Season 1-3 Discussion

[topanga]

1 hour ago, WendyCR72 said:

He's sitting in the old CNR spot, yes? CNR seemed to sometimes play it low key like Rosie or he'd amp it up. (Probably depending on how blitzed the panel was. LOL!)

Maybe it's because I was five, but CNR never seemed flamboyant to me. Yes, he wore scarves sometimes, but I never thought he was anything but intelligent with a dry sense of humor. 

[mtlchick]

Quote

is Tituss always so flamboyant? It's okay to be gay, and it's okay for people to know that you're gay, but is it really necessary for him to constantly roll his eyes and neck and make funny noises? 

He ramps it up on Kimmy Schmidt but in interviews, he seems to dial it back.  All I really see is a talented actor and one hell of a singing voice.

[Jaded]

I'm watching the rerun of Sunday's episode that's on right now and all of you were right about Adam Goldberg. What was the answer during the first game that Adam gave which Alec didn't say? I'm not real close to my TV and couldn't read what it was. Sherri did better kicking Anthony Anderson's but on The $100,000 Pyramid then she has so far on Match Game. I really enjoy having Rosie and Tituss as regulars though.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Jaded

[WendyCR72]

7 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

is Tituss always so flamboyant? It's okay to be gay, and it's okay for people to know that you're gay, but is it really necessary for him to constantly roll his eyes and neck and make funny noises? 

Worked for Paul Lynde! And he practically was "Hollywood Squares".

[iMonrey]

Quote

(Probably depending on how blitzed the panel was. LOL!)

And on this new one, I can see they actually have drinks at their desks/stations. Probably some of them aren't alcoholic - but probably some of them are. 

[April Bloodgate]

I thought the Baldwin brothers question was incredibly hard.

[mtlchick]

Game 1: the judges were REALLY flexible on "open sesame."  Though it didn't matter anyway as Stephanie's question would have been a nail in the coffin even if she didn't get anything in the first round. Meanwhile I had to rewind Pete's giveaway of the final answer as I was snickering so hard. 

 

Game 2: it starts and ends with "Get On Your Knees." Only to be followed by an argument over Peeno Noir. 

[TheGreenKnight]

I thought Pete Wentz would be boring, but he was the most entertaining (unintentionally). I wish Tituss and Rosie could be regulars. The woman from SNL would probably be good as a regular, too. Regardless, it’d be nice if they had one or two regular panelists to anchor the show. Alec is a fantastic host. I really hope he stays with this reboot as long as it’s on the air.

[chitowngirl]

Tituss and Rosie aren't anchors? They've been on every episode.

l love how, while the skinny mike is back, it's obviously a prop since you can clearly see that Alec has a mike on his shirt.

Edited July 11, 2016 by chitowngirl

[Irlandesa]

I thought last night's episode was the best one yet. As for Rosie, apparently she only filmed four episodes.  In the commercial for next week, I think it's a whole new panel.

[mtlchick]

Quote

l love how, while the skinny mike is back, it's obviously a prop since you can clearly see that Alec has a mike on his shirt.

I don't know how I missed that.  Though with the white hair and the mike, I expect him to break out in to his Tony Bennett impression at any second.  At least he acknowledged he was Charles Nelson Riley's love child.

Edit:

Quote

So we won't see her when Sarah Palin is on.

I hope that means "Tina Fey dressed as Sarah Palin" instead.

Edited July 11, 2016 by mtlchick

[Mumbles]

Rosie said in her blog that she missed some eps because of a family vacation. So we won't see her when Sarah Palin is on. Lucky Rosie.

I liked the eps last night, everyone seemed to be having fun. What struck me is how in the 1970s they would have said "fruity" in response to the Titus Burgess wine question. 

And as for the "avoiding any attempt of subtlety" they basically had a question where the only real answer involved castration.

