Match Game on DVD

Re: Match Game on DVD

With all due respects, Roger, I tend to agree with Jeff here. I too have not only heard that about Mr. Burghoff, but have seen it on several of his appearances on Match Game. He tends to be somewhat rude to the other stars (Eva Gabor comes immediately to mind), many who were older than him and he should've shown more respect to. To top this off, I have actually seen Mr. Burghoff at several fan conventions, and he wasn't a very pleasant person to meet either.

On the plus side. I also get GSN, and am happily looking forward to that documentary on Match Game next week. Thanks for keeping us informed!

Re: Match Game on DVD

I just checked my order status and mine has shipped so I should get it Mon or Tues. I didn't receive an e-mail like I usually do telling me my order shipped. So if anyone else ordered from there you might want to check your order status on their website because yours could have already shipped as well.

Re: Match Game on DVD

It was an easy mistake to make. They've been running the promo all month, saying, "This Sunday. . . ." If you looked at the screen, it said the Thanksgiving weekend, but the voiceover made it sound like it was the upcoming weekend.

Re: Match Game on DVD

A few thoughts...

Received my copy about a week ago and have had only
the opportunity to skim through some of the shows across
all 4 discs, but did manage to watch ALL the bonus material
along the way.

I must say, watching this Best of Match Game disc
was a real guilty pleasure. I would never have thought that
a DVD full of game show episodes would make for entertaining TV,
but this is really one FUN DVD to watch.

The bonus materials actually start on Disc #2 and continue
through #4. All are hosted by Brett Summers, whom I had no
idea was still alive. Though Brett looks awfully worn after all
these years, she is still extremely spirited and does a remarkable
job of taking us through the best moments of the show.

There are a lot of great moments that take you outside the
show itself. One sequence involves an audience member guessing
the answer which caused a mutiny amongst the celebrity panelists.
Another sequence has Charles Nelson Reilly getting ready for his
big "Indian" moment while Gene Rayburn wrestles with camera #1.
Of course, there are those many moments when props won't work
or doors won't open that get resolved in humorous ways.

The one piece of bonus material that surprised me (and I won't
ruin it for you) was the inclusion of a contestant who was a few
short years away from becoming a major TV celebrity. What
amazed me was that you could pretty much see that this female
contestant was on her way to becoming "somebody." She not only
has an uncanny stage presence, but is also incredibly HOT! I
would estimate she is probably the sexiest contestant ever to
appear on the show.

Many of the "best of" moments seem to be pulled from the same
episodes, so I sort of wonder just how much research went into
finding the most bizarre moments across the entire show's 9 year
run. Still, the material that is included here is quite fun to watch --
especially for the number of celebrities that are included here. I
mean, it's sort of interesting to be taken back to a moment in
time when Jimmy Walker and Skip Stephenson were actually
TV stars.

....and man oh man, I always had a crush on Debralee Scott
(Welcome Back Kotter) whom we see falling all over a contestant
she's obviously attracted to.

Also included in the bonus material is a tribute to Gene Rayburn
(hosted by Brett Summers). It was interesting to learn how Gene
started as a NBC page, worked in radio, and later moved up into
the game show circuit.

Finally, a Q&A bit with Brett Summers gives us answers to the
questions, What was a typical taping day like and How did
you and Charles end up sitting together?

All in all, I was very surprised by this DVD set. When you get
a whole lot more entertainment value out of something you didn't
expect much from, you know you made a good purchase!

Re: Match Game on DVD

Anyone know what the documentary on TV's name is?

Re: Match Game on DVD

The upcoming GSN special? "The Real Match Game Story: Behind the Blank"

Re: Match Game on DVD

Rayburn would fly out of Hyannis, (Cape Cod) Massachusetts to Boston every Friday where he'd get a direct flight to LA. "MatchGame" would be taped on Saturday and he would return to Cape Cod on Monday. To alleviate the boredom of his weekly flights, he took up needlepoint.
A friend of mine who worked at Barnstable (Hyannis) Airport at that time, told me Rayburn was very friendly and approachable to all he encountered at the airport. He often showed my friend his latest needlepoint creation.
Personally I can't imagine making that coast to coast flight every week, but Gene did it for appoximately 7 years.

