WHEN GAME SHOW DEVELOPS ….

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The world of game shows

In the 2000s, game shows boomed and strongly developed. If in late of the year 1997, there were just several game shows appearing only at national television channel VTV3, then around 5 years later, there were a great number of game shows in many other television channels. Most of game shows at this time were bought license from game show version in other countries. Most of popular and attracted game shows were brought to Vietnamese audiences. The following table is enticed game shows towards Vietnamese people regardless of ages or gender. These game shows broadcasted at around 8 to 9 pm which is the time of gathering family members. In Vietnam, after having dinner, people usually gather in the living room, watch TV together, have a chat and discuss about the family favorite’s program. Therefore, it was not difficult for game shows to spread wider and attract more and more fans.

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Chiec non ky dieu

Magical Hat VTV3 31 March 2001 – 24 December 2016

Vietnamese version of Wheel of Fortune

Chung suc 6 January 2004 – December 2011,

Together HTV7 2012–2014, 2015, 2016 Vietnamese version of Family Feud

Hay chon gia dung 26 June 2004 – 25 June 2016

Choose the Right Price VTV3 3 December 2016 – Present Vietnamese version of The Price is Right

Ai la trieu phu 4 January 2005 – 31 August 2010

Who is a Millionaire? VTV3 5 July 2011 – Present

Vietnamese version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Kim tu thap 30 April 2005 – 2007

Pyramid HTV7

Vietnamese version of Pyramid

Dau truong 100 July 7, 2006 – December 28, 2015

100 arena VTV3

Vietnamese version of 1 vs. 100

Ai thông minh hơn học sinh lớp 5? HTV 2 (2009–2011) VTV3 (2012–2014) Who's smarter than 5th graders? VTV6 (2014–2015) HTV7 (2015–2016) June 21, 2009 – June 20, 2010 January 19, 2012 – January 9, 2014 February 16, 2014 – April 5, 2015 April 22, 2015 – April 13, 2016

Vietnamese version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Cuoc dua ky thu VTV3 (Seasons 1,2, 4)

An interesting race VTV6 (Seasons 3, 5)

VTV9 (Season 5)

May 18, 2012 – Present Vietnamese version of The Amazing Race

Gương mặt thân quen VTV January 5, 2013 – Present Familiar face

Vietnamese version of Sing Your Face Off

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Aforementioned game shows as well as other successful game shows at this time caught so much attention that the television channels had to take an advantage, implemented more than one season. Some game shows even had 5 seasons and it was more successful in Vietnam than its original countries. Taking an example, ‘Sing Your Face Off’ is a favourite program of family in Vietnam and it is performed over 5 seasons; however, in the country of origin (United States), it only had one season in 2014 and the producer have not had a plan to reproduce its new season.

Success key of a game show

Gary Chippington, head of entertainment for STV productions, states that to make a game show outstanding, ‘simplicity is important. The fewer rules the better…I want to be able to play at home’ (BBC 2017, para. 6). In fact, his opinion truly makes sense. Comparing with fruitful game shows, they are completely easy for participants as well as viewers to understand and follow. Fewer and understandable rules are significant as they are the soul of the game and also the feature that encourages viewers to keep watching. I remember in the season 8 episode 20 of the sitcom ‘Friends’, Joey is so excited when being invited to become a MC in a game show called Bamboozled. He then askes his friends Ross and Chandler to practice the show. His friends dislike and reject the game because its rules are so complicated both for understanding and playing. At the end, the producer also calls him to announce that the game show is cancelled due to its complex. It is really a memorable period in the sitcom and it also prove us that simplicity is a key to succeed in producing game shows.

References:

BBC 2017, How to produce a game show, BBC, viewed 5 May 2019, <https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/en/articles/art20140918123721038>.

Fandom n.d., International game shows wiki: Vietnamese game shows, Fandom, viewed 5 May 2019, <https://internationalgameshows.fandom.com/wiki/Vietnamese_Game_Shows>.

Sanders, J 2018, The making of a game show: A conversation with Executive Producer Noah Bonnett, Creative Future, viewed 5 May 2019, <https://creativefuture.org/making-of-a-game-show/>.