Season 1-3 Discussion

[alexa]

I love Jack McBrayer.  I had no idea who he was before...but he is great at this game.

[Mumbles]

Jack manages to be funny AND give answers that a contestant would give (ie he doesn't go for a cheap joke instead of a rational answer.)

[BW Manilowe]

4 hours ago, alexa said:

I love Jack McBrayer.  I had no idea who he was before...but he is great at this game.

Jack co-starred with Alec in 30 Rock which was on NBC. He played the studio/network page (& I think got an Emmy nomination or 2).

[alexa]

Funny enough I did see him in a commercial for the Odd Squad movie (a kids show on PBS)....so apparently he does some of that as well.  

[WAnglais1]

I was surprised half-term Governor Palin did pretty well. But, it may have been my bias, she appeared to have a puss on her face a good bit of the time. There must be a book or something coming out since she was willing to sit with the "Liberal Hollyweird Lamestream Celebrities."

[Jadzia]

5 hours ago, WAnglais1 said:

I was surprised half-term Governor Palin did pretty well. But, it may have been my bias, she appeared to have a puss on her face a good bit of the time. There must be a book or something coming out since she was willing to sit with the "Liberal Hollyweird Lamestream Celebrities."

I thought it seemed intentional that the panel also included noted conservative celebrities Kristen Chenowith and Leah Remini. I figured that Palin probably made that a condition of appearing, that she wasn't outnumbered as the sole Republican surrounded by Hollywood liberals.

She did pretty well and I was actually surprised she didn't go petty or political for the Hillary questions. I was expecting her to say something like Hillary would make "tax dollars", "jobs" or "Benghazi hearings" disappear.  I agree that "emails" would have been the obvious answer since that is what she is accused of deleting.

[peeayebee]

10 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Jack co-starred with Alec in 30 Rock which was on NBC. He played the studio/network page (& I think got an Emmy nomination or 2).

He's also been on Conan many times, hilarious always. He was great on Drunk History, and I also like him on The Middle, as the dentist Frankie works for.

[St. Claire]

I was not very familiar with Jack McBrayer before (having not watched "30 Rock"), but I would be totally happy to have him on pretty consistently. He has the right combination of amusing-but-spot on answers with occasional self-deprecating humor and an overall sense of the most entertaining way to play the game. 

[Wavy]

Are you sure Kristen Chenowith is Conservative?  She appeared in that "Fight Song" video shown at the DNC Convention.

[BW Manilowe]

2 minutes ago, Wavy said:

Are you sure Kristen Chenowith is Conservative?  She appeared in that "Fight Song" video shown at the DNC Convention.

I don't know of her politics. But I do know she's a very devout Christian who's also very pro-gay rights/"gay friendly".

[Wavy]

She calls herself a "Liberal Christian."

[theatremouse]

I thought Palin seemed a bit (but not too much) guarded. Like every time Alec talked to her she was maybe expecting a "gotcha" question and she was braced for it. She was not relaxed. But not distractingly so, and she participated adequately (where I'm currently judging "adequate" based on this iteration of the show).

Hell, she had a correct answer for the audience match. Before it happened I was genuinely concerned she might tank it, not intentionally, just by being bad at the game (which has happened with plenty of celebs and contestants alike). She looked surprised she got picked.

[peeayebee]

I don't like her, but she did do well on the show, better than some of the other guest stars.

[Blissfool]

I thought it was emails without a doubt. Landslide. Sweep the board. Landslide.  No question about it. We got a winner. No other possible answer. 

I'm probably wrong, but could it be that production is so heavily democratic that they were advised not to say emails. But then why even ask the question? 

[sugarbaker design]

If production was so heavily democratic, there wouldn't be a Hillary match at all.

[theatremouse]

Given it's a game show for a prize for the contestants, I don't think they're allowed to advise the panelists answers not to give. Quiz Show scandal whatnot.  (other than prohibited terms which would be bleeped anyway and for which there is almost definitely a suitable synonym that'd be considered a match).

I don't think shenanigans here. Emails was the obvious answer but for reasons unknown, no one said it.

Edited September 23, 2016 by theatremouse

[sugarbaker design]

9 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

Emails was the obvious answer but for reasons unknown, no one said it.

Dumb contestant, tactful celebs.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I thought it seemed intentional that the panel also included noted conservative celebrities Kristen Chenowith and Leah Remini. I figured that Palin probably made that a condition of appearing,

Interesting speculation but I wonder if maybe it's the other way around. I'm not sure Palin is such a huge draw for a show like this that they would have to capitulate to any of her demands or that they would even want to actively pursue her to appear. It may be more likely that she's got an agent working to get her in front of TV cameras as much as possible and offered her up for this show - and possibly some of the other celebrities refused to appear with her.

