Shows I Miss
Five game shows that should have had more of a chance:
5 Go (NBC, 1983-84)
OK, let's turn the bonus round of one game (Chain Reaction) into its own game. Thus was born Go. Go could well be the first game show spinoff (and not the Jim Lange show of 1975, either!). The thing was, it was great--considering it lasted less than a year. Kevin O'Connell did a great hosting job. The Double Jackpot Round was a nice touch if a team managed to shut out the opposing team. Replaced by another short-lived show, Hot Potato.
4 The (New) Battlestars (NBC, 1981-82; 1983)

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 "Here are the Battlestars!"

Similar to The Hollywood Squares in game play (referred to as the Hollywood Triangles by some), this show truly deserved more of a chance than what it got...and it got two chances! What may have killed the show, I think, was a very tough first-generation bonus round.

For more Battlestars info, visit J. W. Justice's Game Show Swap Meet.
3 Play the Percentages (Syn., 1980)
Really. Badly damaged by a revolving-door bonus round, that seemed to change week to week. But it was a good idea, just badly executed. This is the one Barry & Enright show that could have been a classic if it wasn't so screwed up.
2 Whew! (CBS, 1979-80)

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 Boy, Jay Wolpert came up with some good shows, didn't he? Before he let Hit Man loose on an unsuspecting TV audience in the 1980s, this was the first game show he created after leaving Mark Goodson Productions. And it was a great show. Lasted just a year, but should've been around a lot longer.

For more information on Whew!, check out Randy Amasia's Whew! page.
1 Monopoly (ABC, 1990)
This one could've been huge. As you may recall, Monopoly was part of a Saturday night game block on ABC, paired with Super Jeopardy! Before Monopoly, the only board game to be translated to television with any success was Scrabble. (The next one, Trivial Pursuit, followed Monopoly.) It's a shame that this show only lasted through its 13-week run. By the way, the next board game I'd like to see become a game show is The Game of Life. But that's just me.

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