As film industry declines, Georgia has become a hotspot for game shows.
Georgia is losing the battle for big-budget films to other countries and states, but it has found a consolation prize: game shows.
At least seven game shows have shot here in the past year including “Family Feud,” “25 Words or Less,” “Flip Side” and the Fox prime-time program “The 1% Club.”
Game show budgets are a pittance compared to, say, “The Avengers,” but they provide locals a chance to not only win a few bucks, but show up on TV.
As broadcast networks seek cheap original programming amid shrinking viewers and ad revenue, game shows remain a cost-effective avenue to produce oodles of content in a short period of time.
“Game shows are both fun and efficient to create,” said David Bulhack, an executive producer of the new game show “Scrambled Up.” “We are seeing the benefit of coming down to Georgia.”
But even game shows require creative teamwork to launch in 2025. “Scrambled Up” needed four companies to get off the ground: Keller/Noll for the game show concept, Bulhack’s Big Fish Entertainment for distribution, Atlanta-based Crazy Legs Productions to pin down Electric Owl Studios to shoot the show and former Disney chief Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company for up-front investment cash.
“The goal remains the same: develop a great game show for the whole family that will attract the widest possible global audience,” said “Scrambled Up” creator David Noll, who hopes to turn the game show into a successful app. (“Bingo Blitz” began as a mobile app and was adapted for TV.)
For decades, most game shows were shot in Los Angeles. But California tax credits favor scripted shows, while Georgia does not.
Game show producers are drawn by Georgia’s generous tax credits and the sizable volume of potential game show contestants within driving distance of Atlanta.
Shows often need to find at least 700 different American contestants a year, which makes camping overseas economically daunting. For most of these lower-budget productions, players have to pay their own way to get to the studio.
As a result, the contestant pool, producers say, is diverse and not overly saturated with would-be actors and models that tend to show up in Los Angeles.
“You see so many more salt of the earth people,” said Eric Pierce, a GSN executive producer who oversaw “Flip Side” at Trilith Studios this past June. “One of my favorite parts of the show each morning was going into the contestant holding room and seeing such a wide variety of players from 18 to 80.”
Sean Ricci, 32, who works in finance, drove five hours from Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlanta to compete in “Scrambled Up” in early September. He took a day off from work and crashed at a friend’s pad overnight.
During the taping, host Michael Yo asked for Ricci’s favorite song. Ricci said, “Trap Queen” by Fetty Wap, then sang a bit of it while Yo laughed and the audience egged him on. When asked how Ricci would use his winnings, he said he’d go to Turkey to get hair plugs because the procedure is more affordable there. The producers guffawed in the control room.
“I had a blast,” Ricci said after the game ended. “It was so much fun. The scrambles really test the brain.”
Deborah Norville, a Dalton native and host of the new syndicated game show “The Perfect Line,” did notice an unusual number of serious cosplayers while shooting at Trilith Studios. “Must be because of Dragon Con,” she mused.
Jaleel White, who hosted the second season of “Flip Side” locally after shooting Season 1 in Los Angeles, was bowled away by the Southern hospitality: “I had one Southern grandma come back the next day after playing with a plate of ribs, potato salad and greens. Another guy made me this amazing sweet potato pecan pie.”
Julie Plinto, a 46-year-old Powder Springs high school math teacher, spent years trying to get on game shows like “Match Game,” “Press Your Luck” and “Card Sharks” to no avail.
But with geography suddenly to her advantage, Plinto has competed on three shows shot locally over the past year: “25 Words or Less,” “Flip Side” and “Scrambled Up,”
“They ask if I could go on with 24-hour notice,” she said. “As a teacher, I can do that in the summer. And it helps I’m in driving distance.”
The potential prizes for most of the shows are not life-changing, mostly peaking at $10,000 before taxes.
Plinto was surprised to learn that there was no consolation money for the nonwinners on “Scrambled Up” and “Flip Side.” (Both shows are new, and producers hope to be more generous if they make it to a second season.)
Appearing with her friend and co-worker Crystal Frizie, Plinto last year pocketed $10,000 on her first “25 Words or Less” appearance playing with “Superstore” actor Colton Dunn. She used her half of the winnings to take her family on a Disney cruise.
The cash was besides the point, she said: “I really was auditioning for the experience of being on a game show.”
Take a look at the game shows that made their home in Georgia this year:
‘The Perfect Line’
Host: Deborah Norville, recently departed longtime host of “Inside Edition”
Where to watch in Atlanta: 4 p.m. weekdays on Peachtree TV, 5:30 p.m. on Game Show Network
Status: new, first season
Where it was shot: Trilith Studios, Fayetteville
Concept: Contestants place people, places and things in the correct order such as how many seasons popular sitcoms have been on or the years when popular candy bars debuted. Winners can potentially take home at least $15,000.
Norville’s love of game shows: “As a kid, I’d get mad if news interrupted my game shows like ‘Concentration’ or ‘The Price is Right’ or ‘Match Game.’ I loved playing along. It’s so great to be able to be the person hosting one.”
