Top 10 Funniest Game Show Moments

Is there anything more embarrassing than accidentally telling a woman that she has pretty nipples? Maybe, but this is certainly up there. While chatting up contestants Karen and John, host Gene Rayburn turns to John and compliments Karen’s “pretty nipples.” He’s quick to course correct and says that she has pretty DIMPLES before squirming and withdrawing into himself like a turtle. You can tell that Gene was supremely embarrassed, which makes the clip that much funnier. Luckily, Karen is a good sport and takes it in stride. Freudian slip or simple slip of the tongue? You be the judge.

To be honest, we don’t know how more game show winners don’t just up and collapse upon winning thousands of dollars. “The Price Is Right” contestant Arlene seemingly can’t handle the fact that she just won the showcase, and her body completely shuts down onstage. While fainting is never funny, there’s something hilarious about the way her body falls out of frame when the camera zooms in on her face. What makes it even better is hearing Bob nonchalantly declare that “she’s allll right,” almost as if comforting a toddler who had just taken a tumble.

The Fast Money round of “Family Feud” can be a goldmine of stupidity. Contestants are forced to give answers under a time constraint, which often results in a lot of rushed thinking and brain farts. This is the brain farts to end all brain farts. When asked during what month’s pregnancy does a woman begin to look pregnant, Cathy famously answered “September.” And the best part? She didn’t seem to realize her mistake. It’s not until the audience starts laughing that she realizes something is wrong and acts accordingly. The comforting “well, you tried” hand from Richard Dawson is just icing on the cake.

We can only imagine what the censors were thinking with this one. During this episode of Catchphrase, a square is taken away on the board, and the contestants are left with what appears to be a masturbating banana. Everyone can’t help but crack up. And it only gets worse from there. Another square is taken away, revealing yellow man’s snake friend, who is seemingly playing along. While it’s eventually revealed to be his cane and not his… walking stick, it took almost every square to finally get that vital piece of information. The image itself and the incredibly awkward, drawn-out process makes this moment game show gold.

Someone clearly doesn’t know their superheroes. Which is weird, considering these two are, like, the biggest superheroes of all time. While solving the “fictional characters” clue that is clearly “Superman and Wonder Woman,” the contestant proudly declares that it is “Superman and Spider Woman!” We have no idea where he got “spider” from, considering that the word clearly contains both a w and an n. We’ll chalk it up to a harmless and unfortunately televised brain fart, but that doesn’t mean we can’t laugh at it. At least he quickly realizes his mistake. Too bad he didn’t say it the first time.

During Final Jeopardy of the teen tournament, contestant Leonard Cooper hilariously wrote, “Who is some guy in Normandy? But I just won $75,000!” And while he certainly did that, he could very well have lost. If his competitor Nilai had gotten Final Jeopardy correct, he would have beaten Leonard by $400, and Leonard would have been in a very, very awkward situation. It’s great to see “Jeopardy!” contestants not take themselves or their answers so seriously though, and this proves that the otherwise academic show can still be fun. It also proves that cockiness can be just as funny as it is irritating

We all have our brain farts. Luckily for us, our slip-ups aren’t televised and made into a laughing stock for millions of people. “Family Feud” contestant Joanne isn’t so lucky. When asked to name a yellow fruit, Joanne confidently says “orange” before immediately recognizing her mistake and squirming in embarrassment and frustration. The bluntness of the answer is certainly hilarious, as is the silly answer itself. But perhaps what makes this moment so special is Joanne’s reaction. She knows she messed up, and here we are over forty years later still laughing at her mistake. It’s almost as if she knew we would be.

If “Hollywood Squares” is remembered for anything, it will be this famous clip. It all starts when Gilbert Gottfried believes “having a child” is the answer to the statement “94% of Hungarians, compared to only 46% of Americans, said doing this was necessary to be fulfilled.” When the contestant disagreed, Gottfried shouted “you fool!,” much to everyone’s delight. What follows is pure pandemonium, as Gottfried calls both contestants fools after every question, and before long, other celebrities like Penn Jillette are joining in on the fun. Only on “Hollywood Squares” can you call the contestant a fool and send everyone into hysterics.

“The Newlywed Game” is a goldmine of inappropriateness. But sometimes it skips straight past gleefully inappropriate and goes straight to crassness. The women were asked what the weirdest place was where they had the urge to “make whoopie”. Not understanding the question, one answered “in the ass,” much to everyone’s, and especially her husband’s, delight. The clip was so controversial and infamous that it quickly became an urban legend, as future generations couldn’t find the clip and didn’t believe the people who recounted the story. Luckily, it was uncovered and brought back for all to see and is now a piece of game show history.





Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.



Fish Love

“Wheel of Fortune” (1983-)





Excited

“Family Feud” (1976-)

If you ask people what their favorite “Family Feud” moment is, this is bound to come up. When asked for something a burglar wouldn’t want to see upon entering a house, Rod enthusiastically screams “naked grandma!” Steve Harvey can’t even manage to repeat the question. The answer itself, Rod’s ridiculous passion for it, and Harvey’s response all combine to create one of the funniest moments in game show history. And the best part? He ended up getting the points. Sure, “occupant” is a bit of a stretch, but hey, it’s technically correct. No one specified that the occupant had to be clothed.