Re: Match Game on DVD

According to the last Gene Rayburn special I saw, he was all set to host a new Match Game series in the late '80s or early '90s until the producers discovered he was in his 70s. They had thought he was much younger, and thought 70 was too old to host a show. As long as he was able to do it, they should have let him. Of course, for me, the Match Game couldn't work past a certain date anyway. I just don't think that highly of the more modern celebrities that they get for this type of show.

Also, I understand that Brett accompanied Gene on many of those coast-to-coast flights, and that's partly why they became so close.

Re: Match Game on DVD

[quote=Kevin Segura]I expect to be even busier after the Sullivan shows, though-- particularly when an increasing number of intellectual property holders see the results, and also consider the fact that the LiveFeed footage is able to be newly copyrighted/QUOTE]

Well, I guess we can thank weird copyright regulations for something! If it weren't for that, I'm sure the interest of content providers would be a lot lower. Glad there's the "copyright extension" thing to at least get them to think seriously.

I don't care if they're motivated by the morally-correct reasons (preservation) or the greedy ones (profit), just as long as it gets done to as much kinescoped footage as possible!

Re: Match Game on DVD

Well, **I** certainly agree Andy... as does the bank that holds my mortgage, I'm sure.

Thanks very much for the vote of confidence in LiveFeed!

-Kevin

Re: Match Game on DVD

I wanted to buy this today, but every one I found had what sounded like multiple floaters.

Re: Match Game on DVD

Mine had the exact opposite problem it was tough to get the discs out of the packaging.

Re: Match Game on DVD

passed gas.

*passes gas too*

I'll be buying it. My fav game show ever. And fav host was Gene with that bigass microphone. What a guy!

Re: Match Game on DVD

I wish I could find just 1 copy. Where did everyone find their copy?

No luck at either BB, CC or Target here. (Of course when the kid at CC asked me if I needed help, I said I was looking for Match Game & couldn't find it in the new releases or in the "M's" in TV shows. He said "Well things are all over the place" and walked away - I wish Tower was still around )

Re: Match Game on DVD

The BB where I bought it had 10+ copies (and according to the website, the DVD was in stock at two of the three other BBs near me). According to CCs website, Match Game is available for shipping (at least as of 9am this morning).

Haven't watched any of the set yet, but it looks very nice. I just wish the pamphlet were more informative. While it is nice to have a list of the episode date and the 6 panelists, it would have been nice to have a brief line about why this episode was included (like "This is the "dimples" episode" or "This is the first episode with the Star Wheel"). Is there any more information online about the "special" nature of each of these 30 episodes? (Of course, I'll find out as I go through the shows one-by-one, but a concise list would be nice for easy reference!)

Re: Match Game on DVD

I got mine yesterday; it was selling briskly at BestBuy at $21.99 per copy. And it's quite a bargain, although I wish all the episodes were in chronological order. The 1962 pilot kinescope is fine and watchable, for those of you who were worried about its quality. Brett's interviews are informative and hilarious.

Did any of you have an audio problem on one of the episodes? I think it was on the first disc; suddenly everybody is talking out of synch.

All the episodes seem as uncut as they're gonna get; I've only watched 6 eps so far, and haven't come across any of those "for tickets, please write to..." on-air promos yet.

Match Game is so utterly different from any game shows on the air today. Today's shows are soooo well-rehearsed, canned and dull. It's amazing today how fast and loose the stars of MG treated the show. It's amazing too, the amount of naughty innuendos that got on the air, even as far back as the pilot! In today's world of image-conscious celebrities and censor-happy networks, this show absolutely could not be recreated. There's too much fear. But it's nice to know they saved all these episodes, just to show today's producers how it should be done.

I strongly recommend buying Match Game, to those of you on the fence. At that price, it's about 1 cent per laugh.

Re: Match Game on DVD

I always liked it when they talk about going out drinking and stuff.

