Season 1-3 Discussion

[Mumbles]

Howard Stern has said he loved Match Game in the 1970s and tried to model his radio show on it - the general feel of a bunch of friends sitting around being silly and shooting the breeze, and letting audience hang out with them. He singled out Gene as a guy whose style he admired.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 12/4/2017 at 10:43 AM, Mumbles said:

Howard Stern has said he loved Match Game in the 1970s and tried to model his radio show on it - the general feel of a bunch of friends sitting around being silly and shooting the breeze, and letting audience hang out with them. He singled out Gene as a guy whose style he admired.

Wasn't it Brett Somers who said,

"It wasn't a job. . .  It was a social engagement."

[Macbeth]

On 1/2/2017 at 7:45 PM, Mumbles said:

For the most part that first seat had lot of good eggs (exceptions being Scoey Mitchell - who acted as if he hated every minute - and the annoying Gary Burghoff.)

Gary was more than annoying he revealed himself to be a complete jerk.  

I was home very sick so I watched a lot of the show.  When Gary was filling in for Charles he said a couple of things about/towards Betty White that were completely uncalled for and cruel.  On one episode Betty did the audience response on how cold someone was - and Gary piped up "Cold enough to close your mouth?"

2nd incident - Brette was kidding Betty about her age, just as Betty has kidded her.  Gary chimed in that should they really be picking on Betty "mumble" Allen Ludden.  Given Ludden died in 1981 and this was the late 70s - I wonder if he was referring to Ludden having been diagnosed with cancer.

This happened while Betty was giving her answer.  Betty didn't flinch at all - but when the camera went to a long shot as the show went into commercial - I could see Betty White was addressing Gary.

I hope she gave him hell.

I think Gary was completely out of his league.  He didn't have the social acumen needed for this panel.

Edited December 15, 2017 by Macbeth

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 12/14/2017 at 0:26 PM, Macbeth said:

I think Gary was completely out of his league.  He didn't have the social acumen needed for this panel.

You are right about that.  He always seemed to be trying too hard and it showed.  Kind of like the guy at the party who wears a lampshade on his head and thinks it's hilarious.

 

Another one who is painful to watch is Richard Dawson during his "grouchy" years.  They played a re-run over the weekend and the Celbrity Match (The one-on-one, worth a lot of  money) clue was "MINI ____________" 

Here's how it went down:

Gene:  MINI blank.  M-I-N_I blank

Richard:  starts to write

Gene:  MINI blank.  Spells it out again  "M-I-N-I Blank"

Contestant:  Gives answer, a solid one.

Richard:  "Oh, dear.  Did you spell it out, Gene?"

Gene:  "Yes.  M-I-N-I blank"

Richard:  "I feel bad.  I didn't hear you spell it out.  I wrote MINNIE mouse.  I wouldn't have written that if I heard you spell it out."

. . . 

Gene kind of looks toward the producer, as if to see if they could throw out the question, but saw no response so kept on going.  Remember that there were no cell phones back in the 70's, so it's not like Richard was texting or checking his email.  I have now idea what he was doing that he didn't even pay attention to the clue.  And it was the celebrity match one on one clue!  Nobody else was even playing.

I think what makes those few episodes harder to watch is hearing every single interview mention how unhappy Richard Dawson was in real life.  Even during the height of his fame and money.

Edited December 18, 2017 by TheLastKidPicked

[Macbeth]

On 12/18/2017 at 3:03 PM, TheLastKidPicked said:

I think what makes those few episodes harder to watch is hearing every single interview mention how unhappy Richard Dawson was in real life.  Even during the height of his fame and money.

I am sorry to hear that about Richard.  I liked him.  The other panelists were jealous he was always chosen - but he was really good.  Every once in a while he would miss one due to his British background.  The way it would go:

 

Gene:           "Lamp Blank"

(Me:              "Lamp Shade)

Contestant:  "Lamp Shade"

Richard:         "Lamp Post"  To me that is a more British than American phrase.  You could never know when that would crop up.

[TheLastKidPicked]

32 minutes ago, Macbeth said:

Richard:         "Lamp Post"  To me that is a more British than American phrase.  You could never know when that would crop up.

