Did Gene Rayburn genuinely blame the Entertainment Tonight TV program for revealing his true age and causing the end of his ability to work?

Gene Rayburn is a jackwad. I don't like him at all after seeing the clip of him beating his producer on Match Game, what a horrible person Gene is. :rolleyes:

I didn't like him. He seemed kind of creepy. As did some of the panelists. In fact, Match Game was a creepy show.

Oh, come on! One of daytime tv’s greatest moments was on “The Match Game,” when regular celebrity panelist Charles Nelson Reilly walked over to a thirty-something contestant with complete male pattern baldness, and Mr. Reilly very selflessly removed his own flowing toupee from his head, and put it on the top of the head of the much younger man, saying, “There, you look MUCH younger now!”

To say that Gene Rayburn, the other celebrities, the tv crew and the studio audience all broke out into absolutely hysterical laughter, would be a great understatement.

Did Gene Rayburn genuinely blame the Entertainment Tonight TV program for revealing his true age and causing the end of his ability to work?

In looking into this there seems to be some confusion as to when this incident took place, one site indicates 1987, one 1989. It looks like the ET incident took place in 1987 (Gene was born in 1917 so he would have been 69 that year). There was an ad taken out in one of the trades indicating a Match Game revival for the fall of 87 with a picture of Gene but that revival never took place. The sell through failed so no 87 revival. I guess Gene was looking to blame someone or something, and who knows maybe some of the comments at the NAB convention where a lot of this selling is done may have reflected negatively on Gene hosting the show. At that point in time many of Gene's contemporaries were fading from the scene, Tom Kennedy, his brother Jack Narz, Bill Cullen, Dennis James a few years earlier so he may have had a point. On the other hand the business (all businesses in fact) change along the way and showbiz is always looking for something new to entertain the audience. He had a great career was on the cutting edge of a lot history morning radio team concept, announcer and performer on the early days of the tonight show and long time game show host.

I never saw the Hollywood Squares/Match Game Hour until it showed up on Buzzr, I was actually surprised at Gene's performance, I thought he had lost a little on his fastball. He was fired from his last show which was Break the Bank after just 13 weeks (1985) so there was that to factor in as well. If I was trying to revive Match Game in 87, I would have looked in the direction of Richard Dawson as host (15 years younger than Gene), if I wanted to take advantage of some the show's history.

Can you imagine if Gary Burghoff, the late Patti Deutsch or the late Bill Daily ever hosted “The Match Game”? Ugh!

Beam me up, Elaine Joyce!

PS Although, it would kind of been fun to have seen the always low-key and self-effacing William Shatner hosting” The Match Game.”

In looking into this there seems to be some confusion as to when this incident took place, one site indicates 1987, one 1989. It looks like the ET incident took place in 1987 (Gene was born in 1917 so he would have been 69 that year). There was an ad taken out in one of the trades indicating a Match Game revival for the fall of 87 with a picture of Gene but that revival never took place. The sell through failed so no 87 revival. I guess Gene was looking to blame someone or something, and who knows maybe some of the comments at the NAB convention where a lot of this selling is done may have reflected negatively on Gene hosting the show. At that point in time many of Gene's contemporaries were fading from the scene, Tom Kennedy, his brother Jack Narz, Bill Cullen, Dennis James a few years earlier so he may have had a point. On the other hand the business (all businesses in fact) change along the way and showbiz is always looking for something new to entertain the audience. He had a great career was on the cutting edge of a lot history morning radio team concept, announcer and performer on the early days of the tonight show and long time game show host.

I never saw the Hollywood Squares/Match Game Hour until it showed up on Buzzr, I was actually surprised at Gene's performance, I thought he had lost a little on his fastball. He was fired from his last show which was Break the Bank after just 13 weeks (1985) so there was that to factor in as well. If I was trying to revive Match Game in 87, I would have looked in the direction of Richard Dawson as host (15 years younger than Gene), if I wanted to take advantage of some the show's history.


Yeah I'd never even heard of the Hollywood Squares/Match Game Hour either until I came across it on Buzzr. It was kind of hit or miss, some episodes are good and some are bad. It seems to me some of the celebrities didn't really want to be there, and I sometimes get the impression Gene Rayburn didn't like sharing hosting duty with John Bauman. And I've decided in my opinion the Hollywood Squares/Match Game Hour set is the worst game show set I've ever seen. I think it's just ugly and cheap looking, I don't know what they were thinking when they created it.

Ed.

I never cared for the Match Game, but I did like Hollywood Squares so I have tuned in the Match game/ Hollywood Squares show. I was impressed with Jon Bauman hosting the 2nd half and thought Jon dressed well. Seeing him as Bowzer with the greased back hair, it was charming to see him dress smart. As for Gene as a panelist, he was slow in answering although many others were too. The show appeared to be a comedy show as well for the answers took too long to answer.