Game for a Game-Show Channel

If you’re a (Manila-based) Sky Cable subscriber, you probably know by now that there are at least two new channels in the lineup, albeit currently in the test-broadcasting stage: the animé-oriented Hero Channel and the unimaginatively named Crime/Suspense Channel. Not that I’m actually complaining, but I really think Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Animax, and the Disney Channel are more than enough to keep the kiddies happy. And don’t we have HBO, Cinemax, and Star Movies to keep the grown-ups entertained, especially since a good number of the films they show actually belong to the crime/mystery/suspense genre?

If you ask me, what Sky Cable needs to add is a game-show channel. I’ve always loved game shows since I was a kid, thanks to The Price is Right and Family Feud. Then my fondness for them grew when the old Far East Network (FEN) started showing Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! Whenever these two were on, my family and I would glue ourselves in front of the TV, entranced, oooh-ing and aaah-ing at the neat prizes, or groaning or squealing with delight at a contestant’s turn at the glittering wheel or at a contestant’s answer, phrased in the form of a question.

Jeopardy! remains to be my all-time favorite game show, even if I haven’t watched a single episode for many years now. Maybe it’s because of the refreshingly smart format, or maybe because one can actually learn at least an interesting thing or two from the answers. It helped that host Alex Trebek projected an aura of intelligence that’s both charming and credible, even if we’re aware that he’s just reading what’s written on the cue cards or in the teleprompter. Between Jeopardy! and Pilipinas, Game Ka Na Ba? (which I very rarely watch) I’ll pick the former any day.

Other game shows that I also like: Name That Tune (which RPN-9 used to show during weekday mornings many years ago), Star World’s Hollywood Squares (which I watch for the celebrities’ one-liners more than anything else), and MTV’s Singled Out, the American version (the one co-hosted by former Playmate of the Year Jenny McCarthy).

How about you, what are your favorite game shows?