Copyright: match game
Match Game is a game show that has spanned decades, hosted by Gene Rayburn on NBC, CBS, and syndication (1962–69 as The Match Game; 1973–82 under an annual name during the 1970s such as Match Game 73 for the weekday version and Match Game PM for the weekly fringe time prime time version; 1983–84 in a short-lived combination game show called The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour), Ross Shafer (1990–91) on ABC, Michael Burger (1998–99) on syndication, and more recently in 2016 to the present by Alec Baldwin on ABC. The object of the game (primarily the 1970s version and later revivals) is two contestants compete to match fill-in-the-blanks answers with six celebrity panelists.
The host reads an often risqué sentence or phrase and it usually ends with "blank". The celebrity panelists will write down answers on cards and the contestants try to guess the answer they think the panelists wrote. After the contestants take their guess (which they get humorously criticized by the host, panelists, and audience), the panelists will show their answer they wrote one at a time. The more correct answers after two rounds (for a maximum of six points, one per celebrity), the winner will go on to the Super Match where they can try to win money. The host will ask the contestant to choose three of the panelists and they say their answer, although the contestant can come up with their own if they don't like them. Whichever answer was the most popular answer based on a studio audience poll from a previous show (or before the current game) will determine how much money they could win. Third popular answer was worth $100 (is worth $2,000 in the 2016 revival), the second popular answer was worth $250 (is worth $3,000 in the 2016 revival), and the most popular answer was worth $500 (is worth $5,000 in the 2016 revival). If no matches were made, the bonus round ended, although the 2016 revival gives the contestant $1,000 instead. The contestant will (unless, in the 1970s version, they did not make any matches) play a head-to-head Super Match with one celebrity panelist for ten times the amount (five times in the 2016 revival). The contestant would choose a celebrity (or, later into the 70s version, spin a Star Wheel that chooses for them; this was because contestants normally picked regular panelist Richard Dawson as he almost guaranteed a win), the host reads the fill-in-the-blank and then the panelist writes down their answer. When the contestant gives their answer, if the celebrity's answer matches the contestant's guess exactly, they win the money.
The game show has been franchised globally, usually under the name Blankety Blanks.