[MarkHB]

I'm enjoying this a lot (I was a kid watching back in the 70's), but I agree that the overly-raunchy stuff detracts from the show (same reason we're skipping Celebrity Family Feud this summer), and I also agree that Rosie is definitely the Richard Dawson of Match Game '16.

But what I really wanted to say is that I would have said "a bar-fight of Baldwins" :)

[TheOtherOne]

The most entertaining episodes yet for me, but I do hate it when they do a question where there's really only one answer. I mean, Rosie proved that there kinda sorta could be another answer, but as soon as Alec read it it was clear that contestant was going to win.

Edited July 11, 2016 by TheOtherOne

[TexasTiffany]

17 minutes ago, MarkHB said:

I'm enjoying this a lot (I was a kid watching back in the 70's), but I agree that the overly-raunchy stuff detracts from the show (same reason we're skipping Celebrity Family Feud this summer), and I also agree that Rosie is definitely the Richard Dawson of Match Game '16.

But what I really wanted to say is that I would have said "a bar-fight of Baldwins" :)

I too am turned off by the overly-raunchy answers: "Drill that ass", "castrate him", etc. Dick, balls, ass, boobs. So far, it has been those every week. It's like the show is geared toward 17 year old boys. I'm not entertained by this. What happened to being CLEVER and WITTY? I watch because I LOVED the old Match Game show and it's a game I can play along at home at the same time. If this continues, I'm out.

Last night, I mostly watched the Olympic gymnastic trials. I'd flip back and forth between channels. Sure enough, dick-balls-ass were answers. This show is so disappointing. I barely watched Family Feud. I totally agree that it's got the same problem. I'd rather watch reruns. I didn't bother to watch Pyramid.

[peeayebee]

On July 3, 2016 at 8:07 PM, Giuseppe said:

I can't believe nobody came up with The Rock vs. The Pebble for the Justin Bieber question. Seemed like the obvious answer to me but it seemed like neither the contestant nor any of the panelists really "got" that question.

Like others here, I came up with The Pebble. After no panelist said it, I thought it must have been a stupid answer. 

 

On July 4, 2016 at 1:06 PM, Dreamboat Annie said:

Poor Sherri.  It was obvious she had no idea who Ted Cruz was.  I think she's out of her league.  That was painful to watch.

I don't know. I think she knows who Ted Cruz is. Doesn't she appear sometimes on The View or The Talk or The Whatever? Plus, I don't see how she couldn't have heard of him. Her answer (talk) was pretty bad. But if she's heard of TED Talks, she must have heard of Ted Cruz.

 

On July 5, 2016 at 8:12 AM, St. Claire said:

I also said Miley would make America twerk again, and was torn between a Twinkie and  Ho Ho in the Playboy Mansion grotto (am I the only one who refers to airheaded models as "twinkies"?)

I also said twerk, but for the Playboy mansion grotto I said cupcake.

 

On July 5, 2016 at 11:40 AM, HurricaneVal said:

Adam Goldberg looked like he was being punished by serving on the panel.  Seriously, his reluctance and bad attitude just oozed out of him.  I think it really annoyed Alec Baldwin, who said probably the most cutting thing straight to Adam that I think I've ever heard on a TV show:  "Hey, weren't you in Saving Private Ryan?"  Whoa.  That was a fantastic burn....  That arrow hit its mark too.  I loved it.

I didn't think it was a burn at all. It was a lead-in to his question of who on the panel Adam would save first.

Last night's show was only the second one I've seen. I'm enjoying it. One thing I don't like is when celebs copy each other's answers. CNR and Brett used to do that all that time, and others did too back then, but it just bugs me.

I'm loving Alec Baldwin. I didn't expect him to be very good, but I think he's great. It's obvious when he's ad-libbing, and he's so quick and funny. The whole thing teasing the contestant about his answer of pillow was cracking me up. When Pete Wentz was so excited about the contestant matching, before it was revealed, I loved when Alec said, "The perfect person to plan your surprise party." Then when the first round went poorly, he said, "OK. Good rehearsal, everyone." One thing, which really isn't a complaint, is that so many times I'm hearing his Tony Bennett impression, one of my favorite things in the whole world.

