• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, April 24, 2025

As the world mourns Wink Martindale, we can be consoled by the fact that TV game shows and quiz shows are alive and well.

I neither met nor knew Wink, although I refer to him here in the first person anyway.

Although I have no way of knowing what he thought or felt, I like to think that when he looked upon the game-show landscape in his final years, he was pleased to observe the great, good health of the industry in which he made his name.

He may also have marveled at the shift from daytime to prime time for game shows whose brand-names were established decades ago in his era, when game shows were a daytime staple.

Today, the leading platforms in the game-show space are Game Show Network, ABC, CBS and the syndication unit of Paramount Global, CBS Media Ventures, which licenses “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.”

Game Show Network aired a tribute to Martindale (photo inset above), on Sunday, April 20, consisting of four hours of “Tic-Tac-Dough” episodes, which he hosted from 1978 to 1985.

The tribute served as a tie-in with a new, modern-day version of “Tic-Tac-Dough” now airing on Game Show Network hosted by Brooke Burns (photo above).

The new “Tic-Tac-Dough,” which premiered earlier this month, is one of 25 game shows and quiz shows currently airing that are listed on the Game Show Network website -- a lineup that encompasses original, vintage, off-network and repurposed syndicated shows. 

The variety of old and new will be at the center of Game Show Network’s Upfront sales message, along with brand safety.

“In an advertising environment that increasingly involves more technology, we remind our clients that Game Show Network provides two things that are important: transparency and brand safety,” said Stuart Zimmerman, executive vice president of Ad Sales for Game Show Network parent Sony Pictures Television, in a positioning statement in late March.

“We continue to produce originals which are strategically scheduled alongside some of the most iconic games shows of all time,” he said. “It’s a favorable environment which translates into sales.”

Meanwhile, ABC is the leader in developing updated versions of ancient game show brand names, including “$100,000 Pyramid,” “Press Your Luck” and, previously, “Match Game,” hosted by Alec Baldwin.

ABC also has “Celebrity Family Feud,” “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune,” “Celebrity Jeopardy!” and “Jeopardy! Masters.”

CBS has been the one legacy network that remains in the daytime game show business with “The Price Is Right” and “Let’s Make a Deal” seen weekday mornings.

But the list of prime-time game shows on CBS is steadily growing -- “Let’s Make A Deal Primetime,” “The Price Is Right At Night” and now, the new “Hollywood Squares,” which premiered in January.

NBC also has a rebooted brand name from the one-time Golden Age of Game Shows -- Jimmy Fallon’s “Password.” 

Wink Martindale died April 15 at age 91. He may not only have marveled at all the game shows in prime time, but at their length.

Today’s game shows run for an hour -- a running time that was unheard of in the old days of half-hour TV game shows (with the exception of “The Price Is Right”).

Rest in peace, Wink.