I bet that a lot of video arcade owners and operators were watching Starcade out of curiosity just so that they can get a visual sense of which new games are becoming the next big hits of the arcade, which could be why the show's cancellation might've had something to do with the collapse of the arcade industry. And just imagine all that budget money from 'The Video Game' JM could have saved & bigger profits that would've been earned had they instead made set improvements and shop the 'Starcade' format to international markets where arcade games were at its height of popularity.
Definitely makes me want go back & see old episodes of Starcade, especially upon discovering that Geoff became a lifelong video game fan from working on it.
Now that the full episode of “The Video Game” has been taken down due to copyright claim from JM Entertainment. I hope someone needs to re-upload this, it would be on either Dailymotion or Internet Archive soon.
Dude. I was a toddler when this show came out and it kind of terrified me when they got zapped. I've been trying to figure out what show this was for ages and finally you've been the first person to have a video that I've found. Thanks for posting this. My grammar and mental capacity for forming sentences is crap today I apologize I hope you get to gist of what I'm trying to say... I'm too tired to figure it out Right now
Greg Winfield proved that anyone who hosted a VG-based game show, save Geoff Edwards, was terrible. Mark Richards stumbled thru Starcade, Johnny & Terry Lee treated VP contestants badly (and Johnny's grabbing of contestants made him about as disgusting as Fergie Olver on Just Like Mom), and Phil Moore's over-animated-ness on NA was too much; the producers of many of these shows were no better, with the way VP producers treated potential contestants, NA's producers giving Phil his improvised verses, and JM Productions making the Video Game an awesome experience...as in awesomely awful.
I had fond memories of The Videogame, but now that I've rewatched a few episodes, I realize it was pretty awful. It really sucked. I now realize that what I loved was the Sega, Atari and Nintendo commercials.
This show was on after Saturday morning cartoons and before WWF wrestling. Chunk from Goonies was a guest 'judge' on once. This was good stuff to an 80's kid. It was basically an infomercial Dragon's Lair in retrospect.
It was on WABC-TV (channel 7) on Sunday mornings back in 1984 when WPIX-TV (channel 11) had “Davey & Goliath” on and it was a stop motion animated series from the creators of “Gumby” and produced for the church. It has some religious and biblical references on all of the episodes. And then followed by the “Sunday Morning Movie” where they ran nothing but Abbott & Costello movies which was in-between “Davey & Goliath” and public affair shows. “The Video Game” was the show that I have never heard of before which was after “Starcade”. It was a mishmash of “Wheel of Fortune” and “The Price Is Right” in one big mess. One of the segments had a game where contestants walking through squares which was an inspiration for “Pathfinder” when it was on “The Price Is Right” later on, and “On The Spot” which was a horrible game that I remember since it was on “The Price Is Right”. Overall, it was a rather confusing game show, but it didn’t last long until it got cancelled. I hope this show will be revive in the future. BTW, I found only one episode of “The Video Game” exists on TH-cam, so go check it out, and you will be disappointed. UPDATE: Video removed due to a copyright claim by JM Entertainment. No word on what they are going to re-uploading this episode, it will be on either DailyMotion or Internet Archive.
A few other observations: 1. I think Greg Winfield actually played dumb on purpose so the kids could laugh at him. It also helped to foster a comedic on-air relationship with Kreisa (who always called Greg "Meathead") similar to the one between Geoff Edwards and Judge von Erik on Play The Percentages, in which the host is constantly berated for the viewers' enjoyment. 2. Your criticism about the mini-games just seemed to be grasping at straws. You said that the questions could only be answered by hardcore VG fans and that they required multiple choice, but the same was true of the questions on Starcade, and I don't remember anyone complaining about that. The way I see it, JM was just taking the trivia/game identification aspect of Starcade and expanding on it a bit. 3. The Res-Off round did *not* often end in just one or two turns. I remember quite a few rounds that went on for several minutes. Again, pretty flimsy criticism. (Did you actually watch this game as a kid, or have you seen only the few episodes you got in trade?)
+jhillst Seeing how I was born in 1986, I didn't see this as a kid and my only exposure is the 4 episodes that I have seen: 3 I got from trades and 1 that was on the Starcade website. And to counter your points, Greg didn't play dumb. He was just bad and nervous and I doubt they were trying to foster a relationship similar to Geoff and Judge von Erik. The berating of Geoff via the Judge happened rarely, making them memorable, especially when the Judge made a mistake. Plus, they did it because the show wasn't going to last. For the 2nd point, it all depended on the audience part of it all. Starcade casted for gamers, The Video Game was a stage show put on TV and the crowd was just people who were putting around Magic Mountain. Rarely did they get a gamer. The third point differs because you've seen all of the episodes and I haven't, so there ya go. In short, agree to disagree.
