Line #34 Trivia/MatchGame


1	----
2	!General trivia:
3	* The 1990 revival is, to date, the last daytime game show to air on ABC.
4	----
5	!Specific trivia:
6	* AdoredByTheNetwork:
7	** Creator/{{Buzzr}} absolutely ''adores'' this series. The show airs repeatedly at all times of the day, whether it be the CBS version, ''PM'', or ''Series/TheMatchGameHollywoodSquaresHour''.
8	** While it only airs for an hour on weekdays, this is still one of only two pre-1999 game shows to still air on Creator/GameShowNetwork (the other one currently being ''Series/WhatsMyLine'', which airs in the early morning hours).
9	* DescendedCreator: A couple of times when Charles was late to the studio, producer Creator/MarkGoodson sat in his place.
10	* DuelingShows: With ''Series/TheHollywoodSquares'', which inevitably led to ''Series/TheMatchGameHollywoodSquaresHour''.
11	* EditedForSyndication: As of 2022, Buzzr airings edit out Johnny Olson's "stay tuned for ''Series/{{Tattletales}}''" announcement during the credits; this is indicated by a jump in the music. Buzzr also removes the sponsor plugs at the end of ''PM'' episodes, skipping directly to the credits.
12	* FollowTheLeader: Creator/JackBarry-Dan Enright productions copied the format pretty blatantly with ''Hollywood Connection'' (1977-78), which was pretty much ''Match Game'' but with questions about the celebrities instead of fill-in-the-blank. ''Yahtzee'' (1988) was basically ''Match Game'' [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace WITH DICE!]]
13	* HeyItsThatSound: For the 1990 version, the sound the Star Wheel made when descending from the rafters of the studio was previously used on another ABC/Goodson series, ''Series/TriviaTrap'', in reverse (as the sound made when the bank of monitors ascended during the [[BonusRound Trivia Ladder]]).
14	* HostilityOnTheSet: In 1976, Richard Dawson landed a hosting gig on ''Series/FamilyFeud''. Initially he was content to be doing both series simultaneously. However by 1978, Richard started experiencing burnout, and became detached in his role as panelist, often giving blunt one-word answers (at least once, he notably refused to smile even when Rayburn all but demanded him to). Part of this appears to have stemmed from his inability (unlike on the ''Feud'', where he had sweeping powers to overrule the judges and the timekeepers) to contest rulings he disliked, which most famously resulted in the "School Riot" (where his answer of "finishing school" was ruled not a match by the judges, who ''did'' accept "college" and "''scuba diving'' school" - the contestant had said simply "school"). The addition of the 'Star Wheel', in June [[FromBadToWorse eliminated his specialty spot as the panelist most chosen for the Head-to-head Match, which further disillusioned him]]. By August, he was gone, never to return.
15	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
16	** The 1960s version was destroyed by NBC, and only 11 episodes exist, including the pilot, which is now in the public domain and can be downloaded for free [[https://archive.org/details/The_Match_Game_Pilot here]].
17	** The Star Wheel years of CBS version rarely airs, especially the episodes after Dawson left.
18	** Both 1990s revivals are currently absent from television, with 1990-91 version having seen airtime on GSN from 2002-2004. The 1998-99 version has only appeared on TV ''once''[[note]]aside from various blooper specials[[/note]] after its cancellation -- a special GSN marathon celebrating the ''Match Game'' franchise's 50th anniversary in 2012.
19	* MissingEpisode: GSN and Buzzr have skipped over a few episodes due to misplaced/broken tapes. Some more are skipped due to no-longer-PC content, and still more are skipped due to celebrities refusing to give clearance to their appearances.
20	* NoBudget: The 1998 version, which offered a "top prize" of $5,000, even though previous versions went as high as $20,000. The set also reeked of cheapness; no turntables or score displays (in fact the only thing on the set that moved was the sliding doors through which Burger made his entrances).
21	* OutOfOrder: The two halves of the July 10, 2016 episode were broadcast the other way around than how they were actually filmed. Although this may have been, presumably, to put a Super Match win at the end of the show, it also explains why the audience was laughing so hard at the question involving Tituss Burgess's pinot noir in the "first" game, because he had [[BrickJoke brought up pinot noir earlier as a guess in the "second"]]. Based on how it aired, most viewers probably assumed that the guess was actually a CallBack to the first game.
22	* ThePeteBest: Jack Klugman. Jack agreed to appear during the first week of ''Match Game 73'' on the condition that they bring his then wife on a later week as a celebrity. Her name - Brett Somers (Klugman).
23	* ProductionPosse: A ''lot'' of the celebrities on the Baldwin version- Jack [=McBrayer=], Jane Krakowski, Titess Burgess- appeared at some point on ''Series/ThirtyRock'' (they never mention it, though).
24	* RealSongThemeTune: The NBC version used Bert Kaempfert's "A Swingin' Safari". The 1962 pilot used Billy Vaughn's cover of the same song.
25	* ReferencedBy:
26	** ''Series/DragRace'': "Snatch Game", an innuendo-packed ''Match Game'' parody in which the competing {{Drag Queen}}s impersonate celebrities, has become a standard OnceASeason feature across the whole SeriesFranchise.
27	** In ''Literature/ExperimentalFilm'', Clark recites along to ''Match Game'' while his father dresses him.
