ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- It's a jackpot for game show fans.
The U.S. Strong National Museum of Play on Wednesday , to be stocked with scripts, props, set designs and other materials collected from game show performers, writers and executives.
The project is co-founded by television producers Howard Blumenthal of 鈥淲here in the World is Carmen Sandiego?鈥� and Bob Boden of 鈥淔unny You Should Ask.鈥�
The idea has found early supporters in 鈥淛eopardy鈥� champion-turned-guest host Ken Jennings and Wink Martindale, who spent decades guiding contestants through 鈥淕ambit,鈥� 鈥淗igh Rollers,鈥� 鈥淭ic-Tac-Dough鈥� and 鈥淒ebt.鈥�
鈥淚 grew up watching game shows as a daily ritual,鈥� Jennings said in a news release from The Strong. 鈥淭hey've shaped who I am as a person, as well as our cultural landscape.鈥�
Christopher Bensch, vice president for collections at The Strong, said the game show archives were a natural fit for a museum that preserves the history of play.
Materials will be displayed at the museum and in traveling exhibitions, he said.
鈥淚t is wonderful to hear about the National Archives of Game Show History stepping up to capture and preserve the legacy of game shows,鈥� Martindale said in a statement. 鈥淲ithout this initiative, many primary resources relating to these shows, as well as oral histories of their creators and talent, risked being lost forever.鈥�
