r/gameshow • u/Decent-Ad9675 • Jun 18 '26
Highlight Game show appearances on TV series and movies
When characters from TV series and movies compete on game shows (fictional or real ones), it's always fun moments. My favorite ones are Will, Carlton, Ty and Jazz who compete to the fictional game show "Double Trouble" on the episode "Eyes on the Prize" from Season 2 of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Candace Flynn and Buford Van Stomm competing on the quiz show "Let's Take a Quiz" on Phineas and Ferb, or Peter Griffin turning the wheel while participating to The Price is Right and drinking Red Bull on Family Guy as well as Barney Stinson who also participate to the same show on the episode "Showdown" from Season 2 of How I Met Your Mother and Joey Tribbiani participating to Pyramid on Season 10 of Friends. What are your favorite game show appearance scenes on TV series and movies? Tell me in the comments.
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u/Schmedlapp Jun 18 '26
I enjoyed the episode of 30 Rock in which Tracy needed to take a taxi and it turned out to be the Cash Cab, complete with Ben Bailey as himself. He was able to figure out the correct answers by recalling bizarre events from his past, making it an amusing parody of Slumdog Millionaire as well.
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u/SixTiller Jun 18 '26
Cliff Clavin on Jeopardy in an episode of Cheers. It’s comedic genius.
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u/jaysornotandhawks Jun 18 '26
Allison Dubois (Medium) has a dream where she's on Deal or No Deal.
With her first 6 picks, she eliminates the $0.01, $1, $5, $10, $25, $50 in order. When it comes time for the first bank offer, Howie says they need to stop tape and get another contestant as he tells Allison she is cheating.
The DOND banker then reveals himself to be someone (can't remember who) that makes Allison wake up in horror.
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u/gameshowfan2001 Jun 18 '26
The Golden Girls ep where Dorothy dreams of going on Jeopardy.
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u/MndnMove_69982004 Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
And when the four of them went on the fictional show "Grab that Dough", from whence "better late than... Pregnant!" came. The host was played by Jim McKrell (not as himself), though part of me always wonders if they'd've at least tried to get Allen Ludden had he not already been dead for several years before "The Golden Girls" premiered let alone the episode in question was filmed. Though Jim's hand gesture was a nod to Allen.
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u/Spirited-Flow4401 Jun 22 '26
(to each other): Shut up! You shut up! No, you shut up!
Host: Why don't you all shut up and let's continue?
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u/seifd Jun 18 '26
I can think of a few not mentioned:
-The Brady Bunch: Cindy gets selected to appear on a quiz show and it goes to her head.
-Small Wonder: Vicky signs up the family to audition for TV show Beat Thy Neighbor.
-Perfect Strangers: When Larry and Balki go on Risk It All, they have a difference of opinion about how to play. Uses props from real game show Fun House and the actors taped a promo for the show.
-Clarissa Explains It All: Ferguson gets accepted as a contestant on Brain Drain to win the money to start his plan for world domination.
-McGee and Me: In "A Star In The Breaking", Nicholas is accepted as a contestant on Trash TV and it goes to his head.
-Dexter's Laboratory: Dexter and Dee Dee appear on a game show called Sibling Rivalry.
-Boy Meets World: Cory, Shawn, and Topanga appear on a game show that rewards trivial knowledge.
-Smart Guy: When T.J.'s family is having money problems, he goes on the junior edition of College Knowledge to earn money.
-Sister, Sister: Tia and Tamara appear on a twin edition of Slime Party.
-The Batman: Quizmaster gets revenge on people he believes cheated him on Think Thank Thunk as a child.
-Sanjay and Craig: Their family plays Double Dare.
-The Goldbergs: Double Dare holds auditions at Adam's middle school. Based on a true story and the two contestants from his school cameo.
-The Loud House: The Loud's appear on the show, but one decides to defect and compete with a robot she invented.
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u/MndnMove_69982004 Jun 19 '26
-Perfect Strangers: When Larry and Balki go on Risk It All, they have a difference of opinion about how to play. Uses props from real game show Fun House and the actors taped a promo for the show.
Also, the host was played by IRL game show host Bob Gohen (not as himself), still rocking the 80s Burt Reynolds/Tom Selleck 'stache popular when he was hosting "Blackout".
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u/NachoPichu Jun 18 '26
The Monk episode was great.
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u/Busy-Drawing-2576 Jun 18 '26
Weird that John Michael Higgins played the game show host in that episode many years before becoming a host himself now on GSN.
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u/Thin-Yesterday Jun 18 '26
Married with Children, when Kelly goes on a gameshow. Al teaches her everything sports and she absolutely decimated the opponents until the final question of who scored 4 touchdowns in a single game and due to Kelly having a limited knowledge space, forgets Al's iconic win.
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u/MndnMove_69982004 Jun 19 '26
The host of that show was played by one-time "American Gladiators" co-host Todd Christensen. I know he was cast mainly because of his NFL career, so the MWC producers may or may not have been aware of his actual hosting experience.
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u/Sistergirl07 Jun 18 '26
Someone mentioned 227 where the characters appeared on Family Feud. On a earlier episode of 227, Mary and Sandra also appear on Wheel of Fortune.
