Q. Game shows used to be filmed almost exclusively in New York. When and why did they move to Los Angeles?

A. Funny you should ask: I recently traveled to Las Vegas to tape an appearance on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” a show that until a few years ago was filmed in New York. Starting with the radio debut of “Truth or Consequences” in 1940, New York was, indeed, the center of the game show universe. In the 1960s, however, productions began moving west to California.

When Dick Clark’s “The $50,000 Pyramid” made the jump in 1981, New York was without a game show to call its own for the first time in more than four decades.

These production companies were driven to relocate mainly by the desire for bigger and flashier sets.