You are right, Macbeth.  There are two times that Richard "broke the fourth wall" that I remember.  One was exactly what you are talking about.  Richard's British history came up and Richard gave some advice to contestants in general (not a specific contestant, as I'm sure that wouldn't be allowed).  He said,  "Don't try to guess what I'm going to say.  Instead, say the first thing that pops into your head."  And by the number of correct matches that he gave, that was good advice.

 

Another time he was referring to the President and called him, "President What's His Name".    There was a little pause and he said,  "We might go into syndication, and he won't be our president at that point".  So he was making sure the show didn't seem dated when it went into syndication.  That's quite ironic--  Isn't your favorite part of Match Game how outdated it is?  The orange shag carpeting, the references to people who were famous then but now long quiet?

Edited December 21, 2017 by TheLastKidPicked

[Macbeth]

40 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

Another time he was referring to the President and called him, "President What's His Name".    There was a little pause and he said,  "We might go into syndication, and he won't be our president at that point".  So he was making sure the show didn't seem dated when it went into syndication.  That's quite ironic--  Isn't your favorite part of Match Game how outdated it is?  The orange shag carpeting, the references to people who were famous then but now long quiet?

It is ironic given all of the Watergate references.  And I remember Evel Knievel - yet I didn't know he went down such a bad path until I watched reruns of this show. 

Some of it is outdated, but I do love some of the style - the 70s hair, and those long beads Brett wears - my mother had those.  And the woman wore nice clothing.  Something I would wear - not sleeveless this or mini that.  But I am old fashioned. 

And given that it is 40 years later - I am surprised that you can still guess what a lot of the blanks can be.  It is very rare when I don't get a cultural reference.  It has aged very well in that regard.

[TheLastKidPicked]

4 hours ago, Macbeth said:

Some of it is outdated, but I do love some of the style - the 70s hair, and those long beads Brett wears - my mother had those.  And the woman wore nice clothing.  Something I would wear - not sleeveless this or mini that.  But I am old fashioned. 

You are spot on.  The clothes, the colors, the hair, the decor.

It is such a great snapshot of the 70's.  Reminds me of when it was cool to finish your basement with wood paneling and shag carpeting, then have your friends over.  That's the "feel" of the show, and the celebrities are very much like guests at a 70's party.

[WendyCR72]

Merry Christmas, fellow PTV'ers! Don't know if y'all knew this, but if you are an Amazon Prime member, apparently, BUZZR has put episodes of game shows on Amazon Video. Well, the '70s Match Game has a couple seasons on there streaming free! Enjoy!

[Kimmmmmm]

Alyhough i liked her on other shows, Patti Deutsch was the worst panelist...she would come up with some cockamamie answer that noone would match in a million years, just to show how funny she thought she was...no help to the contestant at all.

[alexa]

So for the current new episode I don’t know that I agree that ship is the same as yacht. I consider them to be different but maybe I am wrong. 

[DiabLOL]

3 hours ago, alexa said:

So for the current new episode I don’t know that I agree that ship is the same as yacht. I consider them to be different but maybe I am wrong. 

I was actually pretty annoyed about this. Ship and yacht are not the same. Given the times I felt the judges riled no when they should have ruled yes in the past made it unfair. 

Also the questions in the second group were way more open ended than they were for the first 2 contestants. I mean the tool guy gave more dumb answers but still. They need to try harder with making the difficulty equal because people are actually trying to win money amounts here that obviously would make a difference in their lives. 

[vb68]

Jason Ritter is adorable. I mean, I know he wasn't that great at the game, but he's still adorable.

It's getting easier to tell that Alec wishes he could choke some of these contestants out.

[Blissfool]

The first winner (bossy lady) irritated me. Looks-wise, she reminded me of a famous person....Kristen Chenoweth? 

[readster]

Yes, the constants in the second round were just stupid. Mrs. Readster was even going: "They put these guys on this show, but you try auditioning and they look the other way." I do wonder how screen processes go these days on modern game shows. I have both friends and family members that were on shows such as: Who wants to be a Millionaire, The Price is Right and Let's Make a Deal. They have stories to share on how they get there, but the ABC game shows the last few years, I do wonder how this even goes. I mean sharpen tools? Really? I do love Jason Ritter, he really had fun, but I rarely hate the celebrities unless they really botch the obvious answer. However, I also agree a ship and a yacht are 2 different things. 

