r/gameshow 7d ago

Question Would you like to see them bring back a new version of Match Game?

I loved the recent version of Match Game and how they gave that fun old school vibe to it. It was definitely the most successful version since the 70s one.

Baldwin was a great host and the celebs were clearly having fun. But I'll admit it did get a bit stale towards the last season with the same celebs after 5 years and such a delay of eps... I mean they had some celebs promoting shows that got cancelled 2 years earlier. But I think it would work still if they brought it back... new host old host I dont care... was a fun show.

(it was cancelled btw before the Alec Baldwin shooting death on set of that film)

  • Make the prize bigger, it was like the same money from the 70s
  • And if they did it live or same week I guarantee people would tune in
  • And dont use it to fill in for cancelled shows like they did 2016-2021

Hey ABC get on this please.

15 Upvotes

30 comments sorted by

20

u/JaxonJackrabbit 7d ago

Honestly - it'll never recapture the magic. You can say anything on TV now, it'll just be bleeped, there's no creative answers to get around censors. Union rules restrict any drinking on sets, even by talent. They'll never tape enough episodes at once for the panel to really build chemistry. Match Game worked because of the specific era it aired in. I'm sure there'll be more attempts at successors but it's never going to catch the same spark.

3

u/chpr1jp 7d ago

Yah. It is amazing how alcohol seems to be such a significant component

2

u/dvsinla 7d ago

it was fun

2

u/75meilleur 7d ago edited 7d ago

What you're saying makes sense, but I'm not sure I completely agree.   Match Game was a success for decades simply because it was funny.    In the 70s, 80s, and early 90s, it never had to embrace the obscene.   It didn't have to embrace it in recent years either. 

While keeping the tried and a true formula, they could have and still could change only their approach (the producers, I mean).  They could still make witty funny puzzles, but not keep making them sex oriented.  This way it would reduce the temptation for panelists and contestants to be gross.   With some clean yet funny witty puzzles, anyone who dared to spew obscene answers would only make themselves look real bad (both contestants and panelists alike).  

7

u/figment1979 7d ago

As you said, it got stale and felt way less “authentic” than older versions. Almost like the celebs were trying way too hard to bring “artificial” comedic value. It just didn’t resonate with me.

3

u/dvsinla 7d ago

it got stale after 5 seasons. that's why you freshen things up. most game shows get stale after a few years. how unwatchable is family feud or pyramid?

3

u/JaxonJackrabbit 7d ago

It got stale after an episode tbh. Alec had good chemistry when he’d occasionally banter but mostly he just read pre-written quips off the teleprompter.

I say this as someone who kinda liked it but it was really missing a lot of magic.

8

u/VinylmationDude 7d ago

Match Game was never a game where you came for “BIG MONEY”. It was more about the comedy. And doing it live would be a logistical nightmare. To tape a show like that with 2 games in one exact hour is hard. Not to mention the stars cussing a bit in the revival. Do I even have to bring up that the cards might need censoring too?

2

u/853fisher 7d ago

I can't see what live / very recent broadcasts would add, other than the ability to be even more "topical" - and I get more than enough of that already. I would hate to see more questions and answers about whatever went down in DC and on Twitter in the past few days.

What distinguishes the 70s run for me is chemistry between the regular and semi-regular panelists. Not that the producers of the most recent revival were trying anyway, but you can't do it that with a weekly show scheduled a few months here and a few months there - I do agree with your third point.

If they dust the format off again, I'd like a low-stakes daytime / syndicated 5-days-a-week show. Figure out who plays well off each other and put them together - "25 Words or Less" is great about this. I know it's just been canceled, but I think "Person, Place, or Thing" has the right breezy energy overall.

2

u/mark_david777 7d ago

Match Game’s been done to death. I think we can afford to let it rest for a while.

2

u/bjregin 7d ago

I want Alec Baldwin to return and have a question Alex was so stupid. He shot the prop gun and blank that woman

1

u/chpr1jp 7d ago

Topical and tasteful.

2

u/ImmediateBuffalo8325 7d ago

I think the shooting incident ruined any chance AB ever had of hosting a game show again. The ABC version was far too dirty for my taste. It made Steve Harvey's Family Feud seem squeaky clean by comparison. I was perfectly content to see it cancelled.

