Match Game (Behinds the Blank) and Best of DVD

[FACEO15]

I am over from GSN, if you don't know who the hey I am!

Anyway, are you guys excited about these two specials that are happening.

One that we can buy and one we will see on GSN! This should be great. There also is a MG Marathon on GSN Saturday Night at 8:00PM till 11:00PM. Don't forget about the original Match Game at 3:30AM on Monday Morning!

This is going to be great!

[The Pyramids]

I'm interested in seeing how Richard Dawson looks and what he has to say. Buzzerblog.com says he's going to be on.

My copy of the B/W episode has the ending cut-off so I'm glad for the chance to see it again.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'PaulD\' post=\'138217\' date=\'Nov 18 2006, 06:05 PM\']
I'm interested in seeing how Richard Dawson looks and what he has to say. Buzzerblog.com says he's going to be on.[/quote]
Richard Dawson's interviews were clearly conducted some time ago, probably around the time when GSN was just getting started and getting comments from all the icons they could get their hands on.

[itiparanoid13]

I have the DVD of the documentary, and I'll watch it when I can (My work schedule DJing has been really busy), but if I had to guess, I'd say it's old footage.  I'm curious if I typed if it was new footage or old, because I certainly don't remember.  Regardless, I'll tell you how the documentary is sometime this weekend if anyone cares.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'138219\' date=\'Nov 18 2006, 06:25 PM\']
Richard Dawson's interviews were clearly conducted some time ago, probably around the time when GSN was just getting started and getting comments from all the icons they could get their hands on.
[/quote]

I would assume Gene's remarks are from about the same time?

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' post=\'138234\' date=\'Nov 19 2006, 12:00 AM\']
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'138219\' date=\'Nov 18 2006, 06:25 PM\']
Richard Dawson's interviews were clearly conducted some time ago, probably around the time when GSN was just getting started and getting comments from all the icons they could get their hands on.[/quote]I would assume Gene's remarks are from about the same time?[/quote]
Yep.

In a nutshell, the documentary is very, very watchable.  Fans like us will enjoy it, but when the shocking revelations include the fact that drinking went on during lunch and Richard was an unhappy jerk, understand that we're not going to learn anything new here.

Lots of people are featured in interviews, and it's sometimes hard to tell which ones were interviewed specifically for this project and which ones were taken from other sources.  On the positive side, you have insider recollections from Ira Skutch, Dick DeBartolo and talent coordinator Diane Janaver (who tells an interesting story about her speech to contestants on what words they can and can't say).  On the of-course-they-were-included side you have comments from Fred Wostbrock, Steve Beverly and Brett Somers (who's quoted frequently but really doesn't bring much to the tale).  On the "Huh?" side you have random and jarringly out of place comments from Bil Dwyer, Shandi Finnessey and Louie Anderson.  Useful celebrity comments come mostly from Jimmie Walker, Marcia Wallace and (far too infrequently) Betty White.  Oddly, Charles Nelson Reilly does not participate.

The Rayburn interview is treated like the Holy Grail of lost footage, which in some ways is cool but in some ways is just sorta silly.  They don't ignore his unhappy later life, which is admirable but bittersweet.  The preview copy does not include credits so I can't tell you who the dull narrator is, but I'm hoping against hope that the narration on the preview copy is a placeholder for a more lively voiceover in the final version.

In short, though there are some temporary effects that will be cleaned up in the final version, it's easy to see that this is a competent, slickly-made documentary that wouldn't seem out of place at all as a Biography or an E! True Hollywood Story.  I'm anxious to see what else this company comes up with.

[Jimmy Owen]

I was hoping for an interview with the desk clerk from that motel in Encino.

[xavier45]

From the press release Matt the narrator is listed as Jamie Farr. From what you say it sounds like this should be very enjoyable.

[uncamark]

Could've been worse in the "irrelevant pseudo-celeb" department.  Could've been Mel Peachey talking about her mum and dad watching "Blankety Blank" with Terry Wogan.  