[Phishbulb]

For the question about what they dump on contestants at the Puppy Bowl instead of Gatorade, I said "toilet water". No? 

Edited January 4, 2018 by Phishbulb

[iMonrey]

Totally agree that yacht should not have been a match for ship. Yacht was the obvious answer to that question and the contestant totally blew it by saying ship. That's way too generic. 

Wow - something going on between Joel McHale and Caroline Rhea. Got the distinct impression they really do not like each other. And maybe McHale is just an asshole - even the contestant flipped him off!

I thought for sure the definitive answer for Niecy Nash's award would be bootie. If you've ever seen her in Reno 911 you'd know why.

Quote

I do wonder how screen processes go these days on modern game shows.

I'm almost positive for Match Game they are picked out of the audience, the same way they do it for The Price is Right. On The Price is Right, production assistants screen the people standing in line waiting to get into the studio and make notes of the people they think would make good contestants. That appears to be the method utilized for Match Game: they aren't looking for people who would be good at the game, necessarily, they are looking for people who would make "good TV." People they think are interesting, outgoing, bubbly, have good personalities, etc. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

1 hour ago, Phishbulb said:

For the question about what they dump on contestants at the Puppy Bowl instead of Gatorade, I said "toilet water". No? 

That's pretty good!  Especially if you've ever seen a dog drink out of the toilet.

9 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Wow - something going on between Joel McHale and Caroline Rhea. Got the distinct impression they really do not like each other. And maybe McHale is just an asshole - even the contestant flipped him off!

I get the impression that McHale is like some of your neighbors who are fun for a few minutes at a time, but then get irritating quickly.

[Irlandesa]

13 hours ago, alexa said:

So for the current new episode I don’t know that I agree that ship is the same as yacht. I consider them to be different but maybe I am wrong. 

I would have been okay with the ruling had it not been so closely tied to boat.   For instance if the clue were something like "my dog is so rich, he only travels by [blank]", I would have argued that ship and yacht should be a match.  But when the word they're matching or replacing is boat....nah.  Standards need to be higher.

9 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

 

I'm almost positive for Match Game they are picked out of the audience, the same way they do it for The Price is Right. On The Price is Right, production assistants screen the people standing in line waiting to get into the studio and make notes of the people they think would make good contestants. That appears to be the method utilized for Match Game: they aren't looking for people who would be good at the game, necessarily, they are looking for people who would make "good TV." People they think are interesting, outgoing, bubbly, have good personalities, etc. 

I think they're dressed too nicely to be audience members.

[Skyfall]

13 hours ago, alexa said:

So for the current new episode I don’t know that I agree that ship is the same as yacht. I consider them to be different but maybe I am wrong. 

And then didn’t accept microscope as same as magnifying glass. It really felt like they ruled against him knowing it would’ve been a second tie since they accepted the stupid ass ship answer.

[alexa]

3 minutes ago, Skyfall said:

And then didn’t accept microscope as same as magnifying glass. It really felt like they ruled against him knowing it would’ve been a second tie since they accepted the stupid ass ship answer.

I agree...that kind of annoyed me too.  They made it super easy for the lady and purposely screwed things up for him in a way.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I think they're dressed too nicely to be audience members.

And that may be part of why they were chosen. They sure didn't audition for the show. Most of them clearly don't understand the game at all.

[RubiksCube]

Home sick and just caught the Alex Karas episodes on BUZZER ... agree with the above poster that he was really bad. Almost comatose and After 9 questions he still didn’t seem to get the premise of the show. 

[ketchuplover]

Instead of having the leader start round two it should be the trailing player imo

[Racj82]

Good Lord I'm so tired of seeing the pregnant woman touch her baby bump. Alright. We get it.

[vb68]

This panel did absolutely nothing for me, and a dull panel really makes a dull show.

I also got both of the audience survey questions wrong. I immediately thought of Will "and Grace" and "Knock"it off, and neither were even listed. Hmphh.

