Customer Reviews

Best of Match Game DVD Collection

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

These days, game shows are making their way onto DVD much more frequently, but not in the actual way some video owners have wanted. More games like Price Is Right, Family Feud and Let's Make A Deal are being made into DVD video games, not as home video. It is difficult for it to be equally mastered. Last year, Jeopardy tried to make it onto DVD video in good fashion. Sadly, it seemed more like it was about contestant Ken Jennings, and his reign as champion rather than the other recognized champions like blind champion Eddie Timanus, or others. Now, another game show classic has tried to make it happen, and this time it really is no blank at all, Match Game.

The Best Of Match Game is a 4 disc DVD reflection of one of the most legendary game shows of the 70's and early 80's. See some of the classics that legendary wild host Gene rayburn, and his band of merry blanking panelists, as they bring out the best in humor from the legendary classic CBS game show. The shows popularity within the past years has been extraordinary in the past few years on Game Show Network, later called GSN. Earlier this year, GSN named Match Game as the greatest game show of all time, according to their countdown of the 50 greatest game shows of all time, outranking longer-running shows like Jeopardy and Wheel Of Fortune. This DVD collection 30 episodes from this classic show in its 3 formats, the syndicated late 70's edtion, the CBS daytime version, and Match Game's nightime version, Match Game P.M.

There are many great episodes here that feature classic panelists Brett Sommers, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Richard Dawson, yes Richard Dawson before and while he began his reign as the original host of Family Feud, including a episode where Richard helps the audience start a riot, where he felt a ruling from a judge was improperly given, to a episode where Gene starts a fight, where he is playing tug of war with a cameraman for giving a improper shot. The set also features episodes with favorites including Kirstie Alley from the recent Jenny craig ads, when she was originally appearing just as a contestant who had won $6,000, and Michael Landon who was the first celebrity announced on the CBS daytime version in 1973. There also as extras from a tribute to the late Gene Rayburn, andd reflection from Brett Sommers herself, on some of her all time favorite moments from the show, from her point of view.

All in all, I just absolutely wish that there could've been more episodes of Match Game that were highlighted, but hopefully there will be. All in all, The Best Of Match Game is still a much better purchase for anybody who is into game shows like this classic blank. I definitely love watching this wonderful classic game show on GSN, and it is all new, fresh and exciting to me. If you haven't seen this classic game show at all, you really don't know how much fun you're missing. I love this show a lot, and I really recommend The Best Of Match Game on DVD. Dumb Dora really isn't so dumb after all.

Price: A-

DVD Extras: B+

Episodes: B+

Remastering: A-

Packaging: A

Overall: A-

I just found out about this set last night and I am just absolutely stunned. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Match Game would make it to DVD. From what I've read at GSN's "Classics" forum, this set is supposed to consist of 30 of the best episodes from 1973 to 1982, and likely will be uncut, meaning that the ticket and fee plugs should also be left in tact! It sure will be great to watch these episodes without those annoying speed-ups and credit crunches that we always see on GSN. Though I'm aware of the Jeopardy DVD which only contains a handful of episodes, one only being a vintage episode (the pilot), I'm hoping that the Match Game set will open the doors and pave the way for many other classic game shows on DVD.

This will definitely be a must-have for any hardcore Match Game, or game shows in general, fan.

I LOVE this set !! But.......I have had two copies of this Match Game DVD set....and find portions of the discs defective and unreadable on my DVD players...I have four different brands. Check out Disc Four....the 1962 Pilot.....anyone else having problems watching this...?

I never thought I would be so addicted to a TV Game Show until I watched The Match Game. Well, ok, everybody can say that. But I'm not even American.

I've been here for almost 5 years, started watching game shows only like 6 months ago. I liked a lot of shows but only enjoyed The Match Game. This show is just so so hilarious. If u never watched it, give it a try, watch 2 or 3 episodes, I guarantee you will love it. It doesn't matter which episodes you're gonna watch because they're all super!!!

This 4 DVD box set contains 30 episodes, not nessaccery my best episodes but like I said, they are all super!!! My favorite stars are the 3 regular ones: Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Relly and Richard Dawson. And I like the host Gene Rayburn, too. And Betty White, and Fannie Flagg, too. Everybody was just too funny.

There are also the Special Bonus Features which contain:
Best moments of Match Game hosted by Brett Somers
A Tribute to Gene Rayburn
Photo Gallery
Exclusive interview with Brett Somers
AND: The original 1962 Black and White Pilot episode.

I really recommend everybody to buy this 4 DVD box set and enjoy it with families and friends.

Okay, that is my whine. My one and only whine.

I never expected the day when Match Game would be out on DVD. I am quite overjoyed. The outfits, the smoking, the drinking, the risque (BLANK) questions, the era, all of it. Great stuff! Nice piece of tv history from a more civilized time. :)

But the amount of material from 1978 onward makes up half the set. MG (and Match Game PM) hit their most confident stride in 1975-1977. Not that the latter-day episodes were bad, but there was some toning down and repetition of the questions.

Still, if this set sells well I can't see why another would be released. And with over 1000 episodes taped, they could do this for years...

