“Match Game” Revival Developed for TBS
Speculation can end: the revival of Match Game is being developed for TBS, which opens up many more doors than on GSN. The revival is part of TBS’s new announced development slate which includes a few sitcoms, sketch shows, and a late night revival of the classic comedy game show. Don’t worry about it being late night. GSN’s amazing I’ve Got A Secret revival was in late night and it was one of the classier (and funnier) shows in ages.
This ended up being a lot better than I expected. It was either going to GSN, Comedy Central, or TBS. GSN couldn’t afford some of the bigger names probably. Comedy Central, while I adore the station, would make it a tiny bit too “out there” and we’d never hear the end of how Comedy Central screwed up Match Game. TBS, a comedy cable channel, has many resources like big names for their sitcoms, bigger money, and probably an easier time scheduling it. At first I never would have guessed TBS, but this is a perfect fit for the network. Hopefully we’ll see it shortly.
Thanks to reader Myke Perrey for the news.
How is a gameshow on a non gameshow network perfect? I don’t understand why a gameshow going on TBS would be a good thing. Yes, in the sense that they will be able to afford better guests and a bigger budget, it would be perfect. But, the fact that TBS has not had a game show since rebranding as a comedy network (I do not count that horrible Playmania clone) makes it a horrible fit. Can they seriously think this will work? How many comedy and sitcom fans know that Match Game is played for comedy’s sake and that the gameplay is severely lacking? Game show fans know this. So, game show fans will watch. Frankly, without this blog, I would never know it’s on the air on TBS since I do not watch the network. Poor placement, IMO. Did no broadcast network or syndicated party want the show? I think those would be better routes for this show.
I’m not a Match Game fan by any stretch, but if Comedy Central was a possible outlet for the show then I’m glad I didn’t get it. Considering the absolute filth the channel has put out since the beginning of the South Park era, they would’ve turned the show into a total farce of itself.
I enjoy watching sitcom reruns and movies on TBS, but their original programming has not impressed me very much (to put it lightly). While I would like to see a new Match Game, I don’t have high hopes for this one.
I’ve also heard it may be on NBC With A Possible $500,000 Jackpot
Let us recall the last time NBC touched the hallowed Match Game. Match Game/Hollywood Squares with Bowzer as one of the hosts. Gene Rayburn personally requested that repeats never air.
Look at what NBC did with another institution — Let’s Make a Deal, Oh…and Twenty-One (Maury Povich?!). Given that history, I’m willing to give TBS a shot.
I’d really like to see what TBS can do with this. They’re not exactly foreign to the game show world (anyone remember Starcade?).
I think the reason that Match Game-Hollywood Squares was so reviled was because Mark Goodson lacked a fundamental understanding of how Hollywood Squares worked. If the celebrities were informed of the questions ahead of time, they could have prepared jokes and bluffs, and that would have made it a lot better. But they obviously didn’t do that. A better host could have been found too, of course. What made them go with Bauman in the first place?
To Julia: by your logic, Win Ben Stein’s Money, Debt, Supermarket Sweep, and Shop ‘Til You Drop, and any other game that’s on cable but not on GSN were bad moves then? Keep in mind that BECAUSE of Deal and 1vs100 repeats, for example, CNBC’s ratings have been estimated to have doubled, and the three Lifetime games were three of their highest rated shows at one point, especially Debt. Quite bluntly, if you examine any period within the past 2 or 3 years of GSN’s history, what outright game show successes or significant ratings increases do you find? None, sorry. Not bashing GSN, but it’s the truth, take it or leave it.
As for GSN’s viewers, if you think that the majority of them stem from solely game show fans as opposed to casual channel surfers who stop there for a time, you’re unfortunately misinformed. It’s not what we like to hear, but there aren’t enough of us “hardcore game show fans” who can watch GSN on a regular basis to keep it going by ourselves. Truth hurts…
To GUY: add this to your possible list: Fox is thinking of picking up $1,000,000 Pull My Finger. Simon Cowell is tapped to host…
IMHO, this has the potential to work. Having the right panel will be the biggest factor, IMHO, in if MG will succeed. GSN’s budget, at this point, could not afford some of the better comedians out there, that, at least, TBS has a better chance of getting, through whatever outlets. They are also still on basic cable around the country, where GSN has been moved to the digital tier in most regions, as most of us are well aware, meaning their potential audience has been drastically cut. A cable show can not get any more viewers than the number of subscribers who get the channel, so the more potential viewers=the more potential advertising dollars=more potential for success.
I’m not saying it’s a sure win for TBS, hell no, but I AM SURE that the potential for success is much better on an established, popular, and much more widely seen station like TBS then on a true “narrowcast” station like GSN.