I would have matched at the end with Clubhouse, though. Sandwich? really? That's way down the list past house and Club Med in my head.

[sugarbaker design]

4 hours ago, vb68 said:

This panel did absolutely nothing for me, and a dull panel really makes a dull show.

I loved this panel!  

Best, or more accurately funniest, answer was Jane's 'eating dogs'.

All the contestants, save the TSA guy, were the pits.

Edited January 11, 2018 by sugarbaker design

[marymon]

Christina Ricci was giving Kenny G some odd looks.

[snarkylady]

3 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

All the contestants, save the TSA guy, were the pits.

agree...TSA guy was fine, the rest were awful, I was rooting against them

 

I thought I heard the pregnant contestant say she didn't read multiple pregnancy tests correctly.  Did she really say that?   I'm finding it hard to believe.

I don't like that the questions are not equally difficult.

Also don't like that sometimes the judges will accept any answer even remotely close and sometimes they won't.  To me Chinese Food matches Chinese Food (only given as an answer once), and perhaps it would match pork fried rice, but not "rice", too generic an answer. 

And finally....did she really say she repeatedly misread the pregnancy tests? 

[jcin617]

Yes, she said she misread multiple pregnancy tests.    I can only hope she was using one that was either "|" or "||" and not one that either has "+" or "-" or heaven forbid "Pregnant"/"Not Pregnant"...

[iMonrey]

Quote

Instead of having the leader start round two it should be the trailing player imo

There's a reason they do that. If the leader after round 2 has four points and the other has zero points, then the guy with zero points might not even make four matches to tie in the second round, which would mean the person with four points wouldn't even need to play the second round, they'd have already won. They want both contestants to be able to play in round 2.

Christina Ricci looked SO weird with blonde hair. And I really like Max Greenfield but he just wasn't very good at this game. I kind of like Kenny G playing the Match Game theme though. 

I would have said Club Med too.

[WendyCR72]

On 1/6/2018 at 2:17 PM, RubiksCube said:

Home sick and just caught the Alex Karas episodes on BUZZER ... agree with the above poster that he was really bad. Almost comatose and After 9 questions he still didn’t seem to get the premise of the show. 

Probably not the case since he did star a decade later with his real-life wife on Webster (and, thus, had to have the memory to learn his lines!) and was in Blazing Saddles before that, but I recall reading Mr. Karras died of dementia due to CTE from his years in football (with the Detroit Lions, I've read). I wonder if some mental impairment was involved with his issues with Match Game?

Not trying to be funny or disrespectful. Just genuinely wondering!

[JeezumCrow]

On 1/4/2018 at 6:12 PM, iMonrey said:

And that may be part of why they were chosen. They sure didn't audition for the show. Most of them clearly don't understand the game at all.

I have an acquaintance who is going to be on this season. The contestants are chosen beforehand - NOT from the audience. However, when my acquaintance described the process he went through to be selected, he did not mention any discussion of game play or practice rounds, so, to me, it seems players are chosen solely based on their potential as “good TV.”

 

Edited to add I’m still fuming from the judges accepting “ship” as “yacht.”  Thats like accepting “rectangle” for “square” - a square IS a rectangle, but a rectangle isn’t necessarily a square, and the same holds true for ship/yacht. Chinese food was another one - I can see accepting Lo Mein since this isn’t the final match, but “noodles”? “RICE”?! They could have just said “oranges” or “food” if we’re playing it that fast and loose with the judging parameters. The wildly inconsistent judging is incredibly unfair to the contestants and incredibly infuriating to me as a viewer. 

 

(Plus, I couldn’t stand Gravy Ship Lady and found it incredibly rude for her to flip Joel McHale off - especially since she then selected him to give an answer. He’s a better man than I because my answer would have been my middle finger.)

Edited January 18, 2018 by curlyblackeggs

[ketchuplover]

Wolf of Wall Street?????????????????????????????????????????  NO NO NO....Correct answer was THE DEPARTED.  SIGH.

[Racj82]

3 hours ago, ketchuplover said:

Wolf of Wall Street?????????????????????????????????????????  NO NO NO....Correct answer was THE DEPARTED.  SIGH.

