Short-sighted TV viewers might believe the airing of couples' dirty laundry on television started with the talk show craze of the 1990s, with Jerry Springer as the ultimate ringmaster. But it actually began back in the 1960s, in the realm of game shows, courtesy of Springer's spiritual forefather, veteran producer Chuck Barris.

The Newlywed Game ran on and off, daytime and nighttime, between 1966 and 1990. It featured four couples who had been married less than a year, competing against each other. After the wives were "safely secured offstage," the husbands were asked questions such as, "Would your wife say she sleeps with her toes pointing toward the ceiling, the floor, or the wall?" "What animal would you compare your mother-in-law to?" "If your wife were a car, what would need to be repaired most, her fenders or transmission?" The husbands guessed how the wives would...