babbling blue

I’ve decided to try to make this blog a little more personal and to lighten the tone a bit, which has been very serious lately.

So I’m going to do a series of posts about some of my favorite things. They won’t be in any particular order. I’m just going to post them as they come to me (spread out over time). I’ll be adding a new category to hold these. Anyway, with no further ado, the first of my favorite things:

I like game shows. In particular, I like the “Match Game,” the best game show of all time, bar none. While the show went through numerous incarnations, the best and most popular (and the only ones you can see today) were hosted by Gene Rayburn. While nowhere near as prolific as such game show host greats as Bert Convey, Bill Cullen or Chuck Woolery, Gene was loveable, quick-witted and had an excellent rapport with both contestants and celebrity panelists.

The show originally aired from 1962 to 1969 on NBC. Apparently few of these episodes remain (one source says only 11 out of 1,760–which is very sad), and they are not seen at all today. When the show reappeared in 1973 on CBS, the rules changed a great deal. These episodes starting in 1973 are the ones that are showed today on GSN. There was also a “Match Game PM” version, similar to the daytime version, also hosted by Rayburn. In fact, after the original version in the 60’s, there were three Rayburn-hosted versions, all similar. One from 73-79, called “Match Game ‘73″ (or whatever the year was) on CBS (over 1,400 episodes!), the syndicated “PM” version which ran at night from 75-81 and the syndicated daytime show simply called “Match Game” from 79-82.

The basic premise of the show is that contestants (regular people) try to match answers with a panel of six celebrities on fil in the blank questions. To really appreciate the show, one has to watch it. The show’s regular celebrities were Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly and Richard Dawson. But there were many others that made frequent appearances, including Betty White, Bill Daily and Vicki Lawrence. The interaction among Gene and the celebs and the humor that often ensued, especially from questions designed to be potentially racy, was priceless.

Another version of the show also aired, though I’ve never seen it. It was “The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hours” from 83-84 hosted half by Gene Rayburn and half by Jon Bauman. It obviously combined “Match Game” with “Hollywood Squares”. Two unsuccessful revivals were attempted in the 90’s, one hosted by Ross Shafer and the other by Michael Burger. None of these still air, though I would like to see them (as well as the original 60’s version) for myself to see how they compare to the others.

Sadly, a revival of the show which might have succeeded was scrapped before it happened. Everything was set to go in 1987 to start the show up again, with Gene Rayburn as the host. But an episode of “Entertainment Tonight” aired before the show started taping which reported Rayburn’s true age as 70, instead of the early-to-mid-sixties that the producers had believed. The version was scrapped, as it was believed that Rayburn was “too old.” A lost golden opportunity. Ah well.

This concludes my first “Favorite Things” post. I hope you enjoyed. If you get GSN watch the “Match Game”. Tell ‘em Josh sent you!

Match Game links:
Match Game.org (watch out for pop-up ads)
Match Game ‘75/Match Game PM