Why Didn't Gene Rayburn Move to California? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

howilu · 09-09-2022, 08:58 PM

I read in several sources that when Gene Rayburn was hosting the 1970s incarnation of Match Game as well as other Los Angeles based show, he never lived in California. Instead he commuted from his home on Cape Cod every other week. Why didn't he move to California? To me, it really hurt his career when game shows were leaving New York for better production facilities out west and unlike his fellow hosts Allen Ludden and Bill Cullen, he didn't relocate to Los Angeles.

Coffeecup · 09-10-2022, 11:06 AM

I live in Massachusetts and I came across it obit in one of Boston papers and I was amazed that yes he commuted to film Match Game. I don't where the show was filmed in the 1960's or in later years. Could have been NY in early days and that would have not been a such long commute as LA . But I have read many celebrities commute. Tom Bergeron I read commuted to host Dancing with the stars. I believe he lived or lives in Connecticut. Now whether he stayed a night in California for his hosting job was fairly quick. By that he wasn't doing a tv show where blocking, rehearsing was done. Maybe expense or they just wanted a more quiet place where the media would not pester them.

i29u · 09-10-2022, 05:29 PM

I read on the Internet his wife didn't want to live is California. I think he may have moved to California after his wife died.

Back in the 70's there were other hosts like Geoff Edwards who commuted every week or two because they had jobs on both coasts.

Sgt. Saunders · 09-11-2022, 05:33 AM

I heard that Mr. Rayburn loved living on Cape Cod so much, that he was willing to commute to the West coast so often.

Alan Alda commuted from New Jersey to California every week while he was filming “M*A*S*H” for all those years the show was on the air; on Friday afternoons, Alan Alda would take off from Los Angeles for a flight to Newark Airport to be with his family in the Garden State. On Sunday, he would take a late flight back to Los Angeles. It must have been particularly grueling for him to keep on such a schedule for so long.

Duster76 · 09-11-2022, 11:59 AM

The original premise of this thread is faulty, let's go back and take a look:

"Why didn't he move to California? To me, it really hurt his career when game shows were leaving New York for better production facilities out west"

How did it hurt his career? He hosted the original Match Game between 62-69, between 69-73 he appeared as a panelist on What's My Line and To Tell the Truth, and then hosted Match Game from73-82. After that he hosted a weekly show out of New York before hosting Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour for a year. In 1985 he briefly hosted Break the Bank but it didn't work out and he was replaced. At that point he was in his late 60's and to be honest had slowed a bit, check out his work on Match Game/Hollywood Squares, he had lost a bit on his fastball. He had a great career by the time he stopped working game shows his contemporaries had either stopped working or were winding down.

MIKEPR · 08-05-2023, 05:08 PM

I don't get what you mean by MG moving to LA had hurt his career.

As for his reluctance to move in LA was pretty stupid on his part.

I mean was it worth living away from his wife months at a time and even NYC is quite a ways from Cape Cod.

Let alone he had at least one daughter.

Rayburn himself was from a small town in Il. called Christapher and later moved to Chicago when he was still a kid.

He probably did have residence in NY at one time so what was it about CC that made him wanna live there and spend so much time away from family?

Coffeecup · 08-13-2023, 04:54 PM

If I remember for I haven't seen the show in awhile Gene and his wife appeared on Tattletales in the 1970's. It is interesting to see the spouses of celebrities on that show.

MIKEPR · 08-13-2023, 05:08 PM

OK but that doesn't answer our question.

Edward216 · 08-21-2023, 06:15 PM

I don't see why it matters. People can live where they want, and if Gene Rayburn was fine with commuting between Cape Cod and Los Angeles regularly, then so be it.

Ed.

MIKEPR · 08-22-2023, 08:35 AM

Think I explained why so be quiet.

Duster76 · 08-22-2023, 08:07 PM

As for his reluctance to move in LA was pretty stupid on his part.

I mean was it worth living away from his wife months at a time and even NYC is quite a ways from Cape Cod.

Let alone he had at least one daughter.

Rayburn himself was from a small town in Il. called Christapher and later moved to Chicago when he was still a kid.

He probably did have residence in NY at one time so what was it about CC that made him wanna live there and spend so much time away from family?[/QUOTE]

I'm getting the impression you think games shows are taped one episode each day. Gene was 55 years of age when Match Game 73 went on the air, he didn't want to move to the west coast at that stage of his life, and the producers were able to accommodate him. This is how they did it:

"During the years when Match Game was taped in Los Angeles (1973–1982), Rayburn lived in Osterville, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. He commuted to California every two weeks to tape 12 shows over the course of a weekend (five daytime shows and one nighttime show per taping day)".

When the show left the network moving to syndication the taping schedule was adjusted:

"Episodes were taped in long blocks to accommodate Gene Rayburn, who commuted from a home on the East Coast. Sometimes, they’d tape six days a week, five shows a day, for two or three weeks at a stretch".

So he was never away from his family for "months at a time".

