OK, my two cents after viewing that ep...
The good: Gene Rayburn hosting the MG, an awesome theme we're still hearing at times when TPiR gives away a brand new car, an "ahead of its time" set with the huge light board displaying guests'/host's names and the "dual purpose" seating area for the celebs (still liked how the "rest of the set" came in from the right).
The bad: Jon Bauman hosting the HS (then as now, I question why they couldn't pick Peter to host...he was a guest on daily syndie MG and P+...so, he had *some* connection with the G/T folks), the HS questions in mult. choice (though with an emphasis on oddball trivia, the writing wasn't too bad), no pre-written lines and the fact what should've been a much faster paced game was slowed down by Jon (they played 15 questions by my count in this particular ep; well short of Merrill Heatter's mandate of 22 in the original HS years; 18 HS questions probably would've been realistic on MG-HSH).
Some jeers for the MG side: it was certainly tough for Gene to "have fun" with the panel since the seating arrangements would change day to day. That and, since NBC wanted to use MG-HSH as a promotional vehicle for NBC shows (as evidenced by the "NBC daytime soaps" week...and the remark Gene made the "Marvin the medical student" question should've been saved for the cast of St. Elsewhere when they visited), many of the stars had never played MG before (or any game show for that matter).
As a fan of game shows, I still watched the original series despite the (obvious) flaws. Had Peter been along for the ride, had the show had a permanent center square and had the show been a bit more comedic, we might be talking about a show that would've lasted for a few years instead of just 39 weeks.
