Season 5 Discussion

[Coffeewinewater]

On 6/22/2020 at 7:11 AM, sugarbaker design said:

I thought Confederate Flag was the definitive answer for the NASCAR clue.  I couldn't believe not one celebrity said it.

Me too. I also couldn't believe they all acted like it was so offensive to say it. 

Caroline's ghetto answer was pretty cringey.  

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, Coffeewinewater said:

Caroline's ghetto answer was pretty cringey.  

While that certainly was cringey, I did appreciate Alec's "Don't worry, we'll cut you out."

[iMonrey]

Sunday's episode was a repeat, no?

[sugarbaker design]

53 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Sunday's episode was a repeat, no?

Nope, it was new.

Or I should say my DVR thought it was new.

Edited June 26, 2020 by sugarbaker design

[lynxfx]

2 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Nope, it was new.

Or I should say my DVR thought it was new.

The schedule showed a repeat with a new episode this week. 

https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/match-game/episodes/926547/

[DietCokeJunkie]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone completely tank the final Match. That was bizarre. You’ve got to think about who is being polled. The Match Game audience is probably not going to come up with Cross Fit. Cross word made the most sense. 
The Celebrity panel was really funny last night, and the other contestant who worked at the DMV seemed quick on his feet too. Too bad he didn’t make it to the Final. 

[gsnrocks92]

That was a new tiebreaker in the first half of the episode right? I remember before they would just play another regular question with all the celebrities. Though in this one what happens if both contestants write down the same answer? I guess they would just edit that out though. 

And yeah the lady in the second half was bad, especially knowing she was enough of a fan to know which celebrities were new to the show and which were regulars. Shoe department, really?

[iMonrey]

I kind of liked the new tie-breaker. I always wondered how they had time to do a whole extra round, and I suppose they edit a lot out to make room for it. 

KFC wasn't that bad of an answer to how the announcer at the Kentucky Derby would get paid. Especially since my first thought was "carrots."

(And no, p*$$y and tail are not the same thing. I thought chasing tail was the definitive answer.)

Edited June 29, 2020 by iMonrey

[sugarbaker design]

The first thing I thought of for the Kentucky Derby question was mint juleps.

And right, pussy and tail are not the same thing.

The DMV guy had a cool vibe, it was sad to see him go.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, sugarbaker design said:

The first thing I thought of for the Kentucky Derby question

I was already falling asleep which may be why I thought horses. 

[lynxfx]

I disagree. Thought tail and pussy were the same thing in this context. Would be the same as chasing some ass or any other euphemism for a person. I did pick tail though. 

Interesting tie breaker idea. I also always wondered how they squeezed in a full round in the past. 

Rare to have them not pick a panel answer in the bonus round. Didn't pay off this time. 

[SoMuchTV]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

(And no, p*$$y and tail are not the same thing. I thought chasing tail was the definitive answer.)

At first, I just assumed they had bleeped her because she responded with the term for a female dog, which I thought was the definitive answer for what Fido would be chasing.   I guess I have a failure of imagination.

[Cowgirl]

I too liked the DMV guy and I liked the first male contestant too -- the guy whose hobby was beekeeping. They all acted like he was some sort of redneck but he seemed pretty smart.  He even knew what a homophone was!

[opus]

9 hours ago, gsnrocks92 said:

That was a new tiebreaker in the first half of the episode right? I remember before they would just play another regular question with all the celebrities. Though in this one what happens if both contestants write down the same answer? I guess they would just edit that out though. 

That was the tiebreaker from the old Match Game PM version. And I think you’re right about the editing if they write the same thing.

[853fisher]

Mary is one of the best players on "25 Words or Less," and can get a little intense, so I liked seeing her in something more laidback too.  She was almost a bit Brett Somers-esque in that seat.  Meanwhile downstairs, Padma seemed really blissed out, but she matched several times, so mazel tov!

I didn't think "CrossFit" was such a bad answer.  Different friends of mine from all over do it, and talk constantly about it.  I've never known exactly how/when the poll is done, but if they're asking LA-area audiences as they used to, I imagined it was big there too.  It just goes to show that I'm not qualified to be on the show. 😉

"Pussy" and "tail," I dunno.  They both amount to the same thing in practice, but the key in that answer is the wordplay.  When it's like that, my feeling is that if they don't get that exact word they shouldn't have the credit.  I'm perfectly happy to match "pick out his outfits" with "pick out his clothes," for example, because that's describing the same idea and the specific verbiage isn't what matters.  But "chasing tail" is a thing and "chasing pussy" is not (at least, not here in the Castro).  She missed the essence of the answer, so I wouldn't've given it to her.

As @opus says, the new tiebreaker was the one used in the 70s on the syndicated nighttime show.  Tapes were "bicycled" from station to station and shown in different orders in different markets, so each half hour was paced tightly in order to be self contained.  The network daytime show, on the other hand, could pick up the action from the previous episode wherever it happened to be because they were all shown sequentially on the national feed.  If things were tied, they just wiped the scores and had a third, and sometimes fourth or fifth, round.

Now, the fashion is for almost all these shows to be self-contained and more tightly edited, and sometimes I wish they did have more time to breathe.  I recall a very early episode of this version, maybe the first one, in which the report from the taping was that they'd played two rounds and a third to break the tie.  As aired, there was only a second round, with the first question from what had been the second round and the second question from what had been the tiebreaker, with the "tie" blurred out on the cardholder (but visible in the reflection).

[chitowngirl]

6 hours ago, 853fisher said:

Different friends of mine from all over do it, and talk constantly about it.

I have found this to be true of anyone doing Cross Fit.

[ams1001]

On 6/29/2020 at 11:14 AM, gsnrocks92 said:

That was a new tiebreaker in the first half of the episode right? I remember before they would just play another regular question with all the celebrities. Though in this one what happens if both contestants write down the same answer? I guess they would just edit that out though. 

That's where the "portions that did not affect the outcome of the game may have been edited" disclaimer comes in. 😉

 

On 6/29/2020 at 11:14 AM, gsnrocks92 said:

And yeah the lady in the second half was bad, especially knowing she was enough of a fan to know which celebrities were new to the show and which were regulars. Shoe department, really?

I thought complaint department.

 

On 6/29/2020 at 2:05 PM, sugarbaker design said:

The first thing I thought of for the Kentucky Derby question was mint juleps.

I thought mint juleps or fancy hats. That is about all I know about horse racing. (And I grew up about two miles from a racetrack...only ever been there for July 4th fireworks a few times.)

[JTMacc99]

I thought Oats for the Kentucky Derby and would have been annoyed with myself for saying that over hay, which is the same concept but more likely to make matches.

What's interesting to me is that Cross FIT was absolutely the first thing that popped into my head, but for sure I would have swapped when I heard Cross Word. I can't believe I didn't think of Cross Word or Cross Walk.  Why on earth Cross Fit was in my head, I have no idea.

[sugarbaker design]

Last night's episode was a repeat, but it was new for me.  I'm so glad I tuned in.  I had no idea who Jillian Bell was, never saw anything she was in, but she has quickly climbed the ranks to favorite player status.  I loved her!  I hope she does it again.

[DB in CMH]

I wonder how many episodes they got to film this season.

[shapeshifter]

I wonder if game shows will be filmed with social distancing soon. It doesn't seem like it would be too difficult. I guess they'd add Plexiglas dividers between the individual celebrities'  andcontestants' seats.

[opus]

26 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I wonder if game shows will be filmed with social distancing soon. It doesn't seem like it would be too difficult. I guess they'd add Plexiglas dividers between the individual celebrities'  andcontestants' seats.

Depends on the show I guess. You could probably do things like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, to name two. To name two that seemingly require an audience, Price Is Right and Let's Make A Deal would seem tough to pull off. (Where am I now, Match Game board? Match Game would seem doable).

[iMonrey]

Quote

I wonder how many episodes they got to film this season.

I imagine same as last year. I read they have to shoot around Alec Baldwin's other commitments which is why they shoot these so far in advance (although whatever commitments he had this year are undoubtedly a moot point now). They generally show repeats on holiday weekends because they don't think enough people are watching TV.

Quote

I wonder if game shows will be filmed with social distancing soon.

I'm surprised the network doesn't run some sort of crawl across the screen explaining the episode was taped before the pandemic. I'm willing to bet some people call or write in and complain that they aren't following social distancing rules! 

[sugarbaker design]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'm surprised the network doesn't run some sort of crawl across the screen explaining the episode was taped before the pandemic. I'm willing to bet some people call or write in and complain that they aren't following social distancing rules! 

I'm glad the network doesn't pander to the morons in the viewing audience.  Nothing is funnier than an idiot with their knickers in a twist.

[DB in CMH]

On 7/6/2020 at 5:18 PM, iMonrey said:

I imagine same as last year. I read they have to shoot around Alec Baldwin's other commitments which is why they shoot these so far in advance (although whatever commitments he had this year are undoubtedly a moot point now). They generally show repeats on holiday weekends because they don't think enough people are watching TV.

I'm surprised the network doesn't run some sort of crawl across the screen explaining the episode was taped before the pandemic. I'm willing to bet some people call or write in and complain that they aren't following social distancing rules! 

It's weird that they've aired so few episodes so far. 3, iirc. Maybe ABC is trying to stretch them into the fall.

Edited July 10, 2020 by DB in CMH

[iMonrey]

Quote

It's weird that they've aired so few episodes so far. 3, iirc. Maybe ABC is trying to stretch them into the fall.

No doubt. All the networks are going to run out of new content very quickly.

[lynxfx]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

No doubt. All the networks are going to run out of new content very quickly.

Triumph the insult comic dog hosted an episode of Hollywood Squares over zoom for Funny or Die and it came out quite good. Maybe more of these panel type game shows could tape a few episodes like that? For Match Game you lose a little bit of interaction and helping out but better than nothing.

 

[ams1001]

Tonight's players sucked at the game but Nick Swisher has a great smile and he looked like he was having a blast.

 

[shapeshifter]

8 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Tonight's players sucked at the game but Nick Swisher has a great smile and he looked like he was having a blast.

Yes, I'm pretty sure being charming is a requirement to be a professional baseball player these days. 😉

Mark Duplass is also hot and smart, but I can't recall where I've seen him previously. I may have him confused with some other actor person.

 

ETA: I also thought High and Mighty. High and Dry didn't occur to me, but it was an equally good answer.

Edited July 13, 2020 by shapeshifter

[ams1001]

3 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Mark Duplass is also hot and smart, but I can't recall where I've seen him previously. I may have him confused with some other actor person.

I think I've mostly seen him on this show...I've heard him as a guest on a couple podcasts, too. Other than that I'm not familiar with him.

[ams1001]

  

6 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

ETA: I also thought High and Mighty. High and Dry didn't occur to me, but it was an equally good answer.

And I thought High and Dry!

[shapeshifter]

16 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Tonight's players sucked at the game...

Even though vasectomy or condom were the obvious answers to what would Alec finally get on the 7th episode of his new show, I drew a blank and could only think of "get a Life."
Maybe the prompts were worded a little confusingly? Is that on purpose? Shouldn't be, IMO.

Like maybe it should have been "What would happen" instead of "what would Alec get"?
Or would that be to broad?

Edited July 13, 2020 by shapeshifter

[lb60]

After his talk about not wanting more kids and getting a vasectomy, here's hoping Alec isn't watching tonight with his pregnant wife.

Awkward! 

[joanne3482]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Mark Duplass is also hot and smart, but I can't recall where I've seen him previously. I may have him confused with some other actor person.

If you watched the Mindy Project, he was one of the, I think they were, midwives who were in competition with the practice Mindy worked for. I had the same he's vaguely familiar thought about him. 

All 4 contestants were AWFUL. I was frustrated most of the episode. Many of those questions had a relatively obvious answer and they couldn't get it?  

10 hours ago, lb60 said:

After his talk about not wanting more kids and getting a vasectomy, here's hoping Alec isn't watching tonight with his pregnant wife.

I didn't know she was pregnant again. (Per Wikipedia unless she has announced another pregnancy since then, she miscarried in November 2019 which almost makes it kind of worse). 

Edited July 13, 2020 by joanne3482

[sugarbaker design]

12 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Tonight's players sucked at the game

That's putting it mildly, they were atrocious.

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Mark Duplass is also hot and smart

and funny.  The holy trinity.

10 hours ago, lb60 said:

After his talk about not wanting more kids and getting a vasectomy, here's hoping Alec isn't watching tonight with his pregnant wife.

I'm fairly certain she isn't pregnant, but even if she is, she has four kids and is married to Alec Baldwin.  I'm sure she could take a joke.

[shapeshifter]

8 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

All 4 contestants were AWFUL. I was frustrated most of the episode. Many of those questions had a relatively obvious answer and they couldn't get it?  

The contestants seemed to be selected for their attractiveness on TV more than any familiarity with the show, which means answers "obvious" to those of us familiar with Match Game rules and, more importantly, answers, would *not* be on the radar of the contestants.

[lb60]

Pretty sure she's pregnant.

I don't think I'd appreciate my husband joking about no more kids if I had 2 miscarriages in less than a year, but maybe this was taped before that happened.

<shrug>

[853fisher]

On 7/6/2020 at 2:18 PM, iMonrey said:

I'm surprised the network doesn't run some sort of crawl across the screen explaining the episode was taped before the pandemic. I'm willing to bet some people call or write in and complain that they aren't following social distancing rules! 

25 Words or Less, which seems to attract that certain type of older lady who loves to comment on everything a la "Walmart is my husband Jeffrey there thanks God bless you," has had some spectacularly angry comments along these lines.  I genuinely don't know how some of these people keep themselves alive.

On 7/12/2020 at 9:02 PM, lb60 said:

After his talk about not wanting more kids and getting a vasectomy, here's hoping Alec isn't watching tonight with his pregnant wife.

If she is, the baby must be wanted, given the number of options Alec could've brought home to prevent pregnancy!

 

Is Cheryl the only one who has been on every season?  I know they didn't say "only."  I was just thinking.  I'd guess that Caroline Rhea has been on all of them.  I would've sworn on a Bible that Loni had been there before, though, so perhaps I'm not a reliable witness.

The first question, the "my meter maid ex gave me a ticket for parking in her __________," was the kind of gameplay I like best.  It's hard to get excited about "ass" or "penis."  I've just read that back but it's adorable, I can't rephrase.  The double entendre is just a lot more fun.  Say "loading zone" or "trunk" or what have you.  Make a joke.  Don't just say what obviously goes in the blank.  That's the point of the whole thing.  In the same way, I never thought "boobs" was funny on its own in the 70s show (although there is something funny about the relative shock value for that day and age, and it would be hilarious if it came up unexpectedly).  If they had played the whole game like that first question, I would've just loved it.

Edited July 14, 2020 by 853fisher

[joanne3482]

7 hours ago, 853fisher said:

The first question, the "my meter maid ex gave me a ticket for parking in her __________," was the kind of gameplay I like best.  It's hard to get excited about "ass" or "penis."  I've just read that back but it's adorable, I can't rephrase.  The double entendre is just a lot more fun.  Say "loading zone" or "trunk" or what have you.  Make a joke.  Don't just say what obviously goes in the blank.  That's the point of the whole thing.  In the same way, I never thought "boobs" was funny on its own in the 70s show (although there is something funny about the relative shock value for that day and age, and it would be hilarious if it came up unexpectedly).  If they had played the whole game like that first question, I would've just loved it.

I agree, but the problem is the judges are getting more and more persnickety about the answers. A couple episodes ago there was one about the dog and chasing what... tail is a total double entendre for what the contestant said, but it was denied. I believe we even talked about it here. Their inconsistencies are frustrating and I think you even see it with the celebrities who have been on before. Cheryl had more than one answer this episode where she put in parentheses what she meant by her answer.  

