The 15 Longest-Running Game Shows Of All Time

There's something both exciting and endearing about watching contestants test their luck and intelligence in front of a national audience, all for the chance of taking home a prize that, in many cases, could be life-changing. Perhaps that's why some of the most popular game shows have been on the air for decades. Even when they get canceled, audience-favorite game shows will often be picked up for multiple revival seasons every few years. And while beloved hosts like Bob Barker and Alex Trebek are irreplaceable, the shows they hosted continue to draw audiences long after they're no longer the ones holding the mic.

Game shows have been a staple of TV viewing since "Truth or Consequences" first made the jump from radio to television in 1950, and many of the series we love today have been around since the 1960s. In a world where generation wars dominate social media, it's nice to realize that back in the day our grandparents were watching the same game shows we currently love.

After factoring in details like revivals, syndicated series, and lost episodes, working out which shows have been around the longest can get a bit tricky. But whether you're counting total episodes, the number of years on the air, or some other form of measurement, these are the longest-running game shows of all time.

With a simple premise — testing how well couples still in their first year of marriage really know each other — "The Newlywed Game" asked spouses to predict their partner's answer to questions about everything from their hobbies and tastes to opinions about mothers-in-law and bedroom behavior. Despite airing on daytime television, the show could get pretty risqué and often used double entendres and the phrase "making whoopee" to slide under the censors' radar.

Premiering in 1966 with Bob Eubanks as its host, the series aired until 1974 when ABC decided to cancel it. The series was picked up in 1977 for syndication with Eubanks once again at the helm, and the series ran on and off in syndication through the '80s and '90s. Comedian Paul Rodriguez took over for Eubanks in 1988, and former SNL cast member Gary Kroeger took his place in 1996 before Eubanks returned for a few seasons.

After a ten-year break starting in 1999, the game show returned once more on Game Show Network (GSN), running from 2009 through 2013. During its GSN run, the show featured several hosts, including Carnie Wilson and "The View" co-host Sherri Shepherd.

The show that popularized the term "lightning round," "Password" is a blurt-out-the-answer, party-ready game that pairs a celebrity contestant with a non-celebrity in teams of two. Alternating between teams with each turn, one player from each pairing is given a password they aren't allowed to say but need to get their partner to guess using single-word clues. Any variant on the password is forbidden, and partners only get five seconds to figure it out before play moves to the other team.

The game show has aired on and off since 1961, including revivals "Password Plus" and "Super Password," although many of the 1970s ABC-era episodes are now considered lost media. The series has featured a handful of hosts, including Betty White and Regis Philbin, among others. Its most recent revival kicked off in 2022 with Jimmy Fallon as its executive producer and Keke Palmer as its host.

"Match Game" had a little something for every game show fan. There was a big, fun wheel to spin like "The Price is Right" and "Wheel of Fortune," a "Family Feud"-style audience poll board, and a panel of mid-level celebrities to help contestants guess the right answer.

The series first aired from 1962 through 1969 and would end up seeing a few revivals over the decades. Much like "The Newlywed Game," this included a more risqué 1970s era where G-rated questions would be worded in the most sexually suggestive way possible without flagging the censors.

The show's most recent incarnation ran from 2016 through 2021. Helmed by Alec Baldwin, it was slated for cancellation just before Baldwin was charged with manslaughter for the accidental shooting that took place on the set of his movie, "Rust."

It's hard to overstate what a cultural moment "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" was when it first aired in the United States in 1999. A multiple-choice quiz show that was almost called "Cash Mountain," "Millionaire" first aired as a British series in 1998 and has been a television staple ever since. It's proven so popular that it's spawned dozens of international versions, airing across almost every corner of the globe at some point during the show's run. Despite the US version no longer airing amid the pandemic, Jimmy Kimmel brought the show back for a 2024 celebrity edition revival — a sign that the nation might be ready for more in the future.

To win the million-dollar prize, contestants must correctly answer 15 increasingly difficult questions — the more challenging the question, the higher the dollar amount. Though the concept is simple, it's tougher than you might think, which is why the U.S. version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" didn't see its first winner, a man named John Carpenter, until three months into the series run. The show attracted one of the biggest game show cheaters of all time in 2001 when British show contestant Charles Ingram gamed the series and was sent to jail for it. 

