In 1956 the first game show to appear on Australian television was TCN9’s Name That Tune, hosted by Bruce Gyngell. Since then, many thousands of hours of game shows have graced our screens across all networks, as well as community TV and pay TV. Some shows were popular and long-lasting — like Sale Of The Century and Wheel Of Fortune — while others like The Price Is Right would just keep bouncing back.
Some were award winners and while many were (and still are) local franchises of international formats, a few were also franchised overseas. And there were some less successful efforts, like The Daryl And Ossie Show, Catch Us If You Can, The Love Game (a dud rival to Perfect Match), Family Double Dare, and The Master, which was axed after just one episode.
The National Film and Sound Archive has curated a collection of game shows clips dating back to Name That Tune and including Pick-A-Box, Give It A Go, Concentration, The Marriage Game, Australia’s Celebrity Game, It Could Be You, Musical Cashbox, Blankety Blanks, Wheel Of Fortune, Sale Of The Century, Perfect Match, The Price Is Right, It’s A Knockout, Supermarket Sweep, RocKwiz and a community TV game show, 31 Questions.
The collection can be seen at the National Film and Sound Archive website.
1 thought on “Tribute to Aussie Game Shows”
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I was on “The Marriage Game” in 1971- I was 23 – had been married for 2 years and we hardly knew a thing about each other – we came last! – consultation prize was a box of chocolates and a Corning ware casserole dish!!