# Match Game (1973)

> Two contestants try to match fill-in-the-blank phrases against a panel of celebrities in this syndicated daytime game show.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/8

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 1438
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: reality
- Created by: Mark Goodson
- Network: CBS
- Cast: Gene Rayburn, Richard Dawson, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Marva Farmer, Lynn Deerfield, Joey Bishop, Fannie Flagg
- TMDB rating: 8.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069608/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: breezy, witty, comforting, playful

## Synopsis

Match Game (1973-1979) is an American syndicated daytime game show created by Mark Goodson, the five-day-a-week successor to the CBS original. Host Gene Rayburn presides over a format in which two contestants try to match fill-in-the-blank phrases with the answers given by a rotating panel of celebrities. Regular panelists Richard Dawson, Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly (who appear across the run) supply much of the playful banter, with guest celebrities such as Fannie Flagg and Joey Bishop trading quips and reactions alongside them. Each half hour episode is built from a series of short rounds where the pleasure lies in predicting how the crowd of famous minds will fill in the blank, and in the spontaneous comedy that follows when the answers diverge. The result is a light, breezy and comforting broadcast with a distinctly seventies sense of celebrity wit and studio fun. Its format is episodic, with no continuing story, and its long syndicated run is a defining part of its identity. Fans of Password, What's My Line? and Hollywood Squares will find a familiar kinship in its blend of wordplay, panel comedy and daytime charm.

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