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Wheel of Fortune

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Created in 1975 and still on the air, Wheel of Fortune features three contestants competing to solve a word puzzle, in a manner similar to Hangman , to win money and prizes. For 41 years, it was hosted by Pat Sajak and Vanna White to great ratings success. In 2024, Sajak announced his retirement and was replaced by presenter and producer Ryan Seacrest.

Throughout the years, Wheel of Fortune has had many international adaptations and is currently the longest-running syndicated game show in U.S. television history.

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Family Feud

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And the survey says... Family Feud is hilarious! For most of the past 45 years, this game show has offered us fun and innocent entertainment. Family Feud has had different hosts, such as Richard Dawson and Steve Harvey, and has introduced us to some of the most curious American families and some of the most unexpected answers in television history.

Winner of several Emmy Awards and exported to over 50 international markets, we hope to have Family Feud for many more years!

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Press Your Luck

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Remember The Whammy? This show's mascot, an animated devil, was the one thing to avoid at all costs to win the most money in Press Your Luck . And answer a few questions correctly, of course!

Press Your Luck first aired in 1983 . It was discontinued and resurrected many times since, but in 2019, it came back to stay. Nowadays, it airs on ABC and is hosted by actress, director, and producer Elizabeth Banks.

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The Price is Right

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In a 2007 article, TV Guide selected The Price is Right as "the best quiz show of all time". Do you agree? It's the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history, so it makes sense. The original version ran from 1956 to 1965 on NBC, while the current version has been running since 1972 on CBS.

Bob Barker, who hosted The Price is Right for 35 years, turned this show in which contestants must guess the exact price of different products, into an all-time institution. We will forever remember his voice uttering the famous catchphrase "Coooome on down!"

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Card Sharks

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There have been four different versions of Card Sharks from 1978 to 2021, presented by famous hosts like Jim Perry, Bob Eubanks, and Joel McHale.

The show is based on some random but funny survey questions contestants must answer to control a row of oversized playing cards. Will the next card be higher or lower? Place your bets!

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Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

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Phone a friend or ask the audience: Is Who Wants to Be a Millionaire one of the best game shows TV has ever given us? We certainly think so, and that's our final answer!

Unlike most of the programs listed in this article, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is not a native American show but rather a British format. Yet, U.S. audiences seem to have embraced it with open arms. Because, let's be honest, who would turn down the chance to win a million dollars?

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Hollywood Squares

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During the years it remained on the air, many celebrities took up the squares of this sort of human tic-tac-toe. Personalities like Vincent Price, Joan Rivers, Kathy Griffin, and Whoopi Goldberg, among others, not only made this show fun but also legendary.

Hollywood Squares aired from 1966 to 2004 with a couple of interruptions in between and was presented by different hosts. However, that didn't stop it from winning several Emmy awards and being regarded as one of the greatest game shows ever.

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The Dating Game

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We are so used to the many dating shows now on the air that we take them for granted. However, The Dating Game , which first premiered in 1965, was a true pioneer. Since its release and until 2021, the show was revived several times with different variants but the same appeal.

The format was very simple: a single man or woman would ask questions to three unseen candidates. At the end of the episode, he or she would choose one to go on an all-expenses-paid date. The Dating Game is also known for having featured many stars before they became famous, like Burt Reynolds, Farrah Fawcett, Steve Martin, Suzanne Somers, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others.

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Deal or no Deal

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This show doesn't have a long history on television, but those mysterious silver suitcases that may —or may not— hide lots of cash deserve a place on this list.

Deal or No Deal is, in fact, an American version of a Dutch game show that first premiered on NBC in 2005. It was hosted by Canadian comedian and TV personality Howie Mandel. Despite its ratings success, it was eventually discontinued in 2019.

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Jeopardy!

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Did you know that the original name intended for this show was What's the Question ? Luckily, a skeptical executive who was not convinced by the game's concept said, "It doesn't have enough jeopardy". And the rest is history!

A quiz competition with a twist, Jeopardy! is one of the most beloved game shows in America. The first version of this iconic TV program aired on NBC from 1964 to 1975. In 1984, Jeopardy! returned to the small screen as a daily syndicated series —hosted by the legendary Alex Trebek and narrated by Johnny Gilbert— and is still on the air today.

