Matches In the Rain

Began a gloomy morning with breakfast and To Tell the Truth. Today's contestants were three young men that claimed to be a singer who just won a contest with the Metropolitan Opera. The panelists were divided; Bill Cullen and Peggy Cass preferred handsome number 1, while Nipsey Russell, Anne Meara, and I robust 3. We were all wrong. The aspiring singer was number 2, and he proceeded to prove it with a wonderful aria.

It was showering very lightly when I went to work...so lightly that it stopped by the time I arrived. It continued to shower lightly off and on all morning. I had no problems with that. I spent most of the morning, except for when I had break or used the bathroom, gathering carts. It was actually fairly warm despite the clouds and gale-force wind, and the wind felt just right, not too cold, not too hot. I have no idea how a ton of carts wound up in the middle of the patio; I guess someone didn't tell our new afternoon and evening baggers where they go. I put them out front where they belong, then spent the rest of the day rounding up them and avoiding the ever-present line of people waiting to get in the store.

Changed, then opened a few windows and watched Good Eats: Reloaded while eating lunch. One episode I'm definitely glad Alton returned to is "Use Your Noodle" from the first season. I actually have the original version, but not only did he admit that he used too much water for the pasta, but the episode ended rather anti-climatically with no actual recipes. Here, he included a Parmesan cheese-based pasta sauce dish. Did "I Pie" in the hope that Alton could help me with a dessert I've had a ton of trouble with in the past, Lemon Meringue Pie.

Moved to the next Match Game marathon after I ate. Today's brought in more memorable contestants who appeared from 1976 to the end of the show's CBS run in mid-1979. It kicked off with Darlene London, a gorgeous statuesque blonde who spent the entire week she was on the show flirting with Richard, when she wasn't amassing big bucks. George, a gentle young fellow with a big grin, insisted he'd use his major winnings in 1977 to send his parents on a Hawaiian vacation and give the rest to his church. Elderly Bill Stevens really seemed to enjoy his time on the show in 1979, happily flirting and joking with the contestants. The show ended with a bang as Carolyn Reisner became the Match Game all-time champ with over $30,000 in winnings, including $10,000 on the final day of the CBS run in 1979.

By far my favorite contestant from this run - and possibly my favorite Match Game contestant of all time - was Bertha, a sweet, nervous older woman who appeared on three memorable episodes in 1977. She was shocked she even made it to the Audience Match, and nearly on the floor when she won 500 in that. Gene and the panelists were all so kind to her, bringing her a chair and another one for her feet and fanning her. Johnny Olsen even gave her a cup of water. She ended up going home with over $10,000 too, and deserved every penny.

Here's the full show, so you can watch and play along with Bertha, Carolyn, and other Match Game big winners! Tomorrow at 3 PM, bring your frizzy curls and thick Mario Brothers mustache to a salute to nutty comic Avery Schreiber.

Best Contestants and Biggest Winners on Match Game 1976 - 1979

Stayed on YouTube for tonight's musical review. I've read about the 1956 TV musical High Tor with Julie Andrews as a Dutch ghost who falls for Bing Crosby before, but I never thought I'd see it...until I discovered a copy on YouTube. I go into more details on this rarity at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Musicals On TV - High Tor

I was going to do the laundry today, but the wind got even more blustery shortly after I got home from work, and then it started pouring and would continue to do so for the rest of the afternoon. I'll do it first thing tomorrow morning.