GSN To Air MATCH GAME Marathon On Christmas Day

MATCH GAME, the game show, featuring (far left) host Gene Rayburn.
Show panelists (top row, from left) Bert Convy, Arlene Francis &Jack
Klugman. (Bottom row, from left) Jo Ann Pflug, Richard Dawson &  Betty
White. - Photo: CBS

This Christmas, GSN will honor the 50th anniversary of one of the most enduring and memorable classic shows, MATCH GAME, by airing a marathon on Tuesday, December 25th from 8 a.m. ET to 5 p.m. ET that includes two episodes that have never been seen on television.

GSN will kick off the marathon with two MATCH GAME episodes that have never aired on television until now – beginning at 8 a.m. ET with the oldest MATCH GAME episode ever: the pilot of the original NBC series hosted by Gene Rayburn and featuring celebrity guests Peggy Cass and Peter Lind Hayes. Then at 9 a.m. ET, GSN will air the CBS pilot for the daytime series, hosted by Rayburn and featuring celebrity panelists Betty White, Richard Dawson, Bert Convy, Arlene Francis, Jack Klugman, and JoAnn Pflug (see photo).

The MATCH GAME marathon will feature classic celebrity panelists who remain beloved icons to game show fans everywhere including: Charles Nelson Reilly, Vicki Lawrence, Jaye P. Morgan, Brett Somers, Fannie Flagg, Lee Meriwether and Marcia Wallace. The marathon also features an episode with the first non-human panelists in the show’s history – Kukla and Ollie!

GSN’s MATCH GAME marathon includes episodes from several versions of the show and will feature two different formats. In the original 1960’s version of MATCH GAME, two teams, each composed of a celebrity guest and two contestants, compete to match answers to questions. When the show was revived in 1973, it consisted of two contestants and a panel of six celebrities. Each contestant attempts to fill in the blank and match their responses to as many of the six celebrities as possible.