[sugarbaker design]

11 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

Their inconsistencies are frustrating and I think you even see it with the celebrities who have been on before.

The judges are wildly inconsistent.

12 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

Cheryl had more than one answer this episode where she put in parentheses what she meant by her answer.

That's why I like players like Cheryl!

[ajsnaves]

13 hours ago, 853fisher said:

The first question, the "my meter maid ex gave me a ticket for parking in her __________," was the kind of gameplay I like best.  It's hard to get excited about "ass" or "penis."  I've just read that back but it's adorable, I can't rephrase.  The double entendre is just a lot more fun.  Say "loading zone" or "trunk" or what have you.  Make a joke.  Don't just say what obviously goes in the blank.  That's the point of the whole thing.

My answer for that was "Back Alley"

[iMonrey]

Quote

All 4 contestants were AWFUL. I was frustrated most of the episode. Many of those questions had a relatively obvious answer and they couldn't get it?  

Anyone who biffs on such as obvious answer as Kardashian for something with a big booty shouldn't be allowed on this show.

High and mighty was the first thing I thought of.

[Phishbulb]

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Anyone who biffs on such as obvious answer as Kardashian for something with a big booty shouldn't be allowed on this show.

High and mighty was the first thing I thought of.

That was weird. I think the contestant just missed the "celebrity" part of the question? It was worded a little confusingly I guess.

[shapeshifter]

48 minutes ago, Phishbulb said:

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Anyone who biffs on such as obvious answer as Kardashian for something with a big booty shouldn't be allowed on this show....

That was weird. I think the contestant just missed the "celebrity" part of the question? It was worded a little confusingly I guess.

I initially thought she didn't think "Kardashian" was an appropriate answer, or too specific. If she'd had more time to think about it, perhaps she would have said "Kardashian," which I bet was her first answer in her mind --unless she is social media ignorant, in which case she should not have been put on the show.
Anyway, back in the old days, Gene Rayburn used to routinely remind everyone to go with the first thing that comes into your head.
Maybe Alec should start doing that. I'm sure he could make it funny.

[sugarbaker design]

2 hours ago, Phishbulb said:

That was weird. I think the contestant just missed the "celebrity" part of the question? It was worded a little confusingly I guess.

It wasn't confusing to the six panelists.

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I initially thought she didn't think "Kardashian" was an appropriate answer, or too specific. If she'd had more time to think about it, perhaps she would have said "Kardashian," which I bet was her first answer in her mind --unless she is social media ignorant, in which case she should not have been put on the show.

It wasn't a she.  It was the guy who joined the National Guard.  He just wasn't clever enough to figure it out.

[Josh371982]

19 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Anyone who biffs on such as obvious answer as Kardashian for something with a big booty shouldn't be allowed on this show.

High and mighty was the first thing I thought of.

But the Kartrashians aren't the only ones with big asses. Jennifer Lopez for instance 

[theatremouse]

Sure, anyone known for having a large booty would've been an OK answer, even if Kim K was the definitive match. But the dude said "booty". The clue was clearly asking for the name of a person since the point was about a hybrid between the dog and its owner.

[iMonrey]

Quote

The clue was clearly asking for the name of a person since the point was about a hybrid between the dog and its owner.

Yeah he just didn't understand the question. To be fair there were a couple others I didn't really get, like what the cougar was hunting for and the one about parking in the blank. I didn't really get what they were going for on those until I started seeing some of the responses.

[DXD526]

They need better writers on this show. Too many of the clues have no definitive answer, IMO, and then there are others that are really obvious. I'd say it makes the game unfair at times, but considering how often these contestants whiff on the really easy ones, it usually makes no difference. 

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, DXD526 said:

They need better writers on this show. Too many of the clues have no definitive answer, IMO, and then there are others that are really obvious. I'd say it makes the game unfair at times, but considering how often these contestants whiff on the really easy ones, it usually makes no difference. 

Not necessarily (or just) "better" writers, but writers who have done their homework and watched at least 10 episodes, and, ideally, another 10 episodes of the original show.