Don't forget that so many "contestants" on today's gameshows look like they've had makeovers. Wouldn't want to upset anybody watching...I mean, they might look like real people if they had odd hair, or unfashionable clothing or goofy eyeglasses. Remember Bill Cullen in those coke bottles? You'd never see that today either. God, I miss that!



I'm hoping my second favorite game show, Lets Make a Deal, gets this same kind of "deal".

Re: Match Game on DVD

I thought they did a decent job with this compilation and it's a good value, but here are my nagging thoughts...
1. Why did they shoot Brett's interviews at such an unusual sideways angle?
2. Would have liked more about the history and chronology of the show... not just the 60s up to 82, but the Match Game/Hollywood Square hybrid, the 90s version, and the 2000s version.
3. Why not a feature about the writing staff, esp. Mad Magazine's Dick DeBartolo?
4. 'The Music of Match Game' would be a good subject for a featurette. So would a star wheel/Dawson's exit examination.
5. A montage of the yearly rollovers (73 to 74, 74 to 75, 75 to 76, 76 to 77, 77 to 78) would have been appreciated.
6. Brett was good, but why not also interview Charles, Betty, Fannie, etc.? Maybe in future volumes....?

Re: Match Game on DVD

I think either Brett had trouble looking directly into the camera or the cameraman was unable to look directly at her. She looks terrible in her old age, but it's what she has to say that's important.

Not for the first volume, and I suspect nobody would want to see this century's already forgotten version.

Well, I know Dick DeBartolo worked for MAD. Who else?

On Game Show Network, they had the week of episodes in which the Star Wheel first appeared (when Dawson was still on the show) around the late spring (?) of 1978 towards the end of his Match Game tenure. The wheel look was different at first, the sound effect heard when the Star Wheel was turned was goofier, and the show's set redesign wasn't completed. Mary Wickes and the other celebrities walking off the stage when the very first turn of the Star Wheel landed on Richard Dawson was priceless comedy! Definitely qualifies as a "Best Of" show.

Maybe. Richard Dawson, Fannie, and Betty were all interviewed in recent years on Game Show Network the last time they had a marathon. The DVD's producers could simply buy those for the next release.

Re: Match Game on DVD

My only complaints:

1. These Match Game episodes were duplicated mostly out of order.

2. One of the show's worst players (Robert Pine of "C.H.I.P.S.") appeared during the week of July 21, 1979, in which 4 of his 5 episodes are on the discs, but they're split up with the first show being on the middle of Disc 2 and the next three being back-to-back on the middle of Disc 3.

3. The Disc 3 Robert Pine episodes were there because Kirstie Alley was a contestest. That doesn't qualify as "Best Of" in my book! Does it really make any difference that Kirstie was an interior decorator living in Wichita, Kansas a few years before she became an actress? Because of her good looks, Alley also got booked as a contestent on Allen Ludden's "Password Plus" the following year.

Re: Match Game on DVD

i would have liked if the eps were in order too.

i dont have a problem with the kirstie aley ep.
most people havent seen that before.
was the BILL belichik(sp) ep also on this set.

what did you mean by duplicate?

Re: Match Game on DVD

Duplicate meaning when the video facility people transfer these shows from the videotape masters onto the DVDs. The disc copies are duplicates.

Who is Tom Belichek?

Re: Match Game on DVD

ugh did i say tom, i meant bill.


i messed up again it was Brian Billick head coach of the ravens who was a contestant on match game.
http://nfl.com/teams/coaching/BAL

Re: Match Game on DVD

Hey, hey, hey-- Let's see how good you look at age 82! Brett Somers was never any raving beauty and she knew it. She looks a sight better than most of the 82 year old bags running around on shopping day. She was never pretty, but she always looked good--if you know the difference--at any age. And keep in mind that the lady's greatest fame didn't begin until her early 50s, an age when most actresses can't get a job on an infomercial. And most importantly she's kept her faculties, CLEARLY, by evidence of her lively and quick witted anecdotes on the documentaries. She simply doesn't talk or sound like an old lady...she sounds as sharp and as smart as she ever did. Most people at that age are entering the "doddering years" in terms of their speech patterns--not Brett.

