Greatest Game Shows

Revision as of 11:17, 3 January 2011

Polls and voting are all very well, but how do people vote with their feet? No, not by holding pencils between their toes, but by visiting the various nooks and crannies that make up the conurbation of UKGameshowsopolis.

Our backroom boys and girls have been re-programming CECIL to come up with the most popular pages on this site. And, after poring through yards of ticker tape, this is what we've come up with - a list of the top 100 shows based on what you lot are actually reading.

The Top 100

The Top 100 is an alphabetical list of the Greatest Gameshows, as measured by visits to the UKGameshows website between July 2006 and January 2011. It reflects searches on our website, visits from dedicated search engines, and links from other web pages. The new entries during 2010 are marked.

The Adventure Game	Dragons and an aspidistra set taxing puzzles.
Are You Smarter Than a 10 Year Old?	Primary-school children help adults win money
Ask the Family	Perennial smarty-pants quiz. Dah!
Banzai	Off-the-wall betting show. Bet now!
Bargain Hunt	Antiques arbitrage with David Dickinson and Tim Wonnacott.
Best of Friends	Treats and challenges for a group of chums.
Big Break	Snooker-based quiz with Jim Davidson.
Big Brother	Early 21st century isolation reality show.
The Biggest Loser UK	Competitive dieting.
Blankety Blank	How did Beryl Reid fill in the blank?
Blind Date	Cilla Black goes in search of true love, or not.
Blockbusters	"I'll have a P please, Bob."
Brainstorm	Bonkers science quiz with Kenny Everett.
Britain's Got Talent	Simon, Piers, and Amanda find the new Spelbound.
Bullseye	Darts-based quiz with Jim Bowen.
Call My Bluff	Definitions of words we've never heard of.
Catchphrase	Roy Walker says what he sees.
Celebrity Squares	Noughts-and-crosses with celebrities saying "I agree!" before anyone had heard of Nick.
Challenge Anneka	Anneka Rice does a lot of work for charity.
Cluedo	Small-screen adaptation of the murderous board game.
Come Dine with Me New!	If the cookery doesn't appeal, there's always the commentary.
Countdown	Letters and numbers parlour game with ~~Richard and Carol~~ Jeff and Rachael.
Crackerjack	Friday at 4.55pm entertainment for youngsters.
The Crystal Maze	Physical and mental challenges with Riff-Raff.
Dancing on Ice	ITV celebrities dance and fall over with Torvill and Dean.
Deal or No Deal	Noel Edmonds' big-money guessing game.
Dishes	Late-night cookery show with the neophyte Kate Thornton.
Don't Try This at Home!	Spectacular stunts and crazy challenges.
Double Your Money	1950s general-knowledge quiz with Hughie Green.
Eggheads	Are these people the best general knowledge quizzers in Britain?
Eurovision Song Contest	Annual song-and-dance spectacular.
Family Fortunes	Name a show where people are surveyed...
Fifteen-to-One	The Rolls-Royce of quiz shows.
Fort Boyard	Physical and mental challenges off the coast of France.
Fun House	Pat Sharp has some children round to his house.
Game for a Laugh	Hidden-camera and offbeat stunt pioneer.
Gameshow Marathon	Recycling some of the best shows for a modern audience.
The Generation Game	Bruce Forsyth gives people silly things to do.
Get Your Own Back	Children take revenge on a parent or teacher.
Give Us a Clue	Charades with Una Stubbs and Lionel Blair.
Gladiators	All-action physical challenges with Ulrika and Wolf.
Going for Gold	Henry Kelly asks questions to puzzled Europeans.
Golden Balls	Big-money bluff and bluster with Jasper Carrot.
The Golden Shot	Live crossbows in a television studio.