09-09-2022, 08:58 PM	#1
howilu Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 20, 2003 Location: St. Louis Park, MN Posts: 1,959	Why Didn't Gene Rayburn Move to California? I read in several sources that when Gene Rayburn was hosting the 1970s incarnation of Match Game as well as other Los Angeles based show, he never lived in California. Instead he commuted from his home on Cape Cod every other week. Why didn't he move to California? To me, it really hurt his career when game shows were leaving New York for better production facilities out west and unlike his fellow hosts Allen Ludden and Bill Cullen, he didn't relocate to Los Angeles.

09-10-2022, 11:06 AM	#2
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,181	I live in Massachusetts and I came across it obit in one of Boston papers and I was amazed that yes he commuted to film Match Game. I don't where the show was filmed in the 1960's or in later years. Could have been NY in early days and that would have not been a such long commute as LA . But I have read many celebrities commute. Tom Bergeron I read commuted to host Dancing with the stars. I believe he lived or lives in Connecticut. Now whether he stayed a night in California for his hosting job was fairly quick. By that he wasn't doing a tv show where blocking, rehearsing was done. Maybe expense or they just wanted a more quiet place where the media would not pester them.

09-10-2022, 05:29 PM	#3
i29u Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 05, 2004 Posts: 237	I read on the Internet his wife didn't want to live is California. I think he may have moved to California after his wife died. Back in the 70's there were other hosts like Geoff Edwards who commuted every week or two because they had jobs on both coasts.

09-11-2022, 05:33 AM	#4
Sgt. Saunders Member Forum Regular Join Date: Nov 27, 2021 Location: The Garden State Posts: 540	I heard that Mr. Rayburn loved living on Cape Cod so much, that he was willing to commute to the West coast so often. Alan Alda commuted from New Jersey to California every week while he was filming “MAS*H” for all those years the show was on the air; on Friday afternoons, Alan Alda would take off from Los Angeles for a flight to Newark Airport to be with his family in the Garden State. On Sunday, he would take a late flight back to Los Angeles. It must have been particularly grueling for him to keep on such a schedule for so long.

09-11-2022, 11:59 AM	#5
Duster76 Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 01, 2008 Location: New jersey Posts: 1,641	The original premise of this thread is faulty, let's go back and take a look: "Why didn't he move to California? To me, it really hurt his career when game shows were leaving New York for better production facilities out west" How did it hurt his career? He hosted the original Match Game between 62-69, between 69-73 he appeared as a panelist on What's My Line and To Tell the Truth, and then hosted Match Game from73-82. After that he hosted a weekly show out of New York before hosting Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour for a year. In 1985 he briefly hosted Break the Bank but it didn't work out and he was replaced. At that point he was in his late 60's and to be honest had slowed a bit, check out his work on Match Game/Hollywood Squares, he had lost a bit on his fastball. He had a great career by the time he stopped working game shows his contemporaries had either stopped working or were winding down.

08-05-2023, 05:08 PM	#6
MIKEPR Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 29, 2019 Posts: 368	I don't get what you mean by MG moving to LA had hurt his career. As for his reluctance to move in LA was pretty stupid on his part. I mean was it worth living away from his wife months at a time and even NYC is quite a ways from Cape Cod. Let alone he had at least one daughter. Rayburn himself was from a small town in Il. called Christapher and later moved to Chicago when he was still a kid. He probably did have residence in NY at one time so what was it about CC that made him wanna live there and spend so much time away from family?

08-13-2023, 04:54 PM	#7
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,181	If I remember for I haven't seen the show in awhile Gene and his wife appeared on Tattletales in the 1970's. It is interesting to see the spouses of celebrities on that show.

08-13-2023, 05:08 PM	#8
MIKEPR Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 29, 2019 Posts: 368	OK but that doesn't answer our question.

08-21-2023, 06:15 PM	#9
Edward216 Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 18, 2014 Location: Central Time Zone Posts: 4,625	I don't see why it matters. People can live where they want, and if Gene Rayburn was fine with commuting between Cape Cod and Los Angeles regularly, then so be it. Ed.

08-22-2023, 08:35 AM	#10
MIKEPR Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 29, 2019 Posts: 368	Think I explained why so be quiet.

08-22-2023, 08:07 PM	#11
Duster76 Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 01, 2008 Location: New jersey Posts: 1,641	As for his reluctance to move in LA was pretty stupid on his part. I mean was it worth living away from his wife months at a time and even NYC is quite a ways from Cape Cod. Let alone he had at least one daughter. Rayburn himself was from a small town in Il. called Christapher and later moved to Chicago when he was still a kid. He probably did have residence in NY at one time so what was it about CC that made him wanna live there and spend so much time away from family?[/QUOTE] I'm getting the impression you think games shows are taped one episode each day. Gene was 55 years of age when Match Game 73 went on the air, he didn't want to move to the west coast at that stage of his life, and the producers were able to accommodate him. This is how they did it: "During the years when Match Game was taped in Los Angeles (1973–1982), Rayburn lived in Osterville, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. He commuted to California every two weeks to tape 12 shows over the course of a weekend (five daytime shows and one nighttime show per taping day)". When the show left the network moving to syndication the taping schedule was adjusted: "Episodes were taped in long blocks to accommodate Gene Rayburn, who commuted from a home on the East Coast. Sometimes, they’d tape six days a week, five shows a day, for two or three weeks at a stretch". So he was never away from his family for "months at a time".