28	** ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Bart Gets Famous" (Season 5, Ep. 12), Bart imagines he's one of the panelists on "Match Game 2034" with Creator/BillyCrystal, Creator/FarrahFawcett-[[OverlyLongName Majors-O'Neal-Varney]], Loni Anderson, Creator/SpikeLee, and he crushes Kitty Carlisle's head, uttering his catchphrase "I didn't do it!"
29	** ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': The AprilFoolsEpisode has a segment that parodies ''Match Game'' called ''Match Play''.
30	* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: The current ABC revival finally succeeded in doing this. Three revivals prior to that, counting ''Series/TheMatchGameHollywoodSquaresHour'', didn't even last a full year. From 1999 until 2016, any further attempts, for one reason or another, just did not get off the ground.
31	** Gene Rayburn was slated to host a revival planned for the 1985-86 season. When ''Series/EntertainmentTonight'' wished Gene a happy birthday and revealed his age, all plans were dropped (he ended up hosting -- and then quitting -- the train-wreck that was ''[[Series/BreakTheBank1985 Break the Bank]]''). Another revival was planned for 1987, also with Rayburn as host, but, possibly also thanks to the above reason, the series never surfaced. (Aside from ''Bank'' the only other show Rayburn ended up hosting after his age reveal was Creator/{{AMC}}'s ''The Movie Masters'', which ran for just under six months from 1989-90.)
32	** An unsold pilot, ''[=MG2=]: [[AllLowercaseLetters the match game]]'', was taped in 1996 with Charlene Tilton (who appeared as a panelist late in the 1973-82 run) as host. Elements from this pilot were later incorporated into the 1998 revival. Wink Martindale [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVo2WajBd5I uploaded the pilot]] to [=YouTube=] in 2018.
33	** Fremantle shot a pilot for Creator/{{Fox}} in 2004, an updated version called ''What the Blank?!'' Mixing elements of ''Series/StreetSmarts'' into the game, it was [[ScrewedByTheNetwork canceled abruptly]] before it aired. Notably, Randy West- who wrote a biography on Johnny Olson, interacts with the fandom frequently, and was known for announcing ''Series/SupermarketSweep''- announced the pilot.
34	** Creator/{{TBS}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKkz1PDOP5c tried their hand]] in 2008, taping two pilots which included [[Series/TheSarahSilvermanProgram Sarah Silverman]] and [[Series/TheKidsInTheHall Scott Thompson]] on the panel. Basing its set and gameplay after the 1973-78 versions (albeit with the Super Match reworked to be similar to ''Series/FamilyFeud''[='s=] Fast Money round), it was rejected in favor of ''Lopez Tonight''. Thompson would later be a panelist on the [[Creator/TheComedyNetwork Comedy Network]] version in Canada.
35	* ScrewedByTheNetwork: More often than you may think.
36	** NBC canned the original not because of ratings (which were still very good), but because it wanted to revitalize its lineup. The replacement, ''[[Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn Letters to Laugh-In]]'', bombed within three months.
37	** CBS moved the show from 3:30 PM to 11:00 AM on November 7, 1977 - then to 4:00 PM on December 19. The first change was bad enough, but the second ''really'' killed it and Dawson's departure in mid-1978 didn't help matters. Altogether, the show lasted 16 months following the move to 4:00.
38	** The first ABC version was slotted at Noon, forcing affiliates to choose between it and local news or other programming. Most chose the latter option, a fate the previous entry in the Noon slot, ''Series/RyansHope'', had also suffered.
39	** The Alec Baldwin ABC version was hit with this hard during its final years. The final season was recorded in 2019, but didn't air until '''two years later''', despite much of ABC's schedule being reliant on game shows in the wake of COVID. And then, the show was unceremoniously pulled after only a few weeks, one of which was a repeat of an older episode. Most of that final season ''still'' hasn't aired as of late 2023.
40	* UnCancelled: The original series, ''and how.'' NBC canned the show due to low ratings, so with six weeks left to be taped Goodson decided to approve a suggestion by one of the question writers ([[http://gizwizbiz.squarespace.com/match-game-memories/ Dick DeBartolo]], then and now a ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' writer) to start using more silly questions, under the logic that they could get away with it because ''The Match Game''[='s=] fate was sealed and NBC couldn't cancel it twice. It turned out that the sillier questions resulted in the show being more fun, and drew a '''lot''' more viewers to [[GoneHorriblyRight the point where the network reversed the cancellation]].
41	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
42	** Bert Convy, who had been a panelist on the 1970s version and the host of fellow Goodson-produced shows ''Series/{{Tattletales}}'' and ''[[Series/{{Password}} Super Password]]'', was tapped to host the pilot week for what became the 1990-91 series. Convy ''did'' host said pilots, but turned down the series once he was diagnosed with a brain tumor (which eventually took his life).
43	** On the last episode of the 1990-91 series, Ross Shafer hinted that they'd be back at "another time, another channel, very shortly". What he was alluding to was the fact that, behind the scenes, Creator/{{CBS}} was interested in [[ChannelHop picking up the series for a second season]], which would've replaced Ray Combs' ''Series/FamilyFeud''. Unfortunately, it never came to pass.
44	** Orson Bean was invited to be a regular panelist for the 1970s version, but Mark Goodson vetoed him as a regular because he was still mad at him for abrutly leaving ''Series/ToTellTheTruth'' to move to Australia. His place was ultimately taken by Richard Dawson.
45	* WrittenInInfirmity: Richard Dawson wore tinted glasses during his final two weeks, as he was recovering from an eye injury. He also wore them on ''Series/FamilyFeud'' around the same time, for the same reason.

Context Trivia / MatchGame