The Great Egg Race	Contraptions and inventions with Heinz Woolf.
Have I Got News for You	Topical quiz with Paul Merton and Ian Hislop.
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!	Ant and Dec ask celebs to eat witchety grubs.
Ice Warriors	Speed-skating challenges, remembered only as a flop.
In It to Win It	Dale Winton: in the right place at the right time for ages.
Incredible Games	A lift, some laundry baskets, a Dark Knight.
Interceptor	Man in black fires remote control at yuppies with cash on their backs.
It's a Knockout	Stuart Hall laughs as the Belgians fall over.
Jungle Run	Children's challenges set in a jungle.
Knightmare	Fantasy quest for young adventurers.
The Krypton Factor	Seminal test to find the United Kingdom Superperson.
Love at First Sight	Surprisingly popular satellite dating show.
Masterchef Goes Large	Revival of the competitive cookery programme.
Mastermind	Two minutes in the black chair on a specialist subject.
Mr and Mrs	How well do you know your wife?
Naked Jungle	Keith Chegwin and naturists play some games.
Name That Tune	Tom O'Connor invites people to name popular tunes.
Never Mind the Buzzcocks	Pop music comedy quiz.
New Faces New!	Britain's got a thing for talent shows.
Noel's House Party	Saturday night entertainment from Noel Edmonds.
Numberwang	No, that's not.
1 vs 100	Can one person know more than a hundred-strong mob?
Opportunity Knocks	Long-running talent-spotting show
Play Your Cards Right	Is the next card higher or lower, asks Brucie.
PokerFace	Million-pound bluffing game with Ant and Dec.
The Price is Right	Know the price of consumer durables.
A Question of Sport	Sportspeople answer questions about their sport.
Raven	Outdoor tests for young warriors.
Ready Steady Cook	Make a meal in 20 minutes, with Ainsley Harriott.
Robot Wars	Remote-controlled battle tanks beat each other up.
Runaround	Mike Reid gets kids to choose correct answers and shout a lot.
Sale of the Century	Nicholas Parsons flogs the entire country for a tenner.
Saturday Night Takeaway	Win a commercial break with Ant and Dec.
Scrapheap Challenge	Construction challenges with Kryten.
See it, Saw it	Observation quiz for the very young.
Shooting Stars	Vic and Bob's bonkers quiz. Eranu indeed!
Stars in Their Eyes	"Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be..."
Strictly Come Dancing	Celebrities strut their funky stuff.
Strike it Lucky	Touchscreen guesswork with Barrymore.
Supermarket Sweep	Dale Winton goes wild in the aisles.
Survivor	Island challenge for ITV where Mark Austin's career washed up.
Take Your Pick	Will they take the money or open the box?
Takeshi's Castle	Japanese people do crazy stunts, and Craig Charles laughs.
3-2-1	Dusty Bin presides over entertainers and incomprehensible riddles.
Through the Keyhole	"Who would live in a house like this?"
Time Commanders	Wargaming with Eddie Mair.
Treasure Hunt (2)	Anneka Rice terrorises the countryside.
University Challenge	Bamber and Jeremy ask some starters for ten.
Weakest Link	Anne Robinson is mean to her victims.
Wheel of Fortune (2)	Spin the wheel, guess some letters, win a watch.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire?	Chris Tarrant gives away oodles of cash.
Whose Line is it Anyway?	Improvised comedy show with Clive Anderson. 100 points to everyone there.
Win Beadle's Money	Jeremy Beadle puts his show fee up for grabs.
Wipeout	Addictive 'complete the category' game with Paul Daniels.
The X Factor	Shouting, crying and throwing of water. With some singing involved.
You Bet!	Challenges and stunts show, with Matthew Kelly in a sumo thong.

