A game show is a type of television programming genre in which contestants, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game, which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money or prizes. The contestants are sometimes invited from a pool of public applicants. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while other shows involve contestants playing alone for a good outcome or a high score. Game shows often reward players with prizes such as cash, trips and goods and services provided by the show's sponsor prize suppliers, who in turn usually do so for the purposes of product placement.

Unlike reality shows, which are to a degree orchestrated, popular game shows are entirely unscripted with the contestants just being themselves. This genuineness is well appreciated in game shows. Making it to a game show in itself is an achievement as contestants are drawn from a huge pool of applicants. Lives are transformed once they appear on a show due to the public recognition they garner and if a contestant wins the substantial rewards help in a drastic change in their lifestyles. Malayalam television channels were quite late in joining the game show bandwagon considering that the first game show aired was in 1938 “Spelling bee”. Even so there are quite a few such shows on Malayalam channels these days and have played a part in changing the lives of a considerable number of people.

To say that television programming today is targeted at a particular demographic is wrong. Channels and networks have woken up to the fact that people of different ages have different needs as far as entertainment is concerned. For instance, you cannot expect a 5-year old to watch the news with interest. So, over time, specific content has been created for the different age groups. Today, a person has enough to watch whatever his/her age might be.

Any person who wants to be entertained need only flick the television on. The plethora of channels available today to the average viewer makes it impossible for him/her to get bored. Even flipping channels becomes an interesting activity when there are so many options to select from. There is suitable content available whether you want to watch television on your own or with your family and friends.

Entire networks are dedicated to providing entertainment to a particular group of viewers. Children’s shows, news channels and reality shows are just some of the ways in which people of all ages get entertained while watching television. The options will only keep increasing hence it can be said with certainty that watching TV is an activity which has become unavoidable for people of all ages.