Match Game
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.
This article is about the U.S. game show. For the Frasier episode, see Match Game (Frasier episode). For the sports or game concept, see Matching game.Match Game
The Match Game (1962–1969)
Match Game 73–79 (1973–1979)
Match Game PM (1975–1981)
- Jim Elson, Ira Skutch, Rodger Wolf, Mike Gargiulo (1962–69)
- Marc Breslow (1973–91)[1]
- Randall Neece (1998–99)
- Beth McCarthy-Miller (2016)
- Ron de Moraes (2017)
Bert Kaempfert (1962–67)
Score Productions (1967–2021)
United States
- The Match Game: 1,760
- Match Game 7x: 1,455
- Match Game PM: 230
- Match Game (1979–82): 525
- Match Game (1990–91): 242
- Match Game (2016–2021): 65
- Jean Kopelman (1962–69)
- Ira Skutch (1973–82)
- Jonathan Goodson, Chester Feldman (1990–91)[1]
- Kevin Belinkoff (1998–99)
- Scott St. John (2016–21)
22–26 minutes (1962–99)
42–46 minutes (2016–21)
- Mark Goodson-Bill Todman
- Productions (1962–82)
- Sojourn Productions, Inc.
- (1962–69)
- Celebrity Productions, Inc.
- (1973–81)
- The Match Game Company
- (1981–82)
- Mark Goodson Productions
- (1983–99)
- Orion Television (1983–84)
- The MG Company (1990–91)
- MG Productions, Inc.
- (1998–99)
- Triple Threat Productions (2016–21)
- Entertain the Brutes (2016–21)
- El Dorado Pictures (2016–21)
- Fremantle USA (2016–21)
- NBC (1962–69)
- CBS (1973–79)
- ABC (1990–91, 2016–21)
- Syndicated (1975–81, weekly; 1979–82 and 1998–99, daily)
December 31, 1962 –
July 28, 2021
The Match Game in its original version ran on NBC's daytime lineup from 1962 until 1969. The show returned with a significantly changed format in 1973 on CBS (also in daytime) and became a major success, with an expanded panel, larger cash payouts, and emphasis on humor. The CBS series, referred to on-air as Match Game 73 to start – with its title updated every new year, ran until 1979 on CBS, at which point it moved to first-run syndication (without the year attached to the title, as Match Game) and ran for three more seasons, ending in 1982. Concurrently with the weekday run, from 1975 to 1981, a once-a-week fringe time version, Match Game PM, was also offered in syndication for airing just before prime time hours.
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. It 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 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.[2][3] It was twice nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show, in 1976 and 1977.
Since 2010, Match Game has been parodied by drag artist RuPaul in the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, as "Snatch Game" - A regular challenge in the series where the contestants each impersonate a different celebrity for comedic effect.
The Real Match Game Story: Behind the Blank[edit]
On November 26, 2006, GSN aired an hour-long documentary titled The Real Match Game Story: Behind The Blank, narrated by Jamie Farr.[35] The documentary features rarely seen footage of the 1960s version, many odd or memorable moments from the main 1973–82 runs, and interviews with Rayburn (including the final interview before his death in 1999), Somers, Dawson, DeBartolo, producer Ira Skutch, and others involved in the show's production.
Music[edit]
Match Game featured several theme songs throughout its various runs. From 1962 to 1967, Bert Kaempfert's instrumental "A Swingin' Safari" was used as the theme. Kaempfert's commercial single, recorded in Europe, was used for the pilot; an American cover version by the Billy Vaughn orchestra was used through 1967. From 1967 to 1969, a new theme composed by Score Productions was used.
When the program returned in 1973, Goodson–Todman once again turned to Score Productions for a music package. A new theme, performed by The Midnight Four, was composed by Score staff composer Ken Bichel with a memorable "funk" guitar intro,[36] and similar elements and instruments from this theme were also featured in the numerous "think cues" heard when the panel wrote down their answers. Alternate think cues were extracted from the music packages for Tattletales and The Money Maze. In keeping with the zany atmosphere, the music supervisors also used other notable musical works to add to humorous situations. Among the non-Score Productions music heard on occasion was the "burlesque" music titled "The Stripper", and a version of "Stars and Stripes Forever" (usually humorously played in response to Rayburn's call for "belly dancing" music).
The music for The Match Game–Hollywood Squares Hour was composed by Edd Kalehoff. None of the music used from the 1970s version was used in this version. The main theme song and several of its cue variations were used on The Price Is Right.
In 1990, Bichel re-orchestrated his 1970s theme with more modern instruments with new think cues (with the classic intro/think cue re-orchestrated). The 1998 version again used music from Score Productions. The 2016 revival utilizes Bichel's original 1973 theme and think cues.