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Match Game 1990-91 thoughts
Adam Nedeff:
--- Quote from: BrandonFG on February 14, 2025, 08:49:59 PM ---
--- Quote from: wdm1219inpenna on February 14, 2025, 06:51:50 PM ---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!).
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Was this ever confirmed or is it game show urban legend, kinda like Alex being drunk on the High Rollers finale? Gene wasn't only a few years older than Barker and TPiR didn't seem to suffer.
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Gene himself said this a few times, and ageism exists in show business but...I'll just say that this is probably the version of the story that gave Gene the most personal comfort. I've talked to some people who crossed paths with Gene in the 1980s and I've learned the following...
#1. People who dealt with Gene in the 1980s remember attitude problems.
#2. The feeling among people who had the power to hire him saw his recent work and concluded that regardless of age, his prime had passed.
#3. He tested shockingly poorly with focus groups in the 1980s.
Again, I'm sure that "He's in his 70s? Oh, geez, let's see if someone ELSE can do this" absolutely figured into it a bit, but there were a few other things going on that cost Gene work.
Adam Nedeff:
--- Quote from: wdm1219inpenna on February 14, 2025, 06:51:50 PM ---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.
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This really isn't different from The Price is Right starting every Showcase Showdown from the dollar, or Wheel of Fortune starting every round with the wheel in the same position so the camera can get a pretty shot of the important space for that round.
chris319:
--- 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?
OK then.
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He didn't complain that the set wasn't swathed in orange.
chris319:
--- Quote ---The feeling among people who had the power to hire him
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Care to name names? My intuition tells me Jonathan Goodson and possibly Chester Feldman.
Roger Dobkowitz has hinted that Gene was not a nice man and difficult to work with.
--- Quote ---He tested shockingly poorly with focus groups in the 1980s.
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Interesting.
chris319:
Did this version have any contract panelists? Here's what I mean: on the '70s version Brett, Charles and Richard were under contract to appear on every show. Did this version have any of that? Marcia Wallace would have worked well as a regular in seat 6, better than shit-faced Brett bickering with Charles.
The casting of the panel is crucial on MG. When you boil it down, on the CBS version there were only two bookable seats on the panel: 1 and 4. Seat 6 drew from a small circle of players.
Fred Travalena's impersonations get tiresome pretty quickly. I played MG with Fred Travalena when he tested in Ira's office and don't recall any impersonations.
Add to the list of "tiresome": Rayburn's character voices of Count Dracula and Old Man Periwinkle.
Match-Up seems like a throw-away that didn't integrate particularly well with the rest of the show.
Who was the judge on this version?
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