Match Game Trivia

Match Game: A Brief History

• Match Game is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades.

• The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelists to fill-in-the-blank questions.

• Beginning with the CBS run of the 1970s, the questions are often formed as humorous double entendres.

• The series was a production of Mark Goodson/Bill Todman Productions, along with its successor companies, and has been franchised around the world, sometimes under the name Blankety Blanks.

• In 2013, TV Guide ranked the 1973–79 CBS version of Match Game as No. 4 on its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.

• The original version of Match Game ran on NBC's daytime lineup from 1962 until 1969, while the CBS series ran until 1979 on CBS, at which point it moved to first-run syndication and ran for three more seasons, ending in 1982.

• Match Game returned to NBC in 1983 as part of a 60-minute hybrid series with Hollywood Squares, then saw a daytime run on ABC in 1990 and another for syndication in 1998; each of these series lasted one season.

• Match Game returned to ABC in a weekly prime time edition on June 26, 2016, running as an off-season replacement series, all using the 1970s format as their basis, with varying modifications.

• The Match Game premiered on December 31, 1962, with Gene Rayburn as the host and Johnny Olson serving as announcer.

• The Match Game consistently won its time slot from 1963 to 1966 and again from April 1967 to July 1968.

• In the early 1970s, CBS vice president Fred Silverman began overhauling the network's programming and reintroduced game shows, beginning in 1972. One of the first new offerings was The New Price Is Right.

• The new version of Match Game had Rayburn returning as host and Olson returning as the announcer with two solo contestants attempting to match the answers given by a six-celebrity panel.

• The questions used in the game were pedestrian in nature to begin but quickly became more humorous and risqué, often featuring characters such as "Dumb Dora" or "Dumb Donald."Summary: Match Game TV Show

• Match Game was a popular game show that aired from 1962-1969, then was revived from 1973-1982, and again in 1990-1991.

• The show featured two contestants who tried to match answers with a panel of six celebrities.

• Questions were often humorous and sometimes risqué, with the aim of getting funny and unexpected answers.

• The winner of the game went on to play the Super Match, which consisted of the audience match and the head-to-head match segments, for additional money.

• The audience match involved choosing from three popular responses to a fill-in-the-blank phrase provided by a previous studio audience.

• The head-to-head match involved exactly matching a celebrity panelist's response to a fill-in-the-blank phrase.

• Richard Dawson was a popular panelist, and later went on to host the successful show Family Feud.

• CBS made several scheduling mistakes that led to the show's decline in ratings and eventual cancellation in 1982.

• The show was popular among high school students and housewives, and at its peak had 11 million daily viewers.A Brief History of Match Game

• Match Game premiered on NBC in 1962, hosted by Gene Rayburn.

• The show moved to CBS in 1967 and became a daytime staple.

• The show was revamped in 1973, with a new set and panelists, including Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly.

• In 1975, a weekly syndicated version called Match Game PM premiered.

• The show was canceled by CBS in 1979, but a daily syndicated version debuted later that year and ran until 1982.

• In 1983, a new version called The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour premiered on NBC.

• A revival aired on ABC in 1990, but was canceled after one season.

• A syndicated version premiered in 1998, hosted by Michael Burger.

• The show featured a panel of celebrity guests, including regulars Nell Carter and Vicki Lawrence.A Brief History of Match Game

• Match Game was a popular game show that aired in the US between 1962 and 1982.

• The show featured a panel of celebrities who would help contestants fill in the blanks to humorous statements.

• The show had several incarnations, including a short-lived version in 1998 and a Canadian version called Atomes crochus.

• In 2016, a new version of Match Game premiered on ABC, hosted by Alec Baldwin.

• The show featured two full games, each with two new contestants, and a Super Match bonus round.

• The bonus round offered a top prize of $25,000.

• The show was renewed for four seasons before being cancelled in 2021.

• The original version of the show is mostly lost, with only 11 episodes surviving.

• The show has been rerun on Buzzr and GSN.

• Home game versions of the show were published by Milton Bradley in the 1960s and 1970s.

• An interactive online version of the show was briefly available on Uproar.com and GSN's website.

• A video slot machine based on the 1973-1982 version was released in 2004.

• A DVD set called The Best of Match Game features a collection of more than 30 episodes of the 1970s version.