Wednesday, May 06, 2020

Southern Comfort Matches

Began a gloomy, cold morning with breakfast and more of Varsity Week on Sale of the Century. This time, a pretty cheerleader bought a TV and VCR for her room and still managed to blast through the speed round with a big win. Ironically, she ended up with a larger wide-screen TV for her folks. Like the boy yesterday, she won the money in the bonus round with plenty of time to spare. Supermarket Sweep was just leading into the Big Sweep round as I headed out.

It was just cloudy and chilly when I went to work this morning. Started out rounding up carts, but one of the managers pulled me in to clean around 11:30, and I continued to do so for the rest of the day. They kept calling me away in the morning; thankfully, by 1, I had more help from the new college kids, who took over the outside duties, sweeping, and shelving items. I emerged into rain, though thankfully it wasn't showering too heavily as I headed home.

I had a snack and changed when I got in, then finished the night with the next Match Game marathon. Mary Ann Mobley was another former Miss America-turned-TV actress who frequently appeared on the show in its early years. Like Fannie Flagg, she was a native southerner (she was the first Miss America from Mississippi), but her southern charm was far sweeter and daintier than Flagg's Alabama whimsy. Her answers were often accompanied by a long and involved story as to how she got them. They could get a little too involved at times, to the point where Gene would sit down and rest while she rambled on. Richard Dawson loved getting his share of smooches in, and other male panelists would sometimes try their luck as well..

Like Jo Ann Pflug, she continued making occasional appearances through the syndicated era, including a memorable week with the gentle giant Richard Kiel of the James Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker and two classic nighttime episodes from 1980 and 1981 where she helped contestants win $10,000.

Here's the entire marathon, so you can lift a mint julep to one of the fairest daughters of the Deep South! Tomorrow's marathon gets romantic as the focus switch to married couples who played together on Match Game, from happily wedded Allen Ludden and Betty White to the battling Jack Klugman and Brett Somers to party-loving Dick and Dolly Martin!

The Best of Mary Ann Mobley on Match Game Marathon 1973 - 1981

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