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    What Is … an Editing Game Show?

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    The newsroom recently hosted an internal game show to quiz editors on grammar rules and Times style. It was educational, exciting and all-around geeky.Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.The clue appeared on a large blue screen: “In news writing, this punctuation mark is rarely needed except in quotations of shouted or deeply emotional phrases.”A buzzer went off and an editor answered: What is an exclamation point?“Yes!” Peter Blair responded. (The exclamation point is appropriate here. Mr. Blair did indeed shout.)“Reporters in the room,” he added, “take notice.”Perhaps Mr. Blair was excited because he was fulfilling something of a childhood dream by hosting a game show in the newsroom, to test contestants on their knowledge of The Times’s Manual of Style and Usage.The manual, known in the newsroom as the stylebook, helps journalists keep track of grammar rules and Times style. Entries cover guidance on punctuation and semantics, but also offer instruction around The Times’s specific practices, such as the paper’s stance on courtesy titles and how numbers should be rendered in headlines.The game was in the style of “Jeopardy!,” with categories such as “Quirks of The Times” and “Punctuation!” The contestants, the editors Danial Adkison, Christine Chun and Danielle Dowling, sat near the front of the room, buzzers in hand, and three other editors sat across from them, serving as the judges.No real money was wagered; on the line were Starbucks gift cards.Nonetheless, the pressure was on. The room was packed with a live audience, and about 170 Times staff members were watching the show via livestream.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Game Changer’ Is a Fun and Unpredictable Game Show

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      Now in its seventh season, the show puts its comedian contestants through a weird and wide-ranging variety of funny and endearing challenges.“Game Changer,” on Dropout, is in many ways the hip, scrappy heir to “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Each episode features three comedians, and the host, Sam Reich, feeds them various prompts. The nature and purpose of the prompts vary; one episode might require a strange physical challenge, and another the impromptu creation of an impassioned Civil War-era love letter.In its seventh season, which premiered earlier this month, “Game Changer” is also landing closer than ever before to “Taskmaster,” and in the best ways. The season premiere, “One Year Later,” gave the comedians Jacob Wysocki, Vic Michaelis and Lou Wilson — already among the show’s all-stars — a year to complete a list of oddball challenges. Who can get this cardboard cutout to the most remote location? Who can perform the best magic trick? Who can find the coolest free item from Craigslist? Most episodes of the show are about 30 minutes, but this one clocks in at over an hour.The season’s second episode, “You-lympics,” also toys with a longer time frame. Contestants jump as high as they can, hold a cat for as long as the cat will tolerate and eat as much grated Parmesan as possible while wearing a cone-of-shame pet collar — and then they return a week later to try to top themselves. And then an hour after that, they try one more time.As with “Taskmaster,” there is a loopy, discursive interpretation to just about everything, and festive rules-lawyering abounds. The most consistent feature across all seasons is a radiating sense of mutual adoration among participants. Wilson even got a custom watch to aver his friendship with Wysocki and Michaelis.Starting with Season 5, “Game Changer” also includes behind-the-scenes companion episodes — true manna for the nerdy, if ever there were. (I did, in fact, wonder who created the elaborate diorama of a rock n’ roll bar for insects.) Segments like these used to be common place as DVD featurettes but are pitifully rare on streaming. Netflix could have bloopers if they wanted to! That’s part of the appeal of a smaller, independent, somewhat niche streamer like Dropout, the sense that it is more attuned to and has more fun with the wants of its subscribers. More

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      Wink Martindale, Popular and Durable Game Show Host, Dies at 91

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      He was involved in more than 20 game shows, most memorably as the host of “Gambit” and “Tic-Tac-Dough” in the 1970s and ’80s.Wink Martindale during a taping of the game show “Debt” in 1997.Nick Ut/Associated PressWink Martindale, a radio personality who became a television star as a dapper and affable host of game shows like “Gambit” and “Tic-Tac-Dough” in the 1970s and ’80s and “Debt” in the ’90s, died on Tuesday in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 91.Nashville Publicity Group, which represented him, announced his death in a statement.A veteran of the game show circuit, Mr. Martindale was involved in more than 20 shows, either as a producer or host.His first game show, in 1964, was “What’s This Song,” in which contestants paired with celebrities to identify tunes for cash prizes. The show was short-lived, as were many others he experimented with.“Gambit” was based on the card game blackjack, and “Tic-Tac-Dough” combined trivia with the classic puzzle game tic-tac-toe. In “Debt,” the prize was the main focus: Contestants would arrive with bills for credit cards, car payments or student loans, which would be paid off if they answered a series of questions correctly.As a vocalist, Mr. Martindale recorded about 20 single records and seven albums. His 1959 spoken-voice narrative recording, “Deck of Cards,” sold more than a million copies, earning him a gold record, a designation by the Recording Industry Association of America for records that sold 500,000 copies or more. “Deck of Cards” also brought him an appearance on the Ed Sullivan variety show, where he told the tale of a young American soldier in North Africa who is arrested and charged with playing cards during a church service.Mr. Martindale received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and was one of the first inductees into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Chuck Woolery, Host of ‘Love Connection,’ Dies at 83

