A panel game is a type of game show in which teams (panels) of celebrities compete. It is usually chaired by another celebrity. The genre has a lengthy history on both radio and television. Unlike most game shows the panels will often have the same chair and sometimes the same members for every show. This often leads to the development of in-jokes and running gags.

Some games such as Just a Minute are humorous, others such as Face The Music are more serious. All share the common theme that entertainment is more important than points.

At one point the panel game was sufficiently common on British radio that the comedy I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue was created in response. Ironically, this is now one of the longest-running panel games broadcast. It satirises many common elements of game shows, not least the unimportance of scoring.

Many panel games are variants on classic parlour games, for example Give Us A Clue is based on Charades. Others (for example Call My Bluff) have become parlour games, or at least new variants, themselves.

Many panel games are recorded, either in full or in part (such as Through the Keyhole), in front of a studio audience. Other panel games (such as Puzzle Panel) are recorded without an audience present.

The same personalities often appear on mutiple panel games.

External link

• UKGameshows.com list of panel games