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Arizona skips Daylight Saving Time

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This is partly true because most of the state doesn’t bother with Daylight Saving Time . They stopped changing the clocks back in 1967. The exception is the Navajo Nation, which stretches into Utah and New Mexico and keeps DST so all its communities stay on the same schedule. Now, as for the smaller Hopi reservation, inside the Navajo Nation, it sticks with Arizona time… Yes, quite confusing if you’re not a local.

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Georgia isn’t really the Peach State

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Georgia loves its peaches, sure, but the state’s top fruit money-maker is actually blueberries . In recent years, blueberries have brought in several times more cash for farmers than peaches. Meanwhile, California grows far more peaches than Georgia ever has. The nickname stuck from the old days when Georgia peaches were famous for their flavor, not their volume. So while the pride is real, the peaches aren’t quite the powerhouse people may think.

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Nevada didn’t record the hottest US temperature

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You probably think of Nevada’s desert heat as unmatched, but the all-time record belongs to California’s Death Valley . In July 1913, it hit a mind-melting 134 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest temperature not only in America but the hottest ever recorded on Earth!

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Minnesota doesn’t have the most lakes

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Minnesota proudly calls itself the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," but that’s selling itself short… The real number is closer to 12,000. However, Alaska wins this battle . The state has more than 3 million lakes over five acres in size. In fact, Alaska contains over 40 percent of the nation’s surface water. If you love fishing, kayaking, or just staring at a quiet stretch of water, the true lake capital of America is far up north.

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Pineapples aren’t native to Hawaii

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Pineapples are everywhere in Hawaiian imagery, but the plant actually comes from South America , mainly Paraguay and southern Brazil. Spanish explorers likely brought them to Hawaii in the 1500s after spreading them across the Pacific to places like the Philippines and Guam. Hawaii’s climate turned out to be perfect for growing them and by the 1900s, the islands were producing so many pineapples that the fruit became a symbol of Hawaii itself.

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Maine isn’t the country’s easternmost point

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If you’re a Geography geek, you’ll love this one. You might picture Maine’s rocky coast as the eastern tip of America, but the actual easternmost point is thousands of miles away, on Alaska’s Semisopochnoi Island in the Aleutians. How is that possible? Well, that’s because it crosses the 180th meridian, putting it in the Eastern Hemisphere. That means part of Alaska technically sits farther east than anywhere in Maine.

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The biggest US earthquake didn’t happen in California

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California has suffered some big earthquakes in its history, but the most powerful earthquake in America struck Alaska in 1964 . It hit Prince William Sound with a magnitude of 9.2. It was so strong it shook the ground for four and a half minutes and triggered massive tsunamis. In today’s dollars, the damage would total more than $2 billion. Alaska sits on a collision zone of tectonic plates, making it one of the world’s most seismically active regions.

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The Everglades isn’t America’s biggest swamp

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A lot of people picture the Florida Everglades when they think of swamps, but technically, the Everglades isn’t a swamp at all. The real title of the largest swamp in the United States goes to Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin , which spans about 1.4 million acres. This swamp has a vast mix of cypress forests, bayous, and marshes, and it’s more than twice as productive as the Everglades when it comes to wildlife and plant life.

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Big cities aren’t always capitals

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It surprises people how often the biggest city isn’t the state capital . New York City? Not the capital… Albany is. Chicago? Nope, that honor goes to Springfield. Pennsylvania’s capital isn’t Philly or Pittsburgh, it’s Harrisburg. Even California’s capital isn’t L.A. or San Francisco, it’s actually Sacramento. Out of fifty states, only seventeen have their most populous city as the capital.

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Alaska isn’t divided into counties

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Alaska likes to do things its own way. Instead of counties, it’s split into boroughs , and a massive area known as the Unorganized Borough has no local government at all. People out there don’t pay property taxes, but that freedom comes with challenges, limited services, fewer job options, and tough living conditions.

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12. Portuguese

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Today, there are over 845,000 Portuguese speakers in the United States, making it the 12th most spoken language after English.