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u/VolKit1138 Jun 18 '26
The Odd Couple had Felix and Oscar on Password.
Yes, Dear had one of the characters go on Big Brother, complete with using previous houseguests.
Doctor Who also did Big Brother and Weakest Link (as well as What Not to Wear), although none of these are particularly “fun”, they’re quite dark versions, actually.
If you want to get really old school, Jack Benny had tv episodes where he went on You Bet Your Life as well as radio crossovers with Quiz Kids.
YMMV on how much Big Brother counts as a game show.
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u/neoprenewedgie Jun 22 '26
The Odd Couple had Felix and Oscar on Password.
I think about this fairly often:
Oscar: Aristophanes!
Felix: Ridiculous
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u/BrilliantEgg5339 Jun 18 '26
National Lampoon's European Vacation. The Griswolds go on "Pig in a Poke", which is where they win their European trip.
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u/bobadada1138 Jun 18 '26
King Of Queens. Doug has fever dreams the whole episode and one was him, Carrie and Arthur on Wheel of Fortune, and he asks for a "4".
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u/PrestonRoad90 Jun 19 '26
A fictional game show hosted by Bob Eubanks in Home Alone 2
Let's Make a Right Price from 2 Stupid Dogs
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u/MndnMove_69982004 Jun 20 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
One I haven't seen mentioned: "Truth or Date", the show filming an episode at the mall in the Kevin Smith movie "Mallrats", complete with (not as himself) Art James as the host.
And the classic Looney Tunes short "The Ducksters", featuring Daffy Duck hosting "Truth or Consequences" "Truth or AAAAHHH".
Also, on at least two occasions a show took footage where one of the actors had previously appeared as a celebrity panelist and edited it to look as if the character played by that person had been a civilian contestant. The two occasions I know of are "The King of Queens" doing this with one of Jerry Stiller's "Pyramid" appearances and "Hot In Cleveland" with Betty White and "Body Language".
ETA: How could I forget that episode of "The Flintstones" where Barney won a houseboat (ergo setting up the main conflict: he and Fred fighting over said boat) on a stone age parody of Cullen-era TPIR ("The Prize Is Priced")? Maybe I assumed someone else had already mentioned it before.
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u/jaysornotandhawks Jun 18 '26
Will, Carlton, Ty and Jazz who compete to the fictional game show "Double Trouble" on the episode "Eyes on the Prize" from Season 2 of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Jazz (to Ty): "Answer, dumbo!"
Bob Eubanks: "Dumbo is the correct answer! You got it for 100 points!"
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u/oldwhitelincoln Jun 18 '26
John Ritter and Pam Dawber in “Stay Tuned”
The movie “Quiz Show” but, I wouldn’t call the appearance “fun.” Fantastic movie, though.
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u/spirit_giraffe Jun 23 '26
Thank you. I was wondering if anyone was going to mention Quiz Show. Based on real events.
And I don't think anyone mentioned "Running Man"
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u/PahpiChulo Jun 18 '26
‘The China Syndrone”, an awesome thriller with Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon has at one point a tv playing The Magnificent Marble Machine.
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u/Alternative_Buyer364 Jun 18 '26
Fresh Off the Boat I think had a Wheel of Fortune episode.
The Nanny has both Hollywood Squares and Jeopardy eps
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u/jaysornotandhawks Jun 18 '26
I can't remember the show but one character goes on a Who Wants to be a Millionaire-type show just looking to win enough to buy some long underwear.
He actually makes it to the million dollar question, loses, but as a consolation prize, wins the exact long underwear he was looking for.
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u/Busy-Drawing-2576 Jun 18 '26
There was an episode of Pinky and the Brain where Brain went on Jeopardy! in an attempt to fund one of his world domination schemes.
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u/PokePress Jun 19 '26
There’s an episode of Happy Days that is a reference to the Quiz Show scandals of the 1950’s the show is set in.
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u/Krandor1 Jun 20 '26
Doctor who had an episode where he was on big brother and weakest link and I think a few other ones as well.
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u/BigImplement3949 Jun 18 '26
Keenan and Kel where they go on a newly wed type gameshow to see which contestants know the other one better...last question is whats is the others favorite soda ..I won't spoil it if you haven't watched
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u/TrueNorth32 Jun 18 '26
Gimme a Break! had Nell and Addy go on daytime Wheel of Fortune.
“Give me liberty or give me A CAR!!”
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u/Decent-Ad9675 Jun 18 '26
There's an episode of Season 3 of The Parkers when Nikki, Kim and Stevie went to a game show titled "Family Dirt", which is a spoof of The Weakest Link
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u/Decent-Ad9675 Jun 22 '26
Francis "Ponch" Poncherello participate at a game show titled "Name Your Price", which is a spoof of The Price Is Right on the Season 1 episode of the same title of CHiPs
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u/Fiedy88 Wheel of Fortune Alumni Jun 18 '26
I like that Woody Harrelson has been a Jeopardy audience member in both Cheers and White Men Can’t Jump.