Got a late start...but that was the worst thing that happened all day. Everyone must have shopped over the weekend or are waiting for Columbus Day weekend. Only the rush hours were even remotely busy. I even got tips on handling the bathrooms. By the time it started to pick up, I was almost done. Nice weather probably helped, too. It was sunny and warm again up until about an hour before I left, when it clouded over and cooled off. Headed out with no trouble whatsoever.
Went straight home, changed, and went right back out. I wasn't in the mood for leftovers again, and besides, it was a gorgeous night, breezy with just enough cloud cover to keep it cool. Had to drop off books I didn't want at the larger kiosk a few blocks down Johnson, too. I saw a neighbor who asked me if I wanted a ride, but I gently turned her down. I had to drop off those books, and I did want a walk, if for no other reason than to clear my head.
Ended up at Capitol Pizza. I had a slice of cheese, a slice of mushroom, and a slice of carrot cake while watching the Detroit Tigers-Cleveland Guardians playoff game. Must have been one heck of a game. They were at the top of the 9th, and no one had scored yet. The guy behind the counter brought my pizza slices just minutes before Kerry Carpenter slammed a ball over the fence, sending the crowd into a frenzy! Not only did he hit the game's only home run, he brought himself and two other players home, too. I didn't see the bottom of the 9th, but Cleveland must not have had much of a response. The Tigers went on to win 3 - 0.
Put on Match Game 77 when I got home. They're on the infamous week with Ed Asner, Debralee Scott, and Patti Deustch. Charles was delighted in the first episode to play for the audience when his answer to "Gulf __" came up on the Audience Match. The second let Gene fuss over the microphones and introduced a contestant who would be far more important to the last episode of the week...
Finished the night with game shows based around comedy. Match Game is probably the most popular game show to be played for comedy, but it's far from the only one. It didn't start out that way. When it began in 1962, it was more of a Password imitation. Two contestants and a celebrity played against each other, trying to match their answers to simple questions like "name a game show." Yeah, that got boring after a while. By the time of this episode from 1976, the questions had ballooned into near-epic randy jokes with characters like Mr. Periwinkle and Dumb Dora. Hammy Gene Rayburn was the host from the start.
Hollywood Squares got an earlier start in 1968, but it was the only real rival to Match Game for game show hilarity in the 70's. Unlike Match Game, all those witty rejoinders tossed out by the nine celebrities bluffing on a huge tic-tac-toe board were scripted. That suited permanent center square resident Paul Lynde just fine. He wasn't much for improv, but he could toss out quips like a pro, as in this early nighttime episode from 1972.
Comedy and game shows go a long way back. You Bet Your Life began on radio, where host Groucho Marx could ad-lib with the contestants to his heart's content. The show did even better on TV, where Groucho's glasses and duck and huge eyebrows could actually be seen. His leering at pretty contestants got more obvious too, as in this 1958 episode with a very pretty TV actress known as "The Boom Boom Girl."
Funny You Should Ask is another comedy game show that's returned over the years. The original had two contestants asking a five-person panel their opinions on a certain question while the contestants are in an isolation room. When they return, the contestants have to guess who said what. Too bad this only lasted eight months. This 1968 episode with Zsa Zsa Gabor, Glenn Ford, and Stu Gilliam is one of the few to survive to this day.
Remote Control was MTV's first game show in 1987. They really went all-out on this one. A basement-dwelling "loser" obsessed with music and game shows ask three high school and college-age kids asks them questions about TV and videos while the kids are strapped to chairs. The winner after two rounds goes on to try to guess as many MTV artists as they could. My sisters and I always got a real kick out of this show when we were kids, and this episode was no exception. "Weird" Al Yankovitz even turns up at one point.
The Gong Show came back on Game Show Network as Extreme Gong in 1998. This was pretty similar to the original nutty talent show, but with a slightly larger top prize ($701) and an even more annoying host, Don Bleu. I thought the best act in this episode was a truly nifty magician dressed in yellow like a Jim Carrey Mask who could do card tricks. The winner ended up being a guy with a Husky he claimed could talk. The dog could do no such thing, but it was cute.
Comic game shows continue to air today, including on streaming and digital channels. Game Changer plays on the digital network Dropout. Here, the three celebrity contestants have no idea what game they'll be playing before the episode starts. In fact, this is the second episode from 2019. The three comedians have to imitate animals and act wacky to several improv statements. In fact, the game play here would prove so popular, it was spun off into the equally successful Make Some Noise. Very strange show, but host Sam Reich is clearly into it. It not only continues to air on Dropout to this day, it's spun off two more comedy shows along with Noise.
Laugh your way into fall with these wild and wacky contests, where you never know who might be playing next!
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