ABC Carnival '74
Across the Board
Baloney
Bamboozle
Be What You Want
Beat The Genius
Beat The Odds (1962)
Beat The Odds (1975)
Bedtime Stories
The Better Sex
The Big Money
The Big Payoff
Big Spenders
Blank Check
Body Language
Body Talk
The Buck Stops Here
Bullseye
Call My Bluff
Card Sharks (1996)
Casino
Caught in the Act
Celebrity Billiards
Celebrity Doubletalk
Celebrity Secrets
Celebrity Sweepstakes
Chain Letter (1964)
The Challengers (1974)
Change Partners
Child's Play
The Choice Is Yours
Combination Lock (1996)
Comedy Club
Concentration (1985)
The Confidence Game
Cop Out
Countdown (1974)
Countdown (1990)
The Couples Race
Crossword
Decisions, Decisions
Dollar a Second
Duel in the Daytime
The Fashion Show
Fast Friends
$50,000 a Minute
Finish Line (1975)
Finish Line (1990)
Get Rich Quick
Going, Going, Gone!
Head of the Class
High Rollers
Hollywood Squares (1965)
Hollywood Squares (1985)
The Honeymoon Game
Hot Numbers
Hot Potato
House to House
How Do You Like Your Eggs?
Jackpot (1984)
Jeopardy (1977)
Jokers Wild
Jumble
Key Witness
Keynotes (1986)
King of the Hill
Let's Make a Deal (1963)
Let's Make a Deal (1990)
The Love Experts
M'ama Non M'ama
Match Game (1962)
Match Game (1973)
Match Game (1990)
Match Game (1996)
MatchGame (2008)
Mindreaders
Missing Links
Monday Night QB
Money Words
Money in the Blank
Moneymaze
Monopoly (1987)
Nothing But the Truth
Now You See It (1986)
Oddball
100%
PDQ
Party Line
People On TV
Play For Keeps
Play Your Hunch
The Plot Thickens
Pot O' Gold
Pressure Point
The Price Is Right (1972)
Pyramid (1996)
Pyramid (1997)
A Question of Scruples
Quick as a Flash
Razzle Dazzle
Riddlers
Run For The Money
Says Who?
Scrabble (1990)
Second Guessers
Second Honeymoon
Sharaize
Shoot for the Stars
Shoot the Works
Shopping Spree
Show Me
Showoffs
Simon Says
$64,000 Question (2000)
Smart Alecks
Smart Money
Spellbinders
Spin-Off
Split Decision
Star Cluster
Star Play
Strictly Confidential
TKO
Talking Pictures (1968)
Talking Pictures (1976)
Tell It to Groucho
Temptation (1981)
$10,000 Sweep
Three of a Kind
Tic Tac Dough
Tie-Up
Top Secret
Twenty One (1982)
Twenty Questions
Twisters
Up and Over
The Waiting Game
We've Got Your Number
What Do You Want?
What's On Your Mind
Wheel of Fortune
Whew!
Whodunit
Whose Baby
Wipeout
Word Grabbers
Write Your Own Ticket
You Bet Your Life (1988)
You Bet Your Life (1991)
You're Putting Me On
Show a Random Pilot
Show Unreviewed Pilots
Bob Stewart Flow Chart
Match Game (1962)
Producer: Goodson-Todman
Host: Gene Rayburn
Announcer: Johnny Olson
Celebrities: Peggy Cass, Peter Lind Hayes
Taping Info: 1962
Made it to Air: Yes, it joined the NBC lineup on December 31, 1962, replacing Here's Hollywood. It stayed there until September 26, 1969 when it was replaced by Letters to Laugh-In. Later versions of the show came on the air in 1973, 1979, 1990 and 1998.
Other Pilots: Not for this version, but there were pilots for successful revivals in 1973 and 1990 plus unsuccessful 1996, 2005 and 2008 versions.
Availability: It's available from both Shokus Video and as an extra on the Match Game DVD from Brentwood Home Video.
Word games became hot in the early 1960s, the big one being Password. And, when Goodson-Todman had a hot game, they would also try to make the knockoffs before the competition could. So, a new word association game was needed and out came Match Game, which in the 1960s version involved trying to guess what their teammates would say.
Gene would read a simple question like "name a winter sport" and the two teams of three would try to match each other. On this show, the teams had one celebrity (either Peggy Cass or Peter Lind Hayes) and two contestants. If two of the team members matched on a question, they received 10 points. If all three matched, it was worth 20 points. 50 points won the game. This differed from the actual show, which was $25 for a match, $50 for two and $100 to win the game.
The bonus game matched (ding!) the actual show, where each of the team members tried to guess what the most frequent answer given by a particular audience to a question, with three questions in the round. The only difference was that matches were only worth $25 per instead of $50 per as on the real show.
This was actually a test show complete with commercials, not a pilot, so things were pretty much hammered out. However, other than the monetary differences, there was a set change before air, since the celebrities on this edition sat in the center rather than next to each other. Also, Mark Goodson was apparently making this show with robots, since several key positions normally used in a television production were absent.
 The title card |
 The host |
 Peggy Cass and team |
 Peter Lind Hayes and team |
 No fancy electronics yet, so completed answers are indicated with raised hands. |
 The bonus game |
 The unnamed technical director |
This pilot has been viewed 11749 times since October 6, 2008 and was last modified on Dec 12, 2009 14:46 ET
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