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Match Game 1990-91 thoughts

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wdm1219inpenna:
While I do remember watching it on ABC during its original run, I know Buzzr has been airing mini marathons in the late afternoon/early evening hours and I found myself really enjoying it much more than I remembered.

My only 2 gripes with Match Game '90:

1. The Star Wheel with that pointer, it's more fun watching the actual wheel spin than a pointer, especially since the contestant always starts off with the pointer in the same general spot on the wheel itself.

2.  If a player won the big money in the Head To Head match, they did not also win the Audience Match money won (different from the Rayburn versions).

I thought the Match-Up rounds really helped to spice up the game and loved that all six celebrities got to play all of the comedy questions in both rounds too.

I know Brett Somers was on at least one week of episodes and that Charles was on a bit more frequently as a celebrity player.  I also know that Gene Rayburn had been in line to get the gig until I think it was Entertainment Tonight made mention of Gene's age at the time due to a Happy Birthday announcement and that ultimately cost him getting the job in favor of a younger host in Ross Schaefer (who I felt did a really great job as host by the way!).

I could not help but wonder, since Gene was still alive and well in the early 1990s if Gene ever watched the ABC version of Match Game and if he ever felt angry or betrayed by Brett and Charles appearing on the updated version without Gene at the helm.  I suppose on the one hand the prevailing attitude was "Well, that's show biz!" with respect to how the celebs may have felt.  On the other hand I would like to think that Gene would have said to Brett and Charles "It's a paycheck!  You would be dingbats to turn down being on the show!".  I was wondering what you all think about these notions and if perhaps anybody may have some inside info about what I discussed here.

Thank you!

TLEberle:
Really? You're bent out of shape because the multiplier was 20x and not 21x and that the winner is pushing an arrow instead of grabbing a peg?

OK then.

As to your question about Gene's feelings of betrayal I would happily point you to a tome titled "The Matchless Gene Rayburn."

TimK2003:
^^ Was it really just Gene's age that cost him the MG'90 gig, or might it have been possibly his performance(s) on MGHS and his brief time on Break The Bank that played a part of it as well? 

aaron sica:
Might be wrong here, but I remembered the ET revealing his age thing killing the 1987 Match Game version (there were ads for it in Broadcasting & Cable).

JasonA1:

--- Quote from: TLEberle on February 14, 2025, 07:47:16 PM ---Really? You're bent out of shape because the multiplier was 20x and not 21x and that the winner is pushing an arrow instead of grabbing a peg?
--- End quote ---

To be fair, I know some game show fans who aren't happy with the modern trend of awarding you $X for winning the game, but when you win the bonus round, you're actually playing for Grand Prize minus $X. (In other words, you "increase your winnings" to the amount the host says, as opposed to winning Grand Prize + $x.) MG90 deciding to hold onto the Super Match money feels like an offshoot of that.

That said, I actually never noticed this until the most recent run of the show on Buzzr. It's a curious choice, given it's Goodson, and that so few shows of the '70s/'80s did that sort of thing. But it didn't make MG90 any worse for me, now that I know that.

And I liked the 1990 Star Wheel! It was even bigger than the previous one, and spinning a pointer vs. spinning the wheel is right up there in innovation-land with Wheel of Fortune making their wheel horizontal, and Price is Right making theirs a thicker contraption that you view from the side.

My broader thoughts on the series were in the hot takes thread.

-Jason

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