Most of us have a passing familiarity with the Press Your Lucks and $25,000 Pyramids of game-show history, but there are countless other gems that, for whatever reason, have faded from memory.

Since the game show is TV’s most ephemeral genre, its fans have an especially active community on YouTube. The uploaders—a mix of hardcore tape traders and casual fans who happened upon an old VHS trove—have brought back to light shows that, in some cases, haven’t aired anywhere for decades. In this series, I’ll take a look at a few forgotten would-be classics that I think hold up well.

Trump Card

Host: Jimmy Cefalo

Originally aired: 1990-91 season, in syndication.

Forgotten because: It was a straight Q&A that, despite surprisingly good production values, couldn’t last in an era when both Q&A shows and the Donald Trump brand were at an ebb.

What makes it great: Its unapologetic Trump-ness. In 1990, the ego of casino/real-estate mogul Donald Trump hadn’t yet grown to the point where he fancied himself a game show host, but in every other respect, Trump literally placed his imprimatur on this show. Every set element was cast in solid gold (accent color: gold), and like every 26th episode of Sesame Street, Trump Card was sponsored by the letter “T.” The podium is a masterpiece of self-idolatry.

A few game shows have been recorded at casinos over the decades, and the resulting feel is usually seediness—the mid-1970s Las Vegas episodes of Let’s Make a Deal, for instance, lost a lot of the show’s homey charm. Trump Card was pretty well made, so it avoids the “tip your waitresses!” vibe for the most part, but there are exceptions, like the moment when Jimmy Cefalo reminds the studio audience to mark their bingo cards as the game goes on. Otherwise the aesthetic is more gaudy than cheap.

And then there’s Cefalo himself, in a tux for every episode because it’s so much classier that way. Cefalo was (and is) an accomplished sportscaster, but the game show is a different beast. There’s a nice swagger about Cefalo, and he’s far from the worst host a national game show has seen. In fact, he’s almost perfect until he has to read off those cards, those precious cards that he grips so tight, as if they are the last branch keeping him from falling off into the oblivion of this career choice he wishes he never made.

In the clip above, Cefalo’s troubles start early. I count 75 stumbles (give or take) in the contestant interview alone. He wasn’t helped by a writing staff that apparently hated him: The second round’s “In Other Words” category seems designed to torture the cotton-mouthed emcee. And watch at 7:48 when Cefalo picks up a question and stares in horror, for almost three seconds of dead air, at the words “Friedrich Nietzsche.” I can picture the gleeful writers coming up with that question at the end of a long night. “Ooh! Ooh! I know! Let’s make the pretty-boy say ‘Nietzsche’!” “Yes! And we’ll make the answer ‘Zarathustra’!”

My second favorite thing about the clip: After Cefalo talks up the “Art of the Deal” category (“Our famous ‘deal’ category”), the contestants proceed to avoid it entirely. Swing and a miss, Trump.

Further viewing:

• The conclusion of the episode featured above, featuring an excellent contestant:
• Clips of Bob’s Full House, the British show on which Trump Card was based. It’s essentially Trump Card as envisioned by a clinically insane 7-year-old:
  “Legs Eleven? Well blown!” Yeah, I could not be more confused.