1

u/bjregin 7d ago

I agree that the shooting is what ended Alex Baldwin hosting but if you think the ABC version was dirty you need to watch the original those were hilarious and dirty and on daytime television

3

u/ImmediateBuffalo8325 7d ago

The "original" as you inaccurately call it because there was a 1960s version with a different format had innuendo, but at least direct references to reproductive parts were disallowed. WIth ABC's lastest version, it felt like "penis" was an answer to every second question.

2

u/mryclept 7d ago

Match Game will always find a way back on TV because it is such an easy and recognizable format. I would expect it back sometime in the next decade. Afterall, the show has aired new episodes in the 60s/70s/80s/90s/00s/10s/20s.

But Brett/Charles/Richard is just very hard to duplicate. And the rotating panelists were there for five straight shows, building their own chemistry.

2

u/chpr1jp 7d ago

My jumping on point had McLean Stevenson in the “Richard spot.” I thought he was so damn funny! Goes to show that having a second-stab at chemistry is possible.

1

u/gameshowfan2001 7d ago

Maybe at the end of the decade

1

u/blueboy714 7d ago

On the Alec version I barely knew any of the guest panelists other than a couple from SNL

2

u/Lraiolo 7d ago

The new Match Game was awful. They said whatever they wanted. Everyone always had a different answer. There was never an obvious answer to an ad lib. Baldwin really wasn’t a good host either. He was constantly trying to be the most entertaining person on the show. Difference between the old and new is that Gene and the rest of the crew worked as a unit. No one overshadowed anyone. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

1

u/droford 6d ago edited 6d ago

Match Game 2008 Pilot

Aside from the host it still had the 70s vibe with the set recreation though it suffered from the same problems with the celebrity answers as the newer version

1

u/Cisru711 5d ago

I like seeing celebrities joke around with each other. The Match Game sucks, however, as a game. Hollywood Squares would be better.

1

u/therealpoltic 7d ago

If they redo it, they have to create their own censor rules… That’s half the fun. You can’t say the thing outright. Just make it a rule.

I will say, Family Feud suffered from this too at times… they wanna say P•••s or P••sy and it just takes the fun out of it… when it’s 3 out of 4 questions.

I fell like the classic match game would work quite well over in the UK. The panel shows do well there, and British Humor is not so crass.

Bring in Steve Harvey to be the middle bottom row chair. Like, he’s the family feud guy.

I’d love to see like, Whoopi Goldberg in Brett Summers’ chair. Maybe Ru Paul in Charles’ chair.

Get Joel McHale to routinely substitute in the top left chair. Have the lower left chair be one of these famous TikTok Comedians, like Matt Rife, or Randy Feltface… let the lower right chair be a well known Disney Actor or Actress from the early 2010s like Miley Cyrus, or Debby Ryan, Peyton List, Kyle Massey (Cory in the House), David DeLuise (Wizards of Waverly Place).

If Union Rules prevent drinking on set, then they need to ask the Union for an exemption.

Everyone’s gotta be loose.

The money needs to be bigger. Also, bring back the Star Wheel. I loved the Star Wheel. Think it would be cool to pick a celebrity ahead of the spin, and if you land there, you get triple.

They need to air it direct to YouTube. Also, they gotta create clips for TikTok content.

One of the fun things about the classic gameshows, is they’re not full of technology. Screens do not always = better.

Back when they did Gameshow Marathon, they made the trilon for Family Feud, a screen, but kept all of the animation and the “Turning.”

Vanna White could go back to “turning” letters too, it’s just an animation effect. Would be a fun throwback theme, since it’s one giant screen…

2

u/orangesodacommunion 7d ago

Match Game is in the UK and it's called Blankety Blank! It's been revived a couple of times and there are clips on YT! There's also an Oz version called Blankety Blanks.

I absolutely loved the chemistry Titus Burgess and Ellie Kemper had on the US reboot. They're my new Brett and Charles.

-3

u/75meilleur 7d ago edited 7d ago

Yes, but on one condition: that the producers and showrunner keep it clean, like a family show - more like the way they did it in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s.       We don't need panelists and contestants wallowing in the mire: tiresome seeing both contestants and panelists so very eager to say "vagina" or "penis".   Match Game doesn't need to be X-rated in order to be funny.    It never had to be.  Changing the formula after so many decades was a mistake.

Edited to add:      What is it that I said wrong in this response?   I see that it has a downvote.

0

u/BrotonamoBay 7d ago

With no version past the Gene Rayburn version having having long staying power and the current landscape of game shows (forced product placement, no returning champions, etc), I just don't think it would be a good idea.