I enjoy watching movies and news more than anything else on television. Now that Arrested Development has been cancelled, there is nothing currently on network TV that I care anything about. (I unequivocally do not watch American Idol, though I thought Paris should have been axed two weeks ago, she was so annoying! And does Elliott stand a chance?)
Usually, when I stretch out in front of TV I flip hopelessly through the channels so rapidly that my wife is forced to leave the room in frustration.
(The exception is Good Eats on the Food Network. I stop clicking for that one. That nutty chef is from Georgia and and has the most interesting cooking show ever produced. But that one aside, there is not much on worth stopping my flipping for.)
How I miss Seinfeld and Frasier.
What I have become, well, addicted to, are reruns of Match Game on GSN. The game show ran on CBS during the 1970's.
What is it about that show that keeps me tuning in weekdays between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. PDT whenever I am at home? (Or whenever American Idol isn't on, which I am not watching anyway.) Is it the show's wacky host, Gene Rayburn? The ever-cool, pre-Feud Richard Dawson? The flaming Charles Nelson Reilly, who is always cracking me up? And what about that nitwit Brett Somers? Who was she, anyway? I don't think I have ever seen her on anything except Match Game.
Is it because half the celebrity panel is three sheets to the wind and are often caught on camera wandering aimlessly around the set? You'd never see that on game shows today. Alex Trebec would saw their feet off.
No, I think it's the 70's hair and wardrobe that keeps me coming back to Match Game night after night after night. It just may inspire me to invest in a brown and orange plaid leisure suit.
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Ah, "Match Game!" One of my all-time favorites. I also watch every night, thanks to Tivo.
I saw an old interview not long ago in which Brett explained that they taped a week's worth of shows on a Saturday or Sunday, and in between the third and fourth episodes, they would have dinner and drinks! She said she could always tell by looking whether a show was taped before or after dinner!
For me, one of the biggest appeals to the show, aside from the shag carpet, that great waka-waka theme and the weird fashions, is that relative "innocence" reflected at the time: they asked those double-entendre questions for laughs -- and they got them -- but most of the time, no one would seriously even consider giving the "dirty" answer. Nowadays, no one would remotely consider giving a non-dirty answer.
Charles once said "Match Game" wasn't a job, it was a "social engagement." That's how it feels, too.
Brett, by the way, was the wife of Jack Klugman, who producers wanted for the show, but said he'd only appear if she could, too. She became a hit, so she stayed!
As for other TV choices, have you seen "Scrubs?" It's one of my favorites at the moment. One of my few favorites, in fact.
Patrick
Have you seen the new Family Feud with Richard Karn? I find myself yelling at the TV for the sheer stupidity of it all. No one did the Feud like Richie Kissie.
Gene Rayburn was the man!
Might I recommend the G-4 channel? You can catch Star Trek Original episodes, uncut, every Saturday. Fascinating....
I see that we could discuss "Match Game" for hours on end. Interesting comment about dinner and drinks, by the way.
As for "Scrubs," perhaps I will try it some time. It is difficult for me to spend time watching something untested on TV.
This morning, my family was watching a later episode of "Match Game," after Richard Dawson had departed for "Family Fued." My 5-year-old asked, "Where is Richard? He was the best paper-writer on the show! He always won. Why isn't he on?" I explained to her that Richard moved on to host his own game show.
"The guy that talks on the microphone is the boss of the show," my daughter reminded me. She is now interested in seeing Richard's solo outing, "Family Feud."
Richard Karn is one of the great television sidekicks...but a host? An heir to Dawson? I do think Karn is better than Louie Anderson, though.
Louie Anderson? Game show host? I'd like to forget that period of history, thank you. Take me back to the Dawson days.
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