[jumper sage]

On 9/21/2016 at 1:13 PM, BW Manilowe said:

Jack co-starred with Alec in 30 Rock which was on NBC. He played the studio/network page (& I think got an Emmy nomination or 2).

He was also Penny's brother on the Big Bang Theory this week.

On 9/22/2016 at 8:05 PM, peeayebee said:

I don't like her, but she did do well on the show, better than some of the other guest stars.

I agree.

I was watching Match Game from the 70s with a very young looking Betty White - I like how throughout the game the host, Pat ?, was explaining that the first question is always harder than the second question and that each question has a clue to the answer right in it.  We need that.

[Browncoat]

Just catching up from ages ago, and I have to say that "pee-pee hole" is NOT the same as vagina.  The judges should not have even considered that to be a match.  And for a woman (who should know better) to beg the judges to allow it is jut wrong wrong wrong. 

[TheGreenKnight]

On ‎9‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 7:52 PM, jumper sage said:

He was also Penny's brother on the Big Bang Theory this week.

Yeah, that was the first time I'd seen him on anything besides Match Game.

[April Bloodgate]

On 9/25/2016 at 10:35 AM, Browncoat said:

Just catching up from ages ago, and I have to say that "pee-pee hole" is NOT the same as vagina.  The judges should not have even considered that to be a match.  And for a woman (who should know better) to beg the judges to allow it is jut wrong wrong wrong. 

I completely agree. It's a huge pet peeve of mine when people say that. Women do not pee out of their vagina. Also, use of "vagina" when you mean "vulva" bothers me too, but I think the pee thing is much more egregious. 

[St. Claire]

I was watching some episodes On Demand that I missed on first airing, and heard that Jack does a lot of voiceover work. When I looked him up on IMDB and told my kids that one of the panelists was Irving on "Phineas and Ferb," they started paying attention while each spoke- when Jack gave an answer, my daughter was all "OH MY GOSH, he does sound just like Irving!"

[jumper sage]

On 9/24/2016 at 9:52 PM, jumper sage said:

I was watching Match Game from the 70s with a very young looking Betty White - I like how throughout the game the host, Pat ?, was explaining that the first question is always harder than the second question and that each question has a clue to the answer right in it.  We need that.

It's 4:00 am and can't sleep.  Watching Bzzr and Match Game from the 70s.  They all smoked.  How weird to see that today.  The current show has them all drinking and I did not see that on the old show.

The question was:  My crazy husband, the hunter, went down to Plains Georgia and now we have BLANK over the fireplace.  

I got it right!

Spoiler

Billy Carter

[needschocolate]

I noticed this show was on my DVR and finally watched it.  

I thought beaver and emails were obvious, and was surprised no one said them.  I think there must be a better answer to the football question than the ones given, but haven't thought of one.  

On 9/26/2016 at 10:30 AM, April Bloodgate said:

I completely agree. It's a huge pet peeve of mine when people say that. Women do not pee out of their vagina. Also, use of "vagina" when you mean "vulva" bothers me too, but I think the pee thing is much more egregious. 

Huge pet peeve of mine, too.  When my kids were small, there was a lot of talk (parenting books and magazines, talk shows)  on how important it was to teach your children the proper names for body parts.  The most often cited reason was so they could properly describe what happened if they were ever molested.  It was easy for boys, not so for girls.  I knew a lot of moms who taught their daughters that their genitals were their vagina.  All these little girls thinking they peed out of their vaginas.  I would used "vulva" with my daughters but our best friends had just bought a Volvo and I thought there would be confusion and way too much snickering every time someone mentioned the car.  

Instead, we gave it a cutesy name, but I explained that,  just like your hand has different parts, that area has different parts, too.  (Also explained that their tummies have different parts so they would know that you don't grow a baby in your stomach).

[Fable]

4 hours ago, needschocolate said:

I thought beaver and emails were obvious, and was surprised no one said them.  I think there must be a better answer to the football question than the ones given, but haven't thought of one.

For the football penalty one, I thought holding.  

[sugarbaker design]

Unnecessary roughness.

[smittykins]

According to an interview I read many years ago, it wasn't until she was on MG that she even knew she's dyslexic.  Apparently, in school she was considered a you're-smart-but-you-don't-apply-yourself type(I don't know how much was known about dyslexia then), and was told "You can't be a writer, you can't even spell."  Anyway, she received a fan letter from a teacher who said, "You do so well even though you're dyslexic," and Fannie was like, "I'm who?" and finally got tested.

[jumper sage]

Still watching the old show on Buzzr.  For the final 2 questions the host explains, after of course, that the first question where the contestant picks three celebs and picks one answer to match to get the money level;

Example:  Blank checker

The highest money answer was Chubby for Chubby Checker.

Now the contestant has to pick one celeb and match for the big money.

