Greatest or favorite-est?

Once upon a time I said I was finished making lists of the greatest game shows ever. Then I made a list of the greatest game shows ever.

Of course, I got into trouble for it. Especially when I criticized Game Show Forum's latest list of the top 50 for the obvious reason: an overwhelming prejudice in favor of old shows and against new shows. Oh well, if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the blog business. Anyway, a poster on Game Show Paradise raised a pertinent issue about such lists...

The numerous "Greatest Game Shows" lists over the years (on GSN and elsewhere), along with the "50 Greatest Game Show" listing that the Game Show Forum did last year, got me thinking about this topic. If you were asked to list the "Greatest Game Shows of All Time" (whether it be top 10, 50 or whatever) how much would your personal favorites influence the list?

The answer is easy for me: personal taste influenced my list a lot. But it wasn't the only influence. For instance, I put Press Your Luck on the list, even though I never liked the half-hour of random button pushing. There was a special reason: Michael Larson. The greatest solve in game show history had to make my list somewhere.

My guess is that personal favoritism affects all such lists once you get past the top ten or twenty. Just about everybody has to find a place for Wheel and Feud and Pyramid and such. But once you're finished with the looming monuments, personal favorites start turning up.

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