Television series

The Hollywood Squares

  • Comedy
  • Light-hearted
  • Dip in and out

A game show where celebrities sit in a tic-tac-toe grid, fielding trivia questions and bluffing their way through answers while contestants guess if they're lying. It's pure 1960s charm: witty banter, celebrity chemistry, and a format so elegant it still holds up. Perfect if you like games that let personalities shine more than trivia itself.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy tabletop-style games where strategy and bluffing matter more than trivia, and you like watching a sharp host keep a bunch of celebrities in line.

Skip it if the tic-tac-toe format and its rapid-fire bluff-or-believe rhythm can feel repetitive, and a fourteen-season run means the charm is mostly in the format itself.

What it asks of you: Half an hour per episode, with short turns that cycle quickly from question to bluff to verdict, and little need to follow a story across episodes.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Password2022

Allen Ludden's urbane hosting and the celebrity repartee make this a masterclass in game-show warmth. The guessing game itself is secondary to watching sharp people think aloud together.

But The actual gameplay can feel slow by modern standards, and without knowing the era's stars, some references won't land.

Password poster

Match Game2016

Gene Rayburn presides over a show where celebrities fill in blanks, generating absurdist humour through their answers. Raunchier and funnier than Squares, with genuine laughs rather than polished celebrity charm.

But Heavily dependent on the panel's chemistry on any given day. Some episodes fall flat when the chemistry isn't there.

Match Game poster

I've Got a Secret1952

Celebrities try to guess audience members' secrets through questioning. Garry Moore's hosting is exquisite, and the human stories are genuinely touching under the game-show gloss.

But The pacing is leisurely—designed for audiences with different expectations of speed and efficiency than we have now.

I've Got a Secret poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Hollywood Squares

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Gong Show1976

Both pit celebrities as judges against everyday people in a format where personality and chemistry matter more than the game mechanics themselves.

Chuck Barris's cult show celebrates amateur talent and tastelessness in equal measure, with a celebrity panel offering blunt, hilarious, or kind verdicts. It's anarchic where Squares is orderly—same DNA, opposite energy.

But The humour punches down at performers sometimes, and the tone can feel cruel in ways that haven't aged well. Also genuinely uneven—many acts are simply boring or uncomfortable.

The Gong Show poster
More like this (6)

The Joker's Wild1972

Jack Barry's format lets contestants pick categories randomly on a slot-machine board, keeping everyone off-balance. It's chaos in the best way, rewarding quick thinking and personality over preparation.

But The randomness means some episodes are dominated by luck rather than skill, which can feel arbitrary and unsatisfying.

The Joker's Wild poster

High Rollers

A simple dice game becomes delightful through Alex Trebek's warmth and genuine investment in the contestants' small victories. The intimacy is the whole point.

But The stakes are genuinely modest, so it can feel slight if you're looking for dramatic tension or high drama.

Tattletales1974

Celebrity couples answer questions about each other, and the resulting awkwardness and intimacy is genuinely funny. You get real glimpses of actual relationships, not just performing celebrities.

But The format's repetition wears thin if you watch many episodes in succession. It's best in small doses.

Press Your Luck1983

Contestants face a chaotic board where landing on Whammy squares eliminates their winnings in cartoonish explosions. The visual comedy and nail-biting decisions make it genuinely thrilling.

But The random board elements mean skilled contestants can lose to luck, which frustrates viewers wanting pure strategy.

Press Your Luck poster

Super Password1984

A refinement of the Password concept with celebrity panels and a straightforward, satisfying guessing mechanic. Clean, well-paced, and surprisingly clever.

But Without the novelty or the format innovation of the original, it can feel like a solid but unremarkable take on familiar ground.

Super Password poster

The Philco Television Playhouse1948

Both showcase the golden age of television's performance culture and the same roster of working actors who could carry live broadcasts with charm and intelligence, but Playhouse treats them as dramatic craftspeople rather than celebrity personalities.

A live dramatic anthology series where actors had to perform flawlessly without editing, creating genuine stakes and electricity. It captures the same era's theatrical talent pool but in a completely different register—high drama rather than light entertainment.

But Live television from this era looks primitive by today's standards, with visible sets, technical glitches, and actors occasionally flubbing lines. The pacing is theatrical, not snappy.

The Philco Television Playhouse poster

People

Cast

Recommended by

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Gong Show, Donny & Marie, You Bet Your Life, What's My Line?, Love Connection, The $10,000 Pyramid, Blockbusters, Tattletales, Super Password, Win, Lose or Draw, Scrabble, Celebrity Family Feud, Lingo, Match Game, I've Got a Secret, The Joker's Wild, Password Plus, To Tell the Truth