History of game shows

The BBC began the world's first high-definition, regular TV service from London in 1936. It wasn't until two years later that any form of game show appeared. In fact, the very first game show ever shown was very possibly the worst ever which was the spelling bee. All the contestants had to do on the show was spell words so you can see why this could be named as one of the worst TV game shows ever.The first game show whose name still means anything to anyone is What's My Line?, which ran on the BBC from 1951. It was another simple panel game, nevertheless it ran in numerous different versions on two different channels through to the mid 90s. The programme was the first US import of a Goodson and Todman show - many more were to follow.Probably the tone of the 70s is best described by two words - Benny Hill. The politically incorrect comedian and countless other suburban sitcoms were having the fun over on ITV. In response, the BBC provided a stern alternative for proper, upstanding middle-class families in the form of Ask the Family. Families were also featured heavily in 1971's the Generation Game, which was to have its heyday in the mid 70s.School children of the 80s were being introduced to a range of new gaming influences, not least the mighty Dungeons and Dragons fad which in turn inspired arguably the first ever adventure game, called The Adventure Game, funnily enough.The impact of Millionaire was huge. All of a sudden, everyone in the formats market wanted to talk to anyone with a British accent.