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Post by bestmusicexpert on Sept 6, 2021 15:42:39 GMT -5
Ah i see. I wonder how fast they knew there would be a syndicated version after the CBS cancellation.
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Post by johnnyo on Sept 8, 2021 14:43:17 GMT -5
Ah i see. I wonder how fast they knew there would be a syndicated version after the CBS cancellation. Goodson/Todman Productions was planning for it before the CBS cancellation. The transition is described in Adam Nedeff's book, "The Matchless Gene Rayburn". Paraphrasing relevant quotes from Robert Sherman on Page 328,
"...the (CBS) cancellation didn't...blindside us. For the last year on CBS, there were a few 13-week renewal periods...on the bubble...so we were...anticipating that we'd be off CBS."
"So we...talked to...the company that distributed MG PM...as soon as we got the word from CBS, everybody sprang into action...the profit margin was low...we only needed 50 stations to air a daily syndicated series...to turn a profit."
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Post by johnnyo on Oct 25, 2021 17:21:15 GMT -5
I have begun leaning heavily into Match Game 90 with all 242 episodes available on YT. After 10 episodes, I have a few observations to share: - When the Champion wins the H2H Match, that amount effectively "replaced" the amount won in the Super Match. So a $5,000 H2H match that followed a $500 Super Match earned the champion only the $5,000, and not $5,500, as was the case on MG7x, MGPM, Syndicated GR MG, and the MGHSH. - The losing contestant did not keep the $$ they accumulated in the game. - During Match-Up Rounds, RS would not read the choices for the celeb until the contestant had chosen, indicated by a small audible "click". At first, it seemed like RS was just slow in reading the choices, but the pattern is clear. - Also during Match-Up Rounds, it seemed that the celeb was required to answer with the full question, and not just the answer. So if the match-up was "<Blank> Ring", the celeb needed to say "Wedding Ring", and not just "Wedding". This seems apparent after Jonathan Prince corrected himself on multiple occasions.
More to come.
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Post by johnnyo on Oct 27, 2021 22:34:50 GMT -5
I have watched through episode 20 of MG90.
- There are a maximum of 4 match-up Rounds per episode, and each celeb can only play once. It had not been explicitly stated until a contestant tried to select Marcia Wallace a second time and it was not allowed.
- For the first 15 episodes the Super Match $ values were $500, $250, and $100, but on episode 16, the amounts changed to $500, $300, and $200.
- Episodes 13 and 20 used the same exact question and survey results for the Super Match; "<Blank> Landing". It was hit both times with "Knot's" for $500.
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Post by johnnyo on Nov 2, 2021 11:38:43 GMT -5
Checking in with some info on the "Match-Up" rounds of MG90, as I have just watched Match-Up Question # 1,000 on Episode 33. (Questions were counted if they appeared on screen at all, including the questions at the end of round that could not be answered. Tie-breaker match-ups are not included.)
For the record, the landmark question was played during the first "Final Match-Up" round of episode 33. Challenger Demetri (no last name given) was playing with CNR. The question was "<Blank> Feet"; the choices were "Stocking" and "Cold". A match was scored with "Cold". Demetri was playing first, as he was trailing $450-$400 before the round began. Question 1,000 was the fourth overall question in this particular round, and the third match scored in the round. It extended Demetri's lead to $700-$450 in that moment, and he would go on to earn two more matches with CNR, earning five total matches out of 10 questions in the round, and a $900-$450 lead.
- Out of the first 1,000 questions, 560 matches were earned, a success rate of 56%.
- Despite having the most opportunities to play since he was on every episode, CNR only played 9 times in the first 33 episodes.
- The pattern of questions was such that the <Blank> always followed the word or phrase in Match-Up Round 1 (e.g. "Jack <Blank>"), and always preceded the word or phrase in Final Match-Up (e.g. "<Blank> Fiber"), except in episodes 22, 24, 29, and 32 (so far), when the <Blank> followed the word or phrase for all Match-Up questions.
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Post by johnnyo on Nov 17, 2021 12:23:18 GMT -5
Checking in with some info on the "Match-Up" rounds of MG90, as I have just watched Match-Up Question # 1,000 on Episode 33. (Questions were counted if they appeared on screen at all, including the questions at the end of round that could not be answered. Tie-breaker match-ups are not included.) - The pattern of questions was such that the <Blank> always followed the word or phrase in Match-Up Round 1 (e.g. "Jack <Blank>"), and always preceded the word or phrase in Final Match-Up (e.g. "<Blank> Fiber"), except in episodes 22, 24, 29, and 32 (so far), when the <Blank> followed the word or phrase for all Match-Up questions. As of episode 60, the <Blank> followed the word or phrase for all Match-Up questions on episodes: 22, 24, 29, 32, 37, 39, 42, 44, 47, 49, 52, 54, 57 and 59. Otherwise, the <Blank> followed the word or phrase in Match-Up Round 1 (e.g. "Jack <Blank>"), and always preceded the word or phrase in Final Match-Up (e.g. "<Blank> Fiber").