Take nine celebrities, stack them in a three-by-three grid of cubes, and you've got a hilarious panel for the real-world game of quiz show tic-tac-toe known as "Hollywood Squares." Unlike most shows on this list where the contestants answer the questions, on "Hollywood Squares" celebrity guests are asked for their answers first, and it's up to the contestants to decide whether to go with the stars' responses or call them out as incorrect. For each correct guess the contestant makes, they add either an "X" or "O" to the giant tic-tac-toe board.

The series first aired from 1966 through 1980 and has seen a steady stream of revival eras since then, including the "Hip Hop Squares" incarnation and the Bob Saget-hosted country music edition, "Nashville Squares." The game show has also seen wide international success in more than two dozen countries. The most recent US edition is set to return in January 2025 with Drew Barrymore as its host.

A midcentury masterpiece of a game show, "I've Got a Secret" was a celebrity panelist contest with a twist. While shows like "Hollywood Squares" and "Match Game" ask contestants to guess which celebrity's answer is correct, "I've Got a Secret" set the panel to work trying to guess a contestant's secret — generally something amusing, shocking, or downright impressive. Instead of a revolving roster, the series featured a group of regular panelists that typically included a comedian, an actor, and a TV hostess. The series also hosted a number of celebrity guests during its run, including comedian Harpo Marx and Boris Karloff, the actor who popularized Frankenstein with his iconic 1931 portrayal of Mary Shelley's monster.

Though its original 15-year run ended in 1967, the game show has come back a few times, including a run in syndication, a return to CBS in the 1970s, and two 21st-century revivals on Oxygen (2000 to 2001) and GSN (2006).

A game show based on the classic children's memory match game also known as "Memory," "Concentration" presented contestants with a puzzle of 30 memory tiles numbered in order. Just like in the children's game, contestants would choose two tiles on each turn, which would then be flipped to reveal a word such as "hair dryer" or "drapes," with some representing a prize. If no pair was found, they would then be flipped back over, leaving it up to contestants to remember where the words were located for later rounds.

Once a match was achieved, the tiles would flip to reveal a rebus puzzle — a combination of numbers, letters, and images meant to be sounded out together — which contestants were then meant to solve.

Although it's been a couple of decades since "Concentration" aired, the show had a pretty long run in its day. After debuting in 1958, the game show remained on the air until 1978 before getting picked up again from 1987 through 1991 under the name "Classic Concentration" with Alex Trebek as its host. 

With a similar setup to "I've Got a Secret," "What's My Line?" was a panel game show where celebrity panelists were meant to guess a contestant's line of work. Once a week, a different celebrity would be brought in as a mystery guest, and the panelists would be blindfolded while guessing who they were while. The show's impressive guest list included the likes of Walt Disney, Colonel Harland Sanders, Salvador Dali, Muhammad Ali, Carol Burnett, Julie Andrews, and James Stewart.

Contestants' jobs could get pretty wild, and the panelists' efforts to guess their line of work generated some serious laughs. Some of the game show's highlights included a nudist camp owner, a men's underwear salesperson, and a diaper delivery service executive.

The series aired from 1950 through 1967 before making the shift to syndication, where it would run from 1968 through 1975. Although rumors of a revival seem to crop up every few years, nothing has panned out thus far.

Thanks to a format that requires contestants to shout out answers off the top of their heads, "Family Feud" undoubtedly has some of the funniest bloopers of any game show ever made. The show pits two families of five contestants against each other as they try to guess which answers to polls were the most popular — for example, "Name a thing you take to the park" or "Name a thing you do in the bathtub."

Barring a few several-year breaks, the series has been on television since 1976, initially running on ABC and in syndication through 1985 before getting picked up again by CBS from 1988 through 1995. After another four-year break in the late '90s, the series has remained on the air in syndication since 1999. During its run, "Family Feud" has had several hosts, including Richard Dawson, Ray Combs, Louie Anderson, Ricki Lake, Al Roker, Richard Karn, John O'Hurley, and Steve Harvey. The show, which began as a spinoff of "Match Game," has also seen its share of specials, including the charity event, "All-Star Family Feud Special," and the longer-running charity series, "Celebrity Family Feud."