Few game shows transcend the "Wanna win money" theme. Match Game was always entertaining and about the absurdity of the questions and, more importantly, coming up with clean answers to PG-rated questions. (one can only fathom if a remade were to be made today; the censors would probably allow anything requiring a bleep to be said unbleeped. The comedy isn't in being overtly lewd. It's about being cute and poking innocent fun at folks who want to censor pretty much anything. And that's what Match Game is; poking fun at overzealous censors. Not being crude for the sake of being funny; this isn't about laughing at people passing gas.)

The extras were a TERRIFIC touch as well. it's great to listen to Brett Somers reminiscing. Her input, along with the other extras (Gene Rayburn's tribute, et al) are alone worthy of the price.

The restoration of these episodes is very good. The sound is crisp and clear. The video looks very clean as well. There are some periodic tape dropout and other artifacts due to being stored for all these years, but they are few and far between and the quality of the basic remastering reveals very crisp and solid video. And being on 4 single-sided discs is also a plus.

Definitely a must-have for fans, and a good rental for most anybody.

I was ecstatic to hear that The Best of Matchgame was released on DVD! Any Matchgame compilation can't be BAD, but this has some major flaws that will hopefully be corrected on future volumes.

I returned 3 sets due to disc problems. The end of disc 3 and half of disc four were inoperable. Some episodes just wouldn't play and I tested them in multiple players and computers. I was determined to get a working set but after 3 tries I gave up. I purchased my copies in late December of '06. I'll wait until the problem is corrected and buy a fourth copy.

As mentioned in several Amazon reviews, true fans of Matchgame favor the 1973-1977 years over any others. This is the only real problem with the content. Unfortunatley, half the episodes from this set are from 1978-1982 when the show had lost a little of the spontenaiety and humor along with several top notch celebrity guests (Maclean Stevenson is no Richard Dawson). They should have given fans a broader selection of celebrity guests instead of showing too much of the same guest panel. Furthermore, I would have rather seen a 70's episode than the 1962 pilot which added little to the overall package.

I will certainly purchase future volumes in spite of my experience. I just hope there are future volumes!

I am SO GLAD this was finally released as it is one of the better early gameshows that had staying power. What a fantastic panel of celebrities and impromptu comedy. Get it just for the walk down memory lane.

Now for the bad:

1. Bad Disc 4!! I am in the process of returning my first set for this reason.
2. Episodes should have been chronological and not all mixed up. You could really tell when the game started to pick up steam, but then you get thrown back to the 73-75 era which was just so-so.
3. They could have picked better episodes, in my opinion. Some of the episodes could NOT have been the "best" of the Match Game. I remember screaming out loud in laughter at some of the episodes and they are not on this set.

All in all, it's a great set. I'm not sure if they rushed this or what, but it could have been a masterpiece.

The episodes of "Match Game" included in this compilation are hilariously fantastic, filled with one-liners, jokes, and an unrepeatable rapport between host, panelists, and guests. Several well-known episodes are included, most notably the famous "school riot" episode. Unfortunately, some of the discs in the set, especially disc 4, have problems playing. Some episodes and almost all of the special features on disc 4, for example, are not playable at all, disappointingly rendering the original black and white pilot of the 1960s "Match Game" unwatchable. Despite the problems, however, the enjoyablity of this show is well worth buying the compilation.

After years of success on CBS, then well-deserved recognition on the Game Show Network, the Match Game has been given the release for new and old fans alike: a box set edition featuring 30 of the most unique and hilarious episodes from various seasons (1973 - 1980). We all know how hilarious and improv the regulars were (Richard Dawson, Charles and Brett), but the nostalgic rewind of show guests such as KUKLA FRAN & OLLIE (hand puppets that you may have forgotten about), Don Sutton (MLB), and even Joan Collins are an exceptional welcome to this four-disc set.

As far as box-sets go, this catalog is pretty good, yet my center snaps in the box interior were all broken when it arrived from Amazon, which as a collector of '70s / '80s nostalgia, I found disappointing. I could have returned the set, but it is too funny to give up; night after night, my wife and I enjoy a different episode (30 total, with lots of clip samples and commentary from Brett Somers). There have been complants regarding the cd coding and the inability to read in some players. This may be, in fact, a problem as my player too (which reads all formats incl. regions 0, 1, and so on) has 'frozen' a few frames here and there, but overall satisfying my watching pleasure.

My only concern with the box-set is that the bonus clips are from episodes featured on the collection that you'll see already once you watch the episodes. I imagine that copyrights were only granted to some of the episodes (or those that the distributor chose to 'buy' rights too) and the distributor made the most out of those episodes, including adding commentary as aforementioned by regular Brett Somers.

Overall, this is a nice set and one you will enjoy over and over again. It makes a great party set for company and you can even play along if you use your pause button and score points by matching everyone, including the panelists.

I've been recording as many of these as i can off the Game Show network, so this will just add to it! This is one of the funniest shows ever and i must say i don't have a favorite....but if i did it would be the loveable Charles, i love him,,,one of the best entertainers in the world!!!!!!!!