The Portuguese-speaking community is composed of immigrants from both Portugal and Brazil. Since the 1960s, many Portuguese immigrants have settled along the coast of Massachusetts, where they could continue their traditional fishing activities. Besides Massachusetts, Portuguese is most commonly spoken in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Utah.

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11. Hindi

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Hindi is the most widely spoken Indian language in the United States, with more than 890,000 people speaking it . Hindi belongs to the Indo-European language family and has been included on the U.S. State Department's list of critical languages due to strategic commercial interests in South Asia.

Hindi-speaking Indians began immigrating to North America in the early 19th century. The community has primarily settled in large cities such as New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

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10. Russian

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There are currently almost 950,000 Russian speakers in the United States. Did you know that Russian is one of the two official languages aboard the International Space Station? NASA astronauts typically take Russian language courses to communicate with their Russian counterparts.

Another well-known Russian-speaking community is in New York's Brighton Beach neighborhood, often referred to as "Little Odessa." Cultural events, festivals, and markets featuring traditional Russian foods, music, and crafts are common sights here. Los Angeles is another city where Russian is regularly used.

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9. Korean

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Over the past few decades, the number of Korean speakers in the United States has grown significantly, with nearly 1,100,000 people now speaking Korean .

Los Angeles is home to the largest Koreatown in the country, and many residents in other major cities speak Korean at home, helping to maintain and promote the heritage of this Asian culture in the United States.

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8. Arabic

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With more than 1.2 million speakers, Arabic is the eighth most spoken language in our country.

Arabic is spoken in immigrant communities from countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. These communities are most prominent in states like California, New York, and Michigan, where Arabic is commonly heard in homes and community centers.

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7. German

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German is widely spoken in states with high populations of German ancestry, such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Texas. When including Yiddish, Pennsylvania Dutch, and other West Germanic languages, there are over 1,450,000 German speakers in the United States.

Cities like Fredericksburg and New Braunfels, Texas, were founded by German immigrants and continue to celebrate their heritage with festivals such as Oktoberfest. In Pennsylvania, a large number of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers—predominantly among the Amish and Mennonite communities—speak this German dialect, which is not, as one might expect, Dutch.

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6. Vietnamese

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The number of Vietnamese speakers in the United States is similar to that of the previous language on this list, with more than 1.5 million people speaking the language of this Southeast Asian country.

In recent decades, the number of Vietnamese immigrants has been increasing exponentially. Most have settled in California, followed by Texas, Florida, Washington, and Georgia.

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5. Tagalog

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Despite being the fifth most spoken language in the United States, Tagalog is often overlooked. For those who have never heard of it, Tagalog is one of the official languages of the Philippines.

A significant number of Filipino immigrants have settled in the United States since the early 19th century. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are currently more than 1.7 million Tagalog speakers . Thirty-eight percent of Filipinos in the United States live in California, with relatively large concentrations also in Hawaii and Texas.

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4. French

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If we include Patois, Cajun, Haitian, and Louisiana Creole—a hybrid of French and various African languages—French is the fourth most widely spoken language in the United States.

The French influence, which dates back to the 17th century, is evident in a wide variety of American English words and phrases. Today, there are nearly 2.1 million French speakers in the country.

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3. Chinese

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The Chinese language, including its different variants such as Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hokkien, contributes significantly to the cultural diversity of the United States. Although the gap between the second and third most spoken languages in the country is considerable, the number of people who speak Chinese is still representative.

With approximately 3.5 million Chinese speakers across the country, the greatest influence of this culture can be found in states with the highest concentrations of Chinese immigrants, such as New York and California.

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2. Spanish

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Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States and one of the fastest-growing languages in the country. This is no surprise, as approximately 19% of the total population is of Hispanic origin.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 40 million people speak Spanish in addition to English in the United States. Hispanic communities are found throughout the nation, with the largest concentrations in California, Texas, Florida, and New York.

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1. English

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Although it is not surprising that English is the most widely spoken language in the United States, it is still not recognized as an official language. However, more than half of the 50 states have passed laws granting it official language status.

English speakers make up a large percentage of the U.S. population, with approximately 78 percent speaking only English . American English is also incredibly rich, composed of dozens of regional dialects with distinct grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.