Match Game (1962)

Original title

The Match Game

Directed by

Beth McCarthy-Miller, Ron de Moraes, Marc Breslow

Genre

panel game

Country

United States

Length

1 season, 174 episodes

Rated

NR

Rating

8.3 of 10 from 9 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Contestants try to match answers given by a panel of celebrities in a fill-in-the-blank game. The questions often involve humorous double meanings.

playfullightheartedfast-pacedhumorousnostalgiccheerfulretrobreezy

What happens

Match Game is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelists to fill-in-the-blank questions. Beginning with the CBS run of the 1970s, the questions are often formed as humorous double entendres. The Match Game in its original version ran on NBC's daytime lineup from 1962 until 1969. The show returned with a significantly changed format in 1973 on CBS (also in daytime) and became a major success, with an expanded panel, larger cash payouts, and emphasis on humor. The CBS series, referred to on-air as Match Game 73 to start – with its title updated every new year, ran until 1979 on CBS, at which point it moved to first-run syndication (without the year attached to the title, as Match Game) and ran for three more seasons, ending in 1982. Concurrently with the weekday run, from 1975 to 1981, a once-a-week fringe time version, Match Game PM, was also offered in syndication for airing just before prime time hours. The 1973 format would be used, with varying modifications, for all future revivals. Match Game returned to NBC in 1983 as part of Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour, then had a daytime run on ABC in 1990 and another for syndication in 1998; each of these series lasted one season. It returned to ABC in a weekly prime time edition on June 26, 2016, running as an off-season replacement series. Production ended in 2019 (with some episodes held to 2020 and 2021), but ABC again revived the show in 2025. All versions of the series were hosted by Gene Rayburn from 1963 until 1984. The 2025 version is presented by Martin Short. The series was a production of Mark Goodson/Bill Todman Productions, along with its successor companies, and has been franchised around the world, notably as Blankety Blank in the UK and Blankety Blanks in Australia. In 2013, TV Guide ranked the 1973–79 CBS version of Match Game as No. 4 on its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever. It was twice nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show, in 1976 and 1977. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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