I love this show and find it fun to watch and like to play along.
However, on today's show Gene was clowning around, trying to be funny with Bill Daley and Joyce Somethin, and I just didn't find them funny at all.
The only regulars that are any good at being funny was Charles and sometimes Brett.
Otherwise everyone else just stinks at improv or ad libbing. Its like they just try too hard and it doesn't work.
Damn, I'm good.
I have never been a Bill Daily fan. I have nothing against him, I just didn't like him in his more famous roles like "I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Bob Newhart Show". I never thought he was funny at all, although he seems like a nice enough guy.
Were you watching on Buzzr? He was on the episodes that they ran today but I didn't see anyone named Joyce, the other two women on the panel today besides Brett were Bonnie Franklin and Marcia Wallace.
I have noticed that in the later episodes such as they have been showing on Buzzr lately where they have the big wheel for the super match or whatever they call it, Richard Dawson seems more moody and grouchy and smiles and jokes around a lot less. I saw in a documentary about "Match Game" that's on Youtube that when they brought in that wheel Richard was really offended because of course, before the wheel everyone always picked him for the super match. Combined with the fact that he was hosting "Family Feud" by then and it was proving to be successful, he was ready to tell "Match Game" where to go, which he apparently did not too long after the advent of the big wheel.
I catch the repeats on GSN. They show two a day back to back.
What is Buzzr? Is it online or a TV station?
I think it's Joyce Beufont or something like that. Ted's wife from MTM.
She is wearing these different wigs on each show and she is trying to be funny with her reasons but I dunno what in the heck she is telling Gene and it just falls flat.
Damn, I'm good.
Buzzr is a TV network that we recently discovered on our cable quite by accident. It is just like GSN, showing old game shows back to back day and night. "Match Game" is on at least four times a day, as is "Tattletales". In the early afternoon they show a block of old black and white shows like "To Tell the Truth" and "What's My Line?". I love it!
Yes, I remember Joyce Bulifant, and you're right, she's not funny, just airheaded and dingy most of the time. She was on "Tattletales" with her third or fourth husband sometimes too. She was cute, but she just acted too dumb.
Sometimes Gene Rayburn gets on my nerves too, like when a contestant who is obviously nervous and has never been on national TV before gives a stupid answer and he makes snide comments like, "Well, it was nice knowing you", or, "You really didn't get the question, did you?" while he shakes his head and treats them like an idiot. I think he seems like he could have been kind of mean in real life, just as I think Richard Dawson could have been too.
But what do I know? They could have both been super nice, great guys.
Personally, I just can't watch B&W game shows. They just seem ancient but Bess Myerson was very attractive. Glad to hear that Match Game is showing some different episodes. They were running the same ones over and over for months and I just gave up watching. And I think Joyce Bulifant was Murray's (Gavin McLeod) wife on the MTM show not Ted's
No! That's not true at all, Elvis takes 50% of everything I earn!Col. Tom Parker share
And I think Joyce Bulifant was Murray's (Gavin McLeod) wife on the MTM show not Ted's
Sometimes Gene Rayburn gets on my nerves too, like when a contestant who is obviously nervous and has never been on national TV before gives a stupid answer and he makes snide comments like, "Well, it was nice knowing you", or, "You really didn't get the question, did you?" while he shakes his head and treats them like an idiot.
It is kind of brutal sometimes since the contestants are nervous about coming up with the right answers and they're not necessarily used to being in the spotlight. I think Gene got used to banter like that with celebs and even the audience and couldn't help trying to carry it over to the contestants.
Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.
It seemed like Gene wanted people to match answers and said things like that to get them to think harder about their responses in the future...not just people in the studio, but also potential future contestants watching at home. Occasionally he goofed and thought answers were bad, but they ended up matching multiple celebs and he admitted his mistakes.
As for the addition of the wheel I'm still trying to get used to it (I watched this show in the '80s but didn't remember much about it). I almost always match Richard's answers and I'm in the habit of thinking people will still have the option of choosing him if they want to. He enjoyed being chosen and helped people win more money, so I can see why it annoyed him when that option was taken away.
As for whether this show is funny or not, Charles often cracks me up. Richard sometimes comes up with some gems, like the other day when Susan Richardson from Eight is Enough was afraid to say "butt" on TV (not a very common TV word back then) which was the answer on her card, then Richard's card said "face" but he said "butt."
Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.
Charles was pretty funny, especially when he was good naturedly teasing/dissing Brett. It was funny because they seemed to genuinely like each other so she took it in good cheer. She could also be kind of funny when she was giving it back to him. I hear a lot of comments about people not liking Brett, thinking she was overbearing, etc., but I really liked her. I think she had a kind heart, as you could tell when she would encourage the contestants after Gene made fun of their answers or whatever. She just had one of those loud, center of attention, personalities which isn't always a bad thing if you can pull it off, and I think she did pretty well.
I always liked Richard and felt that he was a real asset to the show. He was witty and intelligent (hence the contestants always picking him for the one on one match scenarios) but he was not in your face about it, just very subtle, and quiet, and there to do his job. He did slip in funny comments a lot, particularly when he revealed his answers, but not in a "look at me, I'm so witty!" kind of way. I don't remember how the show was after he left, but I'm sure it wasn't better for the change. I have no idea who took his middle spot in the bottom row, maybe it alternated like the other two bottom row spots. Does anyone remember?
ETA: I just googled it. After Richard left, Bill Daily, Dick Martin, Richard Paul, and Bob Barker alternated in Richard's spot and then McLean Stevenson apparently took it over as a regular. However, that run of the show only lasted another year or two and then they tried with limited success to revamp it later in the '80s.
I never watched it in the '80s, I think by then I was an adult and too busy with things like college and working. I really mostly watched the '70s version when I got home from school in the afternoons and it was on at about 4pm.
Well said regarding Charles, Brett and Richard. I think Brett knew when to "dial it down" but at the same time knew they couldn't have a straight question-and-answer show since that could get dull.
Now I'm curious to check out some '80s episodes again. Here's one with McLean Stevenson -- like what you were talking about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOMCvQUg1KE
Irlene Mandrell is in the 4th seat. This would be right around the time I saw her at Disneyland. Edit: Just remembered there was a lunar eclipse that evening on July 6, 1982 (and fireworks) and the moon looked kind of reddish-brown (good pics on Google). I wonder if she was looking at the eclipse from Disneyland like I was, lol. But I digress.....
Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.
Thanks for sharing the link to that episode, it was fun to watch. I was surprised, though, to see how much everyone (Gene, Brett, Charles) aged in the 3-4 year time span between this and the '78 episodes. Brett especially had started to get sort of a "little old lady" look that she didn't have in the '70s. It seemed more subdued too. Gene didn't seem to be as animated or to be enjoying himself nearly as much. Maybe everyone was missing Richard, lol.
Speaking of Irlene Mandrell, I plead guilty to watching the Mandrell Sisters' silly variety show back in the '80s. It never seemed to be very funny but they were all so talented musically. I remember thinking how amazing it was that three daughters from the same family could all sing well, play a bunch of instruments well, and be gorgeous to boot. Usually you have the pretty sister and the not so pretty sister, the sister who can sing and the sister who can't carry a tune in a bucket, but not in this case. Good genes in that family, for sure!
I always did hate how Irlene acted so dumb, though. I know it was part of their schtick, but it did not ring true. Same with Joyce Bulifant. She acted like such a dingbat with that vacuous grin on her face, yet she was working left and right as a talented actress and managed to get married five times and divorced four times, if my count is correct. There was obviously more going on there than silly giggling and lame brained comments.