Matchmates
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- “My First Time” - By Michael Burger
Matchmates was my very first hosting job ever. 1987. I think I was ten but don’t quote me. Those of you who truly know your game show trivia, also know, Matchmates never made it on the air. It was a pilot shot at NBC. I was five parking spaces down from the king, Johnny Carson. By the way when you do a pilot your parking sign is made out of cheap cardboard. Johnny's sign was made of metal.
It was a remarkable experience, and at the end of our taping, the president of daytime television, Brian Fronz said to Bob Noah who was the executive for Reg Grundy the production company behind the show, and yours truly,” Congratulations it looks like you have another show on the air!” At the time they had a few, including Sale Of The Century. Alas, the show did not make to daytime. They put reruns of Family Ties on instead. Apparently there was a shift to get away from game shows at the time. I did not get that memo. It certainly did not take away from the fun I had, and the great people I met along the way.
Enjoy Matchmates - Michael Burger
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Love reading what Michael had to say about that time. Yes, Reg Grundy was having success at the time with Sale of the Century and Scrabble. This seems like another good fit to that family.
I agree-this would have made a wonderful pilot! Love the "marriage" of "Match Game," "Newlywed Game," "Get Rich Quick" (the pilot's end game), "Super Password," and of course, the "Winners' Big Money Game" of "Sale of The Century." Michael Burger did an amazing job-funny, poised, positive, and not overbearing whatsoever. Reg Grundy loved his word games and this would have been a fitting hit, especially with all the other word and relationship game shows popping up in the mid-to-late 80s. Fun to play and watch! Thank you for posting and keep the greatness coming, Wink!
And if this didn't work in America, Grundy could've used it in Australia. As for Michael Burger, I can't believe this is the same guy that hosted "Match Game '98". It's just a shame we couldn't have enjoyed that Reg Grundy logo to the fullest (because of that bank vault animation).
Greg Palmer Whine whine whine.....
I could see this working as a show in England, too-- Dale Winton would've been a good fit for this type of show over there. (Plus, it could've been a great lead-in to Keynotes on ITV...)
And seeing this pilot, for a first-timer back then, Mike did a great job hosting! And great announcing from Gene Wood, too. (Though if it had sold, my guess is Charlie Tuna would've been in the booth. Him or Jay Stewart, at least.)
Winner's Big Money Game came in December of 1987, after this pilot. Grundy used the idea from here and moved it to $oTC, with a few modifications.
MountainHawkPYL Wished the kept the money amounts and used $5k-10k, car and 50k as the jackpot, so that the contestant didn't win nothing for trying. Also multiply everything by 5 for the car level and 10 for the 50k level would've worked.
Matchmates was probably going to replace Your Number's Up with Nipsey Russell. After YNU, NBC didn't debut a new game show until December 1986 when Wordplay replaced Search for Tomorrow.
The bonus round format would be used on Sale of the Century (without the starting letter).
Yep! The Winner's Big Money Game!
I don't care what those NBC executives think, this show really SEEMS to have the right stuff.
WAIT A MINUTE! I know who the challengers are. The man is Kirk Moore who in 1984 won $100,000 on Name That Tune.
+NEPatriot Well, you can be on more than one game show. It has happened.
And Kirk's wife Sandy was a contestant on The $25,000 Pyramid, too.
This was the only Reg Grundy game show not to have been cleared during the company's prime. He gave it to NBC, which already had Sale of the Century, Scrabble and Time Machine, but the network declined to actually air the series despite then NBC Daytime head Brian Frons' thanks to both Michael Burger and Bob Noah for getting another series cleared (with the earlier cancellation of Time Machine probably playing into this), instead opting for reruns of its popular nighttime sitcom Family Ties.
This show would've made a great addition to the NBC lineup.
Inbetween "Time Machine" and "Scrabble"?
Time Machine ended before this pilot was taped. I think it should be between $ale and Scrabble.
