20 weird game shows you forgot existed

This TV show was as intense as it sounds. On Man vs. Beast, humans competed against animals in a series of bizarre challenges. Critics thought it was ridiculous, and animal rights activists detested it.

Did anyone compete on Fear Factor as a means of immersion therapy? There had to be at least one contestant, right? This bananas show was incredibly popular and versions existed in dozens of countries throughout the 2000s. 

Legends of the Hidden Temple definitely has a nostalgia bias. If you were to watch it today, you’d wonder why you were ever so enthralled. Unfortunately, that’s the case with many programs made specifically for kids. 

Remote Control actually deserves a ton of credit. The world wouldn’t have had classic MTV shows like Next or Cribs if it weren’t for the pioneering Remote Control. Had the show’s premise not been that it took place in the host’s basement, it probably would’ve lasted quite a while. 

Win Ben Stein’s Money was popular for a while, but it eventually succumbed to cancellation. But you know what hasn’t been canceled? Jeopardy, which Stein often made fun of on his show. Let it be a lesson to all that public mockery can result in failure. 

Only fans of the macabre enjoyed Hellevator. On this spooky game show, contestants rode a haunted elevator inside an abandoned slaughterhouse. It was as unpleasant as it sounds. 

Oh Sit! proved that not just any old game can be turned up a few hundred notches and make for an entertaining game show. Musical chairs is meant for church bazaars and children’s birthday parties, not syndication. 

Not to be confused with the short-lived Sandra Oh Netflix series, The Chair was an exercise in keeping your heart rate at an acceptable number. Contestants had to be cleared medically before they could compete, which is not a good sign for a question-and-answer game show. 

Russian Roulette didn’t result in any actual death, but the name alone was enough to turn off viewers. The show, unsurprisingly, only lasted for two seasons. 

Touch the Truck’s format — contestants have to touch a vehicle for as long as possible, facing elimination because of exhaustion and the need to relieve themselves — has been seen as storylines in sitcoms and random movies, but has anyone actually participated in such an event in real life?

Supermarket Sweep is the least weird of all the weird game shows. It returns every 20 years or so, allowing every generation to watch people frantically run through grocery stores in an effort to win prizes. 

On The 5th Wheel, contestants went out on double dates, only for their dates to be ruined by a fifth wheel. It’s a crazy idea that somehow made it to air and somehow stayed on air for multiple years. 

MXC, or Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, was a wild show that repurposed the Japanese game show Takeshi’s Castle. It’s more than a little problematic in retrospect, but it was incredibly entertaining when it was on the air. 

The only reason 1 vs. 100’s initial run lasted as long as it did is because Bob Saget was the host. The show could’ve had legs, but there were too many similar shows airing at the time, and this one didn’t make the cut. 

So many game shows last because they’re too complicated. The most enduring ones are straightforward, no frills. Friend or Foe? had too many rules and too many aspects to its gameplay. 

Dog Eat Dog was another game show that was entirely too much. There’s a fine line between entertainment and frivolity, and Dog Eat Dog touched the latter. There were also a variety of legitimate issues with the show, like one contestant going unconscious during a challenge in the very first episode. 

Queen For a Day lasted as long as it did purely because of morbid curiosity. In this bizarre show, contestants had to convince the judges that their lives were worse than the other contestants' lives. Whoever had the worst life won prizes. 

The Chamber was so ridiculous that some of its episodes didn’t even air. Contestants were trapped in a torture chamber and endured awful conditions. How this series got greenlit is truly a mystery. 

Repo Games was part fun and part depressing. The most interesting ordeal to come from the show was a man shooting at the film crew while in Las Vegas and subsequently being sentenced for attempted murder. 

Were television executives just desperate for a game show? How else did Bumper Stumpers make it to air? The show featured contestants decoding vanity license plates. It’s a fun game to play randomly in the car, but there’s no need for it to be on television.