What is “Match Game”?
A: Match Game is an American television panel game show.
When did it premiere?
A: In 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last
six decades.
What network did it premiere?
A: On NBC.
The game features contestants trying to do what?
A: 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 what?
A: Humorous double entendres.
When did the Match Game in its original version run on
NBC's daytime lineup?
A: From 1962 until 1969.
The show returned with a significantly changed format
in what year?
A: 1973.
It was on CBS (also in daytime) and became what?
A: 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 and updated every new year, ran until when on CBS?
A: 1979, at which point it moved to first-run syndication 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 what?
A: For airing just before prime-time hours.
Match Game returned to NBC in 1983 as part of what?
A: A 60-minute hybrid series with Hollywood Squares.
It then saw a daytime run on ABC in 1990 and another
for syndication in 1998; each of these series lasted how long?
A: One season.
When did it returned to ABC in a weekly prime time
edition?
A: On June 26, 2016, running as an off-season replacement series.
All of these revivals used what format as their basis?
A: 1970s format.
The series was a production of whom?
A: Mark Goodson/Bill Todman Productions, along with its successor companies.
It has been franchised around the world, sometimes
under what name?
A: The name Blankety Blanks.
In 2013, TV Guide ranked the 1973–79 CBS version of
Match Game as what?
A: No. 4 on its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.
It was twice nominated for what Daytime Emmy Award in
1976 and 1977?
A: Outstanding Game Show.
Since 2010, Match Game has been parodied by what drag
artist?
A: RuPaul in his hit series RuPaul's Drag Race, as "Snatch Game", where the
contestants each impersonate a different celebrity for comedic effect.
Who was the host?
A: Gene Rayburn was the host and Johnny Olson served as announcer.
For the series premiere, Arlene Francis and Skitch
Henderson were what?
A: The two celebrity panelists.
Where was the show taped?
A: In Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, NBC's largest New
York studio, which since 1975 has housed Saturday Night Live, among other
shows.
The show originally aired in black and white; when did
it move to color?
A: On June 24, 1963.
A team scored 25 points if two teammates matched
answers or 50 points if what?
A: All three contestants matched.
The first team to score 100 points won $100 and played
what?
A: The audience match.
The audience match featured what?
A: Three survey questions.
Each contestant who agreed with the most popular answer
to a question earned the team how mujch?
A: $50, for a possible total of $450.
The humor in the original series came largely from
where?
A: The panelists' reactions to the other answers (especially on the
occasional all-star episodes).
What did NBC do in 1963?
A: NBC canceled the series with six weeks left to be recorded.
Question writer Dick DeBartolo came up with what?
A: A funnier set of questions, like "Mary likes to pour gravy all over
John's _____," and submitted it to Mark Goodson.
With the knowledge that the show could not be canceled
again, what did Goodson do?
A: He gave the go-ahead for the more risqué-sounding questions, a decision
that caused a significant boost in ratings and an "un-cancellation" by NBC.