ABC bringing back Match Game

[Matt Ottinger]

Could be worse.  Stephen Colbert had to ask his audience not to boo on the air when he had Ted Cruz as a guest.

[TLEberle]

Has anyone timed out whether they could do another game in the hour?

[parliboy]

I doubt they could without a lot of editing.  At that point, you're going through as much game material in a hour than two episodes of Match Game PM.  And they edited the hell out of that to get it all in.

[whewfan]

I'm glad the game is at 2 rounds. The celebs are entertaining enough to fill the time. I remember saying when MG 98 was on that they could use a third round, and in that case, a third round would've made the game more fair (use the scoring a la the MG 90 pilot, 1 point per round in rounds 1 and 2 and two points per round in round 3) With MG 98, the padding was more obvious. The intro was longer, with each celeb "walk running" to center stage, then introducing the contestants, then an awkward slow zoom into the MG sign as the celebs and contestants took their seats. Also, when the game was over with just 3 questions, that meant for a VERY long closing credit sequence with the celebs dancing and carrying on. However, what can you expect when you have a panel of celebs that seem like the names were picked out of a hat?

[Clay Zambo]

It's in fact probably a little telling on both sides, that people even need to be reminded about basic audience decorum.

Well, considering how hyped up the audience is--and *told* to boo at poor answers--it's probably not unreasonable that they put in a plug to be nice at her entrance.

[BillCullen1]

It's in fact probably a little telling on both sides, that people even need to be reminded about basic audience decorum.

Well, considering how hyped up the audience is--and *told* to boo at poor answers--it's probably not unreasonable that they put in a plug to be nice at her entrance. 

True. I'll also bet that Sarah Palin and Rosie O'Donnell were NOT on the same show.

[TLEberle]

I'm glad the game is at 2 rounds. The celebs are entertaining enough to fill the time.

Except that they weren't: Horatio didn't make a lick of Sanz the whole evening and certainly didn't hold up his end of the couch in terms of game play.

I remember saying when MG 98 was on that they could use a third round, and in that case, a third round would've made the game more fair (use the scoring a la the MG 90 pilot, 1 point per round in rounds 1 and 2 and two points per round in round 3)

That's not "fair," that's weighting the game like Name that Tune.

I'm looking at it from the perceptive of the contestants who are either standbys or missed the cut for whatever reason. If they got five games per four episodes (or indeed just played it like the old days where the winner got the chance to carry on and win more money) that gives more contestants the chance to be on the show. And yes, I know that producers are afeard of running episodes in order or having carryover contestants (Greed and Twenty-one say "what up?") but I'd rather see more contestants getting the chance than hearing Beardo Goldberg going on about whatever.

[SRIV94]

Quick question--if you win the Super Match, is that on top of what you win in the Audience Match?  Or is it just bumped up?

[golden-road]

Quick question--if you win the Super Match, is that on top of what you win in the Audience Match?  Or is it just bumped up?

Bumped up.

[BillCullen1]

The show that aired on July 3rd was the first one taped. So we got to see the two extremes, when someone wins big and when someone doesn't get an answer with the Super Match. I liked it when Rosie asked who they polled for the Super Match that tanked.

[TimK2003]

The show that aired on July 3rd was the first one taped. So we got to see the two extremes, when someone wins big and when someone doesn't get an answer with the Super Match. I liked it when Rosie asked who they polled for the Super Match that tanked.

Is it me or are the Head-to-Heads a bit tougher to win on this incarnation so far -- having more than 2-3 good choices to pick from?

[Neumms]

Well, considering how hyped up the audience is--and *told* to boo at poor answers--it's probably not unreasonable that they put in a plug to be nice at her entrance.

I'd read that booing is encouraged, but frankly, the booing seemed meagre especially at answers such as the worst punt ever, "please help me."

I loved the Hostess question, and the Pillsbury Doughboy question seemed like the right way to go, putting the stilly body part in the question, not the blank.

Tituss (or is it Tittus?) was funnier this time, and Sherri Shepherd was great. She'd be good in Rosie's seat (if Rosie wasn't there) in that she's vocal and interacts with the other panelists. I'd love to see Kathy Griffin and Adam Corolla on--they were terrific on the Game Show Marathon version, especially since it was only one game.

[whewfan]

I agree (and I think I even mentioned it in my review) that Adam Goldberg didn't seem to want to be there. Horatio Sanz was okay, but yeah, he didn't really stand out so much.

Just like with MG 73, they're going to try an assortment of people until they find maybe 3 that would be good regulars, and also have semi-regulars. Rosie would be an obvious choice... say what you will about her stints on The View and her own talk shows, she cares about the contestants and wants them to win. At least they didn't choose their regulars first before giving them time to gel and be entertaining like they did with MG 98.

[Unrealtor]

AFAIK, "acts like he doesn't want to be there" is basically Adam Goldberg's persona when he's doing talk shows and such. Which makes me wonder why they booked him in the first place.

[Unrealtor]

The show that aired on July 3rd was the first one taped. So we got to see the two extremes, when someone wins big and when someone doesn't get an answer with the Super Match. I liked it when Rosie asked who they polled for the Super Match that tanked.

Is it me or are the Head-to-Heads a bit tougher to win on this incarnation so far -- having more than 2-3 good choices to pick from?

Head-to-heads haven't felt that bad to me in terms of having too many possible answers. Although none of them have been gimmes, the fact that everyone seems to pick Rosie and the way she plays everything down the middle makes it pretty easy to cut down the possibilities.

The "spin _____" audience match, on the other hand, was brutal. I had six or eight possibilities off the top of my head and still managed to not think of two of the top three answers or the answer the contestant gave.