A long-standing TV type that describes a very specific style of show, usually (but not always) a half-hour in length, pitting contestants against each other to win lucrative prizes. Game shows started out as straigtforward quiz-style programs, with average people given the chance to prove their smarts to an audience of millions. Over the '60s and '70s, the shows began to incorporate celebrities into their pool of contestants, and broadened their scope to include non-trivia-based games. The reality-show craze of the early 21st century took many of the most-competitve aspects of the type to new levels, blurring the lines between game show and documentary.