All I can say is, give TBS a chance!!!!!
P.S. I also saw a little revision in today’s showing of TEMPTATION that starts like this (let me breathe for a minute):
Speed Round, Instant Bargin, $15 Fame Game, Speed Round[w/only 2 chosen answers]
followed by:
Knock Off, Instant Bargin, $25 Fame Game, Instant Ca$h, and the final speed round[+/-$10]
capped off by Shopper’s Paradise, where instead of the host & winner standing still, both walk to each of the prizes.
Here’s the thing. It doesn’t matter whether it’s on network, syndication, cable, daytime, prime time, or late night. Match Game can NOT work for today’s audiences. It didn’t work for audiences 10 years ago. I went to a taping of the Michael Berger Match Game back in ’98. I was fortunate enough to meet Jay Wolpert and actually get invited to watch one of the shows from the production booth. To me, despite the changes in scoring, # of celebrities, categories, etc., the spirit and feel of the original was there. The issue is that in the 25 years since the Match Game (blanks version) started in ’73 to that taping in ’98, audiences, and humor in general had changed. South Park had started. Beavis and Butthead had been running for four years. Granted there was intelligent comedy out there too, but the highbrow was never the focus of Match Game. My point is that no longer would a clever innuendo or double entendre work, they had to beat you over the head with toilet or sex humor. I was permitted to take a bunch of used answer cards from MG’98, and looking at them, some of the cards I have are: “screwed,” “nuts,” “breaking wind,” “urine,” and “being fruitful and multiplying with themselves.” Comedy has progressed somewhat since then. The Daily Show, though started in ’96 started coming into its own when Jon Stewart took over in 1999. Bill Maher, Steven Colbert, and Lewis Black, all were bringing “smart” back to comedy. However, at the same time SNL and Mad TV were lowering the bar even more. The problem is that the target audience that execs want, is in the latter group. Call me an old fogey, but the cleverness that was there back in the day will not be seen again soon. So, to TBS, good luck with the prospect. I wish it well. However, I’m fairly sure it won’t really work, and that won’t be your fault. Sorry for length of the post, guys.
Well, BEN comedy has progressed, but Match Game Can Still Work. Don’t go too over board on the questions. And Comedy dosen’t all ways have to be sex comedy. Look at this, get a bald celebrity, a fat celebrtiy, an idiot, and BAM! You’ve got alot of questions there. (Insert Name Here Uset to date (Bald Celebrity’s Name). One night i found his ___________ in my soup.
And Use The Dumb Donald And Dora Questions. Dumb Donald Is So Dumb (HOW DUMB IS HE?!) He’s so dumb he though ____________’s name meant being a drunk.
Plus $10,000-$50,000 Is A Perfect Sum For Grand Prize (Like This)
1. $10,000
2. $20,000
3. $30,000
4. $40,000
5. $50,000
($150,000 Total If They’re REALLY GOOD)
Why not TBS? TBS got the ratings with their orginal sitcoms like House of Payne and Frank TV. So Match Game would be perfect. Plus, they could also put it on WPCH (which was TBS’ Atlanta feed), that is if TBS isn’t available in Atlanta. So the earlier question, why not TBS? It’s better than Comedy Central IMHO because CC only have (or had) 3 good shows: South Park, Reno 911, and Chapelle Show. Eventhe reruns on TBS is funny. So, here’s to the network that has the motto “Very Funny”, and one of the greatest game shows of all time. God Bless you, TBS.
And note to Sam, I thought I was the only one that remembered Starcade. Although I thought it was a poorly produced, it was very enjoyable if you were a kid like I was when it aired. As for the Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour, you’re right about all of that. Even though it only aired for like a month here in Shreveport back in 1983 (and I was in school when it came on so I only had the chance to see the Super Match), I did see some clips of it on Youtube. The set was very cheap, and while Gene Rayburn was very good as host, I didn’t like the other guy that hosted the Hollywood Squares part. I would’ve personally went with Peter Marshall, and I would’ve gone with the traditional Hollywood Squares format (jokes, secret square and all). Is it just me or does the opening look more like a local game show? And the theme music sounds like the music they use for the car games on the Price Is Right. And, Alex, I saw that episode of Temptation Today, too. Not the change that I wanted to see, but I guess it’s a start.
Comedy Central wasnt bad with Ben Stein’s and that Geeks gameshow, but it is right they havent done it in a while.
Get ready to match the stars…
Frank Caliendo…
That Guy from 10 Items or Less!
