Game Show Congress
Encyclopedia
Game Show Congress is a meeting of industry professionals, former contestants and fans of television game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

s. It was first held in 2002 and will hold its eighth conference in 2011.

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The first Game Show Congress was held in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

 as an outgrowth of the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

 Program Council Trivia Bowl and was spearheaded through the efforts of Paul Bailey as a non-profit organization. Featured guests included Steve Beverly as well as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...

winners Ed Toutant and Lori Bailey plus multi-show winner Leszek Pawlowicz.

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The second Congress moved to Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

 and was held in conjunction with an open quiz bowl tournament. Featured speakers included former Starcade
Starcade
Starcade was a game show where contestants competed against one another by playing arcade video games. The series originally aired on WTBS from 1982–1983, followed by a run in syndication for the following season....

host Mark Richards, all-time Who Wants to Be a Millionaire winner Kevin Olmstead, a presentation from NTN Buzztime
NTN Buzztime
NTN Buzztime is a company which produces interactive entertainment across many different platforms. Its most well-known product, simply called Buzztime, and formerly known as the NTN Network, since 1985, broadcasts trivia and other games via broadband over a national network to over 3,800 bars...

, a presentation about the World's Largest Trivia Contest staged each year by 90FM in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Stevens Point is the county seat of Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. Located in the central part of the state, it is the largest city in the county, with a population of 24,551 at the 2000 census...

, and the first appearance of The Game Show Round, a game with elements of over 30 different game shows from around the world.

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Moving to Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....

 in 2004, the third Congress moved to a multi-day format and added additional competition formats such as Paul Paquet
Paul Paquet
Paul Stephen Paquet is a nationally syndicated trivia columnist and a trivia writer, based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In December 2008, he took over the Trivia Bits column from Stanley Newman. It runs in 14 newspapers throughout the United States...

's SmartyPants tournament and The Game Show Home Game Tournament. There was also an official Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...

test and tryout. This session also marked the first time the Ralph Edwards Career Community Service Award and the Bill Cullen Career Achievement Award were presented. The Edwards award was accepted by son Gary Edwards on Ralph's behalf, while the Cullen award went posthumously to Bill Cullen. Guest speakers honoring Edwards and Cullen included Bob Barker
Bob Barker
Robert William "Bob" Barker is a former American television game show host. He is best known for hosting CBS's The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history, and for hosting Truth or Consequences from 1956 to 1975.Born...

, Dick Clark, Jack Narz
Jack Narz
Jack Narz was an American television announcer and game show host. Narz was the elder brother of Tom Kennedy and the former brother-in-law of Bill Cullen...

, Tom Kennedy, Jayne Meadows
Jayne Meadows
-Early life:Jayne Meadows was born as Jayne Cotter in Wu-ch'ang, in Heilongjiang, China, to Episcopal missionary parents, the Rev. Francis James Meadows Cotter and his wife, the former Ida Miller Taylor, who had married in 1915. Meadows is the older sister of the late actress Audrey Meadows. She...

 and Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...

. Don Pardo
Don Pardo
Dominick George "Don" Pardo is an American radio and television announcer. He is best known as the voice of the long-running late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live....

 and Kitty Carlisle also gave taped tributes.

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The fourth Congress in 2005 was heavily devoted to a remembrance of the long time show Concentration
Concentration
In chemistry, concentration is defined as the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Four types can be distinguished: mass concentration, molar concentration, number concentration, and volume concentration...

 and featured panel discussions with producer Norman Blumenthal and undefeated champion Ruth Horowitz. Monty Hall
Monty Hall
Monte Halperin, OC, OM , better known by the stage name Monty Hall, is a Canadian-born MC, producer, actor, singer and sportscaster, best known as host of the television game show Let's Make a Deal.-Early life:...

 was presented with the Edwards Award recognizing his long career as both a game show host, producer and philanthropist while the Cullen Award was presented to brothers Jack Narz
Jack Narz
Jack Narz was an American television announcer and game show host. Narz was the elder brother of Tom Kennedy and the former brother-in-law of Bill Cullen...

 and Tom Kennedy. Guest speakers included comedian Shelley Berman
Shelley Berman
Sheldon "Shelley" Berman is an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, lecturer, and poet.- Early life :Berman was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Irene and Nathan Berman.- Career :...

