Match Game 75 (Possible Rule Change)

[Matt Ottinger]

I personally don't believe the following to be true, but I did promise my pal here that I would throw it out to the group and see if anyone else knows anything about what he's asking:

Do you think you can ask your online friends about a possible rule change
that might have occured on Match Game 75? I'm not sure how it goes, but
around June 1975, there might have been a rule in which once a contestant
picks a celebrity for the head-to-head, they cannot be picked again if they
keep winning. Ask your friends if this was true.

[tommycharles]

Not that I've ever seen, but it's a great idea, IMO. Might have kept Dawson from ever getting his ego out of control...

[PeterMarshallFan]

This did happen. It didn't last more than 3 weeks at most.

[Kevin Prather]

I don't like that idea. A contestant could get stuck with a sucky celeb that way.

[Adam Nedeff]

Do you think you can ask your online friends about a possible rule change
that might have occured on Match Game 75? I'm not sure how it goes, but
around June 1975, there might have been a rule in which once a contestant
picks a celebrity for the head-to-head, they cannot be picked again if they
keep winning. Ask your friends if this was true.

It definitely happened, and as I recall, Gene actually made a point of explaining taht it was because too many people picked Richard. The result...a contestant picking Jack Albertson for head-to-head match and doing so with an enthusiasm reserved for stabbing yourself in the forehead.

THis rule isn't EXACTLY what was in effect though; I recall it being whatever celebrity you picked last time had to sit out but could be picked again. So, if you won three games...

Game #1: Pick Richard Dawson
Game #2: Richard is out, so you pick Charles Nelson Reilly
Game #3: Charles is out, but you can pick Richard again

[whewfan]

Actually, the rule change just lasted one week. The rule was that you couldn't pick the same celeb twice in a row for the Head to Head.

[melman1]

In fact it happened on the episode that aired today (original air date of May 29 '75).  It's the second time I heard it mentioned... I don't know exactly when the other time was, I'll guess more than a week ago but less than a month ago.  (Not  many winning streaks in that period, for whatever reason.)

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'Adam Nedeff\' date=\'Nov 4 2003, 08:39 PM\'] I recall it being whatever celebrity you picked last time had to sit out but could be picked again. So, if you won three games...

Game #1: Pick Richard Dawson
Game #2: Richard is out, so you pick Charles Nelson Reilly
Game #3: Charles is out, but you can pick Richard again [/quote]
 This would make a fair amount of sense--why would they have stopped so soon?

[Ian Wallis]

This would make a fair amount of sense--why would they have stopped so soon?

Maybe they figured it would be too hard to keep track of - especially if a contestant had to come back the next week.

From that stand point, the Star Wheel was a much better idea of not having a contestant go to the same celebrity all the time.

[ChuckNet]

Actually, the rule change just lasted one week. The rule was that you couldn't pick the same celeb twice in a row for the Head to Head.

It actually lasted 2 wks, IIRC...CNR's first 2 wks back after his 7-month hiatus, to be exact.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Nov 5 2003, 11:36 AM\']

Actually, the rule change just lasted one week. The rule was that you couldn't pick the same celeb twice in a row for the Head to Head.

It actually lasted 2 wks, IIRC...CNR's first 2 wks back after his 7-month hiatus, to be exact.[/quote]
And considering that they always did two days in a row of taping, the rule probably lasted for one weekend's worth of taping.  During the two weeks thereafter, they decided it didn't work and dropped it.

[melman1]

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Nov 5 2003, 09:36 AM\'] It actually lasted 2 wks, IIRC...CNR's first 2 wks back after his 7-month hiatus, to be exact.
 [/quote]
 CNR just returned with yesterday's show.  I'm sure that I saw it prior to that.  As I said, sometime during the last month.

[pyrfan]

Slight spoiler below...

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The new rule lasted exactly four weeks, starting with the John Forsythe panel and ending with the Jack Albertson panel.

The contestant who chose Jack in the head-to-head wasn't bound by the rule; it was her first time at the Super Match, so she could have picked any of the six celebrities. Jack turned out to be a good choice, though, since he matched her response and the contestant won the $5,000.

While this rule may not have been the best, it still was an obvious response to the fact that Richard Dawson was getting picked almost every time -- which, unfortunately, wasn't addressed again until three years later. It's one of the reasons that I prefer the Star Wheel era episodes to the pre-Star Wheel episodes. Actually, in some ways, I prefer the '73 and early '74 episodes, even though the writing wasn't as good for the main questions, because the pattern of Richard being chosen so often hadn't been established yet, and you got to see a variety of celebrities play the head-to-head match.


Brendan