I don't like when there are questions with one obvious answer, like chop his dick off. That happened in Gene Rayburn's time, too.

I adore Tituss, esp in the ep with Adam Goldburg and Horatio. BTW, did you know he really does market a pinot noir?

Is Sarah Palin really going to be on the show? Ugh.

Edited July 11, 2016 by peeayebee

[Mumbles]

Rosie as the Dawson is a great comparison. On one hand she sits in Brett's seat and is funny like Brett, but she has the Dawson magic of being able to help the contestant win (as well as a sincere desire to do so.)

Dawson in his day got a rep for being kind of surly to his co-stars behind the scene, but his desire to help contestants win money was very obvious. He once even threatened to walk off when the judges made a particularly dumb call on whether a contestant answer was a match (you can find it on YouTube). Maybe he was doing it to be competitive with his co-stars....but regardless he made a lot of people happy with some extra loot. 

[Kromm]

10 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Tituss and Rosie aren't anchors? They've been on every episode.

l love how, while the skinny mike is back, it's obviously a prop since you can clearly see that Alec has a mike on his shirt.

Then why does the skinny mike have a battery pack on the end?  Why would they bother with that detail?

I think it's real, but they're picking up the audio from multiple sources in case the mike fails. 

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

Is Sarah Palin really going to be on the show? Ugh.

I don't see how she and Baldwin could stand to even be in the same place (muchless Rosie and Tituss, who's very existences she probably hates).

[Kromm]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

Last night's show was only the second one I've seen. I'm enjoying it. One thing I don't like is when celebs copy each other's answers. CNR and Brett used to do that all that time, and others did too back then, but it just bugs me.

It destroys the whole point of the show if they copy from each other. Rosie should know better and I hated to see that she let herself be copied off of (in a previous episode I spotted that at least). 

 

Question of the Day:

Okay, was anyone else REALLY cringing at the Stephen Baldwin question and just WAITING to see if anyone on the panel had the balls to answer "Bible"?  

How would Alec have reacted?  It's never been clear to me what Alec thinks of his brother being a total nutter.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Kromm

[iMonrey]

Copying isn't a new thing, they did it all the time on the original show. If one of the panelists can't think of an answer the others are always willing to give them suggestions. You can see them showing each other their cards when they're writing their answers down. 

[mtlchick]

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I don't see how she and Baldwin could stand to even be in the same place 

Well, he came out alive after her guest appearance on SNL in 2008 and my guess Palin's more likely to tolerate him than Rosie.  Plus I realized the director is Beth McCarthy-Miller, a long time SNL director that directs among things, Kimmy Schmidt. So I expect a lot of zingers at her expense. 

 

Quote

One thing, which really isn't a complaint, is that so many times I'm hearing his Tony Bennett impression, one of my favorite things in the whole world.

i said that earlier.  Though I kind of hope he does a random shill for some ridiculous product a la Bennett.

[peeayebee]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Copying isn't a new thing, they did it all the time on the original show. If one of the panelists can't think of an answer the others are always willing to give them suggestions. You can see them showing each other their cards when they're writing their answers down. 

I know they did it originally, and I hated it then. Seems like many times one celeb (like Tituss) will immediately look at another's card instead of taking the time to think about it. If someone is really stuck after having tried for a bit, I don't mind them "cheating."

[TexasTiffany]

18 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I know they did it originally, and I hated it then. Seems like many times one celeb (like Tituss) will immediately look at another's card instead of taking the time to think about it. If someone is really stuck after having tried for a bit, I don't mind them "cheating."

This is very telling to me. Here these people are supposed to be quick witted and clever, but they can't even come up with their own answers. On the old Match Game, Brett and Charles came up with their own stuff MOST of the time but occasionally had help. But, this is the 3rd week of the New Match Game. It's way too early to be this ridiculous. YMMV

[Mumbles]

Some of the funniest moments of the original was when Charles would yell that Brett was copying his answer.

