Match Game 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. 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.
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| On the air: | December 31, 1962-July 23, 1999 |