Example from the Chubby Checker:  Blank deaf

The answer was Tone Deaf and the host explained to the audience that the first question's best answer is a clue to the big money question.

Interesting!

[Irlandesa]

Match Game and To Tell The Truth are coming back this winter.  Match Game comes back on Jan. 4th.  that makes me happy.

[smittykins]

I just bought The Matchless Gene Rayburn by Adam Nedeff on Amazon.  A very interesting read.

[smittykins]

The infamous "School Riot" episode of MG77 was just on GSN.

[Arcadiasw]

Match Game is returning on Jan 4th. I'm glad it's back earlier than I thought it would be.

[jumper sage]

On 11/25/2016 at 8:51 AM, smittykins said:

The infamous "School Riot" episode of MG77 was just on GSN.

Thanks for the video, fantastic!  I would think any kind of school would work.  It really got out of hand.

[smittykins]

From what I've read, the contestant was allowed to come back on a later episode.

[TheLastKidPicked]

I hesitate to bring you all down by saying this, but one of the lines from Gene's daughter in Behind the Blank was about when the show went off the air:

"He slowly killed himself by doing nothing for the next 15 years."

It demonstrates that you can have the world on a string, but when it's over, it's over.

Thank goodness we can watch the time capsule in reruns.

Edited December 14, 2016 by TheLastKidPicked

[TheLastKidPicked]

You know who was an amazing celebrity panelist?  Morey Amsterdam.

He always had a quick joke, but never drew attention to himself.

Richard Deacon was another one.  Just funny, without needing to hog the spotlight.

(As the younger people on this board open a new window to google Morey Amsterdam and Richard Deacon).

[Mumbles]

Agreed on both Morey Amsterdam and Richard Deacon (I knew the former from Dick Van Dyke but had to Google the latter.) 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.) Joey Bishop was always funny because he would get so genuinely upset when the audience booed a bad answer by him.

[MarkHB]

The show is back tonight!

[mtlchick]

It's Raining...GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZED TAMPONS!

 

That's either the greatest or worst response ever from Ellie Kemper.  And yet so Kimmy Schmidt. 

[Irlandesa]

41 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

It's Raining...GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZED TAMPONS!

That's either the greatest or worst response ever from Ellie Kemper.  And yet so Kimmy Schmidt. 

As soon as she said it, I absolutely loved it.  Sure, it was a stretch to be matched (although I might argue that "money" and Ellie's response could be considered a match) but goodness I found it and the audience response delightful.

I also loved that they went to bat for banana hammock and panties, although I agreed with Wayne that it was a poor question semantically.  The responses were more towards transgender/transvestite/cross-dressing than "bi" but the question definitely led them in that direction.  I can't even think of a stereotype for "bi."

[peeayebee]

I think that Caroline Rhea looks like the love child of Rosie O'Donnell and Louie Anderson.

As usual, Alec had some great lines. The best one was after Caroline talked about how breastfeeding wasn't easy. -- "Yeah yeah yeah boo hoo, what's your answer?"

I didn't like the question about it raining what women really want. I decided to be serious and said "good friends."

[Mumbles]

....I wanted one of the women to step up and answer "Respect." Chocolate was such a corny answer.

And yes, the bi-curious joke was poorly formed.

Interestingly, someone asked Rosie O'Donbell if she was going to be on the new batch of shows. She cryptically added that she would not be, because she was "too bossy." I wonder what the story is behind that. She later added that she wasn't crazy about the questions. She would have hated that bi-curious question, with good reason.

[starri]

Who knew that Cheryl Hines would turn out to be so good at this?

[mtlchick]

Quote

I also loved that they went to bat for banana hammock and panties, although I agreed with Wayne that it was a poor question semantically.  The responses were more towards transgender/transvestite/cross-dressing than "bi" but the question definitely led them in that direction.

It reminded me of a "30 Rock" line when Jack sets Liz up on a date with a woman because her shoes looked "bi-curious." As in "what does that even MEAN?"

 

Quote

She cryptically added that she would not be, because she was "too bossy." I wonder what the story is behind that.

Ooh, really? Now this is something I want to find out as she's great at it and is friends with Alec.  Maybe it was the writing (which admittedly can get stale pretty quickly.)

[Princess Sparkle]

It may have been lowbrow, but I busted out laughing when Ice-T answered "It's raining dicks, man!"  That man is a treasure. 

[starri]

I think I most want Neicy Nash back. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 1/2/2017 at 5:45 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.) Joey Bishop was always funny because he would get so genuinely upset when the audience booed a bad answer by him.

You sound like me... the celbrities who look like they're having fun are the most entertaining to watch.

[Scott]

This is one of my favorite episodes.  I think Ice T wins MVP for the night--he had some great lines.

[peeayebee]

He bugged me at first, but I ended up liking him here. One thing though is that it's freaky how much he looks like my BIL (who is white).