Thought I'd like to offer some constructive criticism. First off I love your writing analysis and quips. You see super natural and you're not trying too hard in being funny and inserting your own ego into it. There is care thrown into the video and a genuine interest of showing us such bad game shows. My critiques are that you lay out some really good reasons why the show is bad but you do not show us the viewer. I want to see how bad the host is and how he talks to contestants like Yogi Bear. I want to see the really dull games created for good arcade tiles and I want to see the host get called out by the announcer or the announcer runining the game. These all sound so deliciously bad that I gotta see them for myself. Sure I can youtube clips of myself but the experience would be heightened with your observations
Only thing i like better than watching Video Game Show. Was being on the show and winning everything that had to offer. Fun fact: the last episode taped was used as the premier episode. And No I no longer have that hip blue IZOD shirt.
Please tell me where you found additional episodes of this!! I see the one downloadable episode on JM Productions Starcade site, but that's it. Unfortunately the name is so generic, searches are chock full of noise. I love to collect oddball shows from the 80s like this, especially game shows, and definitely anything video game related. As awful as this is. Thanks
Can you review "Contraption"? I used to watched this show when it was on the Disney Channel in 1983, it was a decent game show where they showed clips from Disney films where it goes into some sort of quiz. I missed that show when it was aired on the Disney Channel.
Call me crazy but I loved this show as a kid. But then I loved pretty much anything video game related back then. I still think the set had a great atmosphere, and the Maze and Res-Off rounds were quite fun to watch, even if they had nothing to do with arcade games. All in all, maybe not one of the best VG-related game shows, but not the worst either -- that would have to be Nick Arcade.
To think the producers of Starcade could screw up their own successful formula so badly... And a year removed from the original show, yet! Still, it's awfully fascinating. BTW, where'd you find all this original show footage? I know there's one episode buried in the confines of the Starcade website, but I didin't think there were any others available to the public.
The Big Spin -- and the California Lottery in general -- didn't exist until 1985, and Geoff Edwards after Starcade would co-host a morning show on KHJ (now KCAL) with Meredith MacRae ("Petticoat Junction"). Edwards became the Big Spin host after Chuck Woolery stepped down in late 1985-early 1986 so he would concentrate on Scrabble and Love Connection.
The answer to those two questions: *I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!* But if I want to take a guess: 1. Probably Syndicast Services or JM Productions themselves (Turner Program Services handled Starcade) 2. I dunno if it ever aired in Chicago (in Los Angeles, KTLA paired it with Starcade)
+JD Shadow Oh, it was FAR different from the Nickelodeon game show. This one had contestants looking for money in two cities-- San Francisco and Boston. Search "Finders Keepers 1985" and you may find it...
Trashman, are you really saying you rather watch- Video Power over The Video Game? Also, you seem to be overlooking the fact: Karen Lea, became Karen Thomas & became the hostess on $1 Million Chance of a Lifetime with Jim Lange. So, she improved. Also, that narrator on TVG, may have also done that role on Hi Score and GamePro with J.D. Roth (as Dr. Dave Winstead.) It's all the same voice. Then, became a character actor who did everything from Criminal Minds to Cast Away.
rsuperchampion And Christopher Kriesa seems to have improved after this. :D As did Karen. Greg is still a nobody (as in, nobody well-known to you and I).
On a side note, was surprised to find that not long before TVG, Christopher Kriesa had a small part in the original Karate Kid, as the official who initially tries to stop Ali from joining Daniel and Miyagi on the tournament floor, but quickly relents.
@@GameShowGumbo I did make it to the stage - made it all the way to the final round! I remember there was the C64 game to qualify Then I'm pretty sure I did the maze game. Then there was the elimination round between the three contestants, and finally, the final round where I played Mr. Do's Castle. I was about 11 - 12 at the time. Rocking mis-matched clothes.
I thought I was the only one that felt this way about the game show. You are right the Video Game did suck. Poor Execution on all parts. I hate the set. This is truthfully Garbage.
Too bad, “The Video Game” got cancelled after one season. It was a bad concept for a game show that was absolutely bad. In 1992, brought it back as “Nick Arcade”, another video game related game show that brought back the original formula like the way “Starcade” did.
