"Match Game 73" (1973) TV series 1973-1982

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | unknown

Release Date:

25 June 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Game-Show

Tagline:

Get ready to match the stars...

Plot:

The five-day-a-week syndicated successor to the popular CBS game show, where two contestants compete to match fill-in-the-blank phrases with those of the celebrities.

Plot Keywords:

Non Fiction

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Brett Somers	...	Herself / ... (70 episodes, 1973-1982)
Richard Dawson	...	Himself / ... (57 episodes, 1973-1977)
Gene Rayburn	...	Host / ... (55 episodes, 1973-1982)
Charles Nelson Reilly	...	Himself / ... (50 episodes, 1973-1982)
Fannie Flagg	...	Herself / ... (31 episodes, 1973-1982)

Also Known As:

"Match Game 74" (USA) (second season title)
"Match Game 75" (USA) (third season title)
"Match Game 76" (USA) (fourth season title)
"Match Game 77" (USA) (fifth season title)
"Match Game 78" (USA) (sixth season title)
"Match Game 79" (USA) (seventh season title)
"Match Game" (USA) (syndication title)
"The 1973 Edition of Match Game" (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

30 min (1970 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

CBS Television City - 7800 Beverly Blvd., Fairfax, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fremantle Media North America

Trivia:

Kirstie Alley, once appeared as a contestant.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Darkroom (2006)

Soundtrack:

MATCH GAME (73-79) Theme

A staple of the 1970's game-show classics

GET READY TO MATCH THE STARS.......................

"Match Game" was without a doubt a grand staple of the game shows that were produced in the 1970's. When the show made its premiere on CBS-TV in the summer of 1973,the show quickly became a surprised hit and it was very successful against another celebrity oriented game show as well,"The Hollywood Squares",which was on a rival network. But the show will always be one of the classic game shows from that decade. The late announcer Johnny Olson and the perfect show host,the late Gene Rayburn were simply marvelous. Each episode will have contestants attempting to match six-well knowns to fill in the "blank" that was based on a mildly provocative question often with hilarious results from the panel of celebrity guests.

The show made household names out of Brett Somers,Betty White,Charles Nelson-Reilly,Bill Daily,Fanny Flagg,Richard Dawson,and Bob Barker. The show also had contestants on the show as well who will make names for themselves as well including earlier segments which featured future talk-show host Jenny Jones and future actresses Marliu Henner,Joyce DeWitt, and Kristie Alley. The show also had some walk-ons to add a bit of spice to the show and help the contestants along as well including cast members from various CBS shows at the time appeared on Match Game when the show aired including the cast of "The Carol Burnett Show", "All In The Family" "MASH",and one that included the cast of "The Waltons",and "Good Times".

Recently,The Game Show Network did a day-long marathon of this series and it brought back some grand memories. It amazes me to this day,that they don't make great game shows that this anymore since the only daytime game show still on network television today is "The Price Is Right",which has been on CBS for over 30 years and still going strong with Bob Barker!!! Gone are the those great game shows of the past which included "Gambit", "The Jokers Wild","Press Your Luck","Tattletales","Tic,Tac Dough".

But still Match Game will always be a grand staple of which game shows were based from the golden age of the 1970's. Kudos to Gene Rayburn and Johnny Olson.