Match Game (also called The Match Game, Match Game 7x, and Match Game PM) is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions. Gene Rayburn is the host most commonly associated with the show.
The most famous versions of the 1970s and 1980s, starting with Match Game 73, are remembered for their bawdy and sometimes rowdy humor involving contestants trying to match six celebrities. The series has been franchised around the world, often under the name Blankety Blank(s).
The pilot for the original version of The Match Game, created by Goodson-Todman staffer Frank Wayne, bore little resemblance to its more famous descendant. Taped December 5, 1962 with Gene Rayburn as host, Peggy Cass and Peter Lind Hayes each headed a team of two non-celebrities who attempted to match answers to simple questions. All six contestants wrote down their answers to a question. If two team members matched answers the team earned 10 points, and if all three team members matched, the team earned 20 points. The first team to score at least 50 points won the game and received $100. The winning team moved on to a bonus round, attempting to guess the answer to a recent audience survey. Each correct match was worth $25 for a possible top prize of $300. The series premiered on December 31 with Arlene Francis and Skitch Henderson. The show was taped in Studio 8G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, which was later used for The Phil Donahue Show and The Rosie O'Donnell Show and now houses NBC Sports.
Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman (born April 27, 1922) is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known as Felix Unger's sloppy roommate Oscar Madison in the American television series The Odd Couple (1970-1975), for his starring role in Quincy, M.E. (1976-1983), and as Juror #5 in 12 Angry Men.
Klugman was born in Philadelphia, the son of Rose, a hat maker, and Max Klugman, a house painter. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. He attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University, where he graduated in 1948. He began acting after serving in the United States Army during World War II. As a struggling actor in New York City, he roomed with future star Charles Bronson.
In 1954, Klugman played Jim Hanson on the soap opera The Greatest Gift. Also in 1954 Klugman made multiple appearances on the NBC legal drama Justice, starring Gary Merrill and Dane Clark, that was based on cases of the Legal Aid Society of New York.
On September 4, 1955, Klugman and Tony Randall appeared together with Gena Rowlands in the episode entitled "The Pirate's House" of the CBS anthology series, Appointment with Adventure.
Mike Douglas (August 11, 1925 – August 11, 2006) was an American "Big Band" era singer, entertainer, and television talk show host.
Douglas was born Michael Delaney Dowd, Jr., in Chicago, Illinois, and began singing as a choirboy. By his teens he was working as a singer on a Lake Michigan dinner cruise ship. After serving briefly in the United States Navy near the end of World War II and as a "staff singer" for WMAQ-TV in Chicago, he moved to Los Angeles. He was on the Ginny Simms radio show. Then, he became a vocalist in the big band of Kay Kyser, with whom he was featured on two notable hits, "Ole [or Old] Buttermilk Sky" in 1946 and "The Old Lamplighter" the following year. Kyser was responsible for giving him his show business name, and he remained part of Kyser's band until Kyser retired from show business in 1951. In 1950, he provided the singing voice of Prince Charming in Walt Disney's Cinderella. In 1950s Douglas, living in Burbank, California, tried to keep his singing career going, working as house singer for a nightclub and going on the road to stay busy. He preferred not to switch to rock and roll, which limited his opportunities as big band music was declining in popularity. In the leanest years, he and his wife survived by successfully "flipping" their Los Angeles homes.
Kirstie Louise Alley (born January 12, 1951) is an American actress known for her role in the TV show Cheers, in which she played Rebecca Howe from 1987–1993, winning an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award as the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1991. She is also known for her role in the thriller Shoot to Kill and the Look Who's Talking film series as Mollie Ubriacco. More recently, Alley has appeared in reality shows revolving around her life.
Kirstie Alley was born in Wichita, Kansas, the daughter of Lillian Mickie (née Heaton), a homemaker, and Robert Deal Alley, who owned a lumber company. She has two siblings, Colette and Craig. Alley attended Wichita Southeast High School, graduating in 1969. She attended college at Kansas State University in 1969. In 1981, a car accident caused by a drunk driver killed her mother and left her father seriously injured. Her father eventually recovered. Kirstie came to Los Angeles to work as an interior designer and appeared as a contestant on the popular game show Match Game, where she won multiple games. She also appeared on the game show Password Plus in 1980.
Come on honey let's play the match game
You strike me and I'll be the flame
Girl you start the biggest fire
When you touch me I'm like a livewire
You burn a tattoo on my arms
I can't feel the fire but your kisses is warm
And it's the match game
Now, now I'll tell you, it's the match game
Come on
Honey the match game is really in
Strike me the light, a cigarette
Your love keeps me burning up
Give me so much I can't get enough
My burns will burn down a building
But my kind of fire gives you that lovely good feeling
It's the match game
Baby, I'll tell you it's my match game
Hard is my momma's turn to free
Oh, your love just ties me up in the sea
But don't you know I like it momma
Really do, love it? Come on
Come on honey let's play the match game
You strike me and I'll be the flame
Girl you start the biggest fire
When you touch me I'm like a livewire
You burn a tattoo on my arms
I don't feel the fire but your kisses is warm
Now it's the
Light me up, come on and light me up
Can't get enough
I tell you, it's the match game
Strike me baby, strike, strike me momma
Lord it's the match game
Come on and, come on honey
Baby cake, come on baby