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 (1990)
Producer: Mark Goodson
Host: Bert Convy
Announcer: Gene Wood
Celebrities: Brad Garrett, Marsha Warfield, Charles Nelson Reilly, Khrystyne Haje, Jerry Van Dyke, Teri Copley
Taping Info: October 1, 1989
Made it to Air: Yes, this version joined the ABC lineup on July 16, 1990, replacing reruns of Perfect Strangers. In the 12 PM Eastern slot, it had trouble with clearances and left the air on July 12, 1991 after a few weeks of reruns. Other versions of the show aired from 1962-69, 1973-82 and 1988-99.
Other Pilots: The version I saw was marked #5.
Availability: Pilots #3 and #5 are at UCLA. A clip of Pilot #5 was shown on an episode of Game Show Moments Gone Bananas.
Match Game was one of those formats that wouldn't go away. First started in 1962, it left the air in 1969, came back in 1973, stuck around until 1982, came back in 1983 a year and had an aborted restart in the mid 1980s. So, it was time to try it again. Rumor abounds that Gene Rayburn wanted to host this but no network would touch him because of his age at the time (68), so Bert Convy was tapped as host, just completing his Goodson-Todman run on Super Password.
The opening was similar to the 70s version rather than the split screen version that eventually made it to air, with the circle being the flipping device rather than the rounded rectangle. The set was pretty much the same as the eventually airing version in the black and mustard motif, with a minor difference in the score display since it was points and not dollars. This version was played in three rounds, the first two rounds counting for one point per match and the final round counting for two. The celebrities played all three questions. There was no "Match-Up" round like the eventual version. The bonus game was pretty much like the 70s version, with the Super Match in the $500-$250-$100 increments and the star wheel that had the moving pointer and the value could be double.
As for the actual game, there was a huge problem when Teri Copley went for the single entendre on one answer and caused a bit of kerfuffle. I believe it was kept in the pilot to show that "we can still be fun." Eagle eyed viewers would even recognize one of the contestants, Michelle with the poofy hair who was on the final episode of Super Password.
After the pilot was sold to ABC and just before taping was to begin, host Bert Convy fell ill, ironically while visiting his mother. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, Convy was unable to take the hosting chores and was replaced by comedian Ross Shafer. Additionally, the eventual airing version added two "Match-Up" rounds, where players tried to match a designated celebrity as many times as possible in a time limit from a list of two choices such as "MILK (SHAKE or MAN)". However, after a year of poor ratings and clearances in the noon slot, ABC threw in the towel and turned the time over to their affiliates, as NBC had done when it had canceled Super Password. Although this version was not received well when it aired mainly due to the declining caliber of the celebrities, compared to the next version (1998) this looked like television perfection. This incarnation deserved a better fate.
This pilot has been viewed 14685 times since October 6, 2008 and was last modified on Dec 12, 2009 14:46 ET
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