Match Game - enough already?

[TroubadourNando]

Could they maybe run the Shafer version again to spice things up? Probably. But it's already been said: MG is the most bankable thing they hold, and probably always will be unless they somehow get Price back in the future.

/Wishes those words were the only mention of Price in this....

[calliaume]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' post=\'196814\' date=\'Sep 10 2008, 03:34 PM\']
So when I found out there would be a GSN, and MG would be one of the shows, I was elated - it was so cool finally watching a full episode.

14 years later, the charm has largely worn off for me, too. Like others have said, some of the MG clips have been run to death so much I no longer find them funny (see also "September, "France/French"). I have the DVD set but my MG interest has been downgraded to "passing".
[/quote]
Many many moons ago (1996?), most of us didn't have GSN.  And, for about two or three days, some property was streaming GSN on the net.  You can't imagine the thrill I got watching Card Sharks or Match Game for the first time in years, even if it was on a screen the size of a postage stamp and it took an hour and a half to watch a half-hour show (my computer at the time was slooooow).

Yeah, I got sick of a lot of those episodes around 2003 or so.  (I did make a brief effort to introduce Danny to "Uncle Bill" while he was still in diapers, but he was more interested in Baby Einstein.)

To me, it's like comfort food.  I know the shows will be there, and when Karen and I are watching TV together and flipping around, we'll always stop at GSN for a few seconds -- longer if it's something we both like (Match Game, To Tell the Truth, Lingo, Child's Play).  (Did I mention I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the world?)  I'm just happy they're archived -- I never thought, when I got the first EOTVGS in 1987, that I'd ever see most of them again.

[toddyo]

Frankly, MG isn't as worn out as Millionaire. I wish that GSN would let Millionaire fade to black for a while. I was home, during the day a few weeks ago, and saw the promo with the TPiR bug and my jaw dropped. I hadn't seen the logo on GSN in years. I was hoping it was promoting a return to the schedule.

There are some shows that could be aired. The Joker's Wild and Hollywood Square finds went off as fast as they went on. I'm happy that Russian Roulette is back in the mix. Remove Whammy and air Now you see it during the weekends. I wouldn't mind seeing Jackpot, Treasure Hunt or, if they even exists, Three on a Match. I'd even go for a true run of the Dating Game.  But....MG isn't as burned out as Millionaire. It's getting there but there are enough episodes.

[GameShowGuru]

Like most people here, I am Match Game fatigued, but maybe fatigued isn't an accurate word, since I stopped watching MG on a regular basis in 2005.  More accurately, I am Match Game satisfied.  I have seen and taped my fill of episodes.  Granted, there's 1-2 eps I would like to have in my collection, but if I don't get them for whatever reason, it's no big deal.

I remember watching MG as a kid, and I really was too young to fully understand the show; I just remember the *blanks*, the spinny box, the confederate flag set, and the funky wank guitar theme music.  As a teen and young adult, I yearned for the show to return to the air (I didn't even know until many years later that there was a Match Game '90).  

When GSN began in '94, I wanted my cable system to get the show so bad, they didn't get GSN until late '99 via digital cable.  Until then, I had to settle for Internet sound bites of the show thanks to Chris Lambert's and Mike Klauss' web sites (and getting up at 3:30 in the morning to watch Match Game '98 on WGN).

When we did get GSN, I taped a whole slew of shows on VHS from 1999-2005.  I got the DVD box set when it became available.  I loved and talked about Match Game so much that my friends thought I was a little too obsessed with the show.

Long story short, between GSN, Youtube, and the DVD set, I have had more than my fill of Match Game and essentially don't watch the show anymore, except on rare occasions.

[Jimmy Owen]

I don't watch GSN all the time, so I'm not burned out on them.  Even though I saw  most of the CBS run the first time around, I couldn't tell you with accuracy what's gonna transpire on any given show. Still a fun show to watch today. I hope it will be on the GSN sked for a long time to come.

[Ian Wallis]

But for nostalgia's sake...Wasn't it something back in 1994 when GSN first came on and we got to see all these shows..Nothing but good memories

/Had his old A-V club advisor set the school satellite dish to G7-6 for me when GSN came out

Definately was.  My dish hardly moved from G7-6 for about six years!

When it began, I was most looking forward to seeing the '70s and '80s shows I grew up with, but over the years my appreciation has grown greatly for what came before that.  GSN may not be what we all want it to be, and most of us probably think it could be better than it is, but I'm glad it's been there; it's been a treat to have around all of these years.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'197231\' date=\'Sep 14 2008, 05:52 PM\']

But for nostalgia's sake...Wasn't it something back in 1994 when GSN first came on and we got to see all these shows..Nothing but good memories
/Had his old A-V club advisor set the school satellite dish to G7-6 for me when GSN came out

Definately was.  My dish hardly moved from G7-6 for about six years![/quote]
Ah, yes.  There are seven letters in Goodson (G-7), there are six letters in Todman (T-6).  I never found out whether that was deliberate, but it was wonderful.

