Kukla and Ollie in color! Years ago I saw them in beautiful black and white. This was a joy to see them this way. Especially Ollie, all made up. I had forgotten the movement of him bending back to have his neck petted. So sweet! As for Gene Rayburn - I would have been more impressed if he would have not stopped the same way I did - when I was 10.
H/H match update for 1431 and preview of the week ahead: ... This is week 287 of our favorite classic game show (the show ends with week 291 and episode number 1455), so there are just *4 more weeks* (sob) after this one. These episodes were taped on February 17, 1979 and originally aired from April 11 through April 13 of 1979, according to the Mark Goodson Wiki. Since that's only 3 days, I'm not sure if that means that some episodes were unaired, or if they doubled up on some days, or if different network affiliates had different schedules... This week, Brett & Charles are in their places with bright, shiny faces, and they're joined by a core semi-regular, two familiar guest panelists, and a pair of puppets in the first chair! Here's the run-down: ~~~ *Fannie Flagg* (last seen in eps 1416-1420) returns for her 89th week (of 90 total). Fannie's H/H track record is 46.7% (21 matches in 45 attempts). I'm rooting for her to hit 50 questions. With 10 remaining shows, it sounds doable! ~~~ *Eva Gabor* (last seen in eps 1181-1185) is back for her 5th and final week. She's never played a H/H. In fact, I remember one of her earlier shows when a contestant called on her for an audience match suggestion, and Eva declined (refused), saying she didn't do that. If I recall correctly, the contestant was quickly allowed to choose a different panelist. So I'm wondering how Eva will react if the wheel selects her for a head-to-head. I imagine she could always (unofficially) work with another star to come up with an answer. At any rate, it might be an interesting moment if she's selected. ~~~ *Arte Johnson* (last seen in eps 1346-1350) is back for his 4th and final week on the panel. His first two weeks were in seat #1, but he was shifted to #5 for his third week, and that's where he remains for his final week as well. Arte hasn't answered a H/H yet. (I think it would also be very interesting to see him chosen for a H/H.) ~~~ Last but not least, *Kukla & Ollie* (two puppets who normally appeared with human Fran in kids' TV shows) will share the first seat for their one and only week on the program. The phrase "stunt casting" comes to mind, but I'll reserve final judgement until I've actually seen how it goes. Well, with Brett and Charles and Fannie, it'll be a good week. I also like Eva a lot as panelist, but part of it might have been how she and Richard played off each other. I wonder how it'll be with Arte next to her instead. To be honest, Arte has not been my favorite panelist, but maybe he'll still grow on me. Mostly, I'm hoping that the first seat isn't too cringey this week. ~~~Today's action: Well, you can't have stunt casting without a stunt entrance from our "Star." I'm surprised that he was allowed to rollerskate in, what with the required insurance policies and legal stuff that surrounds TV and movie productions. Maybe it was less back then, or maybe no one bothered to tell anyone Gene's plan to don skates on camera. The intro of Kukla and Ollie at least has a logical explanation (Gene's first TV appearance was on a show with them, probably somewhere around 1949-1954.) Still, I'm not sold yet... And we start the actual game with one of those quirky situations where only two panel members answer the first question because a different star had matched the contestant in the first round, way back in the prior show. That means we don't get to see the puppets or Eva play for a good while. For the second question, the puppets sit out again! But at 6:03 we finally get to see Eva play her first question. She had asked for "kinky" to be explained, and then says her answer is peculiar. A leather "Hat." Yeah, that's a little weird for a kinky baby to wear. But Arte and Fannie each offer a "Diaper" and so our champ ekes out a tie. Now at least the whole panel will play now in the tie-breaker. "Why are the dummies getting more laughs than the real people?" - CNR @ 7:35 Finally, at 8:10, our puppets give their first answer! And it's a funny one! (Not a match, but funnier than the challenger's answer!) They also don't match on their second question, and Eva refuses to even fit the blank. For "______ up" instead of "throw" or "give" or something, she says "pass out" up. Hmmm. Her answer is the one that officially loses the game for our champ who departs after winning twice and earning $5,450 (she scored a H/H match with Nipsey last episode). *Today's audience match question: "Gad________"* My thoughts: (Zooks, Awful, Fly) The celebs: Arte (Zooks), Fannie (Fly), Brett (About) The choice: About (The audience applauded when Brett suggested it, but they sound so-so when the new champ chooses it.) The answers: Fly, -Zooks, About (Kudos to Brett for coming up with the top answer in third position!) Wheel time. Charles gets the first question this week (and it's a double). Stats: Charles has the best track record of the three regulars. He most recently answered and matched a H/H in 1413 and 1418. He's