Given the hundreds and hundreds of questions that are needed for all the Match-Up rounds played over the run of the show (I am predicting over 8,000 when all of the data is gathered), there are bound to be some repeats. While I have not done a full analysis, there were some obvious repeats that were impossible to miss.
At the end of Ep. 39, after the winning contestant made a match and won the game during Final Match-Up, another Match-Up question briefly appeared on screen, but was not played. This Match-Up question was the first Match-Up question played on Ep. 40. I have seen this three more times, across episodes 42/43, 49/50, and 54/55. The common thread is that, in the first episode listed, the Final Match-Up Round used the same format as Match-Up Round 1 (see list above).
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Post by johnnyo on Dec 13, 2021 10:55:16 GMT -5
As I continue through MG90, some comments on the opening sequence that introduced the celebrities.
A pre-taped opening sequence was used to introduce the celebrities for almost every show. The sequence used video tricks to show each celebrity's face with the screen split vertically into three slices. The topmost slice showed the hair and forehead, the middle showed the eyes and nose, and the bottom the mouth and chin. The slices scrolled in and out from the sides to compose each celebrity's face as they were introduced, with some of the screen time spent on mismatched slices.
The only episodes with live introductions were 78, the Halloween show that aired on 10/31/1990, and 116, the Christmas Eve show that aired on December 24, 1990.
With regard to the relationship of seating position to Introduction Order, the Intro order never varied from the video sequence. While the seating order generally matched the Introductions, this was not always the case. Notably, during the weeks with Soap Opera stars (episodes 76-95), the Soap stars were always introduced first, regardless of where they were seated.
Also, if the seating position changed mid-week, as happened between eps. 2 & 3, or 68 & 69, the introductions no longer matched the seating order. And when Ron Lucas appeared with a puppet (either "Scorch" or "Chuck Roast"), the same puppet always appeared during that week's taped introductions, even if another puppet was appearing on that day's show.
This is all in contrast to GR's MG7x, PM and syndicated that used live intros that always matched the seating order, or MGHSH, whose live "running across the stage" introductions that had virtually zero connection to seating location.
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Post by pyramidfan on Dec 13, 2021 13:58:32 GMT -5
With regard to the relationship of seating position to Introduction Order, the Intro order never varied from the video sequence. While the seating order generally matched the Introductions, this was not always the case. Notably, during the weeks with Soap Opera stars (episodes 76-95), the Soap stars were always introduced first, regardless of where they were seated. During Mary Wickes' sole week on this version, she was introduced second. Maybe she was originally slated to sit in the "Brett seat."
That may be a whole other topic: why the mid-week seat switches happened. I know Brett complained about not getting to sit next to Walt Willey during the first soap week, so they moved him starting with the Tuesday show. Also, there was a week where Rebeca Arthur switched with Vicki Lawrence halfway through. That might have been because they were afraid that Scorch's flame would hurt or scare Rebeca's poodle.
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Post by johnnyo on Jan 11, 2022 15:05:13 GMT -5
As I work my way through MG90, the one thing about it that bothers me is the over reliance on the Match-Up Rounds to determine the winner. It was possible to win the game without ever matching even once in the "traditional" matching rounds. In the first 207 episodes, it happened five times.
In fact, the traditional matching rounds were generally pretty sloppy. Ross Shaffer never went to bat for the contestants against the judges; he'd always accept or explain the judges ruling. The celebrities were always doing shtick, sometimes even commenting on Contestant A when it was Contestant B's question, and vice versa. It was a mixed bag whether or not the celeb's jokes were a net positive.
On the plus side, I have learned that Brad Garrett was a talented impressionist. CNR was as sharp as he could be without Brett as a consistent sidekick. On the negative side was Fred Tavelina always needing to introduce his impressions ("Michael Caine here...") regardless of whether it made sense in the context of the question. There was a slight uptick the week (episodes 203-207) that Sally Struthers basically trolled FT by following his impressions with her own versions.
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Post by pyramidfan on Jan 11, 2022 19:17:21 GMT -5
CNR was as sharp as he could be without Brett as a consistent sidekick. To me, this was the central way this version could have been better. If they couldn't have Brett there all the time, they should have at least had a permanent foil for Charles. His humor worked best when he had someone to play off of. I think they discovered this later, as Vicki Lawrence and Sally Struthers started to sit next to him more often.