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      After a career that included stints on “Wheel of Fortune” and other popular game shows, he took a combative turn as a right-wing podcast host.Chuck Woolery, the affable host of “Love Connection,” “Wheel of Fortune” and other television game shows, who later criticized liberal values and the Democratic Party as the co-host of a popular right-wing podcast, died on Saturday at his home in Texas. He was 83.His death was confirmed by Mark Young, the co-host of his podcast, “Blunt Force Truth.” He did not specify the cause.In the late 1970s, Mr. Woolery was the inaugural host of “Wheel of Fortune,” now one of the longest-running game shows on television. And in the early 1980s, he was tapped to host “Love Connection,” a dating show that helped to make him a household name.On a stage flush with red and pink cutout hearts, he maneuvered with an easy charm through interactions that could be both endearing and irreverent.At times he could be a coaxing Cupid; at others, a referee as contestants traded barbs over who was complaining or who had skipped out on dinner.“I felt more like the audience,” Mr. Woolery said in a 2020 interview with the journalist Adam Wurtzel. “What would the audience ask? What would the audience feel?”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A Hollywood Drought and a Game Show Dream

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      It’s tough to get work in film and television these days. So one unemployed writer decided to study up on “The Price Is Right.”There is very little work to go around in Hollywood these days. So to stay inspired over the past several months, Emily Winter has met with a writing group on Zoom each weekday morning at 10 a.m.Celeste, do you have a meeting? You look fancy.Do you play softball? I can put you on the sub list!What’s everyone working on today?During one such meeting last spring, Winter remembered that she had tickets to an upcoming taping of “The Price Is Right,” where every audience member is eligible to win prizes like a billiards table or a car. “My hottest iron in the fire,” she explained to her writing group.Then she took a beat to think.She had used up all of her unemployment. She was starting to panic about her dwindling savings account. And she did not have anything better to do. Why not figure out how to increase her chances of being selected to compete on the game show?“Let’s win some $$$,” she wrote in an email to two friends when she invited them to attend the taping in May, “or a weird boat!!!!!”Building a CareerTo keep her sanity and make some money while between writing gigs, Winter has turned to standup comedy.Alex Welsh for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Peter Marshall, Longtime Host of ‘The Hollywood Squares,’ Dies at 98

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      He played straight man to all manner of celebrities, asking questions on what was for many years the most popular game show on television.Peter Marshall, who coaxed cheeky rejoinders from celebrities like Burt Reynolds, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers and Paul Lynde as the longtime host of “The Hollywood Squares,” for years one of the most popular game shows on television, died on Thursday at his home in Encino, Calif. He was 98.His wife of 35 years, Laurie Marshall, said the cause was kidney failure.Mr. Marshall, an actor, singer and comedian with an authoritative baritone, hosted “The Hollywood Squares” from 1966 until 1981. The show brought him four Daytime Emmy Awards.“The Hollywood Squares,” which stuffed celebrity guests and risqué humor into a daytime game show, was a variation on tic-tac-toe, played by two contestants on a set that featured a grid of nine squares rising above the stage, a celebrity guest seated in each.A contestant would choose a square, Mr. Marshall would ask the star inside it a question, and the star would usually respond with a quip — a zinger, in the show’s parlance — before giving a serious answer. The contestant would then tell Mr. Marshall whether he or she thought the star had answered correctly, and the square would be won if the contestant was right. The first contestant to complete a line won the game; the first to win two games won cash and prizes.The center square was reserved for the funniest celebrity; the comedian Paul Lynde occupied it for much of the show’s run.Mr. Marshall, center, with an early group of “Hollywood Squares” panelists. From left: Wally Cox, Abby Dalton, Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam.NBC, via Everett CollectionWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Colin Jost Will Host the New ‘Jeopardy!’ Pop Culture Spinoff