matched 21 of his 41 most recent attempts (51.2%), and 45 of 90 attempts overall (50.0%). This is now his 91st H/H question. *Today's H/H question: "_______Opinion"* (Public? Popular? Honest? In my? Informed? Personal? Contrary? Professional? Unbiased? I'll go with my first thought: Public Opinion.) Unless there was some editing of the tape prior to broadcast, Charles finishes quickly. I didn't see any input by Brett. Our champ is ready with one of my many thoughts: "Personal." The audience reaction is about a 5, I'd say. There are a lot of valid answers, so chances are slim of seeing a match today. Well, it's no consolation to the champion, but I matched Charles (as I tend to do): "Public" No H/H match today. ~~~Here's our updated leader board showing the 14 celebs with at least 3 H/H matches, ranked by accuracy: (An asterisk before a celebrity's name signifies that she or he has "retired" from the show and their H/H stats are now complete.) (For tied scores, the one with the greater number of matches is considered to be higher; if the matches are equal, the celeb who first achieved that score goes on top.) Orson Bean - 100% (4 matches in 4 attempts). (*)Jo Anne Worley - 75% (3 matches in 4 attempts). (*)Debralee Scott - 66.7% (4 matches in 6 attempts). (*)Joyce Bulifant - 57.1% (4 matches in 7 attempts). Gary Burghoff - 50.0% (6 matches in 12 attempts). Elaine Joyce - 50.0% (3 matches in 6 attempts). Charles - 49.5% (45 matches in 91 attempts). (*)Betty - 47.2% (25 matches in 53 attempts). Fannie - 46.7% (21 matches in 45 attempts). (*)Jo Ann Pflug - 44.4% (8 matches in 18 attempts). (*)Richard - 42.5% (373 matches in 878 attempts). Brett - 40.2% (43 matches in 107 attempts). (*)Bert Convy - 33.3% (5 matches in 15 attempts). (*)Nipsey Russell - 25% (3 matches in 12 attempts). *These stats include every head-to-head match from episode 1 through 1431, excluding the missing/damaged/unavailable episodes: 31, 32, 33, 311, 312, 313, 324, 325, 645, 910, 1024, 1025, 1026, 1027, 1028, 1029, and 1030. (Note: episode 849 was never produced.) These stats do, however, include the H/H results of missing episode 968 as those results were revealed in episode 969. There was no H/H in missing episode 1035, as we learn in 1036. These stats do, however, include results of episodes 1309 through 1317, found on channels other than this one. (For missing episode 1406, the results of the second H/H have been revealed and are included in these stats, but it's unknown which celeb played the first H/H, which was not a match.)
Gene Rayburn was 61 at the tine this was made, and DANG, he really rocks it on the skates! (This was the only Kukla and Ollie show telecast during the DBS run. Kukla and Ollie date back to 1936; their TV shows (with Fran Allison, I wonder if she was available for this show?) ran intermittently from 1948 to 1980.)
I can remember watching Kukla Fran and Ollie back in the 1960s and early 70s with my late Mom and little sisters, it's great to see them again! I'm really looking forward to watching this week's worth of Match Game.. Thank you for posting this!
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For the episode with Gene rollerskating. Liked the jab by CNR to BS about working with a dragon and a lot of other good stuff.
YES!!! Most of the live NBC Kukla, Fran and Ollie programs from the 1950s are preserved on film kinescopes. Two dvd sets of their programs are available at Amazon. Sadly, their 1960s ABC programs (live) are lost due to kinescopes not being required for "coast-to-coast" live transmission.
Update, Mark Milano (who originally put out those DVDs) has stewardship of all the film kinescopes of KFO and has been premiering them (currently as of the date of this reply) on his Kukla, Fran, and Ollie RU-vid channel. Eventually, all the surviving shows will be available to watch on RU-vid for free!
Eva Gabor; this should be interesting. I loved her on Green Acres, but she's a bit of an airhead. Have you SEEN her on Password? lol, I love her, but I would never have had her back on Password!
Kukla, Fran, and Ollie were too sweet and innocent to be part of this alcohol-fueled naughty silliness. It's like when I would see Leo Buscaglia or Fred Rogers on talk shows. The real world pales in comparison.
You think Richard Dawson would've stuck around if that Wheel that essentially stole his one-on-one spotlight hadn't been added? I know he primarily left the show to focus more on Family Feud, but he was also growing disgruntled with the big changes, mainly the wheel, that were made to the show in 1978, which is what really pushed him over the edge.
Seems like she stopped public appearances as well as performances as far back as the 60's with the exception of one episode of NBC children's theater in 1972. The last IMDB listing was for her as an uncredited Muppet performer (voice?) in 1979. I wonder if the severe weakness, fatigue and other symptoms of her myelodysplasia led to her being less active or not appearing in public. I could not find out more. She was just one of those lights that gave people warmth, laughter and joy in a sweet good hearted manner.
Charles got all worked up when the audience was yelling answers after he missed the 10k match at 14:10! Wow, he was probably pissed he didn't get a match!