Someone from “The Office”
Pat Finn
Louie Anderson
and Adam Corolla
AS WE PLAY THE STAR-STUDDED
MATCH GAME
Oh-8!
===
I am actually kidding, I could see TBS hosting Match Game, they are “Very Funny”, and so would the questions
Actually, devares, that particular car music they use on The Price is Right IS The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour theme! (And if you go to the TV Production Music Museum, at tvpmm.com, you can hear it.)
I brought this up on another blog, and here we go again!
BenZ: You and I are pretty much on the same page on this one. I’m gonna add one more point that
evrone else either misses, or ingores…CHEMISTRY! CHEMISTRY! CHEMISTRY! You can have a budget of more money that G**. What guarantees have you got that you’ll have the right mix of stars, and the right emcee? All that happened on MG7*/PM was nothing short of serendipity.
Face it, you can’t fake chemistry!
The double entrende/suggestive/politically incorrect humor of another era has given way to more
graphic humor; tailor-made for those who are get into “peepeekakadoodoo” variety. I’m an old f**k compared to just about the rest of you, and I still like “sleepaway camp/junior high-level locker room” jokes and humor, if it’s good. Sadly, (matter of taste notwithstanding) too much of it is not…not even close!
Like it or not, if you’re keeping you fingers and toes crossed, in the hopes of a new, imporoved MG, don’t expect the “smart” kind of dirty humor you get from, say, a George Carlin; especially if it’s on TBS. HBO? SHOWTIME? Absolutely! But, not TBS!
I’d be amazed to see how TBS pulls this off. I don’t watch their network at all but if they can give me ONE reason to (a great Match Game revival) then it’s appointment TV.
I think we’re all forgetting one important fact here.
Regardless of whether the show eventually airs on TBS, TNT, Comedy Central, ABC, NBC, Discovery, the Food Network, or the Home Shopping Channel….
It is a FREMANTLE production!!!!!!
It will suck.
/That is all.
Well I will watch 3 episodes, and if it sucks it sucks. But let’s give it a chance before we say MATCH GAME ’08 Is WORSE than ’98.
devares,
I didn’t watch Starcade when it originally came out (because I was barely in the world and in Texas, where we didn’t get TBS, I’m sure), but I came across it later in life and Geoff Edwards definitely helped make it a bit more fun. :)
MG-HS has the same circumstances with me, but I figured out why it failed watching a complete episode that’s on YouTube. The way Phyllis Diller thought and thought and thought and thought about one question that was given her was just awful.
The game shows I do remember watching when I was very little are Super Password, Press Your Luck and Tic Tac Dough. I specifically remember an SP puzzle in which the answer was Pac-Man and it was re-run on GSN, which I thought was very cool.
Anyway, back on subject, I still think that Match Game will be fine. I’ll find out when it’s on and I’ll be watching.
Ahhhhh,Sam. You took me back to the good ol’ days, back when daytime TV had something on other than soap operas and cheesy talk shows (at least they were back then). Press Your Luck was my favorite out of those 3.It makes me wonder why they didn’t make a Saturday Morning cartoon based on the Whammy? That could’ve been a hit. And Friar Simon, not every show that Fremantle makes sucks. There’s this certain show called American Idol that millions watch every week. And I think they’re doing a good job with Family Feud. As for Match Game, Sam, I think we’re on the same page. I’ll be watching it, and if it comes on late at night as advertise, I’ll TiVo it since I work at night.
I think it’ll do well. I mean as long as it’s not a $5,000 Super Match. Or a terrible host (please get Bill Dwyer or Craig Shoemaker.) Or a bad panel, which I think Ben Stien and Jimmy Kimmel Would Be Great As Host (1 Of) or panel.
But it may be a stinker. Only Time Will Tell.
(And $10,000-$50,000 Super Match Is A Good Idea)
What kind of talent will TBS be abe to draw for the panel? Will they pull something like ABC did for Celebrity Millionaire (ignoring anyone outside the Disney family of networks)? ‘Cause I think it may be tough to consistantly fill the rack with the casts of TP’s HOP and 10 Items or Less…
Super Match (revised again): 1000-500-250;
Multipliers as they had on MGHSH, but revised – 3 have 10, 2 have 20, one has 50…
Jordan: anything against funny women like Alex Borstein, Nicole Sullivan, or Debra Wilson (all alumnae from Mad TV, and Alex voices on Family Guy – would love to hear her do a question as Tricia Takanawa)? Curious, considering your all-male panel, whilst not accusing anything on your part…
Host: Chris Rose, Craig Shoemaker, Adam Carolla or Jimmy Kimmel (I STILL say Pat Finn and the old SOTC format are the only things that can save Temptation)…
Final Judgement: I’ll give it a chance if I’m able to watch it…
Ok, I wasn’t gonna get in on this til devares made a suggestion I can’t stand. I *refuse* to believe that people truly and honestly think Acrapican Idol is any good. There has to be some bribery, brainwashing, or both going on somewhere.
