The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Drinking Game

[calliaume]

It had to be done.  Please add your own.  This is not meant to endorse alcoholic consumption.

Take a sip if…
-   Jon says “You were right to agree/disagree.”
-   Gene looks bored.
-   Hollywood Squares is played differently than the original version.
-   A contestant on Match Game gives a really rotten answer.
-   A celebrity on Match Game gives a really rotten answer.
-   Something was bleeped on the original show.
-   Someone wears particularly 1980s fashion.

Take a gulp if…
-   Jon fails to move the game along (or one of the stars hogs the camera for more than 30 seconds).
-   You haven’t seen one of the celebrities in anything new this century (this does not apply if the celebrity died before 2000).
-   Something was bleeped for the current edition of the show that was permitted in the original.
-   Mother MacKenzie is particularly prominent.


Chug the drink if…
-   There’s a $30,000 win.

[BrandonFG]

Sip if:
-Fred Travalena does an impersonation but it's nobody called on him
-Gene refers to something from the 70s version (mostly pertaining to the gameplay, not just someone like CNR on the panel)
-A question refers to something only relevant in 1983, and therefore you have to Google its meaning

[TLEberle]

It had to be done.  Please add your own.  This is not meant to endorse alcoholic consumption.

Good, because playing this game regularly would visit irreversible violence upon our livers.

While there's not a whole lot to recommend in this series (golly that's damning with faint praise) it does look like everyone is trying to put together two different jigsaw puzzles and all of the pieces have been jumbled into a single box or trying to iron out the rules of a new sport during the first season without having practice games. (The fact that MGHSH probably had loads of them speaks to just how impossible it was going to be to square the circle in front of them.) I happened upon an episode of the nighttime Hollywood Squares from the late seventies where the first game went halfway without a single zinger or much of a reaction from the audience other than applause for each mark on the board. The Mother Teresa/Bo Derek question from Thursday was used as a $10,000 Pot o' Gold puzzler on Trivia Trap no more than two years later, so obviously it was worthy of inclusion in a show that was heavy on stuff you didn't know it would be worth knowing.  The HS questions I've seen have been interesting and the guests that some folks seem to loathe were at least funny if time consuming and scenery chewing. As I seem to wrap up things lots these days there were some people who got wealthy playing the game and people in the industry got work for a year, and it bailed one of the hosts out of financial stress for a bit.

[Casey Buck]

Take a gulp if…
-   Mother MacKenzie is particularly prominent.

You'll be in a stupor within 15 minutes. YEEE-HOOO!

[calliaume]

As I seem to wrap up things lots these days there were some people who got wealthy playing the game and people in the industry got work for a year, and it bailed one of the hosts out of financial stress for a bit.

I forgot one:  Take a gulp if Jon does a Bowzer pose.

I don't disagree with you on this one.  There are a few "what the hell?" moments, but that wasn't uncommon on daytime games anywhere from the dawn of television to the early 2000s.

One of the challenges of this show was there were no vets for the stars to learn from (aside from Gene and Jon, and I'm not sure how much help they were).  On the 1970s versions of Squares and Match Game, there were always a few veteran celebrities - after awhile, you rarely had an episode where there was more than one celeb appearing for the first time.  On the week we just saw, by my count five celebrities had never done any type of panel show (Squares, Match Game, or anything similar) - that had to be a challenge.

[MikeK]

1 gulp for every mention of Mr. Smith.

[Dbacksfan12]

I sat down three minutes ago with pizza in hand and turned on BUZZR.   I've already had three sips.  Thanks for that, Jon.

[Sodboy13]

One of the challenges of this show was there were no vets for the stars to learn from (aside from Gene and Jon, and I'm not sure how much help they were).  On the 1970s versions of Squares and Match Game, there were always a few veteran celebrities - after awhile, you rarely had an episode where there was more than one celeb appearing for the first time.  On the week we just saw, by my count five celebrities had never done any type of panel show (Squares, Match Game, or anything similar) - that had to be a challenge.