NinjaTurtleDude Reg Grundy should've just aimed at NBC, with the success of $ale and Scrabble. Imagine the line up with Hot Streak (with a much larger budget for prizes than ABC allowed), this show, $ale and Scrabble.
Yeah, it could've lasted at least 2 years at best since the description said NBC was stiring out of Game Shows at the time. Come to think of it, sometimes, when I find show pilates don't make it to air, even the good ones, I always remind me, what if?
If I were Grundy in that situation, if NBC staff didn't want to air any show that had a good pilate, I would immediately put the show into syndication along with any other pilates I made and got put into the regection pile.
I agree
Michael Burger did very well, especially for his first time out. Plus, this had something The Newlywed Game never really had: the play along factor. Don't really understand how this didn't sell, maybe NBC was a bit skeptical of Reg after Time Machine flopped.
Time Machine didnt flopped it was only supposed to be on for 13 weeks
Will Jarmon
Aired for 16 weeks, actually.
yes they extended it...schismatic i know
+Jimmy Sanders That could be the reason. Time Machine was the first failure for NBC from RG and maybe they didn't want to risk another one.
@@sha11235 Yes, if Time Machine had not been canceled after April 26, 1985, I mean, who knows?
Was this where they came up with the WBMG?
A different cue for the Reg Grundy logo. Very nice.
Doc Trower to me, I would’ve loved to see that logo on later shows. I mean, that theme could’ve worked on the shows from the mid-80’s to early 90’s. Especially the final seasons of sale. If it were me, and I was thinking, if freemantle could divide into smaller areas, maybe a friend/family of RG could’ve headed a US area of shows, and I could remake the theme in a modern way.
How did this not sell, this game is fun
Time Machine's cancellation on April 26, 1985. I think that was also the reason Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak went to ABC instead.
This was fun! Great hidden gem! Thank you!
if NBC didn’t want it, this would’ve been a great show for ABC daytime, or I’m not sure if CBS did ever pick up one, but if not, this could’ve been a great first run for RG on CBS, and heck, would work great Fox/Syndication run. I could so see that running from late 80’s to at least 95, and maybe a mid 2k run, if any game show heads were working at ABC, this could be the big chance for summer fun and games next year. as for the format, after couples, I could see this working as a friends format, and if they did a family run, they could also make a taping for a sixth day, as a saturday afternoon run where 1 family splits into 2 teams, kids vs adults.
CBS never had a show from Grundy's that made it to air-- they tried a pilot for Keynotes in 1986. Before it went to England and Australia...
5:07 - Yes, because when I think romance, I think of cutlery!! XD XD
I love this show
I wondered why the lights reminded me of DREAM HOUSE?, done by the same set designers, Anthony Sabatino and William H. Harris.
HEY!! That's the theme song for the Scattergories pilot.
2 points, One, I never hated the winner's big money game on sale, I just didn't think it fit with the show and would be better on another show, here, slightly modified it works proving me right.
Two, Michael Burger is a very underrated host, Especially here, a "rookie" and he looks like a "veteran".
What else has he hosted?
@@sha11235 The only thing I remember him doing apart from this was the 1998 version of Match Game.
@@HunterDillon95he took over on family challenge after Ray Combs' passing.
Can't wait for more videos
This game is fun. Great show.
Didn't read the info there at first, then I would've known it was RG right away. Interesting that it didn't get picked up. I guess game shows were on the wane there. Also, maybe there were already 3 RG shows on the air and they couldn't pick up more.
I guess if you give a wrong answer on the puzzle, you lose your turn as well.
Didn't read the info there at first, then I would've known it was RG right away. Interesting that it didn't get picked up. I guess game shows were on the wane there.
all the bonus round sound effects are from scrabble! lol!
That kitchen knives thing as something to put you in a romantic mood-so that means that Simpson brought a kitchen knife to Nicole's to get her in a romantic mood, and when that didn't work, he killed her with it?
