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Match Game 1990-91 thoughts

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whewfan:

--- Quote from: Ian Wallis on February 21, 2025, 01:38:01 PM ---
--- Quote from: Adam Nedeff on February 21, 2025, 02:27:30 AM ---
--- Quote from: Neumms on February 20, 2025, 07:43:34 PM ---Toward the end of the syndicated daily version, was Brett less able to handle her Russian club soda?

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I went on a bingewatch of the final season. It wasn't so much drunkenness that stuck out to me, it was how "checked out" everyone was. The moment that sticks out to me is one that involves Brett. With about nine weeks to go, there was an episode that opens with "Get ready to match the stars..." and when Johnny announces Brett Somers, Brett's chair is empty. "As we play the star-studded big-money Match Game!" The set lights up, and Brett is crossing the stage with a cup in her hands and heading to her seat. Wasn't a bit or anything--she just wasn't there when tape started rolling and nobody CARED.

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I was never a huge fan of the syndicated version - it just didn't seem to have the same atmosphere or enthusiasm.  I prefer the first several years of the CBS run.  They seemed to have captured lightning in a bottle for a little while, anyway.

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While the obvious edits started happening later in the '78 run, I think the cuts were far more obvious in the syndicated era, and I think with stuff edited out, the panel and Gene tried to contain the schtick outside of the answer writing time, as the answer writing was cut the most. Also, I would argue that without Richard Dawson, Brett and Charles basically carried the show, and that looked exhausting. I think McLean attempted to recapture the "Dawson" anchor in his own way while he was there, but overall, I think everyone was running out of gas.

TimK2003:

--- Quote from: Matt Ottinger on February 21, 2025, 10:06:57 AM ---
--- Quote from: Jeremy Nelson on February 21, 2025, 09:54:04 AM ---
--- Quote from: Adam Nedeff on February 21, 2025, 02:31:57 AM ---With the format as it aired--for Final Match-Up, the game STOPS as soon as the player who goes second takes the lead. That makes sense, but it pretty much means the amount of money that you can win depends on how good your opponent is at the game. Some contestants win $1200-$1300, but then one contestant is saddled against a bad opponent and ends up with $500 because they only needed to play Final Match-Up for 10 seconds. And if they played all the way through, it would be anticlimactic.

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I think the easy fix here is just having the leader play first.
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Not really.  I mean, sure, it "solves" the money issue, but it creates a bigger issue in that most of the games would end with a loss, rather than most of the games ending with a win.  You really want the latter, which is why in a lot of games like this, the one who's trailing goes first.

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Did Win Lose of Draw do the "leader goes first" throughout its entire run?   Yes, the leader gets the head start, so to speak, but both contestants kept all the money they won.

JasonA1:

--- Quote from: TimK2003 on February 21, 2025, 08:13:23 PM ---Did Win Lose of Draw do the "leader goes first" throughout its entire run?

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Yes. The rule made sure the show came in closer to its runtime without straddling. It's the same reason why certain versions of Match Game had the leader go first in later rounds, and why it was such a detriment that Match Game '98 DIDN'T do that. There were some painful examples of stretching on that version when Round 2 only had one question.

-Jason

Joe Mello:
So I guess the question for this part of the discussion is why did Goodson(s) and/or ABC want to move away from the MG PM scoring system that worked for the better part of a decade? Too old? Was it really a timing concern? Were talent that upset that at the chance they wouldn't play all the questions?

Neumms:

--- Quote from: Adam Nedeff on February 21, 2025, 02:27:30 AM ---I went on a bingewatch of the final season. It wasn't so much drunkenness that stuck out to me, it was how "checked out" everyone was.

--- End quote ---

McLean didn’t really help matters. I liked him but he was a laid back dude. Bill Daily brought good energy but was so horrible at matching.

Did they ever try Orson Bean in the bottom middle? He could be funny, was reasonably good looking and played well.

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