The game show version of the classic word guessing game "Hangman," "Wheel of Fortune" is the Merv Griffin-created game show that lets contestants spin a giant wheel of prizes (that weighs a lot more than you might think) while trying to solve the word puzzle in front of them. Although most Gen-Xers will associate the game show with host Pat Sajak and tile-turning beauty Vanna White, the show's original hosts were Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford. Other hosts over the years include former pro football player Rolf Benirschke, "Entertainment Tonight" personality Bob Goen, and, most recently, Ryan Seacrest.

Between networks and syndication, "Wheel of Fortune" has enjoyed nearly 50 years on television. The show has aired continuously since 1975 and has been played on NBC, CBS, and ABC at various times during its run.

Another enduring game show with a really fun wheel to spin, the current version of "The Price is Right" has been on television for more than 51 years and 10,000 episodes. But it's been on even longer if you count the original show today's version was inspired by, which aired from 1956 to 1965. The show is such an ingrained part of television history that, in 2022, it was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

What makes "The Price is Right" so fun to watch is how it integrates several different types of gameplay as contestants try to guess the value of consumer products. Each game starts at Contestants' Row, where contestants all bid on a product with the goal of being closest to the actual price without going over. The winner goes on to the next round, where they get to spin the Big Wheel and participate in a handful of the show's long list of pricing games, like Plinko, Flip Flop, and Gas Money, as well as the Showcase Showdown. Bob Barker hosted the series for 35 years before stepping down to let Drew Carey take over in 2007.

A panel game show in the style of "What's My Line?" and "I've Got a Secret," "To Tell the Truth" forces its four celebrity panelists to determine which of three guests matches the backstory read by the host. The series, which first aired in 1956, has seen quite a few long runs and revivals through the ensuing decades, with its most recent iteration ending in 2022. The show has aired on CBS, ABC, NBC, and in syndication.

Each episode features two imposters and a central character. After the host reads off the central character's biography, the three challengers claiming to be that person appear, with each either lying or telling the truth about his or her identity. It's up to the panel of celebrities to ask follow-up questions in order to determine who the real character is and which of the challengers are the imposters.

This game show is known for hosting actors and celebrities who were not yet well-known when they appeared on the show. One of the more notable is a very young teenage Ally (Alexandra) Sheedy, who appeared in 1975, not as an actor but as a published novelist promoting her book on Queen Elizabeth I.

Arguably the most bonkers American game show, "Let's Make a Deal" is the long-running series where audience members dress up in crazy costumes in order to get picked as contestants. Once selected, they get to choose from doors number one, two, or three, which open to reveal a variety of prizes. The tradition isn't part of the show's design — instead, it grew organically after an audience member with a sign that read "Roses are red, violets are blue, why can't I make a deal with you?" got picked as a trader. After audience members started dressing up outlandishly in a similar bid to draw attention to themselves, then-host Monty Hall concluded it added to the flavor of the game show and decided to carry on the tradition.

The series has hopped networks a few times through the decades, bouncing from NBC to ABC before heading back to NBC and then landing on CBS. The show has been on the air on and off since 1963 and is currently hosted by Wayne Brady.

A quiz show for the smart folks among us, "Jeopardy" is a game show that lets contestants choose clues based on specific categories and then answer in the form of a question. The show bears the distinction of being the only game show to ever win a Peabody Award, which goes nicely with its very long list of both Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards.

Although the modern era of "Jeopardy" is generally associated with the late great game show host legend Alex Trebek, the Merv Griffin-created series originally aired from 1964 to 1975 with Art Fleming as its host. Fleming reprised his role for the show's 1978 revival, "The All-New Jeopardy!," which lasted until 1979. The syndicated daily version most audience members know and love premiered in 1984 and has been on the air ever since. After something of a succession crisis in the wake of Trebek's death that ended with Mayim Bialik walking away from her temporary role as host, former contestant Ken Jennings has taken over as host.

Although not everyone may be familiar with "It's Academic!," the folks at the Guinness Book of World Records are, having recognized the series as the world's "Longest-running TV Quiz Show" in 2003. The eight-time Emmy Award-winning series, which pits high school teams against each other in the ultimate battle of the brains, has aired continuously on Washington, D.C. station NBC4 since 1961. High school students come from private, public, and charter schools all over the country with their school bands and cheer squads in tow to prove they've got the academic skills to beat the competition.

Quite a few now-famous faces have competed on the show through the decades, including Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hollywood megastar Sandra Bullock even appeared on the series in the early '80s as a member of her high school cheerleading squad.