I can credit a sleepless night (thank you, shot of espresso) and the Game Show Network for giving me my first look at the 1970’s game show Match Game. If you haven’t seen any episodes on GSN, I highly recommend dedicating a night of your choice to some retro fun. Nothing is better than watching sweet and innocent Betty White give saucy, innuendo ridden retorts or hearing Charles Nelson Riley make sly remarks commenting on his own sexuality. Sure it’s not that raunchy compared to what’s on TV now a days, but because you know that you are watching something from the early ’70s you can’t help but turn into a little girl whose cheeks blush when Vicky Lawrence says the word “boobs.” Suddenly you feel as though you shouldn’t be watching such things because your mother may come in and bust you.
Thankfully a new generation will get to bare witness to all the mayhem and double entendres when celebrities try to match contestants’ answers in the upcoming TBS remake of Match Game.
If you aren’t familiar with how Match Game is played, I’ll give you a short tutorial: Two non-famous contestants (that I’m sure are trying to get famous) go head-to-head and try to fill in a blank that is in a sentence. The object of the game is to match your blank to the panel of celebrities’. The more celebs you match, the more points you earn. The winner gets to take home a brand new washer/dryer, or at least that’s what would happen in the ’70s. I’m sure this updated version will have people taking home a few million bucks, or if they’re very lucky, an iPod.
Watching the celebrities of the ’70s chat, bicker and smoke (who knows what was in their Match Game mugs?) was like being a voyeur at a Hollywood party that the likes of myself would never be invited to. Sexual remarks, sassy quips and put-downs were an every day occurrence and the main reason why viewers tuned in so it’s no wonder that one of the first celebrities TBS decided to cast in the remake of Match Game is Sarah Silverman. Silverman’s sharp tongue and panache for discussing taboo topics with an immeasurable amount of satire may be what makes this show the hit I hope it will be. Joining her will be Norm McDonald, Scott Thompson (The Kids in the Hall), Rashida Jones (The Office) and Niecy Nash (Reno 911).
I can only imagine the possibilities when this group is put to task on such sentences as: “After coming back from Little Red Riding Hood’s house the Big Bad Wolf said, ‘That woman had the biggest blanks I ever saw’.”
The answer to this question and many more just like can be found when the Match Game premieres on TBS. Until then, you can provide you own answers below (behave AfterEllen.com readers!)