Decided to look up Greg Winfield (and you were right, he was flat-out annoying!) on IMDB. And... He's nothing to write home about-- he only had bit roles on Dynasty, Airwolf, and The Facts of Life besides this. That's it.
I remember watching Starcade on Ted Turner's SuperStation WTBS Atlanta and I use to watch The Video Game on abc affiliate KBMT-TV 12 Beaumont, TX right after America's Top 10 w/the late Casey Kasem and yes, The Video Game became more like Starcade meets The Price is Right, I like the model, but Greg Winfield and the announcer were both not so great host and announcer, IMO I guess you can say that JM Productions made the set look so cheesy and they went bankrupt
I wonder what that once great game show is that you'll talk about next time. I have a hunch it's "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?". Started out as a ratings winner, died on network tv from overexposure, found a rebirth in syndication for a few years, and has been dragging on ever since the host has changed twice.
If they kept the format the way it was, it would still be a ratings winner. I am not a fan of the bank format for WWTBAM. Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and Family Feud are dominating the Syndication ratings market, while Price is Right and Let's Make a Deal are still daytime hits for CBS.
James Klatt Actually, it lasted two. For the second syndicated season, to cut down on production costs, they moved the show to Connecticut. WWTBAM did the same once Terry Crews became host.
I bet that a lot of video arcade owners and operators were watching Starcade out of curiosity just so that they can get a visual sense of which new games are becoming the next big hits of the arcade, which could be why the show's cancellation might've had something to do with the collapse of the arcade industry. And just imagine all that budget money from 'The Video Game' JM could have saved & bigger profits that would've been earned had they instead made set improvements and shop the 'Starcade' format to international markets where arcade games were at its height of popularity.
Definitely makes me want go back & see old episodes of Starcade, especially upon discovering that Geoff became a lifelong video game fan from working on it.
They also have an official TH-cam of all of the episodes of “Starcade”. Might as well check it out.
Now that the full episode of “The Video Game” has been taken down due to copyright claim from JM Entertainment. I hope someone needs to re-upload this, it would be on either Dailymotion or Internet Archive soon.
Dude. I was a toddler when this show came out and it kind of terrified me when they got zapped. I've been trying to figure out what show this was for ages and finally you've been the first person to have a video that I've found.
Thanks for posting this.
My grammar and mental capacity for forming sentences is crap today I apologize I hope you get to gist of what I'm trying to say... I'm too tired to figure it out Right now
Greg Winfield proved that anyone who hosted a VG-based game show, save Geoff Edwards, was terrible. Mark Richards stumbled thru Starcade, Johnny & Terry Lee treated VP contestants badly (and Johnny's grabbing of contestants made him about as disgusting as Fergie Olver on Just Like Mom), and Phil Moore's over-animated-ness on NA was too much; the producers of many of these shows were no better, with the way VP producers treated potential contestants, NA's producers giving Phil his improvised verses, and JM Productions making the Video Game an awesome experience...as in awesomely awful.
I had fond memories of The Videogame, but now that I've rewatched a few episodes, I realize it was pretty awful. It really sucked. I now realize that what I loved was the Sega, Atari and Nintendo commercials.
This show was on after Saturday morning cartoons and before WWF wrestling. Chunk from Goonies was a guest 'judge' on once. This was good stuff to an 80's kid.
It was basically an infomercial Dragon's Lair in retrospect.
Here in NY, we got two showings per week...Saturday at 7:30 AM on WTNH in Hartford-New Haven, and Sunday at 9:30 AM on WABC.
It was on WABC-TV (channel 7) on Sunday mornings back in 1984 when WPIX-TV (channel 11) had “Davey & Goliath” on and it was a stop motion animated series from the creators of “Gumby” and produced for the church. It has some religious and biblical references on all of the episodes. And then followed by the “Sunday Morning Movie” where they ran nothing but Abbott & Costello movies which was in-between “Davey & Goliath” and public affair shows.
“The Video Game” was the show that I have never heard of before which was after “Starcade”. It was a mishmash of “Wheel of Fortune” and “The Price Is Right” in one big mess. One of the segments had a game where contestants walking through squares which was an inspiration for “Pathfinder” when it was on “The Price Is Right” later on, and “On The Spot” which was a horrible game that I remember since it was on “The Price Is Right”. Overall, it was a rather confusing game show, but it didn’t last long until it got cancelled. I hope this show will be revive in the future.
