Wheel of Fortune (American game show) in the context of Charlie O'Donnell

Soul Train is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, the popular series then aired nationally in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series was created by Don Cornelius, who also served as its first and longest-serving host and executive producer.

Production was suspended following the 2005–2006 season, with a rerun package under the moniker The Best of Soul Train airing for two years subsequently. As a nod to Soul Train's longevity, the show's opening sequence during later seasons contained a claim that it was the "longest-running first-run, nationally syndicated program in American television history", with more than 1,100 episodes produced from the show's debut through the 2005–2006 season. Despite the production hiatus, Soul Train held that superlative record until 2016, when Entertainment Tonight surpassed it in completing its 35th season. Among non-news programs, Wheel of Fortune surpassed that mark in 2018.

A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating and narrating where necessary. The history of the game shows dates back to the late 1930s when both radio and television game shows were broadcast. The genre became popular in the United States in the 1950s, becoming a regular feature of daytime television.

For the purposes of this article, a traditional game show is defined as a radio, television or streaming contest in which prizes can be won within a single episode through objective completion of tasks and not through fan or contestant votes, additionally, contestants, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering trivia questions or solving puzzles, usually for prizes such as cash, trips and goods and services.