, actress-comedienne Pat Carroll
Pat Carroll (actress)
Patricia Ann “Pat” Carroll is an American actress. She performed in numerous stage productions, and portrayed the roles of "Bunny Halper" on CBS's The Danny Thomas Show, Shirley Feeney's mother on ABC's Laverne and Shirley, and is the voice of the villainous Ursula in The Little Mermaid film...

, announcer John Harlan
John Harlan (announcer)
John Harlan is an American television announcer who has worked on numerous television projects for over 40 years, particularly game and variety shows....

, modern era emcees Todd Newton
Todd Newton
Todd Newton is an entertainment personality and a three-time game show host.Newton has hosted Hollywood Showdown and Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck, both on Game Show Network; and Coming Attractions on E!, as well as occasional episodes of Wild On... He is known for occasionally wearing a...

 and Guillermo Huesca, producer Stu Billett, and talent coordinator Jean Brown. Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...

, Carol Merrill
Carol Merrill
Carol Merrill was a model for the television game show Let's Make a Deal during the show's original run between 1963 and 1977.-Modeling:...

 and Michael Davies
Michael Davies
Michael Davies may refer to:* Michael Davies , Traditionalist Catholic writer* Michael Davies , Clerk of the Parliaments 1997-2003* Michael Davies , cricketer...

 gave taped tributes. Jeopardy! was also recognized in five of the Congress' categories.

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Music was added to the mix for the 2006 fifth Congress as the world's only game show cover band, the Ceramic Dalmatians, made their first live performance. J. Keith van Straaten
J. Keith van Straaten
J. Keith van Straaten is an American actor, host, and writer. He was born in Chicago, Illinois.On TV, he hosted the first season of the game show Beat the Geeks in 2001. In 2006, he began appearing as a panelist on VH1's Best Week Ever...

 hosted and Jim Newman directed an edition of "What's My Line, Live" with panelists Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer is an American actress, best known as a regular panelist on the game show I've Got a Secret, and later for playing Pamela Voorhees in the notorious slasher film Friday the 13th.-Life and career:...

, Frank Nicotero
Frank Nicotero
Frank Joseph Nicotero is an American comedian widely known as the host of the syndicated comedy game show Street Smarts.-Career:...

, Sarah Purcell
Sarah Purcell
Sarah Purcell is an American former talk show host, game show host, and panelist.She was co-host of The Better Sex , Real People , America , and The Home Show , and made guest appearances on several TV dramas. She also co-starred in the 1981 film Terror Among Us with Tracy Reed...

 and Stuart Shostak, while the mystery guest was Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...

. There was an official test and tryout for the show "1 vs 100". A panel discussion "Working as a Game Show Host and Game Show Announcer" was led by Laura Chambers ("Weakest Link", "Greed") with Sarah Purcell
Sarah Purcell
Sarah Purcell is an American former talk show host, game show host, and panelist.She was co-host of The Better Sex , Real People , America , and The Home Show , and made guest appearances on several TV dramas. She also co-starred in the 1981 film Terror Among Us with Tracy Reed...

, Larry Anderson, Burton Richardson, Jack Narz
Jack Narz
Jack Narz was an American television announcer and game show host. Narz was the elder brother of Tom Kennedy and the former brother-in-law of Bill Cullen...

, Johnny Gilbert
Johnny Gilbert
John L. "Johnny" Gilbert III is an American show business personality who has worked mainly on television game shows. Originally a nightclub singer and entertainer, he has hosted and announced a number of game shows from various eras, dating as far back as the 1950s...

. Anderson and Richardson also teamed up as host and announcer for a charity fundraiser game of "Buzzer Battle" benefiting the AIDS Research Alliance
AIDS Research Alliance
AIDS Research Alliance of America is a national community-based non-profit medical research institution that seeks to develop a cure for HIV/AIDS, medical strategies to prevent new HIV infections and better treatments for people living with HIV/AIDS...

. Bob Harris
Bob Harris (writer)
Bob Harris is an American radio commentator, writer, stand-up comedian, and thirteen-time Jeopardy! contestant.From 1998–2002, his daily political commentaries aired on an average of 75 radio stations across the U.S., winning awards from the and the Associated Press...

