hawaiian host Bob Eubanks presided over this tourism-packed show in which visitors to the island competed for prizes on the banks of the iconic Diamond Head volcano. Contestants were placed inside a giant plastic volcano that erupted if they gave the wrong answer. The combination of cultural exoticism and campy imagery hasn’t weathered so well, and neither has the cheap production quality masquerading as paradise.
2. 3’s a Crowd (1979)
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Developed by Chuck Barris, this risqué series posed the question, “Who knows a man better — his wife or his secretary?” Every week, the two women competed with each other in bedroom trivia about their shared male. The outright misogyny and promotion of jealousy would render it DOA on television today.
3. The Neighbors (1975–76)
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Hosted by Regis Philbin, this show had suburban couples respond to intimate questions about themselves and their neighbors. Contestants won rewards for showing how much or little they knew about the secret lives on their block. Picture Desperate Housewives as a daytime game show, and you’ll know why it disappeared in an instant.
4. Can You Top This? (1970)
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A revival of a 1950s radio program, comedians attempted to outdo one another using jokes submitted by listeners. The humor was old-fashioned, and the tone was heavily dependent upon rimshot-style humor and corny one-liners. These days, it would be more of a cringeworthy compilation than good entertainment.
5. The Game Game (1969–70)
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While it began in 1969, the majority of its episodes were broadcast in 1970. Hosted by Jim McKrell, the show featured celebrities and contestants responding to personality quizzes that revealed psychological characteristics such as “How honest are you?” or “How neurotic are you?” Blending pop psychology and game show action, it had a bizarre therapy-meets-entertainment feel that would be exploitative today.
6. The Money Maze (1974–75)
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Couples responded to trivia in order to run through a huge on-set maze to collect money. The physical challenge element was cutting-edge for the era, but the huge set was a logistical nightmare. Its dizzying layout and uncomfortable gender dynamics (men ran while women navigated) seem clunky by contemporary standards.
7. Second Chance (1977)
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A proto-Press Your Luck, this brief series featured animated devils named “Whammies” who stole contestants’ money. The cartoonish feel uncomfortably conflicted with the serious gameplay, and the low-budget animation was inadvertently spooked. It was revamped to success years later, but the first version was too bizarre for primetime.
8. You Don’t Say! (1975 Revival)
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This cringeworthy word-miming game show had stars providing verbal hints to players to guess famous titles. Although initially popular in the ’60s, its 1975 revival was a clumsy effort to regain popularity. Its glacial pace and rigid format would put off contemporary viewers conditioned to rapid-fire mayhem.
9. Beat the Clock (1972–74 Revival)
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One of the early physical stunt shows featured couples performing silly tasks with tight time constraints, such as piling hats on their heads or gathering balloons. Although novel earlier, the revival’s low-budget stunts and gendered roles (wives tended to do the physical labor) are old-fashioned. Its closest contemporary heir is an activity on a children’s birthday party itinerary.
10. The Reel Game (1971)
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Hosted by Jack Barry, this series tested contestants on short movie clips aired during the show. The catch? The “movies” were dry stock footage and B-roll with trivia tagged on. It was a movie as homework, and nobody watched it for that.
11. Rhyme and Reason (1975–76)
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Celebrities were challenged to complete rhyming couplets intended to be funny or clever. The use of terrible poetry and cliche punchlines resulted in an abundance of uncomfortable moments of silence. It was as if Hollywood Squares collided with amateur night at the coffee shop, and not for the better.
12. Liars Club (1976–79)
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Celebrities tried to persuade contestants about the use of unfamiliar things — just one was lying. It was half game, half bluffing contest, with a tipsy, lounge-lizard atmosphere. The skanky-adjacent aesthetic and chain-smoking gave it a more green room-like feel from a Vegas venue than that of a game show stage.