Match Game gets violent

The news that the 1973-82 version of Match Game celebrates its 40th anniversary this week got me hunting around YouTube. One of my favorite clips comes from the show's final syndication days. Richard Dawson was long gone and McLean Stevenson had taken over the front-center seat. (Sorry, but video quality on the clip is poor. It was broadcast during GSN's early years. Note the "Winnie" logo.)

The episode taped October 31, 1980, a few weeks after the Shogun miniseries. Gene Rayburn and Charles Nelson Reilly got into an argument over the merits of Shogun. After much huffing and puffing, Charles accidentally cut Gene's lip with one of his game cards. Rayburn did a slow-motion stage collapse, and McLean Stevenson took over as host, while Gene played panelist for a round. Much hilarity ensued until order was finally restored.

A lot of fans don't much care for Match Game's final seasons after Dawson left. I always thought that losing the later, glum version of Dawson was addition by subtraction for the show. This clip shows that Match Game could perk along just fine without Richard.