There are beloved game show favorites, like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, and then there are others that aren't so beloved. Some were dull, some were too convoluted, and some were just downright bonkers.
The list below chronicles 10 game shows that have gone down in the books as being some of the most bizarre, insane, hilarious (and sometimes downright cruel) game shows of all time. From physical torture to straight-up harassment, here are the 10 craziest game shows of all time, both bizarre to hilarious.
10 Bizarre: 1 Vs 100 (2006 - 2011)
This game show is exactly what it sounds like: one poor, innocent soul is forced to compete against 100 other people. Aside from how egregiously unfair the show was, it was also completely bizarre due to the extensive and elaborate set.
The show literally built a giant stadium-style seating arena for the "100" to sit in, as they look down upon the "one" they were competing against. 1 vs. 100 ended up becoming a popular board game, as well as a PC and Xbox game.
9 Hilarious: Friend Or Foe? (2002 - 2003)
Friend or Foe? saw three teams of two compete against each other in a trivia match. While that format seems pretty standard, the real hilarity comes in at the end. After the other two teams are eliminated, the final team is giving a lightning-round of questions, helping them earn more money. However, at the very end, the two are asked to secretly decide whether they're "Friend" or "Foe."
If they both say, Friend, they split the money. If they both say Foe, no one gets any money. And if one says Friend and the other says Foe, the Foe gets to take home the entire cash prize. The explosive final moments proved to be some of the best TV viewing of all time.
8 Bizarre: Queen For A Day (1954 - 1970)
Many think that TV today is exploitative, but current shows seem tame compared to Queen For a Day, which pitted desperate women against each other just to receive something they critically needed. A group of women would be interviewed in front of an audience and asked to tell their tales of why they were the most downtrodden and hopeless of the group.
Many women stated they needed things like medical care, new appliances they couldn't afford, or help caring for an ill child. The most miserable woman was deemed the winner.
7 Hilarious: Hellevator (2015 - 2016)
Hellevator was a horror game show on GSN created by Blumhouse and hosted by famous horror filmmakers, the Soska sisters. Each episode was based on a legend of a mass murderer or psychotic sadist.
The teams would be taken into a haunted house, where they'd have to complete challenges based on that episode's legend or theme. Contestants could be grabbed, followed, and harassed, all in nearly-pitch black rooms.
6 Bizarre: Dog Eat Dog (2002 - 2003)
Baywatch's Brooke Burns hosted this lost gem of a game show that challenged people's mental and physical strengths. The show was filmed in a giant arena full of mechanics and an arial jungle gym.
Challenges included making contestants strip, repeatedly flipping them upside down while they answered questions, and in one of the show's notoriously offensive segments, 'He or She', they were presented with six people and had to guess their gender.
5 Hilarious: Legends Of The Hidden Temple (1993 - 1995)
As a child, Legends of the Hidden Temple seemed awesome. Kids had to run through a huge maze, complete with trap doors and giant tribal warriors that popped out of walls and grabbed contestants. However, as an adult, the entire concept seems cruel, dangerous, and downright hilarious.
Legends of the Hidden Temple is a show that audiences constantly demand to be brought back, but with modern-day child endangerment laws and the show's obvious cultural appropriation, it's unlikely to happen.
4 Bizarre: Russian Roulette (2002 - 2003)
You can't shoot someone on live television (yet), so the game show Russian Roulette came up with a unique way to play the infamous game. Contestants would stand on a giant revolving cylinder. If they answered a question wrong, they pulled a lever, which, sometimes, would open a trap door beneath them, causing them to fall under the stage.
Contestants were forced to sign liability waivers before playing, and throughout the show's run, there were only a few accidents.
3 Hilarious: Let's Make A Deal (1963 - Present)
Let's Make a Deal is your classic betting-game-of-chance game show, similar to The Price is Right. What makes the show unique is the audience's insane costumes.
Back in the day, wearing a crazy outfit used to better an audience member's chances of being chosen to play, so before long, every single person in the audience came dressed in a wild and flamboyant outfit. That tradition still continues to this day with Wayne Brady's current version of the show.
2 Bizarre: The Chamber (2002)
Shockingly, The Chamber, a show that literally tortured contestants as they tried to answer quiz questions, was canceled after just three episodes. Contestants would be strapped into chairs and put in chambers. Temps could soar to 170 F or drop to -20 F. The chair would violently shake, oxygen levels were reduced, and air cannons blasted gusts of up to 140 mph, straight in their face.
The show literally could have killed people and received a huge backlash upon premiering on FOX, with audiences and critics alike criticizing the show's dangerous conditions.
1 Bizarre: Fear Factor (2001 - 2012)
Fear Factor was a show known for pushing the boundaries and making people do scary things to win money. Classic stunts included being covered in everything from snakes and bees to cockroaches. But the last episode of the series, titled "Hee Haw!" was pulled by NBC before airing because of its disturbing content.
In the episode, contestants were forced to drink two glasses of different donkey bodily fluids. After weeks of furious debate, NBC execs finally deemed the episode was unwatchable and pulled it before airing, immediately ending the show's run.
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