Match Game (SYN/1982): FINAL EPISODE

NOTE: This episode has an introduction by Charles Nelson Reilly as it was aired during GSN Y2Play marathon along with other series finales. This airing also followed Gene Rayburn's passing, so Charles pays tribute to him as well.

[@daviddriver2692]

Gene,Charles,Bret,Richard, Betty,Fannie...(Fannie still here) sorely missed 😢

[@JamieNiemeyer-tz7zy]

I had a friend go to New York and they brought me back a surprise most of the match game episodes on dvd 📀 with special features I love ❤️ it

[@Jeff98177]

Match Game is the ONLY game show I watch on the GSN. Gene was the king, even with frequent equipment malfunctions and his making fun of the camera people!

[@Riogi]

I watch it daily as well.

[@user-vv2wl4ul9i]

I still watch match game 2023

[@tamcocar3507]

I still watch match Game '74

[@JayseGreene]

2024

[@opiumgoon666]

“and i know if there _is_ a game show in heaven, who else is hosting it, but gene?” ...i wonder how gene reacted seeing charles and brett up there again, he must’ve lost it! rip gene, johnny, brett, charles, and the many other classic panelists we’ve lost over the years. they may not be here anymore, but the stars will always be on.

[@jackoesterlejr.3454]

What a fun show! I was a teenager! R.I.P. Gene Rayburn! 🙏

[@archibaldcabebe6062]

R.I.P. Betty White

[@chrisfinch8637]

It may have been goodbye on the air in syndication, but it will never the last of Match Game's own Gene Rayburn, Johnny Olson, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Patti Deutsch, Richard Dawson, or Marcia Wallace. Today, we will still see the most and also best of them (and more) in the Match Game 70's reruns, on the Game Show Network and BUZZR (Let's Play) channels.

[@MrMuzikProductions]

What?

[@jjbalsalm955]

They can rot in hell

[@m42037]

This is from the 80s not 70s, this person above my post needs Bellevue 🥴

[@debrachampagne7715]

​@@jjbalsalm955who can rot in hell?

[@chuckfan1]

​@@jjbalsalm955classy comment d o u c h e

[@efrem1]

And now, with the death of Betty White, all of the guest panelists in this episode are gone. RIP

[@AbandonedMines11]

Truly an end of an era.

[@user-zz6bd3db6e]

Charles told Gene "Thank you" twice at the end....he, Brett, and Gene certainly knew.

[@MP-lq3xx]

Seemed Betty did too...

[@m42037]

Sad that's this life, the absurdity of human life it's so short

[@ginaweaver4119]

I love how Charles gives Brett a little kiss in the end. 😊

[@carlfalt174]

Betty White was faithful with the franchise from the beginning at NBC to the end at CBS and she is still with us (February 2021).

[@matthewshortle5274]

As of December 31, 2021, no she isn't sadly. RIP

[@carlfalt174]

@@matthewshortle5274 so true. We lost a great icon on the last day of a very tough year. RIP

[@miss-astronomikal-mcmxcvii]

RIP BETTY 1/17/1922 - 12/31/2021 😭

[@drewski1535]

😭😭😭😭 I'm still shocked and sad with her passing

[@chuckfan1]

​@matthewshortle5274 yes, we know. We ALL know. Thanks Captain Obvious

[@matadorgarycomics]

I remember at age ten seeing this episode when it originally aired. Thanks for posting it.

[@lindaalvarez8855]

My #1 Favorite in this show was always Charles Nelson Reilly! I'll always Love him in The T.V. episodes of The Ghost & Mrs. Muir.

[@elijahmoses5675]

Original airdate: May 21(?), 1982 Rebroadcast on GSN December 31, 1999. Gene Rayburn died November 29, 1999.

[@danalong1237]

As part of Game Show Network’s “Y2Play” marathon!

[@ShmuelWeintraub]

Not sure of the airdate because MG was syndicated so it may not have aired on the same date everywhere... but according to on line sources this week of episodes was taped Jan 15th, 1982.

[@gregspot]

@@danalong1237 I watch this when it was on. It was probably the new years with the most mixed feelings I ever had. It was all game shows on their final episodes.

