[quote name=\'PeterMarshallFan\' date=\'Oct 27 2003, 06:13 PM\'] Oct 31 1983: The first and only two-in-one game show ever, The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour, premieres on NBC, replacing the Peter Marshall/Leslie Uggams hosted Fantasy in the 3-4pm slot.
Hosting the new show are original MG host Gene Rayburn, who helmed the MG and Super Match portions, and rocker Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, formerly of Sha-Na-Na and The Pop 'N' Rocker Game in syndication.
The first panel of the series consisted of Alison Arngrim, Barbi Benton, Bill Daily, Twyla Littleton, Phil Proctor, Skip Stephenson, Tom Villard, and Jimmie Walker. Stephenson, Daily, and Walker were MG veterans; the others were new to the game.
Each episode began with two challengers playing Match Game. Gene Rayburn hosted this portion while Jon Bauman sat in the lower-left seat of the panel. Three rounds of classic MG were played, with the winner advancing to play against the returning champion from the previous day in a game of Hollywood Squares. In between games, Rayburn and Bauman switched places, so Gene played from the lower left square while Jon hosted. Some changes were made in the HS part that set it differently than the original Peter Marshall HS, which had wrapped up a 15-year run 2 years earlier. Each square was now worth cash in addition to a game win, and the values of the games opened at $100 and went up by that amount for each new game. Perhaps the most jarring difference, however, was the absence of the "can't give you that square, have to earn it yourself" rule, thus an incorrect answer would give your opponent the square even if it meant a win. Also, at Mark Goodson's insistance, bluffs were not provided for the celebrities, so to keep it lively comedic types like Gallagher, Arsenio Hall, and Fred Travalena were booked fairly often. Anyway, the player with the most money at the end of the game won and moved on to play Super Match. Gene and Jon switched places again, and some changes were made in the Super Match to incorporate nine celebrities instead of six. The round began with an Audience Match, with rules mostly unchanged except for the payoffs, which were raised to $1000, $500, and $250. After the Audience Match, the contestant got a chance to multiply the money tenfold, twentyfold, or even thirtyfold by choosing one celebrity. All nine had secret cards which concealed a multiplier number. On the board were four 10's, four 20's, and one 30, making the top possible prize $30,000. To win the money, the contestant had to match the star head-to-head on one final question.
During the run of the show, several contestants got a chance at the $30,000, and a few were lucky enough to win it. Two contestants even hit it and won it twice.
The show had an incredible theme song composed by Edd Kalehoff, which lives on to this day as a car cue on TPIR. The fee plugs are also heard for smaller items on TPIR from time to time.
The snazzy 80's set was designed by Dennis Roof. It featured a slick black floor and a video wall in the background that flashed and opened down the middle during the opening of the show, as well as displayed patterns during gameplay.
Unfortunately, despite fairly decent ratings, NBC canned the MG/HS Hour after nine months in favor of the soap Santa Barbara, which ran for 11 years. [/quote]
Pretty impressive, I must say!
Thanks, anyway, PMF...I'm kinda running short on GS milestones to report. Looks like I'm gonna hafta hit the books and bone up on some more research...
