Game shows all over the place

Seems like every cable channel and its brother are doing game shows. It's a cheap genre, which fits nicely into cable budgets. Low cost has always been a solid selling-point for game shows, right back to the ancient radio days. Some recent news about shows that will air or are in development...

Syfy will debut the third season of its in-the-dark stunt show Total Blackout on June 4. The blacked-out stuntfest has never been a huge hit. In fact, the numbers have sometimes taken alarming dives. But by and large the ratings have held up halfway decently. The network will follow the show with Exit, a non-automotive import from Japan which features contestants trying to escape from "puzzling" rooms. They don't have to escape in the dark, though.

E!, the network that gave us too much of Joan Rivers - any amount of Joan is too much - is developing a game show tentatively called Secrets & Lies. Hm, sounds like True Hollywood Story for game show fans. It's based on the "three truths and a lie" parlor game. The show is all about celeb trivia, of course, just like the network in general.

A kids channel named Sprout is, er, sprouting a game show called Ruff-Ruff, Tweet & Dave. I've honestly never heard of Sprout, but this show is an interactive quizzer for kids who can use "smart phones and tablets" and other gadgets. Multiple-choice questions abound.

Last but they hope not least, TBS will bring Trust Me, I'm a Game Show Host to our screens later this year. D.L. Hughley and Michael Ian Black will try to convince contestants of things that may or may not be true. It's sort of like the criminal court system, you might say.