[@johnnycash578]

such a good guy and good people on match miss them

[@tammyderson6547]

I watched this at 10 years old,, still love it just as much and now I’m 55 years old I would smile bigger when they said my favorite four , Brett Charles Richard Dawson Betty White❤❤

[@PEplana]

I’ve seen many people comment about why Gene never gave a proper goodbye. Roger Dobkowitz mentioned this once on his Facebook and said that the syndication people didn’t want anyone to know Match Game was ending, so it would look like new episodes were still being produced after the finale (in reality, they were airing repeats). Hence why the Match Game sign stopped using the year after ‘79 when CBS canceled the show.

[@michaelewing6522]

R.I.P. Charles Nelson Reilly "I Did it in a Secrety Way"

[@danalong1237]

And RIP Brett Somers and Gene Rayburn and Johnny Olson!

[@chrisfinch8637]

@@danalong1237 And Richard "Family Feud" Dawson.

[@danalong1237]

And Skip Stephenson and McLean Stevenson.

[@m42037]

@@chrisfinch8637 He died young for today

[@fornitegood122jr6]

​@@m42037we love you

[@timglende8869]

Betty White was on the Last NBC Match Game in 1969 as well.

[@donaldhawkes5226]

It seems gene wasn't him self u can see it in this episode I think he had an idea something was up or he new just keeping it together thinking maybe it could return

[@NoEgg4u]

@1:07 "...battle axes Betty White and Brett Somers." That was an unfair jab at Betty White. Brett Somers was an irritant on the show. She butted in to everyone's dialog. She stepped on other guest's punch lines. She looked over everyone's shoulders to peak at what they were writing. Brett Somers was a nosy yenta. She is the neighborhood gossip, that everyone knows, and hears coming from around the block. Brett Somers routinely took cheap shots at Betty White. Early on, Betty ignored Brett's cheap shots. I suspect it was due to 1) Betty knew that Brett had no self awareness of her actions, and 2) Betty was a professional, and the adult in the room. But Brett continued with her cheap shots, and Betty realized that at some point, you have to stop the bully. So Betty showed her professional talent by zinging back at Brett, after Brett started with an insult. That, too, did not stop Brett from starting in, because Brett had no self awareness. It is like touching a metal object that gives you a shock, and never learning to stop touching the metal object. No matter how many times Betty sent a shock back to Brett, Brett never connected the dots, that Betty's zingers were due to Brett starting the fight. And so each time Brett hurled inappropriate insults, Betty handed it back to her. But make no mistake, Betty was always responding to Brett's childish comments. Brett's general behavior of constantly interrupting all of the guests, and even routinely interrupting Gene, reached a boiling point. Gene and the producers had a talk with Brett, warning her to cut it out. Imagine how humiliating that was. Can you imagine them doing that to any other guest? They had to talk to her like a parent would talk to a child. In an episode that aired shortly afterwards, Brett could not help being who she was, and Gene gave her a look, and Brett said "Oh, I'm not supposed to do that." For the rest of that episode, Brett behaved herself. I am unsure why Rayburn kept her on the show. I suspect he was doing Jack Klugman a favor. A lot of people liked Brett, the same as a lot of people like the nuts on The View. People like to watch a train wreck. Perhaps that helped her stay on the show? Anyway, I thought that Charles Nelson Reilly's opening "battle ax" comment, that included Betty White, was misguided. Betty White got along with everyone. Not so with Brett Somers. She was an irritant. She was rich, and so people put up with it.

[@user-mm4nq3xi8l]

I couldn’t stand her just for the reasons you mentioned. Furthermore, her lame attempts at humor just wound up being CRINGY 😠

[@user-or7tz7du4t]

never liked her for some reason. watch re runs all the time. charles. dawson……..👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@jwchamberlain5862]

I thought that Gene Rayburn came back with Match Game revival wit Hollywood Squares in 1983 which didnt last long

[@danalong1237]

25:25, ONE LAST $10,000 SUPER MATCH WIN!!!!!!! WHAT A WAY FOR THE 1973-82 MATCH GAME, THE YEAR 1999, THE 1990’S, THE 20TH CENTURY, THE SECOND MILLENNIUM AND THE Y2PLAY MARATHON TO END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@770WT]

Gene knew this was ending by his demeanor.

[@johnnycash578]

spread the butter what a ditz

[@user-kp2zm7xg7z]

We miss this game show.

