Match Game

Match Game TV Show

Match Game first aired in 1962 and ran for the rest of the 60's, most of the 70's, and the first two year of the 1980's.  There was also a reboot in 1990 and again in 1998.  Gene Rayburn hosted the show from 1962 until 1982, and it featured contestants trying to answer fill-in-the-blank questions by matching the answers of celebrity panelists.

In Match Game, two contestants competed against each other.  Contestants were given the choice of two phrases, labeled "A" or "B", and the host would read the phrase to the celebrities, who would write down their answers.  Phrases were often risqué with a double entendre.  For example, a question might be something like "did you see the neighbor next door?  He has the biggest [BLANK] in the entire neighborhood".  The host would have the celebrities recite their answers, and the audience would respond in accordance with those answers.  The contestant who matched the celebrities the most often would win.