Top People

The top 30 people between June 2006 and January 2011 were, in alphabetical order:

2010's Leaders

Fashions in the world of game can be strange and unpredictable, and not even we quite understand why these people and shows were suddenly the subject of many visits during 2010.

Julia Reed - former Hampshire junior fencing champion
Dick Strawbridge - moustachioed inventor
Kenneth Kendall - Hullo.
John Humphrys - Fan of black chairs
The Heritage Game - an antiques quiz
Casino Casino - gambling gambling
Who Dares Wins - once used the list seen on this page
Lucky Numbers (2) - Shane Richie plays bingo
Masterteam (1) - Angela Rippon's teatime quiz
Jacpot - We know this one! Repeated on S4C for most of the year.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Our backroom boys and girls have been re-programming CECIL to come up with the most popular pages on this site. And, after poring through yards of ticker tape, this is what we've come up with - a list of the top 100 shows based on what you lot are actually reading.
-And a surprisingly good list it is too, taking in all areas of the genre. Over the coming weeks, we'll be highlighting these shows in our main indexes to make them easier to find, as well as sprucing up these articles and providing extra background information, pictures and other gubbins wherever we see fit.
 == The Top 100 ==
-The following is an alphabetical list of the Greatest Gameshows, as measured by visits to the UKGameshows website between July 2006 and January 2010. It reflects searches on our website, visits from dedicated search engines, and links from other web pages. The greatest gainers during 2009 are marked.
+The Top 100 is an alphabetical list of the Greatest Gameshows, as measured by visits to the UKGameshows website between July 2006 and January 2011. It reflects searches on our website, visits from dedicated search engines, and links from other web pages. The new entries during 2010 are marked.
 {| cellpadding=2
@@ Line 25: / Line 24: @@
 |[[Big Break]]||Snooker-based quiz with Jim Davidson.
 |-
-|[[Big Brother]]||Isolation reality show.
+|[[Big Brother]]||Early 21st century isolation reality show.
 |-
 |[[The Biggest Loser UK]]||Competitive dieting.
@@ Line 37: / Line 36: @@
 |[[Brainstorm]]||Bonkers science quiz with Kenny Everett.
 |-
-|[[Britain's Got Talent]] <font color=red>New!</font>||Simon, Piers, and Amanda find the new Susan Boyle.
+|[[Britain's Got Talent]]||Simon, Piers, and Amanda find the new Spelbound.
 |-
 |[[Bullseye]]||Darts-based quiz with Jim Bowen.
@@ Line 45: / Line 44: @@
 |[[Catchphrase]]||Roy Walker says what he sees.
 |-
-|[[Celebrity Squares]]||Noughts-and-crosses with celebrities. I agree!
+|[[Celebrity Squares]]||Noughts-and-crosses with celebrities saying "I agree!" before anyone had heard of Nick.
 |-
 |[[Challenge Anneka]]||Anneka Rice does a lot of work for charity.
@@ Line 51: / Line 50: @@
 |[[Cluedo]]||Small-screen adaptation of the murderous board game.
 |-
-|[[Countdown]]||Letters and numbers parlour game with Richard and Carol.
+|[[Come Dine with Me]] <font color=red>New!</font>||If the cookery doesn't appeal, there's always the commentary.
+|-
+|[[Countdown]]||Letters and numbers parlour game with <del>Richard and Carol</del> Jeff and Rachael.
 |-
 |[[Crackerjack]]||Friday at 4.55pm entertainment for youngsters.
@@ Line 71: / Line 72: @@
 |[[Eurovision Song Contest]]||Annual song-and-dance spectacular.
 |-
-|[[Family Fortunes]]||People complete to name popular answers to questions.
+|[[Family Fortunes]]||Name a show where people are surveyed...
 |-
 |[[Fifteen-to-One]]||The Rolls-Royce of quiz shows.
@@ Line 101: / Line 102: @@
 |[[Have I Got News for You]]||Topical quiz with Paul Merton and Ian Hislop.
 |-
-|[[I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!|I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!]]||Ant and Dec ask celebs to eat witchety grubs.
+|[[I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!]]||Ant and Dec ask celebs to eat witchety grubs.
 |-
-|[[Ice Warriors]]||Speed-skating challenges; the biggest flop of all time?
+|[[Ice Warriors]]||Speed-skating challenges, remembered only as a flop.
 |-
-|[[In It to Win It]]||Dale Winton is in the right place at the right time.
+|[[In It to Win It]]||Dale Winton: in the right place at the right time for ages.
 |-
 |[[Incredible Games]]||A lift, some laundry baskets, a Dark Knight.
@@ Line 120: / Line 121: @@
