Some television formats outlast almost everything around them. Hosts retire, studios change, and viewing habits move from living room sets to phones, yet a handful of game shows keep landing on the schedule year after year.
This list covers seven of them, from daytime staples to local broadcasts that few people outside one region have seen. Each one has its own route to a long run, and the details differ more than you might expect.
The Price Is Right
The current version premiered on September 4, 1972, on CBS. It was a revival of a 1956 to 1965 show of the same name, with many new gameplay elements added. It is considered the longest running game show in the United States.
Its 53rd season premiered on September 23, 2024, and the 10,000th episode aired on February 26, 2025. Bob Barker was the longest running host, serving until June 2007, when Drew Carey took over. In 2022 the show was announced as an inductee into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
Jeopardy!
The answer and question format is the show’s signature. The Merv Griffin series first aired from 1964 to 1975 with Art Fleming as host. The syndicated version most viewers know started in 1984.
Alex Trebek hosted for 36 years before his death. The program is also described as the only game show to win a Peabody Award. Sources count its total years differently, depending on whether the 1960s and 1970s runs are included.
Wheel of Fortune
The show has aired continuously since 1975 and has appeared on NBC, CBS, and ABC at various times. Three players guess hidden phrases one letter at a time, much like Hangman. They spin the wheel to win money or other prizes.
Pat Sajak and Vanna White hosted the nighttime show together until June 2024, when Sajak retired and Ryan Seacrest replaced him. It ranks as the longest running syndicated game show in the United States. It also has about 60 international adaptations.
Family Feud
Families face off as they try to guess the most popular answers from a survey of 100 people. The series has been on television since 1976, starting on ABC and in syndication through 1985, then moving to CBS from 1988 through 1995.
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After a four year break in the late 1990s, it has stayed on the air in syndication since 1999. Steve Harvey has hosted since 2010. The flexible format has also been adapted in multiple countries.
Let’s Make a Deal
This is the show where contestants in costumes trade a sure prize for something hidden behind a door or curtain. It began in 1963 and has returned in several versions since. Reference lists of the longest running game shows place it among the top ten.
CBS brought it back in 2009 with Wayne Brady as host, and that version has continued into the 2020s. Exact current season counts vary by source, so it’s worth checking the network for the latest figure.
To Tell the Truth
It has been revived four times since it first aired in 1956. The premise is simple. A panel questions three challengers who all claim to be the same person, and only one is telling the truth.
The show earns its place through repeated returns more than one unbroken run. It appears on a ranking of television’s longest running game shows. Each revival has kept the guessing game at the center.
It’s Academic
This one is a regional story. It aired exclusively in the Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland areas for 63 years. It is a high school quiz competition, not a prize giveaway.
One list gives it a special mention because its run beats The Price Is Right by a year. Its smaller footprint means it rarely appears in national rankings. Still, the run is long by any measure.
How the Seven Compare
The Price Is Right leads the group at more than five decades in its current form, with earlier roots in a version that aired from 1956 to 1965. Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune follow, both running continuously in syndicated form since the mid 1970s to mid 1980s.
Family Feud has been on since 1976, while Let’s Make a Deal and To Tell the Truth have survived through revivals. It’s Academic rounds out the list as a local broadcast with a very long record.
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