At-Home Winners

“You have just won a brand-new car!” the announcer declares. The audience cheers and claps while the winner makes her way towards her prize. The audience continues to cheer while she climbs in her car, smiles, and waves toward the audience. She is the winner on a game show, and seems to have won the grand prize with ease. “I could do that,” the viewer at home thinks to himself as the host reminds everyone, “Stay tuned, we will be back with more after this.” As the viewer flips through channels he thinks about what he has just seen. It seemed as though the woman had to only answer some simple questions in order to win. He, who had been playing along at home, knows he could have done just as well.

Game shows have been a part of television since the 1940’s, appealing to a wide range of viewers. Contestants are asked to figure out puzzles, guess the right price, or answer clues in the form of a question. They compete for money, cars, vacations, and a chance to be seen on television. Game show viewers have been playing along with them ever since they were first introduced to television. These shows are an enjoyable way for viewers to test their knowledge and imagine themselves competing and winning, too.

Watching game shows gives the viewer an escape from everyday life, and makes him or her feel like a winner. They can guess along with the contestants; and, even if only for a half an hour, can live through the players by guessing along with them, and “win” the prizes, either with them or instead of them. Marc Summers, former host of the game show Double Dare, says that the fascination for game shows “is a combination of living vicariously through the person on the screen . . . [and] also a mental challenge to compare yourself with [him]” (Talk City). Viewers can use game shows as an escape from situations in which they may feel like “losers” and become “winners” for a short time while watching these shows.

Game shows involve the viewers at home by encouraging them to guess along with the contestants. This helps them become more excited about the show themselves. Mandel Ilagan, writer of the game show Greed, states, “The game show is the first version of ‘interactive’ television” (The Wonderful World of Game $hows). They were some of the first television programs to include both the in-studio audience and at-home audience in their shows. The viewers can become involved with the show by “becoming” a contestant, while guessing and competing alongside them.

The audience also helps with including the viewers. An example of this is on The Price is Right, where the audience is constantly yelling out what it thinks are the correct prices, trying to help the contestant on stage. On a recent airing of The Price is Right, a contestant was given the prices of some items, and then asked to rearrange them to form the correct price of a car. His friends and other people in the audience yelled out suggestions to him about what they thought the right price was. He took their advice, and ended up winning the car! By the audience giving the contestants its suggestions, the people at home are more likely to make their own guesses about the price and will become more involved in the show. If the viewer at home guesses the correct answer, that person will feel good about himself and feel like he has won, too.

The contestants who really do win or lose the prizes are the people with the real pressure on them. While sitting at home, it is easier for someone to be confident about her answer than for the actual contestant on stage, who knows that something depends on whether he answers correctly or incorrectly. On an episode of Wheel of Fortune during “Best Friends Week”, a woman was trying to solve the “Before and After” puzzle “Siegfried & Roy Rogers”. She got so excited that when she tried to guess, she left off the "&", missing the puzzle. Even though her best friend was disappointed, she understood because they were both under a lot of pressure. Still, when this happens, people at home watching feel smarter than the contestant on the show because they have no pressure on them, are more confident about their answer, and are more likely to be correct.

Part of the reason game shows appeal to such a wide range of people is because they are fun and enjoyable to watch, especially for those looking for a quick time-filler. Game shows are not very suspenseful or intense, which makes them perfect for people who simply want to take a break from whatever they are doing. Although they can have suspense and do have competition, usually this is not the main focus. Instead, the focus is on how much knowledge the individual contestant has and how much he or she is winning. Since most game shows are created to be lighthearted and fun, they cannot have too much suspense or competition because this would counteract their purpose.

Some of the appeal of game shows has to do with seeing other people win. After all, winning is the whole point of game shows. Contestants go on these shows to win money and prizes, and are ranked by how much they have won. On Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, the hosts often remind the contestants how much they have won so far. Of course, the contestants are always wanting more than they already have. On Wheel of Fortune contestants are often heard saying, “Big money, big money” as they “spin the wheel.” Although the players at home cannot actually win the “big money”, it is more exciting for them if the television contestant does win it, because they feel as if it could have been them.

Chance affects many of the results of game shows. Even if the contestant on a game show is a knowledgeable person, he or she may not win because of chance. The well-known game “Plinko” on The Price is Right has more to do with what dollar amount the disc lands on than guessing the correct price. Also, on Jeopardy!, which person picks the “Daily Double” depends on chance. When people are spinning the wheel on Wheel of Fortune and they land on “Bankrupt” or “Lose a Turn”, their chances of winning are slimmed considerably, even if they were doing well. Since the at-home player does not have to compete with chance, they will be more likely to “win” than the in-studio contestants.

Even though viewers do not actually win a brand new car or a wonderful trip or a large amount of money, they feel as though they could have. With the audience cheering them on, the at-home player can guess along with the contestants and become winners, too.

Works Cited

Ilagan, Mandel. The Wonderful World of Game $hows. 14 March 2002 <http://gs.mandelweb.com/anatomy.html>.

Jeopardy!. NBC. KARE, Minneapolis. 25 Feb. 2002.

The Price is Right. CBS. WCCO, Minneapolis. 25 Feb. 2002.

Talk City Presents Game Show Host Marc Summers. 1 July 1998. 15 March 2002 <http://www.talkcity.com/tcp/trans/7-1-98.htmpl>.

Wheel of Fortune. CBS. WCCO, Minneapolis. 25 Feb. 2002.