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Format Creation
So, you want to create a game show? 
 A guide for the budding quiz devisor by games consultant
David J. Bodycombe 
This is a guide to game shows, intended to give advice to potential devisors who are interested indeveloping their ideas in this genre. The author, David J. Bodycombe, is a freelance consultantworking in the UK, with experience in television, radio, books, magazines, newspapers, board gamesand the Internet.
The present Format Creation Guide has been published by www.tvformats.com, a Website dedicated to formats that currently does not exist anymore. However the following article gives you a good overview on how to devise a format. The original screenshots from different tv formats have been replaced for copyright reasons.
(i) Do your homework 
 A – Watch television! 
Before you do anything, make sure you watch lots of game shows. Nothing will scupper your plansquicker than if, after weeks of development, you later discover that a nearly identical idea has alreadybeen on air for the past three years. This kind of situation has happened more than once before.
B – What's your genre? 
Next, you’ll need to decide what kind of genre you’d like to develop a show for. The genres of gameshows have been fairly static over the year, and most programmes fall under one of these majorheadings:
 Action/adventure
– Typical elements of an action/adventure show includecustom-made sports games, scavenger hunts, fantasy locations and role-play.Often played as a series of timed games, and personal betterment is often anunderlying theme.
Board game conversion
– Any sort of programme that has been based on atraditional or proprietary board game. In the latter case, this sort of show is onlypossible by paying a license fee to the manufacturer of the game.
Children's
– Any form of programme specifically designed for children (approx. 16years and under). Usually these programmes are commissioned from a separatedepartment than that of adult and family light entertainment programmes.
Comedy panel game
– Specific type of quiz or game involving a number of celebrity guests where a certain proportion of the material is pre-scripted andperformed by the host or, in some cases, by the guests themselves.
Dating show
– Shows concerning any aspect of personal relationships. Usuallyinvolves playing matchmaker to young contestants, although some recent showshave concerned themselves with how relationships fail.
 
Educational
– Type of factual programming where a game element has beenemployed as a way of making the information fun to learn.
Family game show
– Wide-ranging term used to describe mainstream primetimeshows, usually presented by well-known comedians, where general knowledge isnot a primary requirement. Often involves elements such as playing physicalgames, tactics and luck.
Lifestyle
– Relatively new stream of programme taking a popular hobby or homeinterest, such as DIY or cookery, and basing an essentially light-heartedcompetition around it. Also includes shows where estimating prices is the keyability.
Panel game
– Game played by a group of invited celebrities. Most of the humourcomes from off-the-cuff remarks and banter, as opposed to the more scriptedcomedy panel games.
Puzzle
– Show where lateral thinking, numerical ability and wordplay areimportant, but little or no general knowledge is required.
Reality
– Where a number of individuals are challenged to work together as ateam, usually over a long period of time.
Quiz, general knowledge
– Game where answering a wide variety of questionsis the key entertainment, although tactics and minor physical elements may also bepresent.
Quiz, themed
– Show where contestants answer questions about a centraltheme. Often the rounds and games are also tied into this theme. Includes somethemed panel games.
Sports
– Programmes where a recognised sport is played, or the primary theme of the programme involves sport in some other way.
 
Stunt/dare show
– Programmes where people are challenged to doextraordinary feats, usually involving expensive large-scale games or danger.Sometimes includes elements of practical jokes.
Technological
– Specific genre where competitors construct machinery undercompetition conditions.
 Variety
 – Programmes which either involve the search for new talent, orperformances of established variety acts as a central element of the programme.
C – You, the critic 
Once you know what kind of show(s) you’re looking to devise, research into that genre more deeply.In particular, look at existing shows and critique them, asking questions such as:
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What makes them tick? 
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Is the pace fast or slow? 
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 At what time of day are these programmes usually shown? 
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What kind of audience is it designed to appeal to? Is it a mass audience or a particular niche? And what age group? 
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How does the scoring work? 
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Is it played for prizes or just for fun? 
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What type of host is used? 
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(ii) Generate ideas 
 A – Any idea? 
Next, you need to think of a basic idea around which your whole show will revolve. In essence, youridea needs to be two or three sentences that will sell the idea. If you can’t encapsulate the ideasuccinctly, the chances are your idea is already too complicated.Thinking of an original idea is very difficult to do. Quiz and game shows have been popular since the1950s and in those 40-50 years many ideas have already come and gone. In our view, the two basicapproaches are:
(i) Come up with something completely new. It can happen from time to time that a completely new idea occurs. One recent example was Channel 4’s Fluke, which was almost an anti-game show in that the outcome of the whole programme purely depended on luck.(ii) Do an old style show but in a modern way. What could be more boring than yet another multiple- choice quiz? But Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? has shown that you can take a simple idea and re- interpret it to give it some new dynamics. Some people argue that its not so much what the game show actually is, but whether it’s executed well.B – Some pointers 
When thinking up your idea, try to bear in mind some basic principles:Has anything similar been done before? If so, has it been at least several years since anything of asimilar variety was broadcast?
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natanz-

This article is clear and short! Just what I need!

reply11 / 21 / 2008
scharnhorst

PDF file seems to be damaged. Acrobat cannot read it

reply07 / 11 / 2008
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