Sunday, October 09, 2022

Whoopee Games

Got a quick start to the day with breakfast and Bluey. After Bluey's dad Bandit keeps beating her at cards, her mother Chili sets up an "Obstacle Course" so she and her sister Bingo can just have fun playing. Of course, Bandit can't resist turning that into a competition, too. Bluey cheats to beat her father, but she feels bad afterwards. Chili and her sister Bingo insist the best way to beat her dad is to practice on the course.

Rushed out to work after that, barely getting to enjoy a beautiful, sunny, windy fall day. Barely made it on time. It wasn't busy when I arrived, but it got really bad around 11:30-noon, right before the football games were supposed to begin. Even after the Eagles game started at 4:25, it stayed fairly busy. And I'm still having a hard time dealing with customers. I get so frustrated when things go wrong, I don't have the time to think, or do anything, and I end up panicking. At least it slowed down enough for me to shut down and get off right on time.

(Oh, and while it looks like it may have been close for a while, the Eagles beat the Cardinals 20-17 and remain the only undefeated team in the NFL.)

Stopped at Crown Chicken and Gyro on the way home for dinner. As it turned out, they have cheesesteaks, too. It took longer than I thought it would, despite there only being a young couple ahead of me. They also had a couple of Door Dash orders. Hurried out the second I got my sandwich, fries, and can of Diet Coke.

Had it upstairs while watching Match Game PM. Broadway scriptwriter and director Abe Burrows made his only appearance on Match Game in late 1977, joined by soap opera star Rosemary Forsyth. Abe wasn't very happy with the $100 answer to "Ray __" on the Audience Match...but oh, how Gene strutted! 

Finished the night on YouTube after a shower with more of The Newlywed Game to finish off "Bob-tober." Newlywed Game was Chuck Barris' second major hit after The Dating Game. The day it debuted in 1966, CBS and NBC ran a press conference with the Secretary of Defense.  ABC stuck to their schedule, giving Newlywed Game a bigger head-start than it might have gotten otherwise. It even dented the ratings of early-60's cultural phenomenon Password

Most versions of the show run on a fairly simple premise. Four (later three) just-married couples come onstage. The women answer questions about what they think the women will say on certain topics, then the men. The first round is worth 5 points; the second, 10. The final answer is worth 25 points, and determines the game. Winners get a second honeymoon or furniture or appliances for the house. Bob Eubanks is the original leering host who coined the phrase "whoopee" for "sex."

Even after the original show finally bowed to competition from Days of Our Lives in 1974, it returned for a syndicated run in 1977, once again with Eubanks. This one might have gone longer than three years if Barris hadn't overextended his fondness for sensationalism with the highly controversial 3's a Crowd. The show about how well a man knew his wife and secretary was so badly received, it led to all of Barris' shows being canceled, including Newlywed Game

Jim Lange moved from The Dating Game for two specials in 1984. They went over so well, Eubanks took over again for another syndicated series in 1985. He stuck around until 1988; comedian Paul Rodriguez took over for the final season. 

Buzzr's currently showing the syndicated revival from the late 90's. The first season had a different host and format that didn't go over so well. With Eubanks and the original format back, it ran for another three seasons.

The most recent incarnation of The Newlywed Game ran on Game Show Network from 2009 to 2012. Pop star Carnie Wilson originally hosted this version; Sherri Shepherd took over in 2010. Bob Eubanks returned for his final Newlywed Game appearances to date for two special episodes. I found the one with him doing a celebrity show with Carnie Wilson, her sister, their mother, and their husbands.

Make a little whoopee with these wild couples as we learn about the ins and outs of relationships! (The 2009 episode has watermarks that make it kind of hard to watch, but it's the only copy I could find.)

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