It's also because you could tell he was having fun. Game shows were a lot less... rigid and choreographed back in the 20th century. People made mistakes, and that gave it charm and led to some genuinely funny and personable moments
HapHaxion Yeah, Gene had a blast doing Match Game. His daughter said after the show ended, her dad went into a depression and was never the same again. That’s so sad.
He had obvious stage talent that went beyond the host job. Plus his warmth came across, and his brains. Match game was the loosest game show out there, and the reason it stood apart from the rest. It was pretty much an almost drunken game of ad libs among adults. It was FAR more cerebral and edgy than any other game show.
Most,if not all game shows were low tech.Vintage ones had hand turned numbers, amongst others.Match Game is my go-to show.Gene was a clown! The networks were brutal in getting rid of a good chunk of tapes.
Gene said in an interview that he wanted people to know that he had as much fun doing Match Game as people had watching it. I had the pleasure of living close to CBS Television City when I was a teenager and I was able to be in the audience for a great number of Match Game tapings. You could absolutely tell that Gene was having a great time doing the show. During commercials he would come to the edge of the stage and interact with the audience, answer questions, etc. Fun times.
Yes, during that time abc was under Capital Cities and they were very political, especially when they had 3 Hit shows on Tuesday Nights and got cancelled after 1 season Plus, they were responsible for cancelling Mr. Belvedere and Just the Ten of Us in favor of All Miller-Boyett on TGIF
Part of the charm of Match Game were the frequent technical difficulties, such as the thing holding the cards getting stuck, the giant turntable rotating the wrong way, etc. It wasn't a game show as much as it was a party! You can keep Steve Harvey and his mugging.
Old Peter's the only one remaining :'( Loved each and every one of them. I wish the segment had been on much longer as I adore game shows and the classic hosts.
I still watch Match Game Reruns on Buzzer TV and love it. The comedy of Gene and the stars was great, and then the game, was a perfectly structured Game Show.
I agree with both Peter and Gene- when NBC launched The Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour, Peter should've co-hosted with Gene, that would've made more sense!!!
@@bbqking7410 - Peter was originally slated to host, but after approaching his good friend and NBC's then-president Grant Tinker, the heads of daytime programming thought he went over their heads (which wasn't the case), and they retaliated by not giving him the job.
I think Jon Bauman genuinely tried to do a good job hosting. I don't understand why Gene did not like him. Gene let it spill over into the show on camera where he was not very nice to Jon at times and let it show . This was not good for the show.
It's funny how we also got to the point of "oh you can't say that" once again. I guess in 20 years, you'll be able to say what you want on air once again. I think it would be hilarious if someone with a physical ailment bestowed upon them at birth ended up gathering all the private/public power and influence next. So in 50 years or so you would be cancelled for making fun of anyone with a pituitary or mental disorder etc. I mean the fate of all nations is their eventual demise after all and we have so many minorities to choose from. Eventually we'll circle back to white straight Christians after like 500 years or so or you can root for a 1000 years of reign for that nation, but that's the best you can hope for.
@@JerseyJoe50 I agree that Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik are not the same caliber as Alex Trebek or Art Fleming. There will never be anyone like them again. I will say that Jennings represents the brand better than Bialik. As far as the game not being challenging, I don’t know about that. It’s still hard to get on the show and some of the clues can be hard.
Art Fleming was very precise and articulate. Peter Marshall seemed mostly business, but a little fun. Gene Rayburn was just a nut. His show was fun from start to finish. It was comedic genius and constant laughter. When I was a preteen, I wanted to host a game show because of Gene Rayburn!
Since Decades is airing this show again, we'll have to keep an eye out for when she had John Davidson, Jim (Jm) J. Bullock and Shadoe Stevens on for her Hollywood Squares reunion.
Great to see Gene Rayburn. He had a gift for entertaining and made Match Game what it was. I do wish he could have gotten the job when Match Game came back for its run in 1982, it would have been great. I can't understand why they did not have him back. Gene Rayburn was the Match Game! No matter what his age was, he still had it and would have been awesome!! I am just an observer, but I never understood why Gene thought Jon Bauman did such a horrible job on Hollywood Squares Match Game. I thought he appeared to be genuinely trying very hard to do a good job. But Gene was more natural and it always appeared to be easy for him.
Gene sure let loose about Bauman! I wonder if they were friends either during and after the show!? Plus, Marshall was right about putting it up against General Hospital. Unlike today, (by far), General Hospital was the highest rating show on all of daytime and nighttime television combined! It was hot as a pistol.
The ratings for Guiding Light & General Hospital were quite high, but some people (like myself) absolutely despise soap operas. NBC was counterprogramming to get that audience. Santa Barbara -which replaced MGHS didn't do much better.
To be honest, MG/HSH was good, not the best but was okay. Jon Bauman did a good job has his portion and he tried to help the contestants win their money when everyone picked him. Gene's look at Jon was probably because he was with his buddy, Peter Marshall knowingly he was against it, on count he wasn't asked to do it. Jon Bauman can carry a show, but he is no Gene Rayburn.
THis is a pretty smart show, about behind the scenes info. Seems like you would flat out never see something like this now. I really did like the intelligence of Joan Rivers, before she got all mired in the celebrity ranting.
It’s funny - they open by saying how incredibly long-standing their shows were, and never expected it to last as long as it did - but, yet, they’re so very bitter and held a grudge that it ended.
I can understand their bitterness, because it stems from the exact same way their shows all ended- corporate meddling and manipulation by the new self-proclaimed hot-shot know-it-all executives who wanted only to get rid of the shows no matter HOW good they did in the ratings..
Well Art Fleming, Jeopardy with Alex Trebek was on for decades and it's still on in 2024 after he tragically died of cancer. By the way Jeopardy is not that easy. However, the point is, if you make it too hard, and viewers can never get a correct answer, it bombs.
@@michaelgrant7322 everyone picked Jon, he was a reliable player, just like Dickie Dawson was. And I think Jon did an okay job on the show, but he was no Gene.
@@weirdalfan1980 He was an awful hosts... Trying to upstage the other celebrities while playing the match game part of show... He was never hired to host another game show after it was cancelled ever again