[bandit_bobby]

There were a few surprises during this special. First, I saw of all people Steve Beverly. Second, I learned the specific details on how the Match Game Panel would look like each week.

[cweaver]

[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'138886\' date=\'Nov 27 2006, 11:47 AM\']
There were a few surprises during this special. First, I saw of all people Steve Beverly. Second, I learned the specific details on how the Match Game Panel would look like each week.
[/quote]

I saw one big surprise.  Many on the board (especially myself) have whined and moaned about the Endemol shows' tendencies to shut down and unravel when something goes astray of the plan during taping.  We pointed to the days when Gene would bang on the Super Match Board or play around with the sliding boards that held A and B, and the clip stayed in.  Well sure enough, along comes Marcia Wallace with a story--backed up by Brett Somers--about how one of her answers caused the Match Game taping to shut down and unravel.  So much for that comparison, though it was for a much different reason than the typical Endemol issues.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'138886\' date=\'Nov 27 2006, 07:47 AM\']
There were a few surprises during this special. First, I saw of all people Steve Beverly. [/quote]
If you were the least bit surprised at this, then you're living in an even more oblivious state than we thought.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'cweaver\' post=\'138890\' date=\'Nov 27 2006, 11:31 AM\']Well sure enough, along comes Marcia Wallace with a story--backed up by Brett Somers--about how one of her answers caused the Match Game taping to shut down and unravel.  So much for that comparison, though it was for a much different reason than the typical Endemol issues.[/quote]
The difference is the Match Game situation being an isolated incident, and so notable that it turned into an anecdote. Most traditional game shows had occasional screwups that caused stops, and even in the modern era, shows like Jeopardy and Hollywood Squares would think nothing of stopping for a moment if there was a problem.  The Endemol mindset is that a game can be done in bits and pieces and then put together in editing, and that stops can be done for the tiniest of reasons, like redoing a host's line reading.  

There's no question that the ultimate result -- when done correctly -- is a slicker product than it would be otherwise.  The question is whether it makes the show any better.  I personally think a lot of editing sucks the immediacy out of a game show, and that one of the great appeals of a show like that is the sense that it's happening in the moment.

[Clay Zambo]

[quote name=\'cweaver\' post=\'138890\' date=\'Nov 27 2006, 11:31 AM\']
Well sure enough, along comes Marcia Wallace with a story--backed up by Brett Somers--about how one of her answers caused the Match Game taping to shut down and unravel. [/quote]

(I've forgotten: did they do a re-take, or bleep Marcia's response from that show?)

(Edited to remove a duplication of Dr. Ottinger's earlier comment.)

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'138897\' date=\'Nov 27 2006, 11:32 AM\']
[quote name=\'cweaver\' post=\'138890\' date=\'Nov 27 2006, 11:31 AM\']Well sure enough, along comes Marcia Wallace with a story--backed up by Brett Somers--about how one of her answers caused the Match Game taping to shut down and unravel.  So much for that comparison, though it was for a much different reason than the typical Endemol issues.[/quote]
The difference is the Match Game situation being an isolated incident, and so notable that it turned into an anecdote. Most traditional game shows had occasional screwups that caused stops, and even in the modern era, shows like Jeopardy and Hollywood Squares would think nothing of stopping for a moment if there was a problem.  The Endemol mindset is that a game can be done in bits and pieces and then put together in editing, and that stops can be done for the tiniest of reasons, like redoing a host's line reading.  

There's no question that the ultimate result -- when done correctly -- is a slicker product than it would be otherwise.  The question is whether it makes the show any better.  I personally think a lot of editing sucks the immediacy out of a game show, and that one of the great appeals of a show like that is the sense that it's happening in the moment.
[/quote]

And I would personally love it if the computer that runs the "DOND" board broke down and that they would have to bring out a big piece of cardboard on an easel with the amounts written on it in Magic Marker, with Howie crossing each one out with another Magic Marker as each case opened--not to mention the Banker holding up a huge card with the offer written in Magic Marker from his booth.  That to me would be, if not great television, still very entertaining, because it's the feeling that something is actually happening and not being processed.