[sugarbaker design]

I loved Charles and Brett.  I recently watched a Match Game '78 episode where Charles yells "Will someone please take this woman off of national television?"

[Mumbles]

Good times. Sometimes Charles would goof on or insult Brett in his answer and Brett would just cackle. Oh to have been at their table during the booze-filled meal breaks!

[peeayebee]

17 hours ago, TexasTiffany said:

This is very telling to me. Here these people are supposed to be quick witted and clever, but they can't even come up with their own answers. On the old Match Game, Brett and Charles came up with their own stuff MOST of the time but occasionally had help. But, this is the 3rd week of the New Match Game. It's way too early to be this ridiculous. YMMV

Just to be clear -- Are you calling me ridiculous?

[imjagain]

On 7/7/2016 at 5:35 PM, topanga said:

 

The celebrities should be forced to watch a marathon of old Match Game episodes before their appearances to learn how it's supposed to be done (except for Rosie and Alec--they rock). Most of them just seem...dumb. And did Sherri really not have a better answer for Ted Cruz, or was she playing her usual "ditzy" role?

I'm still enjoying the show, mainly because I liked the original version so much. And since we're on the subject of subtly...is Tituss always so flamboyant? It's okay to be gay, and it's okay for people to know that you're gay, but is it really necessary for him to constantly roll his eyes and neck and make funny noises? It's like he's shouting, "Look at me! I'm the gay man on the panel!" Rosie doesn't do that. She's very comfortable with her sexuality and has made a few jokes about it, but it doesn't dominate who she is as a player or a celebrity.

Rosie and Tituss are just different people , who just both happen to be gay . Different personalities and all that.

Alec Baldwin and Pete wentz are both white hetro men but both have very different personalities.  It's just who Tituss is. I love that he and Rosie have been on every show.

Love this show. It nice to have this block of game shows in one night.

[TheGreenKnight]

I thought Tituss was putting on a bit for the show, like his over-the-top reactions to Alec’s questions or whipping out the phone at the end when he probably wasn’t talking to anyone.

Edited July 13, 2016 by TheGreenKnight

[theatremouse]

On 7/3/2016 at 11:15 PM, Irlandesa said:

The writers are trying a little too hard to elicit innuendo or euphemisms in the questions they ask.  It's a flaw shared by Celeb Family Feud.  I guess they're trying to bring it up to make it worth being a prie time show which is why there are also a lot of pop culture references.  But overall, I think it works and I enjoy the show. 

For me the problem with the raunch answers isn't the raunch itself. I think the writers aren't actually writing the clues properly for the game. There should two or three obvious answers, like, super obvious, and then it's just a question of if all six pick the same one, if the contest does, or if it splits a bit. A good example was the Hostess/playboy one: ho ho, twinkie, ding dong, all reasonable answers.

Way too many of the clues have been total WTF for the celebs. So a lot of what's happening is, well if they have no fucking clue what the writers were expecting the match to be, say something dirty. It's true there were some expecting-raunchy-answers clues in the old one, and in this one, and that's fine (and part of the fun was seeing what kind of euphemisms the celebs would come up with). But I do think a disproportionate number of the dirty answers in this iteration are coming about because they have no idea what the "expected" answer is, so they go blue as a last ditch effort.

They're also doing too many in-clues, naming the celebs on the show, too many Baldwin bits. You can do clues that reference famous people, but again, there needs to be more than one and less than four, very conspicuous responses. Stephen's not famous enough anymore for anything to be super obvious. And the problem then becomes, well...did they really mean it like a generic clue, but used his name for fun but not relevant to the clue, or was there some Stephen-specific answer they expected people to get? I think both "wife" and "bed" are sensible answers based on if it were a generic clue about any dude. Answers that probably would've come up in the old one. So they're also causing the panel and contestants alike to overthink too often. The Titus' wine thing was also way too hard. You have know wine terms and think of one that matches Titus, and while I adore him personally, there was not anything really obvious to choose. In retrospect, what he and Rosie said were solid answers (that I would not have thought of) but when the clue is about you and you still have a hard time coming up with your own answer (and by the look on his face when it was read, he did), it's a bad clue.