Having watched the Arsenio-Travalena-etc. week in full, there was a marked difference from the Monday and Tuesday shows to Friday. You could tell how much more of the panel "got it," and everyone overall just appeared a lot more comfortable. You'd think there would have been some degree of prep for them to lessen that disparity.

[whewfan]

As I watch more of these, I'm not sure if it's "Jon had trouble keeping the game moving" as much as it was "some celebs didn't know when to shut up" (or in the case of Arsenio and Fred, do their "schtick" when they haven't been chosen) or "some celebs mull too much over a question that really isn't that difficult to answer" (Edie McClurg). Even Gene contributed to the stalling a little, when Edie was practically doing a character monologue for one question. (He may have been doing it as a way to get her to get to the answer.)

[Bryce L.]

As I watch more of these, I'm not sure if it's "Jon had trouble keeping the game moving" as much as it was "some celebs didn't know when to shut up"

As host, isn't it Jon's job to keep the game moving, even if it means flat-out telling them "shut up" if they rambled on too long?

[JMFabiano]

Add a half gulp if Jon starts talking like Bowzer.  Bonus sip if it's to Eddie Mekka. 
Sip every time Gene acts fake impressed when Jon says "later on I'll be hosting/handling Hollywood Squares." 
Seen a lot the second week, but a sip every time a celebrity's name plate turns on or off accidentally. 
Gulp every time Gene talks about a panelist's wardrobe.
Gulp every time Bauman talks about the show on Twitter.  Another half if he mentions that his was the only completely honest HS.  Another half if he goes back on defending the show that way by saying it didn't quite work. 
Gulp for every Liz Taylor fat joke question.  One sip per panelist who starts their response with a "Sorry Liz, but..." or "I love you Liz, but..." statement.
Gulp for every President Reagan question.  Extra sip if they get someone on the panel to do the Reagan voice.  Extra sip if it's Fred Travalena.
Sip per panelist who's only there because they were on a show on the NBC schedule. 
Sip per extra "Seat 4" type sexy actress/model on the panel.  (the first one is free as every MG panel had one.  Every one thereafter earns a sip). 
Take a sip when a Squares panelist does the polar opposite of schtick and just blurts out the answer.  Extra sip if it's Shannon Tweed or someone who had a ST attitude when this happens; you know, like, "The answer is X, go away" pretty much. 
Gulp every time the Head to Head or Audience Match answer(s) are hardcore eighties stuff.  (one ep. from week one, for instance, had Knight Rider and Flashdance as AM/H2H answers respectively) 
Gulp if Gene or Jon point out someone used to be a regular on the original MG and/or HS. 
Tap a keg if someone ever mentions Peter Marshall. 

[calliaume]

Gulp every time Gene talks about a panelist's wardrobe.

Gene was less than subtle Friday about his disapproval of Lydia Cornell's angora sweater (I suspect she isn't happy about that choice in retrospect, either).

One thing I've noticed - since we know the taping schedule was different here than the 1970s Match Game (e.g. no dinner break with alcohol served), there's less silliness in the later in the week shows.  Does anybody know if there was a dinner break during the Saturday taping, which according to this thread ran from 3 to 9 PM?

http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,31342.135.html

[Eric Paddon]

Gulp for every Liz Taylor fat joke question.  One sip per panelist who starts their response with a "Sorry Liz, but..." or "I love you Liz, but..." statement.

What made those questions rather silly at that point was that Liz had lost all the weight and was looking her best again.

[TimK2003]

A shot of Jack D. or Jim B. for each time Jon starts a HS question with, "You are a/an _________..  "

[TLEberle]

As host, isn't it Jon's job to keep the game moving, even if it means flat-out telling them "shut up" if they rambled on too long?

While you are correct that the host is in fact the master of ceremonies being able to conduct business without coming off as rude is a skill that is developed and not just innate.