Match Game '12

[TLEberle]

When in doubt just remember that Dan Benfield passed on Wheel of Fortune.

[WarioBarker]

I would say that by the time you get to 78-81, most of the "fun" was gone. Keep in mind that during that period, they cut out a lot of the banter during the panel's writing time, so it seems that they tried to add more game to the show with little success.

I thought it was the 1979-82 daily series that had to be edited down, since they had to play six full games each week.

Maybe it's just me, but I liked the 90-91 format because it found a way to condense one game into a half hour without making the format stale (the years with 3 rounds of matching were too much for me).

I like the 1990-91 series as well despite its flaws, and loved watching it when I had GSN, but in hindsight I think the game ending through Match-Up kind of missed the point. Whereas Round 3 of PM was another set of silly questions and rotten answers, Match-Up was a serious rapid-fire timed 50/50 variation on the Head-to-Head Match. It wasn't out of place from a format standpoint, mind you, but for me it made the regular questions look like an afterthought and seemed to break the show into "silly-serious-silly-serious-serious" when it really wasn't supposed to be serious until the Super Match (and especially the Head-to-Head Match).

Thinking about it again, I think the 1975-76 PM format was probably the best at being self-contained while keeping plenty of time for banter and jokes...although from what I've read, there was too much stalling in Season 1 and hence the third round was added.

So now we're using the 98-99 series as a measuring stick for how Match Game should be? For every one thing the series did right, there were two things they botched.

IMO, the 1998-99 series did prove that the 1973-78 daytime format could work in a self-contained manner, albeit with one less panelist, categories for the questions, and a strange "double points" rule for Round 2. It sure as hell isn't any sort of "measuring stick" for the franchise, though, given all its flaws; still had its fun moments, though.

[whewfan]

While Match Up was a bit out of place for MG, I think the Canadian version did it right by only having ONE Match Up round.

I know many of us didn't like the Match Up round. Originally MG 90 was to have 3 rounds and no Match Up, and IMO that would've been fine. However, MG 98 perfectly illustrated why the Match Up round would've made the game more fair. On MG 98, just like MG 90, all celebs played both rounds. However, with MG 98's scoring format, there was little room for error. On the original MG, you only had to match each celebrity ONCE. With MG 98 you pretty much had to match the celebs TWICE in order to get a decent score. Pearson noticed that there wasn't a lot of "matching" on MG, so they ordered that the questions be made easier to score more matches. Furthermore, we saw everyone huddling together and making it blatantly obvious that they all have the same answers, which made everything look ridiculous, and also predictable. So, in most cases, either the contestant matched everyone or nobody. With a Match Up round, that would've made up for a flawed scoring system. (Perhaps each Match Up would be worth 3 points)

[Dbacksfan12]

when it really wasn't supposed to be serious until the Super Match (and especially the Head-to-Head Match).

Match Game.  Serious Business.

[vtown7]

From a friend that works in the Canadian media industry: Match Game Canada audience is ranging from 54K-126K during its 8pm airing and averaging 90-100K.  He tells me "well, it's not as bad as I thought it might be".

Ryan.

[TLEberle]

From a friend that works in the Canadian media industry: Match Game Canada audience is ranging from 54K-126K during its 8pm airing and averaging 90-100K.  He tells me "well, it's not as bad as I thought it might be".

Can Canadian television sustain itself if the equivalent of PEI tunes in but nobody else does?

[Ian Wallis]

What I find with some of the head-to-head match questions are that there are too many possible answers.

One they had last week was "Halloween _____ "

You would think of things like "party", "candy", "costume", "mask", etc.  On the 7x version, it seemed like there were usually two really good answers to choose from, rather than having several.  YMMV

[TLEberle]

You would think of things like

I thought of one answer. The rest are also-rans and far back from the leader at that.

[clemon79]

The rest are also-rans and far back from the leader at that.

I immediately thought of the first three Ian mentioned, with equal weight. (Maybe "party" is a couple steps back.) But "costume" vs. "candy" is a total toss-up, IMO.

[Kniwt]

A bunch of episodes are showing up now on the youtubes. Here are 11 of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esDPpmkmLFw&playnext=1&list=PL8HEdKtwEuLhfLiWtFeWJtYPlEwtMbL7h

[tvwxman]

He's an awful announcer...very lethargic....and i'm just not crazy about the host - also - seems too laid back.

[bwood]

He's an awful announcer...very lethargic....and i'm just not crazy about the host - also - seems too laid back.

Isn't the host and announcer one and the same? That's the vibe I got. Might be wrong. I haven't watched a lot of this to know for sure. To me, they sound similar and the announcer does not introduce the host.

[tvwxman]

He's an awful announcer...very lethargic....and i'm just not crazy about the host - also - seems too laid back.

Isn't the host and announcer one and the same? That's the vibe I got. Might be wrong. I haven't watched a lot of this to know for sure. To me, they sound similar and the announcer does not introduce the host.

Could be. i noticed similarities - probably.

They still both need work.

[chris319]

What I find with some of the head-to-head match questions are that there are too many possible answers.

One they had last week was "Halloween _____ "

You would think of things like "party", "candy", "costume", "mask", etc.  On the 7x version, it seemed like there were usually two really good answers to choose from, rather than having several.  YMMV

It's how they keep the prize budget low. On the CBS version the questions varied depending on whether they were over or under the prize budget.

Have they adjusted the emcee language so he doesn't tell the contestant they've "won" money in Super Match but haven't really won it unless they also win the head-to-head?

[golden-road]

What I find with some of the head-to-head match questions are that there are too many possible answers.

One they had last week was "Halloween _____ "

You would think of things like "party", "candy", "costume", "mask", etc.  On the 7x version, it seemed like there were usually two really good answers to choose from, rather than having several.  YMMV

It's how they keep the prize budget low. On the CBS version the questions varied depending on whether they were over or under the prize budget.

Have they adjusted the emcee language so he doesn't tell the contestant they've "won" money in Super Match but haven't really won it unless they also win the head-to-head?

They have. He says "if you match the most popular answer, you play for $2000".