Comparing the episodes of MGHSH we saw from week 1 and the ones we’re seeing now from week 2 to the one we saw this past weekend from later in the run, the differences are stark to me. Obviously, the game hasn’t changed much, but there are several things I noticed. First, Gene seemed less at ease later in the run. He just wasn’t his normal self. Obviously, I’ve only seen the one episode from later in the run, but if that was the norm later in the run, I can see how that would’ve been off-putting. Additionally, the chemistry seemed weaker amongst the panel in the later episode *despite the fact that most of them all worked together.* This obviously would change week to week, but combining a more aloof Gene with a weak panel, the show was PAINFUL.
I did find Jon to be better than others on this board felt, I believe. He was still getting used to things (Gene had to prompt him to ask Shannon about her movies), but he had a good attitude, played both the role of host and panelist well, and was personable. Would Peter Marshall have been better? Yes, maybe. But, I didn’t find Jon offensive by any stretch.
If you’re GOING to combine two shows, I get why you’d combine these two. And if you’re going to combine these two, I like the format they used. But, I don’t see any advantage to combining the shows from an audience standpoint — these shows are better alone. (I understand that it’s gonna be cheaper to produce one 1-hour game show than two 30-minute game shows like this, so there’s an obvious economic advantage. But clearly, that advantage didn’t seem to work out.)
For Match Game, I’ve always preferred just two question rounds because you just get more of the comedy from the contestants. I can tell they still edit out some of the time the celebrities are writing, much like syndicated Match Game would. Similarly with Hollywood Squares, I understand Mark Goodson’s obsession with not wanting to provide zingers, but moving to mostly multiple choice questions really removed most of the fun because then the celebrity couldn’t even really think up a funny one-liner on the spot. At the end of the day, I think, it seems like the production team wanted more GAME. But, I personally never watched either show for the game. The games are ultimately “fill in the blank” and “tic-tac-toe” — those aren’t ultimately super exciting games. I watch for the celebrities and the jokes and the back and forth. This game really took away a lot of that and I think it suffered for it.
