Match Game/Funny

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.



  • May 19, 1973: Even Pilot A had several of these. One that stands out in particular is a Deadpan Snarker moment from Dawson himself:

Gene: [after Dawson said something in French] He speaks French! You spoke French!
Richard: Yes, I was in Paris during the war. I was in the army.

Gene: On our side?

Richard: [[[Beat]]] No, I was a Japanese nurse.

  • Pretty much every go-between between Brett and Charles. In one instance, while Brett was complaining about Charles' ugly sweater...

Brett: Look at that ugly sweater. If he's not going skiing, we're in a lot of trouble!

    • ...she absentmindedly wrote "Skiing" as her answer, which Charles was very quick to deride her for:

Charles: This is a very sick lady! I think the nurse should come and take her!

  • There was once a PM question where Brett and Charles couldn't play because they had matched on the last question. As a result, Richard Dawson impersonated Brett and Fannie Flagg impersonated Charles, to much derision from the real Charles and Brett.
    • Dawson and Betty White had done the same thing about a year earlier, but Fannie's Charles impersonation was the highlight of the whole thing.
  • Gene Rayburn's occasional mock fights with the cameramen are hilarious, especially in one January 1980 instance where one decided to whack Gene on the head with the camera!
  • Almost everything involving Gene, especially his entrances (like running around the studio, or breaking down the doors). Also notable is when he climbed over the audience to reach Camera 5.
  • On one occasion, Brett's answer obviously did not match the contestant's, but Brett barked "Don't you dare buzz me!" at Ira Skutch (the judge) before revealing her answer. When she did, Skutch gave her answer a sound which resembled a raspberry. It cracked her up.
  • 1977: An incident where Dawson insisted he said "Ate" instead of what he pulled out, which was in the question. His protests eventually led to Skutch pulling out something that was usually not heard on Match Game — the foghorn sound from The Price Is Right.
  • June 26, 1978 (daytime): The first spin of the Star Wheel. Not only did it land on Dawson to the panel's dismay, but even Dawson himself got up and left with the rest of the panel.
  • October 1979 (daytime): Cuckoo, Friend, and Ollie.
  • On one episode, Gene got fed up with Charles Nelson Reilly's snark and forced him to take over as host.
  • Charles Nelson Reilly once made his entrance by commandeering one of the contestant's seats.