BTW, I found only one episode of “The Video Game” exists on TH-cam, so go check it out, and you will be disappointed.
UPDATE: Video removed due to a copyright claim by JM Entertainment. No word on what they are going to re-uploading this episode, it will be on either DailyMotion or Internet Archive.
A few other observations:
1. I think Greg Winfield actually played dumb on purpose so the kids could laugh at him. It also helped to foster a comedic on-air relationship with Kreisa (who always called Greg "Meathead") similar to the one between Geoff Edwards and Judge von Erik on Play The Percentages, in which the host is constantly berated for the viewers' enjoyment.
2. Your criticism about the mini-games just seemed to be grasping at straws. You said that the questions could only be answered by hardcore VG fans and that they required multiple choice, but the same was true of the questions on Starcade, and I don't remember anyone complaining about that. The way I see it, JM was just taking the trivia/game identification aspect of Starcade and expanding on it a bit.
3. The Res-Off round did *not* often end in just one or two turns. I remember quite a few rounds that went on for several minutes. Again, pretty flimsy criticism. (Did you actually watch this game as a kid, or have you seen only the few episodes you got in trade?)
+jhillst Seeing how I was born in 1986, I didn't see this as a kid and my only exposure is the 4 episodes that I have seen: 3 I got from trades and 1 that was on the Starcade website. And to counter your points, Greg didn't play dumb. He was just bad and nervous and I doubt they were trying to foster a relationship similar to Geoff and Judge von Erik. The berating of Geoff via the Judge happened rarely, making them memorable, especially when the Judge made a mistake. Plus, they did it because the show wasn't going to last. For the 2nd point, it all depended on the audience part of it all. Starcade casted for gamers, The Video Game was a stage show put on TV and the crowd was just people who were putting around Magic Mountain. Rarely did they get a gamer. The third point differs because you've seen all of the episodes and I haven't, so there ya go.
In short, agree to disagree.
Thought I'd like to offer some constructive criticism.
First off I love your writing analysis and quips. You see super natural and you're not trying too hard in being funny and inserting your own ego into it. There is care thrown into the video and a genuine interest of showing us such bad game shows.
My critiques are that you lay out some really good reasons why the show is bad but you do not show us the viewer. I want to see how bad the host is and how he talks to contestants like Yogi Bear. I want to see the really dull games created for good arcade tiles and I want to see the host get called out by the announcer or the announcer runining the game. These all sound so deliciously bad that I gotta see them for myself. Sure I can youtube clips of myself but the experience would be heightened with your observations
Only thing i like better than watching Video Game Show.
Was being on the show and winning everything that had to offer.
Fun fact: the last episode taped was used as the premier episode.
And No I no longer have that hip blue IZOD shirt.
The maze part of The Video game reminds me of Brainsurge's final level where you have to remember the pattern or have to start over.
It was an inspiration to “Pathfinder” on “The Price Is Right”, and “On The Spot”, an I’ll-fated game was also on the same show.
No Triple H references in "Time to play the Video Game"?
Please tell me where you found additional episodes of this!! I see the one downloadable episode on JM Productions Starcade site, but that's it. Unfortunately the name is so generic, searches are chock full of noise. I love to collect oddball shows from the 80s like this, especially game shows, and definitely anything video game related. As awful as this is. Thanks
Can you review "Contraption"? I used to watched this show when it was on the Disney Channel in 1983, it was a decent game show where they showed clips from Disney films where it goes into some sort of quiz. I missed that show when it was aired on the Disney Channel.
Call me crazy but I loved this show as a kid. But then I loved pretty much anything video game related back then. I still think the set had a great atmosphere, and the Maze and Res-Off rounds were quite fun to watch, even if they had nothing to do with arcade games.
All in all, maybe not one of the best VG-related game shows, but not the worst either -- that would have to be Nick Arcade.
To think the producers of Starcade could screw up their own successful formula so badly... And a year removed from the original show, yet! Still, it's awfully fascinating. BTW, where'd you find all this original show footage? I know there's one episode buried in the confines of the Starcade website, but I didin't think there were any others available to the public.
I got it in a trade with Ryan Rinkerman. He had full episodes and I needed them for the induction, so I grabbed them.
“Stay good and be solid”
-Greg Winfield, 1984
Seriously though, there shouldn’t have been another video gaming game show when the crash happened
Especially since the good one couldn't survive.
