{"product_id":"match-game-101-a-backstage-history-of-match-game-9780990880028","title":"Match Game 101: A Backstage History of Match Game","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn icon of an era, \u003cem\u003eMatch Game\u003c\/em\u003e had everything: Stars  Prizes  Orange shag carpeting  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e The premise was simple: as the host read off a racy fill-in-the-blank statement, two contestants competed to match answers with a panel of six celebrities. But the score was secondary to the banter between the panelists and host. The modern-day equivalent to lunch at the Algonquin Round Table, \u003cem\u003eMatch Game\u003c\/em\u003e has run on American television in six separate incarnations (thus far) beginning on NBC in 1962 and was successfully remade abroad (in Australia and the U.K. the format proved as popular as in the U.S.). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e But it was the second U.S. version that proved most popular with American audiences. In this best-known version of \u003cem\u003eMatch Game\u003c\/em\u003e (which ran nine years beginning in 1973) host Gene Rayburn played ringmaster to a circus full of celebrity panelists who tried to match contestants' answers to naughty questions written by a team of comedy writers. While other game shows focused on intellectual stimulation and physical challenges, watching \u003cem\u003eMatch Game\u003c\/em\u003e in the seventies was like being invited to the hottest cocktail party in town. The set was shag-adelic, the humor was cutting-edge, and the celebrity guest panel smoked, bickered and bantered like they were at a party in a friend's living room, rather than in a TV studio. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e But it wasn't called the \u003cem\u003e'Match' Game\u003c\/em\u003e for nothing, so the panel had to judge contestants' likeliest answers for themselves--knowing when to answer with wit, and when to answer like a nitwit. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Hugely popular in the U.S., it proved just as durable abroad, spawning hit spin-offs in both the U.K. and Australia. When reruns of \u003cem\u003eMatch Game\u003c\/em\u003e began airing daily on GSN (the Game Show Network) they inspired a growing cult among couch potatoes of all ages. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHoff, A. Ashley:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Having previously worked in talent agencies in Chicago and Los Angeles, A. Ashley Hoff encountered many of the surviving hosts, writers, directors, producers, and celebrity panelists connected with Match Game in its various incarnations. He lives in Los Angeles. This is his first book.","brand":"Castle TNT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50613226242322,"sku":"9780990880028","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_00f99505-ac1f-4516-9d6c-224e63724dbf.jpg?v=1732391416","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/match-game-101-a-backstage-history-of-match-game-9780990880028","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}