IMO,anyone who thinks that Jimmy Kimmel would be a good host did not see “Set For Life.” If I were to cast a host for MGTBS08, following the current trend of picking a “celebrity” host, I would pick a person who can handle it, having the experience of being a panelist of MG90, Brad Garrett. I think he could be a good host for MG. TBS has “The Bill Engvall Show,” so Bill is a possible panelist. In addition to Bill Engvall on the panel, I would pick Martin Mull. I think Jeff Dunham with Walter would be perfect (if you don’t know who Jeff Dunham is, onastick.com). As far as females, I agree that Nicole Sullivan would be good. Perhaps Sarah Silverman and Brett Butler. I don’t think any of these possibilities would make the show successful, but they would be steps in the right direction. Like I said, I want to be proven wrong on this. I want the show to be successful. I just don’t see it. We’ll see what happens if and when the show gets up and running.
Oh, and the Star Wheel needs to come back!
Here’s the thing, when CBS aired “Game Show Marathon” in summer 06, they did a really competent job with the “Match Game” episode. Now, I don’t know if they tried to keep the “kitschiness” of the show, but it really worked for the mid-2000s. If they can stay faithful to that version, that is, risque but not completely gutter humor, I think it could work. Being a cable show, I don’t expect too much for the budget (maybe $10,000); I’m more concerned about Fremantle making a decent project. Take the GSM route and they have a good shot.
I still don’t think that this new “MG” will work because of the good memories fans had of the Gene Rayburn version of the 70′s, and how Pearson Television/FremantleMedia f***ed up the 1998 version. Just remember that Pearson had a big enough budget to work with for the ’98 remake – how come they used such has beens as George Hamilton, and annoying as hell ‘comedienne’ Judy Tenuta? The LEAST they could have done was to get new celebrities every week instead of just ONE per week. They also shouldn’t have tampered with the A/B question format, and gone back to 1973 with the payouts. Ross Shaffer’s version of the show in 1990 wasn’t really all that back, and even though I think Bert Convy would have been the better host of the show (had he not gotten ill), Ross still stood on his own, and he really wasn’t that bad. At least he didn’t seem like a smart-ass like Michael Burger (and the majority of the celebs on the ’98 version – except for Vicki Lawrence and the late Nell Carter) were! The ’90 version also stayed true to the Rayburn version by using the ‘split screen’ intros at the beginning (like the Rayburn version did with the ticket plugs), plus they had a new version of the classic theme which made it work. The ‘Match-Up’ portion of the game was probably too much for the older celebrities to keep track of, as it seemed like Brett and Charles had a hard time keeping up with all of the answers.
As for “The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour”, I think had Peter Marshall not been hosting “Fantasy” with Leslie Uggams at that time, he probably would have JUMPED at the chance to host the show, as Peter was good friends with Gene Rayburn, and I’m sure Gene would have approved of it as well. I bet Peter could also have persuaded some of the “HS” vets from the original (Rose Marie, Sandy Duncan, Abby Dalton, Karen Valentine, etc.) to appear on the show as well.
The main factor with all of these shows is just what Mr. Quiz said – CHEMISTRY! The 70′s version was lucky that it had the perfect combination of celebrities to which the semi-regulars gelled with Brett, Charles, and Richard, and they also had fun ribbing ‘the new kids on the block’, and the show still worked. The last three versions of the show (especially the ’98 version) just didn’t have the right kind of celebrity ‘chemistry’ that the 70′s version did.
I may take a gander at the TBS version of this show, but I would still bet money that this version also dies a quick death – look at the last three versions of the show since 1982 – one year each. Any questions?
NO F@^$&*ING STAR WHEEL!!! It taakes all the choice out of the game, and with more time being devoted these days to advertising, one really good spin wastes whatever time is left. Go to the MGHSH multiplier pattern in the post I made a few days ago (3 with 10, 2 with 20, 1 with 50) – it’ll work just on the speculation aspect…
I’ll favor the revival, but only if they keep the show less dirtier than 1998.
I’m surprised to the see the Star Wheel hate. I’ve always LOVED the element of chance and suspense that the wheel provides. Far from being upset that the “choice” was taken out of the game, I find it boring to watch pre-Star Wheel episodes when you know they’re always going to pick Dawson.