A special treat at "World of Soap Themes"..

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Oct 1 2004, 07:56 PM\']-What an awkward close. It should have gone something like: "On behalf of Jon Bauman and all our stars, I'm Gene Rayburn inviting you all to join us again next time here on the Match Game/Hollywood Squares hour. So long."

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[/quote]

Because as sad as it is to believe, Gene and Jon were to be considered equals on the show. So each got his own good-bye. Seeing those two together brings on a flashback of the Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters days on The ABC Evening News.

[jalman]

A note on these files:

The .ram file is really a text file you can open in some text editor like Notepad.  All it has is the actual address to the videos.  I copy and paste the address onto Download Accelerator Plus and go from there.  Using Net Transport may be more efficient than my methods, though.

Anyways, did anyone feel the show got shakier once Bauman took the mike and threw it to a commercial?

[FeudDude]

[quote name=\'jalman\' date=\'Oct 1 2004, 08:02 PM\']Anyways, did anyone feel the show got shakier once Bauman took the mike and threw it to a commercial?

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[/quote]

Absolutely.  I thought the Match Game portion of the show was pretty solid.  Maybe not quite up there with the show's mid-70s heyday, but it still ran very smoothly.  Gene was still in fine form - again, maybe not in top form, but he still was himself and seemed to try and make the best of the show.  Plus, the absence of Brett, Charles, and other MG regulars probably contributed to the relative lack of rapport.

But indeed, things went downhill once the third round of Match Game ended.  First of all, I thought the way they handled the transition from MG to HS was awkward - they should've cut to a commercial after the fee plugs and then done the introduction of the three additional celebrities when they came back.  And then the HS portion itself was just so awkward.  First of all, what were they thinking hiring Jon Bauman? (I know it's been discussed many times before, but this is my first time seeing him in action.)  I almost felt sorry for him because it seemed like he was completely uncomfortable in this position and really didn't seem to have any idea how to go about hosting.  (To his credit, though, he did make a pretty good panelist.) The lack of scripted bluffs also really hurt the show, and made for some very lame questions.   This part of the show was such a downer coming after the enjoyable Match Game segment.

What seemed like a good idea on paper, and for the first half of the show, was let down by the weak adaption of Hollywood Squares and the ill-advised casting of Bauman as host.  As Don said, it really was sad to see Gene and Jon hosting alongside each other, because Gene, even if he wasn't fully into it, still upstaged Jon very easily.  Just that awkward closing alone is enough to see the vast difference in hosting quality.  

Overall, based on this episode, I'd give the show a 7, because in spite of the weaknesses this show still has a lot going for it  - Gene Rayburn's fine hosting, the thoroughly enjoyable Match Game segment, the snazzy set, the awesome theme, and the late Gene Wood, whose announcing fit this show perfectly.

[JayDLewis]

I too had never seen an episode of MGHSH so this was a real treat. Thanks!

I have two questions:

1. What is the highest amount ever won? I assume there was a 5 day limit on winnings...does that mean that someone could really win over $155,000?

2. What was the executive who thought his would be a good idea smoking? I mean, it's not God-awful horrible but it is a very unusual combination.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Oct 1 2004, 07:56 PM\']-What exactly was the point of putting up the hollywood squares setup again just for the close? Don't get it.

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Unless I'm missing something, it wasn't just for the close.  The SQUARES set-up remained for the Super Match, which was played with one of the nine stars (Bauman and Rayburn switching places), which meant a 1-in-9 chance of multiplying the Audience Match winnings thirtyfold.

Seeing that was a hoot.

Doug -- and the countdown to 700 continues

[Don Howard]

One of the legions of people mystified by the selection of Bowzer as host for the Hollywood Squares segment was Peter Marshall. Pete's show, Fantasy, is replaced by the show he emceed for 15 years and he doesn't even get to host it.

[Chelsea Thrasher]

[quote name=\'curtking\' date=\'Oct 1 2004, 04:24 PM\']Go find a program called NetTransport:

Net Transport

Once you install it, it adds options to the "right-click" menu in Internet Explorer.  If you right-click on one of the MG/HS "segment" links, you will be able to "Download by Net Transport".