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      “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” is expected to begin production in August and will stream only on Amazon Prime Video.If you have enjoyed Colin Jost’s dispatches from Tahiti for the Olympics surfing events and are hoping to see more of him, you’re in luck: On Wednesday, Sony Pictures Television announced that he will be host of the new game show “Pop Culture Jeopardy!”Jost, 42, is a veteran writer for “Saturday Night Live” and has anchored its Weekend Update segment since 2014 alongside Michael Che. “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” — a spinoff of the juggernaut “Jeopardy!,” which has run for decades on broadcast TV and in syndication — will stream only on Amazon Prime Video.Jost was selected for his “sharp wit and intelligence,” Suzanne Prete, president for game shows at Sony Pictures Television, which produces the show, said in a news release. “He’s smart and quick, like our contestants, and we know he’ll be able to keep up with them while making this new series his own.”“What is: I’m excited,” Jost said in the statement, riffing on the “Jeopardy!” answer format.In the pop culture version of the show, contestants will play in teams of three in tournament-style events, racing to answer questions in a variety of categories like alternative rock, the Avengers and Broadway. Production of the show is expected to begin in August.The spinoff is part of a yearslong expansion of the “Jeopardy!”-verse, as the show’s producers have called it, which will also include special tournaments. The flagship show also has seen plenty of change since Alex Trebek, who had hosted “Jeopardy!” for 37 years, died in 2020. A lengthy, revolving host audition resulted in Mike Richards, then the show’s executive producer, being chosen to host, only to be pushed aside after revelations that he had made offensive comments on a podcast. Then the role was shared between the actor Mayim Bialik and the former “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings until last year, when Bialik announced that she had been removed from the show. Jennings has since settled in as the sole host. More

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      Pat Sajak Bids Farewell to ‘Wheel of Fortune’: ‘The Time Has Come to Say Goodbye’

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      The host thanked the show’s viewers and had special words for his co-star, Vanna White, before he signed off for the final time.On Friday night, Pat Sajak said goodbye to “Wheel of Fortune,” expressing gratitude to the countless viewers who had tuned in during his more than 40 years at the helm. “Thank you for allowing me into your lives,” he said.After the final game on his watch concluded, Sajak returned from a final commercial break and addressed the camera directly. “Well, the time has come to say goodbye,” he said. “It’s been an incredible privilege to be invited into millions of homes night after night, year after year, decade after decade. I always felt that the privilege came with the responsibility to keep this daily half-hour a safe place for family fun. No social issues, no politics, nothing embarrassing I hope, just a game.”Still, Sajak, who began his run in 1981, acknowledged that “Wheel of Fortune” had evolved into more than just frivolous, fleeting fun for many. “It became,” he said, “a place where kids learned their letters, where people from other countries honed their English skills, where families came together along with friends and neighbors, and entire generations.”He praised the show’s crew and thanked his family, including his daughter Maggie, who joined “Wheel” as a social correspondent in 2021. And he of course had many kind words for his co-star of more than four decades, Vanna White, whom he called his “professional other half.” (The farewell episode was filmed in early April.)“Like me, she takes the show very seriously but not herself,” Sajak said. “I shudder to think what these 40-plus years might have been like had they brought someone in all full of themselves, playing the prima donna role. Vanna is as sweet and unassuming as she seems.” (He noted that while he’ll miss seeing her at work, they’ll see plenty of each other: They live about five miles apart.) They embraced onstage after his remarks as the episode ended like any other, with the two of them speaking to each other as the credits rolled.On Thursday night, it was White who, through tears, took a moment to address Sajak directly.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Pat Sajak, Cool and Reliable Host of ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ Signs Off

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      In 41 seasons at the helm of “Wheel of Fortune,” Mr. Sajak, whose final episode as host airs on Friday, has been a durable fixture of the American cultural landscape.If AI were ever prompted to generate an avatar of a game show host, surely the result would be Pat Sajak.After four decades on the air, Mr. Sajak, 77, presides over his last episode of “Wheel of Fortune” on Friday. And his departure — Mr. Sajak has suggested in a series of televised exit interviews with Maggie Sajak, his daughter, that this will be a welcome retirement — offered a chance to reappraise what it is that made him such a durable fixture of the American cultural landscape.Mr. Sajak, it is probably worth remembering, has been with viewers through seven presidents, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both the AIDS and the Covid pandemics, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the 2008 financial crash and, oh, the Kardashians. Not incidentally, he has outlasted the internet’s incursions into broadcast television’s long-held primacy.Through it all he’s been with the American game show audience, unflappably prompting contestants to choose a consonant or buy a vowel. He calmed contestants as they guessed at Hangman-style word puzzles. He bantered inoffensively with the imperturbable Vanna White in her parade of sparkly gowns. He blandly exchanged quips with an ever-changing roster of celebrity guests as they spun a carnival-style wheel, willing it to clatter past “Lose a Turn” and “Bankruptcy” to land on big money.And, for 41 seasons, this avuncular figure in a jacket and tie hovered into millions of households a night, a perma-tanned deity ruling over a placid empyrean.Against a backdrop of lives filled with workaday stress and debt, “Wheel of Fortune” was a refuge, notably less as game of chance than bulwark against everyday humdrum. How oddly easy is it to forget that overdue electric bill as Mr. Sajak asks, in his peppy tenor, “How do you feel about ampersands?”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More