The Matches and the Lady

Began the day with breakfast and To Tell the Truth. Our first contestants was a woman who owned many different jungle animals, including Mignon, the adorable baby Asian elephant in the studio. Half the panel went with sweet-looking number 2, and I and the other half opted for more scholarly number 3. Mignon knew her mommy - she chose number 3. Apparently, the lady and her animal trainer husband intended to start a wild animal habitat in New Jersey.

Work was the same it's been for over a week. I cleaned the bathrooms and wiped down doors and credit card machines again. At least it was dead again, and once again, weather may have been a factor. While it didn't rain as hard as it did on Monday, a nice shower fell off and on for most of the day. It was just slowing down as I headed home.

As soon as I got home, I changed, took out the trash, lowered my bike seat, and went straight into the next Match Game marathon. Along with her sparring buddy Charles Nelson Reilly, Brett Somers is my favorite panelist on the show. Many people find her abrasive or too much of a camera hog, but I think she's witty and delightful. My favorite from this round was the episode in 1978 where Brett appeared with her maybe-sorta-ex husband Jack Klugman. They were caught necking about mid-way through, and at the very end, the others held a "wedding" for them.

Some of the best of the '74-'75 episodes showed off the ongoing feud between Brett and whomever handled the buzzer. She'd yell at them when they buzzed her wrong answer, and they'd give her a raspberry sound or a Bronx cheer or a fog horn. There was also the time she and Gene showed off their dueling push-ups, or everyone's answers to a question about Brett streaking in the nude, or the answers to whom would play the Beast to Betty White's Beauty. There was also another one from '78 where she actually deserved the extra camera time - she was the only one who got the match for a game that ended in a scoreless tie.

Here's the Brett marathon - and come around tomorrow at 1 PM for the next one, revolving around everyone's favorite host, Gene Rayburn!

The Best of Brett Somers on Match Game Marathon 1973 - 1980