Way back machine

A thread on Matt Ottinger's board chats about childhood memories of game shows. Some of those young whippersnappers actually talk about watching '80s and '90s shows when they were kids.

Well, my childhood memories go way, way back to the B&W days. I can still recall the Somerstein episode from I've Got a Secret, and even its lame follow-up the next week. You might say I'm getting to be an old fart, and you'd be right.

I also remember Jan Murray's Treasure Hunt from the 1950s, and my prurient interest in the pirate girl's legs. She may have been slightly plumper than the ideal female nowadays, but the 1950s were a curvier decade. What's My Line bored me a little, especially because the Sunday night timelsot meant that I had to go back to school the next day. Still depresses me thinking about it.

Game shows are notorious for appealing to kids and oldsters, with a noticeable falloff in the intervening ages. That's why the genre doesn't thrill the 18-49 demo beloved by advertisers. This trend seems to be playing out in my own life. The older I get, the more I'm regressing to my childhood fondness for game shows. I don't think that's a sign of progress, except toward the grave.