 |-
 |[[Love at First Sight]]||Surprisingly popular satellite dating show.
-|-
-|[[Masterchef]] <font color=red>New!</font>||The original competitive cookery programme.
 |-
 |[[Masterchef Goes Large]]||Revival of the competitive cookery programme.
@@ Line 134: / Line 133: @@
 |-
 |[[Never Mind the Buzzcocks]]||Pop music comedy quiz.
+|-
+|[[New Faces]] <font color=red>New!</font>||Britain's got a thing for talent shows.
 |-
 |[[Noel's House Party]]||Saturday night entertainment from Noel Edmonds.
 |-
-|[[Numberwang]] <font color=red>New!</font>||That is...
+|[[Numberwang]]||No, that's not.
 |-
 |[[1 vs 100]]||Can one person know more than a hundred-strong mob?
 |-
-|[[Opportunity Knocks]] <font color=red>New!</font>||Long-running talent-spotting show
+|[[Opportunity Knocks]]||Long-running talent-spotting show
 |-
 |[[Play Your Cards Right]]||Is the next card higher or lower, asks Brucie.
@@ Line 182: / Line 183: @@
 |-
 |[[Takeshi's Castle]]||Japanese people do crazy stunts, and Craig Charles laughs.
-|-
-|[[They Think it's All Over]]||Sports-based comedy quiz with Nick Hancock.
 |-
 |[[3-2-1]]||Dusty Bin presides over entertainers and incomprehensible riddles.
@@ Line 189: / Line 188: @@
 |[[Through the Keyhole]]||"Who would live in a house like this?"
 |-
-|[[Time Commanders]] <font color=red>New!</font>||Wargaming with Eddie Mair.
+|[[Time Commanders]]||Wargaming with Eddie Mair.
 |-
 |[[Treasure Hunt (2)|Treasure Hunt (2)]]||Anneka Rice terrorises the countryside.
@@ Line 195: / Line 194: @@
 |[[University Challenge]]||Bamber and Jeremy ask some starters for ten.
 |-
-|[[The Weakest Link]]||Anne Robinson is mean to her victims.
+|[[Weakest Link]]||Anne Robinson is mean to her victims.
 |-
 |[[Wheel of Fortune (2)|Wheel of Fortune (2)]]||Spin the wheel, guess some letters, win a watch.
@@ Line 214: / Line 213: @@
 == Top People ==
-The top 30 people between June 2006 and January 2010 were, in alphabetical order:
+The top 30 people between June 2006 and January 2011 were, in alphabetical order:
 *[[Kevin Ashman]]
@@ Line 229: / Line 228: @@
 *[[Hughie Green]]
 *[[Christopher Hughes]]
-*[[Ulrika Jonsson]]
 *[[Vernon Kay]]
 *[[Matthew Kelly]]
@@ Line 236: / Line 234: @@
 *[[Bob Monkhouse]]
 *[[Lisa Rogers]]
+*[[Monica Rose]] <font color=red>New!</font>
 *[[Jayne Sharp]]
 *[[Pat Sharp]]
@@ Line 249: / Line 248: @@
 == 2010's Leaders ==
-The first quarter of 2010 included St David's Day, and five Cymraeg programmes have been amongst the greatest gainers in these months. The annual Welsh-language song competition [[Can i Gymru]] took place, and was far better than the BBC's effort. Classic quiz [[Jacpot]] had repeats on S4C, and modern poetry competition [[Y Talwrn]] began its annual residence on Radio Cymru. We're less sure why [[Campyfan]] and [[Crafwr]] had renewed popularity.
+Fashions in the world of game can be strange and unpredictable, and not even we quite understand why these people and shows were suddenly the subject of many visits during 2010.
-On national television, new series of [[Coach Trip]] and [[We are the Champions]] lifted those shows into the higher echelons, and there were new runs of [[Counterpoint]], [[Who Dares Wins]], [[In It to Win It]], and [[Dancing on Ice]]. We can see how [[God's Gift]] picked up its popularity, one of its former contestants hosted a dating show on primetime ITV.
-Two people were particularly popular in the first quarter: [[Ann Meo]], the setter of questions for ''Treasure Hunt''; and ''Crafwr'' host [[Emma Walford]]. Also doing well were classic children's word puzzle [[Jigsaw]], Welsh regional fitness programme [[Fit for a Change]], the self-explanatory [[Mission: Paintball]], and [[Connections (1)]], the show with pictures making connections on a big board and Sue Robbie hosting. There was also an upturn for our feature articles on [[Consolation Prizes]] (salt and pepper not included) and [[Game Show Computers]]. Eugene ready?
+* [[Julia Reed]] - former Hampshire junior fencing champion
+* [[Dick Strawbridge]] - moustachioed inventor
+* [[Kenneth Kendall]] - Hullo.
+* [[John Humphrys]] - Fan of black chairs
+* [[The Heritage Game]] - an antiques quiz
+* [[Casino Casino]] - gambling gambling
+* [[Who Dares Wins]] - once used the list seen on this page
+* [[Lucky Numbers (2)]] - Shane Richie plays bingo
+* [[Masterteam (1)]] - Angela Rippon's teatime quiz
+* [[Jacpot]] - We know this one! Repeated on S4C for most of the year.