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Post by johnnyo on Jan 14, 2022 10:32:20 GMT -5
Also, there was a week where Rebeca Arthur switched with Vicki Lawrence halfway through. That might have been because they were afraid that Scorch's flame would hurt or scare Rebeca's poodle.
I just watched this week (episodes 213-217), and the switch was about Vicki complaining about being seated between Bill Kirchenbauer and Brad Garrett. Both of these guys were doing schtick all week, and Vicki was very uncomfortable.
Rebeca's poodle was the chillest dog ever. She interacted with Scorch without issue before the switch, and had sat next to Scorch for entire week earlier in the run (episodes 174-178). She was totally calm most of the time, and would only bark whenever the crowd cheered, like when the main game or H2H was won, or while the wheel was spinning. But she always calmed down again on cue.
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Post by johnnyo on Jan 21, 2022 18:49:17 GMT -5
I have a question on the air dates of the last five episodes of MG90. The show was on the air for 52 weeks (July 16,1990 - July 12, 1991), with 49 weeks of episodes produced, and 3 weeks of reruns. To hear Ross Shaffer describe it, he ends episode 237 (the end of the 48th week, air date June 14, 1991) telling champ Bill Murphy that the next three weeks (June 17-21, June 24-28, and July 1-5) will be reruns of the "Best of Match Game", and that he will return as champion after that, on July 8, 1991. At the beginning of episode 238 (the beginning of the 49th week), he welcomes back Bill Murphy, stating the he is back "after three weeks". So it would seem that MG 90 aired 48 consecutive weeks of new episodes, 3 weeks of reruns, and one final week of new shows. Except that other places on the internet are telling a different story that doesn't match. 1) Episodes 238-242 are all titled on MGP's YT page as having aired from June 17-21. 2) The episode guide found here; markgoodson.fandom.com/wiki/Match_Game_(1990)/Episode_Guide#cite_note-10indicates that episodes 238-242 first aired the week of June 17-21, and that after the next two weeks were reruns of episodes 86-90 and 144-148, and episodes 238-242 aired again during the week of July 8-12, 1991. I am new to this show and have not researched it at all, so I am not sure the correct sequence. Were episodes 238-242 aired once (July 8-12) or twice (June 17 -25 & July 8-12)?
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Post by vahan on Dec 22, 2022 15:04:37 GMT -5
Which Match Game episode was the one with the woman singing "There are questions that are silly"? I remember that from As Seen On.
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Post by johnnyo on Jan 10, 2023 11:04:52 GMT -5
...GR's MG7x, PM and syndicated that used live intros that always matched the seating order, or MGHSH, whose live "running across the stage" introductions that had virtually zero connection to seating location. I just to follow up on the idea of GR MG always taping live intros for each episode.
For some unknown reason, Ep. 77 of Syndicated Match Game used the same celeb intros and GR intro from Ep. 80, (the final show of that week). There is always a wide shot at the end of the intros with GR walking in and the contestants spinning in on the turntable, and the contestants are the Episode 80 contestants. It is an obvious oddity since there should have been only one contestant on the turntable since episode 77 actually begins with a spin of the Star Wheel, and then a H2H match.
Presumably intros were taped for Episode 77, but then discarded and replaced in post-production with the Episode 80 Intros.
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Post by johnnyo on May 11, 2023 13:24:52 GMT -5
I have a partial list of CBS episodes with no Super or H2H match. I have also a partial list of CBS episodes with only one bonus round played (either Super or H2H).
I wasn't always actively making note of these episodes, which is one reason the list is partial; the other reason is that I only have data for episodes I have actually seen. In any case, it would be a simple (if potentially time-consuming) effort go back at some point and compile a more complete list from my notes.
Regarding syndication I don't have any detailed notes. Regardless, I would not expect too many episodes without bonus rounds, as it was a fixed format show, with six Super Matches always played over each 5 episode "week". I guess it would have been more likely on the first episode of the week, which always started with a new game. So, if that first game ended in a tie, the six regular questions might have pushed the first Super Match of the week into the second episode.
Finally, I am getting around to posting my list of MG7x (CBS) episodes without any bonus rounds (Super Match or H2H). (The list should be complete, but of course does not reflect any skipped episodes, like 31-33, etc.)
156 208 216 240 250 264 282 413 436 459 568 571 623 697 723 785 791 824 935 950 984 1035 1066 1093 1171 1194
And finally, here is a list of the Syndicated "Match Game" episodes with no bonus round of any kind. AFAIK, the above list from MG7x and below from syndication is complete.
76 154 226 236 271 346 366 402 428 431 476 496 503
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