The Big Spin -- and the California Lottery in general -- didn't exist until 1985, and Geoff Edwards after Starcade would co-host a morning show on KHJ (now KCAL) with Meredith MacRae ("Petticoat Junction"). Edwards became the Big Spin host after Chuck Woolery stepped down in late 1985-early 1986 so he would concentrate on Scrabble and Love Connection.
I actually like this one.
Hmmm reminds me of another game show with arcade games....
Yeah, Nick Arcade
Two questions:
1. If this show was syndicated, who was the distributor?
2. What channel was shown in Chicago?
The answer to those two questions: *I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!*
But if I want to take a guess:
1. Probably Syndicast Services or JM Productions themselves (Turner Program Services handled Starcade)
2. I dunno if it ever aired in Chicago (in Los Angeles, KTLA paired it with Starcade)
Say, Robert, are you gonna watch Monopoly Millionaires' Club tonight?
Wait! Finders Keepers pilot to ABC? Show sucked?
PLEASE tell me this was a different game show from the Finders Keepers we know of from Nickelodeon!
+JD Shadow Oh, it was FAR different from the Nickelodeon game show. This one had contestants looking for money in two cities-- San Francisco and Boston. Search "Finders Keepers 1985" and you may find it...
At the end, were you referring to Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Nope it's not millionaire and needless to say this induction is going to personally sting.
GameShowGarbage Deal or No Deal?
no remote control
Trashman, are you really saying you rather watch- Video Power over The Video Game?
Also, you seem to be overlooking the fact: Karen Lea, became Karen Thomas & became the hostess on $1 Million Chance of a Lifetime with Jim Lange. So, she improved. Also, that narrator on TVG, may have also done that role on Hi Score and GamePro with J.D. Roth (as Dr. Dave Winstead.) It's all the same voice. Then, became a character actor who did everything from Criminal Minds to Cast Away.
rsuperchampion And Christopher Kriesa seems to have improved after this. :D As did Karen. Greg is still a nobody (as in, nobody well-known to you and I).
01:49 - Oh, JM Productions...what hath God wrought? :^)
On a side note, was surprised to find that not long before TVG, Christopher Kriesa had a small part in the original Karate Kid, as the official who initially tries to stop Ali from joining Daniel and Miyagi on the tournament floor, but quickly relents.
Hi! I was a contest on this "show". Any chance you have my episode?
I have a couple episodes. Do you know if you made it up on stage or what games you played?
@@GameShowGumbo I did make it to the stage - made it all the way to the final round! I remember there was the C64 game to qualify Then I'm pretty sure I did the maze game. Then there was the elimination round between the three contestants, and finally, the final round where I played Mr. Do's Castle. I was about 11 - 12 at the time. Rocking mis-matched clothes.
I thought I was the only one that felt this way about the game show. You are right the Video Game did suck. Poor Execution on all parts. I hate the set. This is truthfully Garbage.
Too bad, “The Video Game” got cancelled after one season. It was a bad concept for a game show that was absolutely bad. In 1992, brought it back as “Nick Arcade”, another video game related game show that brought back the original formula like the way “Starcade” did.
Two more days of March left. When are you reviewing Trump Card?
Aliens Colonial Marines is actually pretty decent if you buy it for a fiver! Just saying... ;)
Decided to look up Greg Winfield (and you were right, he was flat-out annoying!) on IMDB. And...
He's nothing to write home about-- he only had bit roles on Dynasty, Airwolf, and The Facts of Life besides this. That's it.
I remember watching Starcade on Ted Turner's SuperStation WTBS Atlanta and I use to watch The Video Game on abc affiliate KBMT-TV 12 Beaumont, TX right after America's Top 10 w/the late Casey Kasem
and yes, The Video Game became more like Starcade meets The Price is Right, I like the model, but Greg Winfield and the announcer were both not so great host and announcer, IMO
I guess you can say that JM Productions made the set look so cheesy and they went bankrupt
I wonder what that once great game show is that you'll talk about next time. I have a hunch it's "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?". Started out as a ratings winner, died on network tv from overexposure, found a rebirth in syndication for a few years, and has been dragging on ever since the host has changed twice.
If they kept the format the way it was, it would still be a ratings winner. I am not a fan of the bank format for WWTBAM. Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and Family Feud are dominating the Syndication ratings market, while Price is Right and Let's Make a Deal are still daytime hits for CBS.
bluebear1985 I'm thinking Deal or No Deal
DOND lasted one year on syndication
James Klatt Actually, it lasted two. For the second syndicated season, to cut down on production costs, they moved the show to Connecticut. WWTBAM did the same once Terry Crews became host.