, who would later become a regular visitor of the congress, read from his book Prisoner of Trebekestan. Tic Tac Dough host Wink Martindale
Wink Martindale
Winston Conrad Martindale , known professionally as Wink Martindale, is an American disc jockey and television game show host.-Radio:...

, producer Ron Greenberg and Thom McKee
Thom McKee
Thom McKee is a former United States Navy officer who was a long-running contestant on Tic Tac Dough, an American game show, in 1980. He set a number of game show records for the time, appearing on forty-six episodes of the series and winning $312,700 in cash and prizes...

 participated in a panel on the show, and there was an industry panel discussion moderated by TV host & producer Roger Rose, featuring participants Bob Boden (VP Programming, Fox Reality Channel), Stu Billet (Executive Producer, "The People's Court
The People's Court
The People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....

"), Harry Friedman (Executive Producer, "Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...

" and "Jeopardy!"), Michael Brockman (former VP Programming CBS, ABC, and Goodson-Todman Productions), and Scott St. John
Scott St. John
Scott St. John is a Canadian violinist and violist. He is a member of the St. Lawrence String Quartet and on faculty at Stanford University, where he teaches violin and chamber music.-Biography:...

 (Executive Producer, "Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases with certain sums of money...

"). Long time Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants...

 host Peter Marshall
Peter Marshall (game show host)
Peter Marshall is an American television and radio personality, singer, and actor.He was the original host of The Hollywood Squares, from 1966 to 1981. He has almost fifty television, movie, and Broadway credits...

 was presented with the Cullen Award and William Morris executive Vice President Mark Itkin was presented with the Edwards Award. Guest speakers included Rose Marie
Rose Marie
Rose Marie is an American actress. As a child performer she had a successful singing career as Baby Rose Marie....

, Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer is an American actress, best known as a regular panelist on the game show I've Got a Secret, and later for playing Pamela Voorhees in the notorious slasher film Friday the 13th.-Life and career:...

, Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman is an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at the CBS, ABC and NBC networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as the series Scooby-Doo , All in the Family , The Waltons , and Charlie's Angels , as well as the...

, Johnny Gilbert
Johnny Gilbert
John L. "Johnny" Gilbert III is an American show business personality who has worked mainly on television game shows. Originally a nightclub singer and entertainer, he has hosted and announced a number of game shows from various eras, dating as far back as the 1950s...

, Tom Kennedy, Kathy Garver
Kathy Garver
Kathleen Marie "Kathy" Garver is an American film, television, voice-over and character actress of stage, most widely known for playing Uncle Bill Davis's teenaged niece, Catherine "Cissy" Davis, on the popular 1960s sitcom, Family Affair. Before that, she played a slave in The Ten Commandments...

, Harry Friedman and Al Howard.

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The sixth Congress in 2007 was split into two sessions, once in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and the other in Hollywood, California. The New York session was primarily devoted to playing games and served as the North American Host of the International Quizzing Association's 2007 championship. The Los Angeles session featured a tribute to those game show icons who had passed in the previous year (Kitty Carlisle, Tom Poston
Tom Poston
Thomas Gordon "Tom" Poston was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950...

 and Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly was an American actor, comedian, director and drama teacher known for his comedic roles in theater, movies, children's television, animated cartoons, and as a panelist on the game show Match Game....

), speeches by Thom McKee and Charlie O'Donnell
Charlie O'Donnell
Charles John "Charlie" O'Donnell was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows...

 to honor Ralph Edwards Award winner Wink Martindale plus speeches by Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...

 and Sande Stewart to honor Bill Cullen Award winner Bob Stewart
Bob Stewart (television)
Bob Stewart is a former American television game show producer. He was active in the TV industry from 1956 until his retirement in 1992....

. White was also the winner of the newly created Arlene Francis
Arlene Francis
Arlene Francis was an American actress, radio talk show host, and game show panelist...

 Award honoring lifetime achievement as a game show panelist. The Ceramic Dalmatians again performed during the event. Notable attendees included Don Pardo
Don Pardo
Dominick George "Don" Pardo is an American radio and television announcer. He is best known as the voice of the long-running late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live....

, June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...

, and Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer is an American actress, best known as a regular panelist on the game show I've Got a Secret, and later for playing Pamela Voorhees in the notorious slasher film Friday the 13th.-Life and career:...

.