In terms of A or B it's supposed to (I think) that one is easier than the other. So I'm not bothered as much that usually one is an easy run the panel only one thing comes to mind, 6 matches right away. But the other clue should be more of an expected 4-2 or 3-3 split or something. I watched A LOT of the old one and it was not super common to have only one match or zero matches per round. And when it happened it was usually the contestant giving a bad answer. On this one it happens every episode, sometimes both contestants. That's how you know they need to tweak it. There shouldn't be this many 0s.

[TexasTiffany]

8 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Just to be clear -- Are you calling me ridiculous?

I'm calling the celebrity panel ridiculous. My subject is the panel. I thought I was clear. I didn't mind Brett and Charles sometimes "cheating" because most of the time they came up with their own answers. The celebs on the new show shouldn't be leaving their cards blank or writing "help". Pick something. But as above, The Pebble wasn't that difficult to come up with. Cupcake or twinkie or something along those lines was a good answer.

I agree that the writers need to tweak their questions. They too should watch episodes of the old Match Game to see how the questions were set up. It's like playing little league baseball... pitch it so they can hit it.

Edited July 13, 2016 by TexasTiffany

[WendyCR72]

I'm sort of miffed that Betty White has not been approached to be on this version. She was on the original '60s version as far as I know (before my time) and the classic '70s edition.

It's tradition! Maybe those behind the scenes are afraid she'd show everyone up.

[peeayebee]

7 hours ago, TexasTiffany said:

I'm calling the celebrity panel ridiculous. My subject is the panel. I thought I was clear.

OK. I just wanted to check. :)

[Mumbles]

Betty White was also on a one-time classic reboot that CBS did a few years ago.

I wonder if it has to do with Betty's age and the fact that the show films in NYC. I'd imagine she's up for it mentally but maybe the travelling would be hard.

[MarkHB]

Did To Tell the Truth film in LA?  I haven't seen it so I don't know, but I know she was one of the panelists.

[topanga]

On 7/4/2016 at 5:04 PM, mtlchick said:

She tweeted last week that she filmed 4 episodes.  Whether she means 4 hour long episodes or 4 games (that would equal to two) is subject to debate.

Sherri makes me want to throw things, but then again seeing her, Tituss and "Jack Donaghy" made me long for more Queen of Jordan form 30 Rock.

 

About the innuendo...I've heard worse on earlier hours.  Have you seen the regular Family Feud these days?  The writers have a field day writing up the answers for the board.

This is the first time I've had a glimpse into how intelligent Rosie is. I know she was on The View, but I couldn't watch that show after Meredith Viera left--too much screaming. 

I loved Sherri on 30 Rock. 

[Mumbles]

Fwiw, Sherri was on the $100,000 Pyramid a few weeks ago and was great. She helped the contestant win $50,000. This format just may not be her wheelhouse.

[starri]

I think this was the first time the panel completely worked for me.  I have no idea who Maggie Q is, but she was fine.  And Tituss and Rosie are really getting into their Charles/Brett groove.  Also, I think this was Alec's best episode to date.

[Dreamboat Annie]

Quote

On ‎2016‎-‎07‎-‎11 at 7:07 PM, peeayebee said:

 

On ‎2016‎-‎07‎-‎04 at 4:06 PM, Dreamboat Annie said:

Poor Sherri.  It was obvious she had no idea who Ted Cruz was.  I think she's out of her league.  That was painful to watch.

I don't know. I think she knows who Ted Cruz is. Doesn't she appear sometimes on The View or The Talk or The Whatever? Plus, I don't see how she couldn't have heard of him. Her answer (talk) was pretty bad. But if she's heard of TED Talks, she must have heard of Ted Cruz.

