Generic Refinement on the Fringe: The Game Show.

Since making the transition from radio to television, the game show has weathered the quiz show scandals, survived numerous changes in network programming strategies, and prospered in the wake of the FCC's “Prime‐Time Access Rule.” Treating the game show formula as a value‐laden system of cultural expression, this paper develops an analytic scheme for identifying and discussing major forms of the genre. This paper finds that recent genric refinements of the game show have been instituted to take advantage of the economic and regulatory conditions governing fringe television.