Okay, so Olivia Rodrigo came out with a thing. The thing is a music video, and the music video is for the Chappell-Roan assisted remix of “Expectations”, the fourth single off her MTV Video Music Award-winning June 2026 album “You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love”. The song is great, but the video, directed by Bardia Zeinali, is so cool. According to Zeinali’s bio, he “grew up with a deep fascination for popular culture”—and this influence definitely shows in the Expectations video. This thing is a monument to some of the most beloved TV game shows of the 20th century, their kitsch and color and iconography on full blast. Let’s look at the inspirations behind some of the video’s scenes.
Match Game
Right off the bat, we’re treated to not only Talking Heads’ David Byrne as a game show host complete with long skinny mic, but also what’s affectionately known as the “flippy-box” intro from the classic Match Game. The series, which itself was a reimagining of a 1960s show and ran from 1973 to 1982, featured a brightly-lit orange and blue device that, when combined with the power of chromakey and the expert timing of legendary television director Marc Breslow, would give the analog illusion that the celebrities were magically appearing in the frame at the top of the show as their names were called. For some game show fans of a certain age, this seemingly magical device was their first memory of a game show the way generations to follow might describe a colorful spinning wheel among their core TV memories. Speaking of which—
Wheel of Fortune
Check out the beautifully, unapologetically manual recreation of the iconic Wheel of Fortune puzzle board. Believe it or not, it’s a puzzle board similar to this one to which the classic game show can directly trace its roots. Back in 1973, when talk show host/singer/Jeopardy creator Merv Griffin first sketched out the idea of a game show combining the intrigue of hangman with the excitement of shopping on Rodeo Drive, a pilot episode was commissioned by NBC. The show, then titled “Shopper’s Bazaar”, featured a decidedly low-tech puzzle board facing the three contestants, who sat inexplicably on a couch behind a coffee table and yelled at a carnival wheel as it slowed to a stop on various dollar amounts. Check out the pilot episode and see if you can’t spot a stagehand pulling cards to reveal letters (similar to the way its future sister show, Jeopardy, was revealing its clues on NBC at that same time).
And this is a real treat — an adorable recreation of one of Wheel’s iconic opening sequences from the early 90s. Animated Olivia and Chappell are in the Pat and Vanna seats as they pilot the Wheel vehicle (flying saucer? Hovercraft?) over their adoring audience. The attention to detail is shockingly true to life here, and is a wonderful callback to a truly nostalgic era of Wheel of Fortune.
Jeopardy
No matter how many iterations of the Jeopardy set audiences have seen, the “grid set”, with its sleek red, blue, and aluminum motif, holds a place in many game show and trivia enthusiasts’ hearts as a timeless icon, a relic of dinner time in front of the big box TV in the living room. Prolific set designer Ed Flesh (who, among other honors, was the first to take that weird carnival wheel from the Shopper’s Bazaar pilot, turn it sideways, and let the contestants spin it themselves) took the lead in creation of this set, which was used on Jeopardy from mid-1991 to late 1996. It was during this timeframe that the show had truly begun its transformation from well-liked quiz show to trusted American institution, due in no small part to their sponsorship of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why this particular set design is so fondly remembered years and years on.
Family Feud
The Rodrigos’ “Sister Squabble” against the Roans is giving some serious late-90s Feud vibes. The metallic set takes me back to the days when the show was hosted by Louie Anderson. Hard to believe that was only 5 years after original host Richard Dawson took his second and final curtain call as host of the show. The finger lock as the players approach the face-off podium is clearly meant to evoke the long-standing “tradition” of shaking hands before the big question.
Hollywood Squares
Of course, one of the most iconic and prominent shots of the whole Expectations video happens on what looks like the set of the original Hollywood Squares. Squares premiered on NBC in 1966, hosted by Peter Marshall on a set that looked remarkably similar to the one in this music video. The original set of the show—some may even say the “star”of the show—was a 3×3 grid containing nine witty celebrities and made of scaffolding, with additional footlights and nameplates for good measure. Each celebrity’s desk had the capability to light up a big neon X or O, depending on which player captured that particular square. Adorning each side of the grid were two spiral staircases, meant for the celebrities to be able to ascend or descend the game board with ease. You may even catch a celebrity on the original series modeling a fur coat on one of the staircases, or catching a smoke break while sitting on the steps like they were on a fire escape—for comedic effect, of course. Of course!
It’s always a joy to see our genre represented in such a colorful and prominent way—and even more of a joy for fans like us to cheerfully explain the references to the uninitiated among us. Were you able to spot any other game show nods?