 

I wouldn't count on it.  I like Sherri as an actress.  I watched The View while she was on it, and I thought it was both laughable and disgusting at various times how uninformed she was.  Don't know how she lasted as long as she did other than people were asleep at the wheel over there.  I happened to still have that episode of Match Game, so I watched that question again.  It could not be more obvious to me that Sherri had no idea who Ted Cruz was.

Alec has quickly come into his own as host.  He's relaxed, hilariously funny and just a natural at it.

[theatremouse]

18 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

I'm sort of miffed that Betty White has not been approached to be on this version. She was on the original '60s version as far as I know (before my time) and the classic '70s edition.

It's tradition! Maybe those behind the scenes are afraid she'd show everyone up.

I don't remember where I got the idea but someone led me to believe it was because she's LA-based and this one shoots in NYC. It also might've just been a scheduling/timing issue for her. I'd love to see her on it, but I think they basically filmed all they currently intend to do for this summer over about two weeks? So if she weren't available those two weeks, no Betty.

[Jaded]

I read that those To Tell the Truth episodes were filmed last year in July.

[Dreamboat Annie]

Quote

54 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

I'd love to see her on it, but I think they basically filmed all they currently intend to do for this summer over about two weeks? So if she weren't available those two weeks, no Betty.

 

I think that's correct, that it was filmed over a few weeks and depended on availability.  Betty may or may not have been approached, but Rosie said on her blog (in response to a fan's question as to why she will not be appearing in all the episodes of Match Game when she originally said she intended to be) that the second series of tapings was during her family vacation with her children (which has already come and gone). 

I haven't seen all the episodes that have aired, and I haven't seen any where Rosie is not there (have any of those aired?), but I think I'd miss her there.  I wonder who would sit in her spot.

Edited July 14, 2016 by Dreamboat Annie

[theatremouse]

Yes, my understanding is O'Donnell is in half. I don't know how many total there are though, but it's all in the can, both the ones she's in and the O'Donnell-less eps.

[Kromm]

On 7/13/2016 at 0:03 AM, theatremouse said:

They're also doing too many in-clues, naming the celebs on the show, too many Baldwin bits. You can do clues that reference famous people, but again, there needs to be more than one and less than four, very conspicuous responses. Stephen's not famous enough anymore for anything to be super obvious. And the problem then becomes, well...did they really mean it like a generic clue, but used his name for fun but not relevant to the clue, or was there some Stephen-specific answer they expected people to get?

They ARE doing too many in-jokes. That said, it's fair to say that Stephen is the second most famous Baldwin after Alec himself, even if it's for all of the wrong reasons. If anyone in the public knows anything about any of them other than Alec, it's him. Daniel and William both arguably had good careers, but people know Stephen more because he's such a mess--and has been in the press and on reality TV constantly to prove it.

Also, hey... don't underestimate the power of being live action Barney Rubble. Sometimes all it takes is one iconic role.  And of all of the non-Alec Baldwins he's got the most prestigious movie under his belt--the biggest classic--The Usual Suspects.

And the obvious reference--and the one I was amazed they dare leave as low hanging fruit--is his fundamentalism. So "Bible" was the over-obvious answer and I was shocked they'd do that.  Because how was Alec supposed to react then?  Also reasonable for Stephen?  Some answer having to do with substance abuse. Again, hard to believe they'd leave an open risk someone would say that and Alec would have to react to it. 

[Kromm]

9 hours ago, starri said:

I have no idea who Maggie Q is, but she was fine. 

An example of really great genetics (mixing Irish and Asian--"Q" stands for "Quigley"), who thanks to Jackie Chan is a fairly big star in Asia, who later became a decently marketable asset in the US due to the 2010 remake of La Femme Nikita.

