Ghosts of Match Game past

Today I caught GSN's two Match Game eps in the 1:00 PM hour.

The first thing I did was date the eps. (I missed the intro to the first episode.) It was easy to nail the shows to 1974, based on Gene Rayburn's wardrobe, hair length, and shorter microphone. Not to mention that Richard Dawson was his laughing, life-of-the-party self. The gloomster Richard was still well into the future.

The second thing that struck me was all the pre-#MeToo fun and frivolity. There was endless smooching and hugging and slobbering among host, panel and contestants. At one point Gene even nibbled on Elaine Joyce's neck, much to Elaine's evident delight.

This was a reaction to the stilted formality of the 1950s, of course. The idea of, say, What's My Line's John Daly nibbling on anybody's neck is beyond bonkers. By a weird roundabout we've circled back to the fifties, at least when it comes to neck-nibbling on game shows.

The third thing was that I was happy when one contestant scored two five grand matches. He and his wife lived in an apartment with four kids. They probably needed the money.

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