[@jadenmuniz8817]

RIP Betty White

[@jaylene.turner6524]

R.I.P.: Gene Rayburn (December 22nd,1917- November 29th,1999) 🕊️ Skip Stephenson (April 18th,1940- May 18th,1992) 🕊️ McLean Stevenson (November 14th,1927- February 15th,1996) 🕊️ Melinda O.Fee (October 7th,1942- March 24th,2020) 🕊️ Charles Nelson Reilly (January 13th,1931- May 25th,2007) 🕊️ Brett Somers (July 11th,1924- September 15th,2007) 🕊️ Betty White (January 17th,1922- December 31st,2021) 🕊️

[@willaimwallace3920]

"See you next time on Match Game?" The Network did not even have the decency to tell them they were all fired before taping the last episode. SICK!

[@olddisneylandtickets]

Gene was just being the ultra professional. I think they all knew, Charles is thanking Gene at the end and kissing Brett, and Betty White is looking at Gene like she is about to cry... 29:03

[@douglasstoffa6622]

The syndicated show was bicycled around from station to station. A bunch of episodes were taped, and edited. Copies were made, and let's say that 50 stations were signed up to air first-run syndicated versions of the show. Each station would get one week's worth of episodes on a tape. After 5 weeks were taped and edited, 10 copies of each week would be made, and shipped to the stations. Five stations would get week A, 5 would get week B, 5 would get week C, 5 would get week D, and 5 would get week E. After playing their tape, each station would send / swap the tape with another station that didn't have / air that week. If my memory serves correctly, champions never straddled weekends, and two new contestants started on Monday, and the game play was timed to end with a Super Match at the end of Friday's game during the SYN years... A week's worth of episodes was self-contained. From a production standpoint, there was no way to make a "final" episode, because it would effectively air on a different date in each market... This episode was probably the last one taped...

[@danalong1237]

Yeah! Stations like WKYT-TV Channel 27 in Lexington!

[@ajk]

@@douglasstoffa6622 "If my memory serves correctly, champions never straddled weekends, and two new contestants started on Monday, and the game play was timed to end with a Super Match at the end of Friday's game during the SYN years... A week's worth of episodes was self-contained." You're correct about the champions not straddling. They couldn't have, because of the very self-contained taping format and tape bicycling with it (which up to now I didn't actually know how it worked, so thanks for explaining that, I never knew the exact specifics around it all as to who got what shows and how each week, or for that matter how many weeks at a time were in the can at any given point in a season for this purpose) that you mention here. You'd have ended up with a champion finishing out one week and then disappearing the next. It had to be done the way they did it (it's the same reason incidentally, that the syndicated/nighttime edition of Family Feud in this era also didn't have champions return from one show to the next, even after they went to 5 days a week like their daytime counterpart after starting off airing once and then twice a week in its' first couple years), which was to have 5 sets of contestants play 2 games each each week, timed out as you said to finish with a Super Match at the end of each Friday show. As an aside, this version of Match Game also featured in its' first season, an audience game wherein Gene went out into the audience and did a head to head style match involving one of the stars with the first person to match them winning a small amount out of cash, to pad out time if needed on the Friday show in the event the last game finished early for whatever reason. I'm guessing that they figured out how to properly time things out after that, as it only again was used in that season. Oh and yes BTW to your comment at the end, this was indeed the final Match Game taped.

[@awxlio8496]

@@douglasstoffa6622 is there a list of stations that aired Match Game Synd

[@armybeef68]

26:31 Angus T Jones and the sound effects of Pac-Man for the Atari 2600...LOL

[@ericsamuelson5656]

When this was a new episode, it aired on WOR Ch 9 and Jim Victory Television didn't renew Match Game for Season 4. Reruns of Season 3 aired on WCBS Ch 2 at 9:30 in 1982-83 right before The New $25,000 Pyramid.

[@dpf2122]

Didn't realize Channel 9 aired the syndicated version in New York. Thanks for letting me know.

[@timothylampel815]

Sad that they didn’t know it would be the last episode

[@chuckfan1]

Wrong numbnuts Gene knew, Brett knew, Charles knew They ALL knew, wake up You can tell first off, when Gene comes out, pauses for a moment... At the end, Charles gives Brett a couple kisses... she looks very emotional PLUS, do any 10 second Google search... a plethora of interviews etc where they talk about this.. Good gawd, shake yourself

[@SherryPowell-rz6hd]

Loved Charles

[@StatsRob1975]

In some places this episode aired on September 10th, 1982

[@PocketMarmo04]

Gene seems to look a little dejected through the whole thing

[@markread7333]

For the record, penicillin does nothing to prevent a cold. 😉

[@chuckfan1]

No sh!t? Thanks Captain Obvious....