She had some CBS series after Nikita that lasted like five minutes and failed. but she's Keifer Sutherland's co-star in that new series he has coming onto ABC this year where he plays some lower level shnook in the government who becomes President. Maggie being on Match Game was clearly because she's a member of the ABC family now.

Edited July 14, 2016 by Kromm

[Ottis]

Alec is definitely channeling his SNL Tony Bennett impersonation, which makes his hosting even more amusing.

I liked how the celebrity panel seemed to be relaxing, drinking and bonding in episode 2, but if they keep changing the panel, the chemistry will never completely gel. Ana seems like the smart girl who is trying to dumb down to be popular.

And I always hear the ghost of CNR when I watch this show. 

[theatremouse]

9 hours ago, Kromm said:

They ARE doing too many in-jokes. That said, it's fair to say that Stephen is the second most famous Baldwin after Alec himself, even if it's for all of the wrong reasons. If anyone in the public knows anything about any of them other than Alec, it's him. Daniel and William both arguably had good careers, but people know Stephen more because he's such a mess--and has been in the press and on reality TV constantly to prove it.

Also, hey... don't underestimate the power of being live action Barney Rubble. Sometimes all it takes is one iconic role.  And of all of the non-Alec Baldwins he's got the most prestigious movie under his belt--the biggest classic--The Usual Suspects.

And the obvious reference--and the one I was amazed they dare leave as low hanging fruit--is his fundamentalism. So "Bible" was the over-obvious answer and I was shocked they'd do that.  Because how was Alec supposed to react then?  Also reasonable for Stephen?  Some answer having to do with substance abuse. Again, hard to believe they'd leave an open risk someone would say that and Alec would have to react to it. 

I get that, and I agree, but I'd still argue Stephen's fundamentalism, while known, has not been a major factor in the public eye recently, and he's not famous enough for that to necessarily be the first thing that comes to mind. I can see a lot of people sort of, remembering it but not thinking of it first? If he were only ever famous for that, sure. (or if the clue were happening a handful of years ago, sure) But I'd wager a lot of people associate him with "Baldwin brothers, actor" and if you mention the fundamentalism they might go "oh yeah, I remember that" but not necessarily think of it immediately. Plus "Bible" isn't something you normally think of as being in one's bed (maybe in the bedside table?) but still...there are too many hops to get to it, I think. It requires too much thought, which invites the overthinking, which is what's happening with a lot of the clues. Once you have to go two steps to come up with an answer, we're back into lucky-if-you-match-one territory.

[topanga]

2 hours ago, Ottis said:

Alec is definitely channeling his SNL Tony Bennett impersonation, which makes his hosting even more amusing.

I liked how the celebrity panel seemed to be relaxing, drinking and bonding in episode 2, but if they keep changing the panel, the chemistry will never completely gel. Ana seems like the smart girl who is trying to dumb down to be popular.

And I always hear the ghost of CNR when I watch this show. 

Ana graduated from Northwestern (Go Wildcats!). So she's definitely smart. She's definitely not dumb, anyway.

And on the original series, much of the panel did change periodically. There were only a few staples (CNR, Brett Summers, and often Richard Dawson), while other celebrities were in and out. 

[sugarbaker design]

Gosh I loved this show.

Upper tier seat 1 was usually the big name guest, and by big I mean bigger than Brett, Charles and Richard.  Upper tier seat 2 was BS and Upper tier seat was CNR.

Lower tier seat 1 was usually a not too-bright blonde like Elaine Joyce, lower tier seat 2 was RD and lower tier seat 3 was usually a witty woman like Betty White, Fannie Flagg or Marcia Wallace.

[Ottis]

Quote

And on the original series, much of the panel did change periodically. There were only a few staples (CNR, Brett Summers, and often Richard Dawson), while other celebrities were in and out. 

True, but my recollection (which could be wrong, I was a kid) was that the panel would stay the same for a while before they would switch out a few of the panelists. It didn't change every week. Or did it? Nipsy Russell for Life.