The Robert Pine episodes aren't on the disc to anatagonize MG fans--they're there because Kirstie Alley was there. Although why we had to see all 3 of Kirstie's episode is unknown to me, seeing as how her appearance was just a curiosity. She also is a bit snappish towards the game and has a hangtooth.

Also, on the back of the dvd box it says that Gary Burghoff, Mama Cass and Dear Abby are supposed to be in the set, but I can't find their episodes. I thought the guy who designed the box art had posted on this thread earlier. So...was it your mistake or did they change the episodes at the last minute?

I forgot how weird that bicentennial set really was. Whenever they cut to Brett Somers, it looks like she's sitting in front of a Confederate Flag! And there's several episodes on the set where the stars look either bored, pissed or drunk. I don't dare ask why, but...why?

I retract something I posted earlier about the interstitials not being on the set: they are. All of those "if you would like tickets to Match Game" promos are there, including all those very weird video tricks of scrambling peoples' faces. Also of Johnny Olson's commercial announcements are still there too. It's funny to see all those products that no longer exist...!

Well overall this was a very good set. Video quality is superb. I loved the celebrity walk-out when a member of the audience came up with a better answer than any of them. And I loved the outrage when Richard Dawson and Debralee Scott disagreed with the judges, followed by a sit-in by Charles. Weird, weird, weird, and so much more entertaining than any of the stale game shows of today. Today, the game itself is always the star, not the people. With Match Game, and to a greater degree Hollywood Squares, nobody gave a shit about the stupid game--they just came to see the stars jabbing each other and screwing around. These were the first irreverent shows in daytime, although game shows have swung full circle and now are anything but irreverent. I believe that most of today's "stars" are too timid to let themselves be that vulnerable on tv, and anyway would have an entourage of publisists and agents handing them the answers under the table.

All in all, I hope it sells sufficiently for a sequel. I think this is the first major classic game show release (other than "You Bet Your Life.") I'm sure they're looking at the sales figures very closely, 'cause it's a sure bet somebody up there wants to release a Hollywood Squares set yet. And hopefully someone will fondly recall Bob Barker's "Truth or Consequences" as well--that show was always good for a laugh.

Re: Match Game on DVD

Ok, I have watched the entire set. I loved seeing the old ticket plugs, the commercial bumpers, everything. This is how GSN should be showing this series, but they don't. Oh well.

The special features were cool, but like everyone else has mentioned I wish that they had talked to Fanny, Betty and a few others. While Brett is my favorite and always will be, I think that we should have heard from a few of the others.

To answer a question that someone aksed about the episode where the sound isn't in sync with the picture. The same episode when shown on GSN does the same thing. I think it's a problem with the master tape or the duplicate tape that the episode is mastered from. I'm not sure why this can't be fixed properly but this isn't the only episoede in the sereis that does this. There is one from 74 (this episode is not on the DVD set) that does it as well.

I really had only one complaint about the set overall. Well, two. First of all, we really didn't need all three of the Kirsty Alley episodes. Secondly, since I've seen all of these episodes before (a few of them several, several times), I found myself getting slightly bored at times.

Overall, I give the set a good solid 9 out of 10. I would very much be interested in buying a couple more volumes if they were released.

Re: Match Game on DVD

Anybody have a complete list on whats on here?

Re: Match Game on DVD

Has anyone else had trouble playing disc 4 of their set? It pixelates and freezes on every DVD player I have tried it on.

Re: Match Game on DVD

Mine doesn't, but alot of people on the GSN message board has mentioned the same problem you are having. Did you buy your DVD recently? Most of the people that got their DVD's when they came out didn't have any problems, but those who got theirs later on are.

Re: Match Game on DVD

I don't have mine yet. Are these DVD-18?

Re: Match Game on DVD

Nope, these are DVD-9s.

And I did have the problems with pixelization and the sync issue on 1 episode (where part of the video is missing but the audio just goes on without anything missing).