Not a bad pilot
+rodney1279 Yeah, I liked it.
I recognize Kirk Moore was a big winner on 1984 version of the $100,000 Name that Tune
$10,000!!!!!
Also Tattletales.
I love the "who cares" moment.
Surprisingly nifty concept...and not a bad start for my man Mike Burger. Maybe a little overexcited, but otherwise did a fine job.
This wasn't Gene's 1st announcing job for Reg Grundy, his other announcing job for them was on "Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak."
Actually, it was-- BFHS was in 1986. This pilot was in 1985 (not 1987 as Mike said).
Still though, great pilot. Should've been on the air to replace Time Machine.
And Michael Burger is great as host. Sad that he doesn't get much mainstream attention.
+Andrew Schroy I think because there were already 3 RG shows on the air (Sale of the Century, Scrabble, and Time Machine), they couldn't fit another one on there.
+sha11235 This could've been a good replacement for Time Machine...
Wow Gene Wood did a voice over for someone other than Goodson Todman?
For a bit he also did one for a Reg Grundy show that actually made it to air, ABC's "Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak", of course fronted by the popular British host. It only lasted 13 weeks, going up against "The Price is Right" and "Wheel of Fortune" in the same 11am time slot. He didn't do the whole run though, as he was replaced later on by Marc Summers.
He did VO work for Win, Lose, or Draw as well as Your Number's Up, neither of which were G-T.
Why not? He wasn't in an exclusive contract with them.
Nice handwriting, guys.
No, "hotel" was an educated guess.
12:18 - The "claxon" buzzer could have been used if time ran out in the end game!
Or the "mismatch" buzzer from the front game, even.
I would've said, "Ice cube". I'm talking about guessing.
19:02; This is actually from 1985, not '87.
Kitchen Knives, huh Kirk? I always thought that was romantic, didn't you guys?
This should've sold, no reason why t didn't.
+Dan Barker Depends on how many sellers they get.
That Big Button in the Bonus Round has a Buzz In Sound from SCRABBLE.
Because it was from the same people.
You know, this combines elements of The Newlywed Game (knowing your partner), the old show Haggis Baggis (with Dennis James where the rows and columns had categories and letters and right answers revealed a picture of a person), a little bit of Body Language (at least in terms of the puzzle structure) and in the bonus game yes Sale of The Century's Winner's Big Money Game. This is something that was fun, a bit cheeky, but should have had a shot. Perhaps a couple of years on the air. I also think some free looks in a couple of the squares could have made the game go a little faster.
Like most of Reg Grundy's shows they are owned by FremantleMedia North America.
was that Gene Wood announcing
Yup...
A bit of Newlywed Game here, isn't it?
It would be cool if it does make it to NBC lineup and Bob Eubanks, Bert convy, Pat Sajak, Bill Rafferty, Tom Kennedy, or Dick Clark would be another good host
That would be perfect and they all host games that deals with words letters trivia and puzzles
Oh yeah I forgot gene Rayburn
Is Reg Grundy the only other company Gene Wood did announcing for?
Nope-- he announced "Your Number's Up" as well-- and that was from Sande Stewart...
Andrew Schroy Gene also did Win, Lose or Draw for Kline & Friends as well.
If this is a pilot, how could they have won any money to begin with?
sha11235 the way Pilots work is that they imagine that the show's been on for some time which means that the champions supposedly have been there for some time. It gives the Network Force indicator a chance to see a regular show as if it had been on television for some time. As for the participants they get a stipend for appearing on the program.
Better be a good stipend.
You cuddle a bear?
+sha11235 Teddy bear, perhaps? ;-)
Yeah, but just bear by itself sounds weird.
Got enough hairspray there Mikey?
what a turkey...wordplay and foreplay lol....with a dash of scattergories there is only ONE newlywed game for a REASON also Michael Berger
So this is like Newlywed Game a bit.