Although they’re not common practise on our television screens as much these days, gameshows and the like are still enjoyed by millions of people from all four corners of the globe. Throughout the 1960s all the way up the mid-noughties, a variety of different gameshows took centre stage on TV and there have been some classics over the years.
But the best and certainly most successful gameshows typically have a trend or common theme that relates to roulette; a casino game we can all come to appreciate and admire. Therefore, it’s no surprise that some of the all-time greatest gameshows all have an element of roulette to them.
The Price is Right
There’s no better place to start than this golden-oldie which first aired in 1956. The Price is Right is still a huge hit in America and went on to earn worldwide fame and popularity, most notably in the UK and Mexico. The show went under a major revamp in 1972 and hasn’t changed too much to how it is today.
The idea of the game is straight forward enough and easy to follow; contestants are tasked with guessing the price of prizes which are determined by a spinning roulette wheel which is positioned up right.
Contestants mustn’t go over the total worth of said prize, and those who guess best will go through to the ‘pricing game’ before the shows conclusion – ‘The Showcase’. UK readers will be all-too familiar with the late Sir Bruce Forsyth’s bond with the show, who hosted it under the title Bruce’s Price is Right from 1995-2001.
Red or Black?
Now, you’ll have to forgive us for crediting “Red or Black?” as a successful roulette-inspired gameshow. In one sense, that was what the show’s intentions were, and even had the backing of Simon Cowell, to the tune of £15 million.
Unfortunately, it only aired for just over a year but the show did generate a number of millionaires.
The idea of the game was to simply guess red or black for the chance to progress to the latter stages. A huge roulette wheel was spun for each round to determine who guessed right and if you slipped up just once, you were eliminated.
The show was actually backed and developed by Simon Cowell, who’s probably still upset about the show’s failure. Fancy going one better than the music mogul and actually coining a return? Check out online roulette now with a variety of games to choose from.
Wheel of Fortune
Surely this is everybody’s favourite roulette-inspired game show? The Wheel of Fortune – which was first aired in 1975 on NBC – is based entirely around the popular casino game and even to this day continues to excite audiences globally.
Perhaps what makes Wheel of Fortune stand out so much is the close origins it keeps to roulette, and its simplicity to play.
Contestants are tasked with going through a series of rounds but the core game is actually based on hangman, whereby each round has a category and a blank word puzzle. The most ever won on Wheel of Fortune was $91,000 by Matt Desanto during the main portion of the show. Not bad going!
