1. Tattletales (1974-78, 1982-84)
With all the celebrity marriages and divorces these days, it's well past time to bring back Tattletales, the Newlywed Game-style show for semi-celebs, who tried to guess how their "mates or dates" would answer questions about their lives and about the issues of the day. All this on a fabulously futuristic set that put the significant others on tiny TV sets mounted on the contestant podiums. The best part about Tattletales was the way it made everybody on TV seem like part of a big social club, having dinner parties and barbecues together and getting to know each other's families. Does that still happen now? Do Britney and Kevin ever hang around with Brad and Angelina? Could Brad and Angelina answer questions about each other?
2. Win, Lose Or Draw (1987-90)
The last gasp of the '70s "celebrities as best pals" genre was Win, Lose Or Draw, created—honest to goodness—by Burt Reynolds, who hosted a weekly game in his living room. (The Win, Lose Or Draw set? A replica of that living room.) Like a lot of American game shows, this charades-with-magic-markers concept carries on in foreign territories, but it would be nice to bring it back home again, and see who can get, say, Jason Bateman to say "car hop" by drawing a four wheels and a bunny. What's Burt Reynolds doing these days, anyway?
3. The Match Game (1962-69, 1973-82, 1990-91, 1998-99)
People forget that the '70s version of The Match Game was itself a revival of a fairly tame '60s game show that had celebrities and regular folk trying to match answers to open-ended questions. The smutty double-entendres didn't kick in until The Me Decade, and every incarnation since has gone overboard trying to recapture the magic of Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Richard Dawson, all of whom could say "make whoopee" or "boobs" with a certain casual sophistication. To bring The Match Game back, you'd have to bring that tone back. Oh, and also bring back that long, skinny microphone, designed and patented by host Gene Rayburn.
4. To Tell The Truth (1956-78, 1980-81, 1990-91, 2000-02)
It's never been as good as it was in the days of Peggy Cass and Kitty Carlisle, but To Tell The Truth keeps getting revived every decade or so because the format is so strong. A celebrity panel asks three civilians questions about their lives and jobs, in order to figure out which two are impostors; at the end, the real guy or gal stands up, after a few pretending-to-stand-and-then-sitting-back-down fakeouts. It's one of the best games to play along with at home, since the camera picks up every insincere gesture and stray bead of sweat. "He says he's a radio call-in host? Impossible!"
5. The Joker's Wild (1972-75, 1977-86, 1990-91)
It's hard to believe that no one's taken another crack at this slot-machine-themed quiz show, which in its original incarnation revived the career of producer/host Jack Barry (previously stained in the Twenty-One scandal). Contestants pull a handle, pick one of the categories that comes up, and answer a ridiculously simple question, all on a set with wall-to-wall shag carpeting. So homey. And wouldn't school have been more fun if exams were held Joker's Wild-style? "Joker! Joker! Renaissance literature."
6. Tic Tac Dough (1956-59, 1978-86, 1990-91)
The first run of Tic Tac Dough came to an end when TV cleaned house of all its quiz shows in the wake of congressional hearings about their legitimacy. When the show came back in the '70s, it was remade as one of those endearing post-Joker's Wild syndicated game shows with low-tech production values and super-easy questions. Oh, and Wink Martindale, dripping with the unctuousness that makes him arguably the prototypical game-show host.
7. Concentration (1958-78, 1987-91)
Concentration weathered the quiz-show scandals because it was primarily a game, with just a little bit of puzzle. Contestants turned over cards in pairs, looking for matches, and when they matched, the cards went away, revealing a piece of a rebus. Solve the rebus, win the game. This show was (picture of a grate).
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