I had Django Unchained. I know Leo isn't black but Alec kept stressing the unzipping along with Titanic in the clue. Unzipped. Unchained.

I had all three of the strip answers in the right order. I also had Bermuda triangle.

[sugarbaker design]

I said The Great Gatsby, and I was certain it was the definitive answer.  Oh, well.

Another week of incredibly awful players.

[iMonrey]

There were several good answers to the Leo DiCaprio question. I immediately thought of The Great Gatsby as well, but Revenant and Wolf of Wall Street were also fitting. What did the contestant say - Inception? What a dummy. 

Overall the questions were fairly good - there were several that had multiple possibilities for good answers and none that had just one definitive answer. I liked the panel as well. I noticed from the camera angle shot behind the panelists they have 2 drink holders on either side of their name plates. Every one of them had 2 drinks. 

I totally cracked up at Ron Funches answer to "tiny" as "penis."

[Skyfall]

The contestants last number were so freaking dumb but the panel didn’t help much either. I did guess Blue Balls though as that felt like a Match Game answer.

[Racj82]

I feel like that upper left corner is going to be the give no shits corner now. Adam Pally and Joel McHale before him gave no shits about mocking the show and these dumb contestants. It's funny as hell to me.

Adam pointing out that the jacket the woman had on has zippers that take off the bottom of her jacket. Hilarious.

Edited January 19, 2018 by Racj82

[iMonrey]

Quote

I feel like that upper left corner is going to be the give no shits corner now. Adam Pally and Joel McHale before him gave no shits about mocking the show and these dumb contestants. It's funny as hell to me.

That's where Adam Carolla sits too. Definitely the designated asshole seat.

[ketchuplover]

I guessed STRIP SEARCH instead of STRIP CLUB

[Skyfall]

4 hours ago, Racj82 said:

I feel like that upper left corner is going to be the give no shits corner now. Adam Pally and Joel McHale before him gave no shits about mocking the show and these dumb contestants. It's funny as hell to me.

Afam pointing out that the jacket the woman had on has zippers that take off the bottom of her jacket. Hilarious.

Gotta call a spade a spade....

[Princess Sparkle]

I can’t even describe how hard I laughed at Adam’s “I’m surprised you thought condoms were his thing” when talking about Kid Rock. 

[Mumbles]

Caroline Rhea is such a hack. “I am in a movie where I have sex with hot guys....so it’s science fiction.” Get back to the brick-wall Ha Ha Hut.

Couldnt stand the top row. Cheryl was lit and when she’s lit she can get screechy. Love Mario and Ana, esp when Ana goes against whatever the show expects her to answer.

[readster]

Just when you think the contestants can't give very stupid answers (mom of 5 at least had an excuse). But really? Crayons? Condoms? Seriously people, how do any of you have careers and home lives?

[Racj82]

Are you related to Deric?

I loved the panel a lot even James and Anna were almost useless. But these contestants man. Wow. Maybe I would freeze up there and be stupid too but damn.

[vb68]

I need Anthony Anderson on here every week berating these dumb as a rock contestants and their stoopid answers.  I would love to see him do it without a network censor, too.

Anna seemed like alien from outer space for most of it, but I loved her blow fish answer.

How did no one come up with "Animal House"?  Jack even missed it. 

[Racj82]

29 minutes ago, vb68 said:

I need Anthony Anderson on here every week berating these dumb as a rock contestants and their stoopid answers.  I would love to see him do it without a network censor, too.

Anna seemed like alien from outer space for most of it, but I loved her blow fish answer.

How did no one come up with "Animal House"?  Jack even missed it. 

Honestly animal House never crossed my mind once. I kept thinking animal planet. 

[vb68]

8 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

Honestly animal House never crossed my mind once. I kept thinking animal planet. 

I thought Animal House was really obvious, and with Jack's comedy background he should have gotten it.

[Racj82]

8 minutes ago, vb68 said:

I thought Animal House was really obvious, and with Jack's comedy background he should have gotten it.

It's a nearly 40 year old movie. Might not jump to everyone's minds right away. Popularity or not. 

Animal was one of the more difficult ones in that round. Could go to a bunch of different places.