'Never before seen' Match Game pilot?

[Fedya]

As JMFabino alluded to, GSN never seems to have had the rights to any daytime Wheel. Given this interview with Chuck circa 2004, it seems more likely that GSN just plucked episodes from the Paley Center.

I'm not sure of your point (I seldom am)

Oh, snap.

[Johnissoevil]

I enjoyed the entire marathon.  As a critic of MG 98, I actually enjoyed the episode they showed.  The pilots were a nice touch.  Always wanted to see a Convy pilot in its entirety.  Great job GSN.

[Yogi007]

I know that somebody here can answer this with ease...my wife would like to know if the "finishing school" guy was called back and played again due to what happened.  This is the first time she had seen that episode.

Thanks.

[BrandonFG]

I know that somebody here can answer this with ease...my wife would like to know if the "finishing school" guy was called back and played again due to what happened.  This is the first time she had seen that episode.

Don't hold me to this, but I want to say he was brought back, but was equally unremarkable in his return appearance.

[Adam Nedeff]

My not-a-game-show-fan mother watched with me and actually sided with the judge on that episode. "What we call a school and what we call a finishing school are two different institutions with different functions."

[tpirfan28]

It'll probably be up on YouTube soon, but how did Bert handle MG?

[Johnissoevil]

It'll probably be up on YouTube soon, but how did Bert handle MG?

I thought he handled it pretty well.  The pilot they showed was the one with the "bobbing for balls" incident that was seen on a game show blooper special.

[Adam Nedeff]

I thought Bert did a great job, too, although it's amazing how different the overall tone of the show is with ANY other emcee. Even with a veteran host who appeared as a guest on the old version, "Match Game" without Gene Rayburn somehow just doesn't feel like "Match Game" to me. Gene totally absorbed that show.

Both contestants were former "Super Password" contestants. Harley, who got a LOT of ribbing about his name during the pilot, carved out a pretty nice career for himself doing bit parts.

[JasonA1]

My not-a-game-show-fan mother watched with me and actually sided with the judge on that episode. "What we call a school and what we call a finishing school are two different institutions with different functions."

Same here with my dad. He heard the question and immediately said "finishing school!" Knowing how it turned out, I asked him why, and he said "that's where you went if you wanted to get cultured."  "Like charm school?" "Right."

When I first lived this question via screengrabs and .wav in the early 2000s, I sided with the contestant. Watching now, I side a lot more with Ira.

-Jason

[Sodboy13]

Seeing the Convy pilot for the first time begs the question: Why did they decide to shoehorn "Match-Up" into the show when it went to series? They had a perfectly good, self-contained half-hour format as it was. Change the points over to dollars if you want, but either way, it works.

(And oddly enough, this is how I've always run the main round of MG when I've hosted game show nights. All six play each round, first two rounds at $n00 per match, third round at 2x $n00 per match.)

[Chelsea Thrasher]

Why did they decide to shoehorn "Match-Up" into the show when it went to series? They had a perfectly good, self-contained half-hour format as it was. Change the points over to dollars if you want, but either way, it works.

The fact that the pilot, as seen today, ran for a good solid 28 minutes probably had at least something to do with the changes. Even if they left all the funny bits on the cutting room floor, there was no way in hell an every-celeb-plays-every-question format (what they were clearly shooting for) was clocking in under 25 with three rounds.

"Match Game" without Gene Rayburn somehow just doesn't feel like "Match Game" to me. Gene totally absorbed that show.

Keep in mind, this was Bert's third time ever hosting the format. Being on a panel occasionally in the early 70s is not the same experience as being host.

At a bare minimum, today's show was more enjoyable than 95% of the shows I've seen that Gene & co. made after 1978. Honestly, unless the panel's been in the sauce, most of the 70s episodes after Dawson left are, well, not great. And even quite a few of the episodes *with* Richard could be hit or miss. If Bert had been able to host, and the show managed to find a way to escape the gigantic number of cancellations in 1991, I think there's a legitimate argument that a version hosted by Bert could be remembered with at least the same fondness as Gene's.

[Sodboy13]

At a bare minimum, today's show was more enjoyable than 95% of the shows I've seen that Gene & co. made after 1978. Honestly, unless the panel's been in the sauce, most of the 70s episodes after Dawson left are, well, not great. And even quite a few of the episodes *with* Richard could be hit or miss.

Concur. By the same token, I feel the Shaffer episode from the marathon (and most of the run, from my vague memory) held up just as well as that Convy pilot. Those four years or so of the "peak" of MG '7x were real lightning-in-a-bottle type stuff that could never be replicated.

[Clay Zambo]

I think there's a legitimate argument that a version hosted by Bert could be remembered with at least the same fondness as Gene's.

Absolutely!  I thought Bert did a terrific job--and that "balls" debacle aside, I thought Bert had at least as firm a hand on the reins as Gene often did.

[weaklink75]

Seeing the Convy pilot for the first time begs the question: Why did they decide to shoehorn "Match-Up" into the show when it went to series? They had a perfectly good, self-contained half-hour format as it was. Change the points over to dollars if you want, but either way, it works.

(And oddly enough, this is how I've always run the main round of MG when I've hosted game show nights. All six play each round, first two rounds at $n00 per match, third round at 2x $n00 per match.)

I think it was partly to cut the time down as has been mentioned, plus a way to get more money in the game. I don't think Bert did a bad job of it- it might not have had a longer run if he had hosted (a ton of affiliates were doing news at noon by then), but it would have been remembered more than it has been.

[JMFabiano]

My question is, did they ever plan on doing/actually do the traditional points version?  (As suggested by the presence of the six-segmented "MATCH*" readouts and of course the red and green markers on the celebs' podiums)