The cool thing about NT is that it opens the .ram file and finds the real link, then downloads the actual file containing the audio/video.

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[/quote]

Beats the pants off the method I'd found (Copying the links to an HTML editor, editing the .ram to .ra, and then downloading)

Anyway, this is the first time I've seen the show in a while (got a few episodes, but haven't watched any in eons).  Two things come to mind that haven't already been brought up:

1)$25 Per Square?   Why?    It, to me, seems like nothing more than a sad attempt to throw unnecessary money into the format, when the format *Really* didn't need it.      If it ain't broke...

2)Jon Bauman makes John Davidson look like Peter Marshall.  Bowzer was *never* meant to host a game show, so how he got *two* is beyond me.

[Jimmy Owen]

I'm wondering if the fact that Pete held the time slot for a year with "Fantasy" led NBC to want to try somebody else for MG/HS.  It was awkward, to be sure. Would it have been too much of a shock to have all nine stars play MG?

[zachhoran]

2)Jon Bauman makes John Davidson look like Peter Marshall.  Bowzer was *never* meant to host a game show, so how he got *two* is beyond me.

The other show he hosted, Pop N' Rocker Game(which was a weekly syndie in 1983-84, in an era when weekly syndie game shows were as good as dead) probably fit him better.

[zachhoran]

1. What is the highest amount ever won? I assume there was a 5 day limit on winnings...does that mean that someone could really win over $155,000?

There was a 5 show limit for players. Rick Diamond reported on Usenet that he saw two players become two-time $30K winners, and the higher of those two was $66K.

[TimK2003]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Oct 2 2004, 06:40 AM\']I'm wondering if the fact that Pete held the time slot for a year with "Fantasy" led NBC to want to try somebody else for MG/HS.  It was awkward, to be sure. Would it have been too much of a shock to have all nine stars play MG?

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IMHO, Goodson knew exactly how Match Game's gameplay should go.  My guess is that he never considered going to a full 9, as 6 people was the perfect set up, and adding a few people probably would have thrown off and/or pissed off Gene even more.

[pianogeek]

[quote name=\'whewfan\' date=\'Oct 1 2004, 04:12 PM\']I have one ep. from Soap Stars week, and just as the Soap stars that appeared on MG 90 and MG 98, no one on the panel really wanted to be there, especially Deidre Hall, who was way out of her element.

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One good textbook example...Kin Shriner from Port Charles inside MG 98.  I remember watching one episode during the closing credits that Kin was sitting down at his seat while the other panelists were minging around the stage with the winning contestant and Michael Burger.  It took Mr. Burger to force him out of his seat.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Oct 1 2004, 05:56 PM\']-What an awkward close. It should have gone something like: "On behalf of Jon Bauman and all our stars, I'm Gene Rayburn inviting you all to join us again next time here on the Match Game/Hollywood Squares hour. So long."

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They flubbed that one. I dunno if that was an early episode (not that MGHSH had LATE episodes, per se), or what, but the byebye as I remember it went like this:

Gene: "Until next time, I'm Gene Rayburn for the Match Game!"
Jon: "And I'm Jon Bauman for Hollywood Squares!"
Gene: "We'll see you next time on the Match Game / Hollywood Squares Hour!"

<cue rattle>

[SRIV94]

They flubbed that one. I dunno if that was an early episode (not that MGHSH had LATE episodes, per se), or what, but the byebye as I remember it went like this:

Gene: "Until next time, I'm Gene Rayburn for the Match Game!"
Jon: "And I'm Jon Bauman for Hollywood Squares!"
Gene: "We'll see you next time on the Match Game / Hollywood Squares Hour!"

<cue rattle>

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Per the website, the original airdate was 5/8/84--which means that it was a relatively late episode (the show ended in late July).

Doug -- and the countdown to 700 continues

[ChrisLambert!]

Actually, the standard goodbye followed this template:

"Gene Rayburn reminding you to tune in tomorrow!"
"Jon Bauman saying so long from the Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour!"

(OT: Anybody else go there for the game show and end up transfixed by the trainwreck that is "Never Too Young"?)