[@DaisyPusher]

@@chuckfan1calm down Chuck

[@chuckfan1]

@@DaisyPusher If I was any calmer, Id be taking a nap :) Very calm, everyday, all the time.. Just was impressed by your obvious medial degree and intel... shake yourself

[@johnlewinski6359]

So they just got cancelled and no big ending- that's sad.

[@charliegeraldjr5926]

They knew it was going to happen the show lost its charm in 1979 and when the SYD version came in and they changed the rules and format of the game.

[@MemphisTiger]

Wow...Charles Nelson Reilly was actually correct! He was the youngest of himself, Betty White, & Brett Somers! Charles was born in 1931. Brett Somers in 1924. Betty White, the oldest of them all, and ironically the only one still alive as of today (September 5, 2021) was born in 1922! In another twist of irony, Charles Nelson Reilly was the first to pass away on May 25, 2007. Brett Somers would pass away only 4 months later on September 15, 2007. You know that had to anger Charles to pass before Brett! lol

[@matthewshortle5274]

And now the entire panel is dead after the passing of Betty White.

[@MemphisTiger]

@@matthewshortle5274 Yep. That was why I pointed out the date in my original post because I knew she would die much sooner than later. I wish she had lived to see her hundredth!

[@m42037]

​@@matthewshortle5274Betty should've had a monitor on her, at age 99.9 just a day away from 100 you should always have one sad her party was planned and everything. Life is just so short, "Dust in the Wind"

[@kamronrhodes5151]

Why did match game came to an end why did it get Canceled what happen to the show

[@kevinallen1699]

That was great !

[@gradyrogers6707]

wow. no goodbye from anybody. not even Gene. smh

[@m42037]

Charles is wrong Saundra was a American actress, and Clint Eastwood's girlfriend for almost 15 years. She died young of cancer in 2018

[@space4ace582]

They got it wrong. Her name is Sondra Locke (this is how it's spelled). She's no SANDRA.

[@m42037]

​@@space4ace582Well ya got me it crossed my mind but I Didn't Google. Unfortunately most everyone's dead now, life's short. Look it's been over two years already 🙄

[@chuckfan1]

Ok numbnuts.. First off ,"Sondra" Next. COMPLETELY understandable why Charles didn't say American At THAT time Sondra was barely on the radar, mostly known for being with Clint With that, at the time of this show airing, Clint and Sondra, 10 years, not 15 Before that, Mostly all small roles etc in movies, tv. Plus. Obviously. That era, no social media, no internet etc, so understandable why someone could not be aware of another's background..don't be a tool

[@AllanDiRealMcCoy]

You have the last episode of Art Fleming's Jeopardy? Let me know. Should upload some J! Episodes as well as Trebek's run

[@danalong1237]

The late David Downs (RIP), a.k.a. The Fun & Games Channel, had one until it was taken out of KZbin with the channel’s shutdown. God bless David Downs and god bless The Fun & Games Channel!

[@m42037]

They should've ended Jeopardy when Alex passed it's not the same. I haven't watched it since he's been gone i don't even know who's hosting it today I cut the cable five+ years ago too expensive

[@BroadwayBabyyy744]

did they actually know this would be the end or was it unexpected at the time?

[@bobsiyt6548]

“I’d like to take Dee.” “I bet you would.” 😂 🤣 And “Spread Eagle” 😂 🤣 What a way to go

[@beverlywetterow7082]

Here we are in 2023 and my first time see this love this show

[@MP-lq3xx]

I think she thought of Spread Eagle too, by the way she giggled. And then maybe thought she couldn't/shouldnt say it..

[@m42037]

I thought "Eagle and " Your wings"

[@ericcampbell2330]

If that was genes last episode, why did he say join us next time?

[@BINGOTECH-lt8lt]

29:10 "Just next time for The Match Game" and next time never came

[@kd5you1]

Gene Rayburn mentioned John Snyder as being from Dukes of Hazzard, but that was John Schneider. John Snyder is a different actor.

[@chuckfan1]

Gene knew who it was... he had the right show and right actor... he just mis pronounced.... As we all do... trying to recall a name or a place... we have the right image in our mind... but in the moment it's a slip.. But thanks Captain Obvious

[@jackfitzpatrick8173]

Why did Gene Rayburn say "join us next time for the Match Game"? Did they not know that it was finished?

[@topthrilldragster20]

They didn't know

[@stixnatedogg]

I was under the impression that, since the show was syndicated, the tapes were “bicycled”. Even though this was the last show taped, it likely was not the last show aired in many markets so it would have been awkward to have said that it was the finale episode if it aired in a market weeks before the final episode they ultimately saw from a different week.

