50 Fun Facts About Match Game

On which network did Match Game premiere in 1962?

The original daytime run lasted until 1969; the famous six-celebrity version came to CBS in 1973.

Through which year did Gene Rayburn host every version of Match Game?

He had been the original announcer on Steve Allen's Tonight before joining Goodson-Todman in 1953.

Which production company made Match Game?

The same firm produced The Price Is Right, Password and, from Match Game's audience round, Family Feud.

What is Match Game called in its British version?

Australia's edition added an s, becoming Blankety Blanks.

On what date did the original Match Game premiere?

Arlene Francis and Skitch Henderson were the first two celebrity panelists.

Where at 30 Rockefeller Plaza was the 1960s Match Game taped?

It has housed Saturday Night Live since 1975.

What saved Match Game from its 1963 cancellation?

Writer Dick DeBartolo pitched questions like "Mary likes to pour gravy all over John's ____" and ratings jumped.

Which magazine was question writer Dick DeBartolo best known for?

He stayed in New York and kept contributing broader, saucier questions to the 1970s version.

How many episodes of the 1962–69 NBC run are known to survive?

The pilot and ten kinescopes are archived at the Paley Center for Media.

Which network revived Match Game in 1973 with a six-celebrity panel?

The title carried the year, starting as Match Game 73, until the show moved to syndication in 1979.

What news event delayed the premiere of Match Game 73 by a week?

It pushed the debut from June 25 to July 2, 1973.

Richard Dawson joined the 1973 panel straight from which cancelled show?

He was the first regular panelist and stayed until 1978, by which time he was also hosting Family Feud.

Brett Somers joined the panel at the request of which actor, her husband at the time?

Her chemistry with Charles Nelson Reilly got both of them hired as regulars.

Who substituted for Charles Nelson Reilly during his 1974–75 break?

Burghoff and Russell stayed on as semi-regular panelists afterwards.

Where did Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly usually sit on the panel?

The male guest sat top left; the female guest and Richard Dawson took the bottom row.

How many points could a contestant score per question in the main game?

One point for every celebrity matched, and judges allowed reasonable synonyms.

Which recurring character prompted the audience to shout "How ____ is she?"

The call-and-response routine was borrowed from Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.

What was the name of the fictional sleazy country in many Match Game questions?

Other stock subjects included Superman, King Kong, Tarzan, the Lone Ranger and Howard Cosell.

What was the 1970s bonus round called?

It combined the Audience Match with the Head-to-Head Match against a single celebrity.

Which hit show was spun off from Match Game's Audience Match round?

Richard Dawson's knack for the round made him the natural host when it debuted on ABC in 1976.

In 1975, producers briefly banned contestants from doing what?

Everyone kept picking Richard Dawson for the Head-to-Head; the rule was dropped after four weeks.

What device was introduced in 1978 to choose the Head-to-Head celebrity?

It ended Dawson's spotlight feature and he quit the panel a few weeks later.

What was the daytime top prize after the 1978 bonus-wheel change?

Match Game PM, the weekly evening edition, doubled that to $20,000.

Who was the only CBS-era champion to retire undefeated?

Her $32,600 remains the most ever won on Match Game.

How quickly did Match Game 73 become daytime TV's most-watched programme?

Producer Ira Skutch ran the show and also served as on-stage judge.

What was the weekly syndicated evening edition of the show called?

It ran from 1975 to 1981 with self-contained episodes and a third main-game round.

Where was the 1973–82 Match Game taped?

Studio 33 was home, apart from one week in 1974 spent in Studio 41.

In 1983, Match Game was paired with which other game show in an NBC hour?

Jon Bauman of Sha Na Na hosted the Squares half while Rayburn handled the Match Game segment.

Who hosted the 1990 ABC revival of Match Game?

The former Fox Late Show host lasted one season; it was ABC's last daytime game show.

Who hosted the 1998 syndicated Match Game?

A 1996 pilot titled MG2 with Charlene Tilton as host never made it to air.

Who hosted the 2016 ABC prime-time revival?

He also served as executive producer; ABC confirmed the cancellation in 2022.

Who presents the 2025 ABC revival of Match Game?

It premiered on July 23, 2025, the show's sixth decade on air.

What model of microphone became Gene Rayburn's long, thin trademark?

Ricki Lake used the same telescoping mic when she recreated the show for CBS's 2006 Gameshow Marathon.

Where did TV Guide rank the 1973–79 Match Game among the greatest game shows in 2013?

The show was nominated for the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Game Show in 1976 and 1977.

How did Gene Rayburn pick his stage name?

He was born Eugene Peter Jeljenic to Croatian immigrants in Christopher, Illinois.

Gene Rayburn broke into TV as the original announcer on whose Tonight show?

Charles Nelson Reilly was once his stand-in during his stage career.

Where did Rayburn live while Match Game taped in Los Angeles?

He kept a home in Osterville and commuted across the country for tapings.

Which sitcom role made Richard Dawson famous before Match Game?

After the series ended he joined Laugh-In and then the Match Game panel in 1973.

Richard Dawson was born under what name, in Gosport, England?

He performed as Dickie Dawson before making Richard Dawson his legal name.

Dawson's habit of smooching contestants on his later show earned what nickname?

When executives tried to stop it, a viewer poll of about 200,000 responses overwhelmingly backed the kissing.

On which sitcom did Brett Somers play Blanche, Oscar Madison's ex-wife?

Oscar was played by her real-life husband Jack Klugman.

In which country was Brett Somers born?

Born Audrey Dawn Johnston in New Brunswick, she grew up near Portland, Maine.

Charles Nelson Reilly won a Tony for which Broadway musical?

He originated the role of Bud Frump in 1962 and later became a respected stage and opera director.

Reilly played the magician Hoodoo on which Krofft children's show?

The 1971 ABC series ran alongside his roles in The Ghost & Mrs. Muir and Match Game.

What lifelong passion did Reilly pursue as a director later in his career?

He directed productions for the Chicago, Dallas, Portland, San Diego and Santa Fe opera companies.

Frequent panelist Fannie Flagg later wrote which bestselling novel?

Published in 1987, it spent 36 weeks on the New York Times list and became a 1991 film she co-wrote.

Betty White's first-for-a-woman Daytime Emmy as game show host came for which show?

The 1983 win earned the Match Game semi-regular the title "the first lady of game shows".

Which Match Game-adjacent host was Betty White married to?

Ludden hosted Password, another Goodson-Todman show, and appeared on the Match Game panel himself.

The 2016 revival's host won an Emmy in 2017 for impersonating whom?

The Saturday Night Live role won his third Primetime Emmy in 2017.

For how many seasons did the 1998 syndicated Match Game last?

It ran from September 1998 to May 1999, with repeats airing through that September.