Just watched an episode of Match Game (77') with Mary Wickes on the celebrity panel. She kept telling Gene the answers to trivia of unknown movies or shows, and seemed to try to show him up a lot by saying, "Stick with me, Kid and you'll learn something."

Seemed funny the first time, but by the 3rd or 4th, neither Gene nor anyone else seemed to be laughing because he was apparently embarrassed that he didn't know what she was referring to. Tried to pass it off with jokes. Also, (and interestingly enough), Richard seemed to be piggybacking on her trivia towards Gene. A sign that he was moving towards his own "agenda"...if you will....

Is this episode on YouTube somewhere?

Mary Wickes may have been a frustrated child star who was relegated to commercials for most of her adult life.

Richard Dawson was hated by many people he worked with, maybe no one more than Gene Rayburn.

Mary Wickes may have been a frustrated child star who was relegated to commercials for most of her adult life.

Richard Dawson was hated by many people he worked with, maybe no one more than Gene Rayburn.
Patty Duke must have been frustrated after winning that Academy Award that her career slowly declined into adulthood, being relegated to being a frequent panelist on Mark Goodson game shows.

I've never seen that particular episode of Match Game but on the whole I really like both Gene Rayburn and Mary Wickes. Wickes was a good actress who played character roles in movies in the 40s and 50s. By the 60s, she guest-starred in the Lucy Show as both were friends. Then in the late 80s/early 90s she was on the Father Dowling Mysteries. She is a funny lady.

Really like Gene Rayburn, but didn't care too much for Richard Dawson. He was way over-rated and I got the feeling he was quite full of himself.

Mary Wickes may have been a frustrated child star who was relegated to commercials for most of her adult life.



That might have been true had she started acting as a child, and not her 20s.

Mary Wickes may have been a frustrated child star who was relegated to commercials for most of her adult life.

Richard Dawson was hated by many people he worked with, maybe no one more than Gene Rayburn.

Richard Dawson may have been full of himself and hated by the people he worked with, but what made him great is that he always went to bat for the contestants when others wouldn't. He had a soft spot for the underdogs.

I've never seen that particular episode of Match Game but on the whole I really like both Gene Rayburn and Mary Wickes. Wickes was a good actress who played character roles in movies in the 40s and 50s. By the 60s, she guest-starred in the Lucy Show as both were friends. Then in the late 80s/early 90s she was on the Father Dowling Mysteries. She is a funny lady.

Really like Gene Rayburn, but didn't care too much for Richard Dawson. He was way over-rated and I got the feeling he was quite full of himself.

Gene Rayburn wasn't the greatest person either..

Roger Dobkowitz (who became the executive producer of The Price is Right and was Mark Goodson's protege in his youth) worked as a production assistant on Match Game and didn't have any positive things to say about his behavior off-camera.

https://sb2tlopg.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/interview-with-roger-dobkowitz-pt-2/

Gene Rayburn wasn't the greatest person either..

Roger Dobkowitz (who became the executive producer of The Price is Right and was Mark Goodson's prodigee in his youth) worked as a production assistant on Match Game and didn't have any positive things to say about his behavior off-camera.

https://sb2tlopg.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/interview-with-roger-dobkowitz-pt-2/
It always looked to me Gene was very good at dishing out humorous jabs to the panelists and contestants, but couldn't handle it if someone made fun of him. Gene was a very funny guy, but none of his humor was self-deprecating.

I enjoyed watching Gene on MG, but sometimes he made the most bizarre or unkind remarks toward contestants. I don't know if this was 77 or 78, but he told the contestant that if she won the Super Match she could buy more stuff for her teeth.

WTF?

Turns out that the poor lady had crooked teeth and was wearing braces. Why say something hurtful like that? :eek:

I've never seen that particular episode of Match Game but on the whole I really like both Gene Rayburn and Mary Wickes. Wickes was a good actress who played character roles in movies in the 40s and 50s. By the 60s, she guest-starred in the Lucy Show as both were friends. Then in the late 80s/early 90s she was on the Father Dowling Mysteries. She is a funny lady.

Really like Gene Rayburn, but didn't care too much for Richard Dawson. He was way over-rated and I got the feeling he was quite full of himself.


She was also on the kids show Sigmund and The Sea Monster and the Movies Sister Act 1 and 2 and I thought she was a very funny lady. . . . . . .

I don't know about Gene's life off camera, but his actions on camera towards women were outrageous and at the very least lecherous. His eyes literally focused on any woman who had an ample bosom, I mean it was obvious and he wasn't even trying not to look. He practically drooled and fawningly touched any good looking young girl that came on the show. It was embarrassing to watch, I wonder why no one ever said anything, least of all his long suffering wife. As a kid when I watched this going on I didn't take notice of it, guess a kid doesn't get it when he sees an old man drooling after a young girl. But seeing it now is painful how awkward it is.

He also was quite rude to any and all contestants if they gave an answer that wasn't anything but perfect, deriding them till he got to the "celebrities" where he lavished each lousy answer they gave with all sorts of false praise. Seems if you weren't a "celebrity" Gene treated you either like a piece of meat if you were an attractive girl or like a cretin if you gave slightly off answer.

Anyway, in spite of Gene's horrible behavior I still for some reason really like this show. It's funny and fast moving and usually very entertaining thanks to all the banter between the stars. If Gene had behaved politely to the contestants like most other hosts do and could have contained his bulging eyes while looking at big boobed girls:eek: he'd be a lot easier to take now.

Really? Some contestants did give some really stupid answers at times. I think they deserved some of what they got. It should be a clue that even when the audience is booing your answer it's really dumb.

Ed.

I don't know about Gene's life off camera, but his actions on camera towards women were outrageous and at the very least lecherous. His eyes literally focused on any woman who had an ample bosom, I mean it was obvious and he wasn't even trying not to look. He practically drooled and fawningly touched any good looking young girl that came on the show. It was embarrassing to watch, I wonder why no one ever said anything, least of all his long suffering wife. As a kid when I watched this going on I didn't take notice of it, guess a kid doesn't get it when he sees an old man drooling after a young girl. But seeing it now is painful how awkward it is.

He also was quite rude to any and all contestants if they gave an answer that wasn't anything but perfect, deriding them till he got to the "celebrities" where he lavished each lousy answer they gave with all sorts of false praise. Seems if you weren't a "celebrity" Gene treated you either like a piece of meat if you were an attractive girl or like a cretin if you gave slightly off answer.

Anyway, in spite of Gene's horrible behavior I still for some reason really like this show. It's funny and fast moving and usually very entertaining thanks to all the banter between the stars. If Gene had behaved politely to the contestants like most other hosts do and could have contained his bulging eyes while looking at big boobed girls:eek: he'd be a lot easier to take now.I think Gene's behavior had a lot to do with making the show as great as it was. If he behaved in the way we expect people to these days we'd think it was a boring show. Your assessment of Gene is accurate, but a nicer person would have made the show worse.

Really? Some contestants did give some really stupid answers at times. I think they deserved some of what they got. It should be a clue that even when the audience is booing your answer it's really dumb.

Ed.
Gene often said out loud what a lot of people at home were thinking when watching the show. That's what made Gene the most interesting game show host in history. The world is full of respectful, well-behaved men. It was nice to see someone not hold back in front of the camera.