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The 2009 event featured a Contestant Workshop by Bev Pomerantz and presentation on the history of game shows by Tom Kennedy on November 14. An awards reception was held on November 15 honoring Allen Ludden
Allen Ludden
Allen Ludden was an American television personality, emcee and game show host, perhaps most well known for hosting various incarnations of the game show Password between 1961 and 1980.-Early years:...

 for the Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...

 Career Achievement award with Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...

 accepting in his memory, and honoring Geoff Edwards
Geoff Edwards
Geoffrey Bruce Owen "Geoff" Edwards is an American television actor, game show host and radio personality. Over the past decade and a half, he has been a writer and broadcaster on travel. He was born in Westfield, New Jersey....

 with the Ralph Edwards
Ralph Edwards
Ralph Livingstone Edwards was an American radio and television host and television producer.-Early career:Born in Merino, Colorado , Edwards worked for KROW-AM in Oakland, California while he was still in high school...

 Career Community Service Award. In addition Johnny Gilbert
Johnny Gilbert
John L. "Johnny" Gilbert III is an American show business personality who has worked mainly on television game shows. Originally a nightclub singer and entertainer, he has hosted and announced a number of game shows from various eras, dating as far back as the 1950s...

 received the first Legendary Announcer award. Speakers included Bob Stewart
Bob Stewart (television)
Bob Stewart is a former American television game show producer. He was active in the TV industry from 1956 until his retirement in 1992....

, Tom Kennedy, and David Michaels; in addition Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...

 gave a taped tribute.

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2011 will feature GSC events in association with the planned Trivia Championships of North America on July 8-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Bill Cullen Award

This award is given to the industry figure as a recognition of lifetime achievement in the area of game shows.
  • 2004: Bill Cullen
    Bill Cullen
    William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...

  • 2005: The Narz Brothers (Jack
    Jack Narz
    Jack Narz was an American television announcer and game show host. Narz was the elder brother of Tom Kennedy and the former brother-in-law of Bill Cullen...

     and Jim)
  • 2006: Peter Marshall
    Peter Marshall (game show host)
    Peter Marshall is an American television and radio personality, singer, and actor.He was the original host of The Hollywood Squares, from 1966 to 1981. He has almost fifty television, movie, and Broadway credits...

  • 2007: Bob Stewart
    Bob Stewart (television)
    Bob Stewart is a former American television game show producer. He was active in the TV industry from 1956 until his retirement in 1992....

  • 2009: Allen Ludden
    Allen Ludden
    Allen Ludden was an American television personality, emcee and game show host, perhaps most well known for hosting various incarnations of the game show Password between 1961 and 1980.-Early years:...


Ralph Edwards Award

This award is given to the industry figure who has contributed both to the game show community as well as the world at large:
  • 2004: Ralph Edwards
    Ralph Edwards
    Ralph Livingstone Edwards was an American radio and television host and television producer.-Early career:Born in Merino, Colorado , Edwards worked for KROW-AM in Oakland, California while he was still in high school...

  • 2005: Monty Hall
    Monty Hall
    Monte Halperin, OC, OM , better known by the stage name Monty Hall, is a Canadian-born MC, producer, actor, singer and sportscaster, best known as host of the television game show Let's Make a Deal.-Early life:...

  • 2006: Mark Itkin
  • 2007: Wink Martindale
    Wink Martindale
    Winston Conrad Martindale , known professionally as Wink Martindale, is an American disc jockey and television game show host.-Radio:...

  • 2009: Geoff Edwards
    Geoff Edwards
    Geoffrey Bruce Owen "Geoff" Edwards is an American television actor, game show host and radio personality. Over the past decade and a half, he has been a writer and broadcaster on travel. He was born in Westfield, New Jersey....


Arlene Francis Award

This award is given to a panelist in honor of his or her lifetime achievement as a game show panelist:
  • 2007: Betty White
    Betty White
    Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...


Legendary Announcer Award

This award is given to an announcer in honor of his or her lifetime achievement supporting the game show genre:
  • 2009: Johnny Gilbert
    Johnny Gilbert
    John L. "Johnny" Gilbert III is an American show business personality who has worked mainly on television game shows. Originally a nightclub singer and entertainer, he has hosted and announced a number of game shows from various eras, dating as far back as the 1950s...

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