[@chuckfan1]

​@topthrilldragster20 wrong numbnuts Good gawd... you people Gene knew, Charles knew, Brett knew They ALL knew... Pay attention... Gene pauses for a beat when he comes out... has that look At then end , the goodbye betwixt Charles and Brett.. she's emotional... Plus, do even a little Google search... you'll find articles, interviews etc, talking about this...

[@philerrup9948]

@ 29:04 Gene says join us next time. Maybe he wasn't told the show was cancelled?

[@andysimpson4414]

Farewell And Thanks For Watching

[@chuckfan1]

As someone else mentioned, they didn't want Gene to mention it, as they were still going to air repeats, and didn't want the audience to know, or be unsure, what they were watching , was a repeat or a new episode

[@MegaJuanTrinidad]

By the way he was on this episode, I could presage he knew and was told this was the last taping of "Match Game." However, maybe by instructions of Mark Goodson or any other higher executive, nobody wasn't allowed to talk about it, so they taped it on a normal basis.

[@seanadams3551]

I think Gene Rayburn didn't know this would be the last show.

[@DaisyPusher]

It was not mentioned because there were more episodes to be aired after this one even though they were already filmed

[@stevebouras641]

Match Game was a seventies decade wonder Trying to milk it for what they could proved to be one era was it They tried a return recently proved people now didnt have the magic😅

[@m42037]

They repeat everything today because they ran out of ideas by the 80s, only one left is "Wheel Of Fortune" and they're retiring next year I hear..

[@stevebouras641]

Seventies day TV was the best due to Match game they just outgrown their kind of humor😢 They even seemed bored with it😢

[@danalong1237]

Remember back in 1999 when everyone thought the turn of the millennium (which is where we are now) would cause all the computers to explode, all of our lives to end, all the people to die and the planet earth to explode? Well, needless to say, it never, ever happened, and, quite frankly, it never, ever will!

[@m42037]

Not "Explode!" We thought a big shutdown to put us back to the Little House on the Prairie days sort to speak with no computer technology's. Was exciting. Three years later was America's big black out

[@papadop]

Technology pros took action to ensure nothing would happen by upgrading software, hardware, and other equipment to be Y2K compliant. That’s why it never happened.

[@armybeef68]

Which is EXACTLY how they responded to the COVID, kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYfWZnSvn9-qiK8&t

[@m42037]

​@@papadopMaybe that was a bad thing with AI taking over?? Maybe not, we'll see, or the next generation will i just turned 58 i"'m getting old now..

[@ericsneary5430]

It's fitting that Betty White was on the last episode

[@The_A_Cast]

Join us “next time” for Match Game? 🤔

[@xaviernajar536]

Gene kind of shook his head when he said that. I'll bet he knew it was the end.

[@johnlewinski6359]

@@xaviernajar536 He would've said something if he knew.

[@kevinallen1699]

Betty outlived Charles by 14 yrs.

[@user-xk4xz1vz1o]

If bit was the final episode, why did Gene say, "Join us next time for the Match Game? Did they know this was the last show?

[@chuckfan1]

Good gawd... People... pay attention Gene knew, Charles knew, Brett knew They ALL knew... The network didn't want the audience to know that THIS version was ending, plus, they were still going to air repeats.. and at that time, the audience, most of them, probably couldn't tell if it was a repeat or new PLUS, watch Gene... he pauses a beat when he comes out, as if reflecting At the end, Charles kisses Brett, Brett looks emotional PLUS, do any 10 second Google search, as I did... Plenty of info about THIS

[@cindyrussell1581]

He died in 1999 so why are they saying he died in 82

[@cheyennemauritz9911]

Sandy is cute

[@felixleiter9123]

is that a young rosie o'donald?

[@chuckfan1]

Well if you pay attention , her name Beth And barely a kinda sorta resemblance

[@bobsiyt6548]

God... McLean was so annoying and not funny whatsoever. They really should have given them a farewell show... that’s a low blow.

[@Wizardof]

Final Episode until 2015/16 😝

[@thatjpwing]

1990 with ross schafer.

[@Hanger18inotoomuch]

Grosss

[@user-db6pt7vr3l]

Could only watch this show in small doses. Very cringy most of the time.

[@guskund3971]

This ep sucked big time !! Not worth saving

[@kamronrhodes5151]

R.I.P. Betty White