I had only recently taken my present job as telecommunications director for our school district, and I had four brand new satellite dishes to play with.  I played with three of them.  The other was not to be touched.  G-7.  T-6.  Nothing else.  

Luckily, I had an understanding boss.

[Neumms]

Something else to consider is that cable channels still run "MASH," still run Andy Griffith, still run "The Brady Bunch." Rerunning Match Game, especially with, how many, 200 episodes a year for seven years, isn't so bad. Not that a viewer doesn't drift away and drift back every so often.

[Ian Wallis]

Something else to consider is that cable channels still run "MASH," still run Andy Griffith, still run "The Brady Bunch." Rerunning Match Game, especially with, how many, 200 episodes a year for seven years, isn't so bad. Not that a viewer doesn't drift away and drift back every so often.

That is a good point, and sometimes I like watching an old episode of "The Brady Bunch", especially since I haven't really seen the show (except for the Christmas episode) for several years now; but another thing to consider is that those shows have bounced around to different cable channels over the years.  As soon as the contract expires on one (or maybe the ratings drop) it winds up on another channel somewhere else that's looking for programming.  With shows like "Match Game", there really is nowhere else to go, is there?  It's unlikely a channel like TVLand would ever pick it up if GSN decided not to air it anymore.

[gamed121683]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'197285\' date=\'Sep 15 2008, 05:50 PM\']

Something else to consider is that cable channels still run "MASH," still run Andy Griffith, still run "The Brady Bunch." Rerunning Match Game, especially with, how many, 200 episodes a year for seven years, isn't so bad. Not that a viewer doesn't drift away and drift back every so often.

That is a good point, and sometimes I like watching an old episode of "The Brady Bunch", especially since I haven't really seen the show (except for the Christmas episode) for several years now; but another thing to consider is that those shows have bounced around to different cable channels over the years.  As soon as the contract expires on one (or maybe the ratings drop) it winds up on another channel somewhere else that's looking for programming.  With shows like "Match Game", there really is nowhere else to go, is there?  It's unlikely a channel like TVLand would ever pick it up if GSN decided not to air it anymore.
[/quote]

Seeing what TV Land is doing with it's lineup these days, there's no way in H-E-double hockey sticks they would air a show like "Match Game". Even shows from the 70's are becoming "too ancient" for them now. Why a network would dump what brought them to prominence in the first place for a new direction is beyond me, but I digress.

Speaking of which, I noticed that GSN has changed the look of there TV ratings symbol at the start of there shows. It might be just me, but I sort of feel like I'm watching the "old" TV Land with the new rating look. You know, back when TVL's niche was a balance of classics that have all from disappeared from syndication ("Mannix" and "That Girl", anybody?), "retromercials" and very short-lived rarities. MAN, I miss those days...

[PYLdude]

[quote name=\'gamed121683\' post=\'197287\' date=\'Sep 15 2008, 05:05 PM\']
Seeing what TV Land is doing with it's lineup these days, there's no way in H-E-double hockey sticks they would air a show like "Match Game".
[/quote]

Don't say never.

If Viacom wants to put out the money for the broadcast rights, then they'll do it.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'197288\' date=\'Sep 15 2008, 03:30 PM\']
Don't say never.

If Viacom wants to put out the money for the broadcast rights, then they'll do it.[/quote]
I think his point (and it's a valid one) is that Viacom's only going to do that if they would turn a profit from doing so, and the chances of a profit being turned from that are very, *very* low.

[uncamark]

In TVL's defense, any channel like it should be evolving its lineup over the years to take in a new decade and a new audience.  I can also admire their stated purpose to be a channel for the aging Boomers who are being forgotten by the competition, so I can forgive them the reality shows like "America's Next Top Over-35 Model," uh, "She's Got the Look."

But do they really think that "Scrubs" is gong to do it?  I still can't figure that one out.  And why should TVL be airing a series that is still in general cash-plus syndication on broadcast TV?

[PYLdude]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'197290\' date=\'Sep 15 2008, 06:05 PM\']
[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'197288\' date=\'Sep 15 2008, 03:30 PM\']
Don't say never.

If Viacom wants to put out the money for the broadcast rights, then they'll do it.[/quote]
I think his point (and it's a valid one) is that Viacom's only going to do that if they would turn a profit from doing so, and the chances of a profit being turned from that are very, *very* low.
[/quote]

Maybe so, but I sure didn't get that from what he said.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'197352\' date=\'Sep 16 2008, 11:04 AM\']
Maybe so, but I sure didn't get that from what he said.[/quote]
And maybe you're right and he didn't mean that, but reading between the lines can be pretty dangerous.