Norville’s take on “The Perfect Line”: “It’s all fact-based. If you’re a logical thinker, a linear thinker, you can do well on this show.”
What it’s like being a host: “It’s very different from ‘Inside Edition.’ I sing. I’ve learned some Bollywood moves. I can have fun with the guests. They have fun along with me. My job is to make sure these four contestants in each game feel comfortable and valued, win or lose.”
‘Scrambled Up’
Host: Michael Yo, stand-up comic and actor who used to weekend host “The Insider”
Where to watch in Atlanta: 2 p.m. weekdays on Peachtree TV
Status: new, first season
Where it was shot: Electric Owl Studios, Atlanta
Concept: Four contestants try to solve jumbled-up phrases which unscramble visually on screen while Yo reads progressively easier clues. The top potential prize is $10,000. A team of Georgians are paid to write clues.
Yo’s goals as a host: “I try to convey empathy. I’m all about family. I’m all about helping people while cracking jokes here and there. In that final round, I really want them to win. It hurts my soul when someone gets close. I see the money spirit leave their body when they don’t get it.”
His take on gameplay: “I love the game. Unfortunately, I’m terrible at it. I enjoy how the entire family can play. My 8-year-old can get some of them before me.”
‘Flip Side’
Host: Jaleel White, actor best known for his role as Urkel on “Family Matters”
Where to watch in Atlanta: 3 p.m. weekdays on Peachtree TV and 5 p.m. weekdays and 1 a.m. Saturdays on GSN
Status: Second season
Where it was shot: Los Angeles for Season 1 and Trilith Studios in Fayetteville for Season 2
Concept: Two teams compete to guess how two different demographic groups feel about a specific topic by choosing from multiple-choice answers to a survey question. A sample question asked frequent flyers: “What don’t you want to see the pilot do before a flight?” Choices: “Misplacing their glasses,” “Reading the airplane manual” or “Bringing ‘Junior’ into the cockpit.” (Survey said: “Reading the airplane manual.”)
White’s take on the show: “Television doesn’t usually stray far from what’s working. It has a little ‘Family Feud’ to it. But the slice of apple pie is the third round. It’s a barbershop/beauty salon debate whittled down to 30 seconds. It’s all so American and it works.” (Sample third round questions: “Tastier fries? McDonald’s or Arby’s.” “Sexier color: red or black?”) One woman, he said, was asked which one provides more support: a bra or her husband. “She chose her bra, which was wrong, while standing next to her husband! I end up learning a lot about relationship dynamics.”
His sitcom live audience experience helps: “I think I add an unusual connection with audiences because of my past. I could sense when they want a joke milked or want us to move on to the next beat.”
Cutting room floor: “Our best stuff doesn’t even air sometimes. It can take an hour to shoot an episode, and the show itself without commercials clocks in at 20 minutes and change.”
‘Family Feud’
Host: Steve Harvey, longtime Atlanta-based stand-up comic, actor, producer, author and radio host
Where to watch in Atlanta: CBS Atlanta and GSN air the show multiple times a day.
Where it was shot: Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta
Its history: The show debuted in 1976 with Richard Dawson, who kissed his way through 400-plus episodes. Ray Combs, Louie Anderson, Richard Karn and John O’Hurley also hosted, but the show only became a true hit again when Harvey took over in 2010 and shaped it with his particular comic sensibility. It has shot most of its past 16 seasons in Atlanta.
‘Bingo Blitz’
Host: Valerie Bertinelli, former actor best known for “One Day at a Time”
Where to watch in Atlanta: 7:30 p.m. weekdays and 2:30 p.m. weekends on GSN
When did it debut: April 14, 2025
Where it was shot: Trilith Studios in Fayetteville
Concept: Contestants answer trivia questions to earn bingo balls and points to pocket as many bingos as possible. Top prize: $10,000.
‘The 1% Club’
Host: Joel McHale, actor from “Community” and “Animal Control” and former host of “Talk Soup”
Where to watch in Atlanta: Aired over the summer on Fox and is available on demand on Hulu and Disney+
Where it was shot: Trilith Studios
Concept: The show starts with 100 people who answer brain-teasing questions not based on trivia. The questions get tougher until one person has a chance to win $100,000. (This is prime time, not syndicated, so the prize money is bigger.)
History: Patton Oswalt hosted Season 1 on Amazon. Fox picked up the show, moved it to Atlanta from Los Angeles and changed the host to McHale for its second season.
‘25 Words or Less’
Host: Meredith Vieira, former host of “Today” and “The View” who also hosted the syndicated version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”
Where to watch in Atlanta: 2:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. weekdays on WATL-TV and 10 a.m. weekends on GSN
Background: Show debuted in 2019 and shot in Los Angeles until Season 6, when producers moved the show to Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta in 2024 before moving to Tyler Perry Studios for Season 7.
Concept: Two teams, each with a celebrity in tow, have 25 words or less to convey clues to their partners to figure out five words. Winners get $10,000. The show changed to a “pod” format during the COVID-19 pandemic where Vieira, the contestants and celebrities were placed in different studios. Without explanation, the show has kept that format long after the pandemic ended.
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
