Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour
Encyclopedia
The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour is an American
television
game show
that combined two long-running game shows of the 1960s and 1970s – Match Game
and Hollywood Squares
– into an hour-long format.
The series ran from October 31, 1983 to July 27, 1984 on NBC. Gene Rayburn
hosted the Match Game and Super Match segments, while Jon Bauman
hosted the Hollywood Squares segment. Gene Wood
was the show's regular announcer
with Johnny Olson
, Rich Jeffries
, and Bob Hilton
substituting during the run.
The series was a joint production of Mark Goodson
Productions and Orion Television, who owned the rights to Squares at the time.
In case of a tie, a modified version of the Match Game PM tiebreaker was used. Four possible answers to a Super Match-like statement (example: "_____, New Jersey
") were secretly shown to the contestants (examples: "Atlantic City", "Hoboken
", "Newark
", "Trenton
"). They each chose one by number. Rayburn would then poll the celebrities for verbal responses one at a time, just as on the PM tiebreaker. The contestant whose choice was matched first by a panelist won the game.
Although the tic-tac-toe
format and the "agree/disagree" question concept of the original Squares were carried over to this version, there were several differences in gameplay. Here, the champion always played X
and the opponent O
(similar to that employed on then-popular Barry & Enright
production Tic-Tac-Dough
), regardless of the gender of the players; to date, this has been the only version of Squares not to use the traditional "Mr. X" or "M(r)s. Circle" distinction. Each individual square earned was worth $25, with a game win worth $100 for the first game and increasing by $100 per game until time ran out. No "Secret Square" was played in this version.
Additionally, most questions asked were of the true/false or multiple choice variety (this is generally believed to be the result of the show's writers not providing the same pre-show briefings to the celebrities as on other versions, as Mark Goodson did not want to have a scripted game show). Finally, on this incarnation of Squares it was possible to win a game "by default" on an opponent's mistake; on all other Squares versions, it was necessary for players to earn the winning square themselves.
The contestants played as many games as time allowed. When the final bell rang, the contestant in the lead won the game and the championship. Both players kept their money.
For the Head-To-Head Match, the player selected one of the nine celebrities (Jon Bauman, the five other panelists from Match Game, and the three that were added for Squares). Each celebrity concealed a different multiplier. Four celebrities held a 10, four held a 20, and one had a 30. The chosen panelist then revealed his/her multiplier, which was then combined with the Audience Match earnings to create the prize the contestant was playing for; the potential top prize was $30,000. As always, the match had to be exact, or no money was awarded.
(2:00 PM in the Central
, Mountain
, and Pacific
zones) on NBC. Both Match Game and Hollywood Squares had been aired on NBC, with (The) Match Game (albeit with different rules) airing from 1962-1969 and (The) Hollywood Squares airing from 1966-1980.
The show's only regular panelists were the co-hosts—Bauman sat on the panel during Match Game and the Super Match, while Rayburn sat on the panel during Hollywood Squares. Several guests on the show did have prior Match Game experience including Charles Nelson Reilly
, Fannie Flagg
, McLean Stevenson
, Fred Travalena
, and Bauman (who previously appeared on Match Game and Password Plus
in his "Bowzer" persona). Of the former 1970s regulars of Match Game Reilly appeared the most, guesting in seven weeks of episodes, followed by Flagg with four weeks. Few of the original Hollywood Squares regulars appeared in this version, though George Gobel
did appear.
Cast members of other NBC series often appeared on the show, as did stand-up comedians
like Jay Leno
and Arsenio Hall
. Game show hosts also appeared on the show, including Bill Cullen
, Bob Eubanks
, Pat Sajak
, Bill Rafferty
, and Chuck Woolery
(who promoted Scrabble
during the week before it premiered). The cast of Leave It to Beaver
was reunited for one week at the end of 1983, while a week in May 1984 featured NBC soap opera
stars.
as host. A further revival, hosted by Tom Bergeron
, aired in syndication from 1998 to 2004.
However, this was the last time Gene Rayburn hosted any form of Match Game. Rayburn went on to host two more game shows: Break the Bank
(from which he was fired after 13 weeks and then went largely into retirement) and the short-lived game The Movie Masters
for AMC from 1989 to 1990.
Match Game did not return to the airwaves until a revival on ABC
in 1990, with Ross Shafer
as host. Match Game was again revived in 1998, hosted by Michael Burger
. Both lasted one season each, with the failure of the former attributed to its 12:00 Noon timeslot (which many affiliates used for local news) and the latter's many changes to its gameplay (five celebrities, no returning champions) in addition to an outdated $5,000 top prize.
Match Game was used as one of the semifinal games in CBS
' Summer 2006 airing of Game $how Marathon.
for Score Productions
. The theme and the music played during the show's ticket plug are used as prize cues on The Price is Right
, as well as the 1986–1989 version of Card Sharks
.
A revamp of the theme, "Lottery", was used by WNEV-TV/WHDH-TV in Boston
during the late 1980s and early 1990s as well as several local Illinois
game shows; it can also be heard at the stage show The Price Is Right Live!
and full episodes on other video-sharing websites, no episode has been repeated on terrestrial stations. Joint ownership of the program is the reason most often cited for the lack of reruns.
Match Game (a Goodson
-Todman
production, bought out by All American Television (now FremantleMedia
) in 1994) and Hollywood Squares (a Heatter-Quigley
production, acquired by Orion Television
in 1983, Orion bought by MGM in 1998) had different producers and each series' rights are held by a different company. Match Game is held by Fremantle, whereas the format rights to Hollywood Squares are held by CBS Television Distribution
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
that combined two long-running game shows of the 1960s and 1970s – Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
and Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants...
– into an hour-long format.
The series ran from October 31, 1983 to July 27, 1984 on NBC. Gene Rayburn
Gene Rayburn
Gene Rayburn was an American radio and television personality. He is best known as the host of various editions of the popular American television game show Match Game for over two decades....
hosted the Match Game and Super Match segments, while Jon Bauman
Jon Bauman
Jon "Bowzer" Bauman is an American musician, best known as a member of the band Sha Na Na, and game show host. Bauman's popular Sha Na Na character, "Bowzer" Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (born September 14, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American musician, best known as a member of the band Sha Na Na,...
hosted the Hollywood Squares segment. Gene Wood
Gene Wood
Eugene Edward "Gene" Wood was an American television personality, known primarily for his work as an announcer on various game shows. From the 1960s to the 1990s, he announced many game shows, primarily Mark Goodson–Bill Todman productions such as Family Feud, Card Sharks, Password, and Beat the...
was the show's regular announcer
Announcer
An announcer is a presenter who makes "announcements" in an audio medium or a physical location.-Television and other media:Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in...
with Johnny Olson
Johnny Olson
John Leonard "Johnny" Olson was an American radio personality and television announcer. His work spanned 32 game shows produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman from the late 1950s through the mid 1980s...
, Rich Jeffries
Rich Jeffries
Rich Jeffries is a former American television announcer, who announced on the revival of Blockbusters in 1987.Jeffries also was the first announcer of Super Password until November 23, 1984, and would substitute sporadically afterwards, while regularly assisting main announcer Gene Wood in warming...
, and Bob Hilton
Bob Hilton
Robert "Bob" Wesley Hilton is an American television game show personality. He hosted The Guinness Game, a revival of Truth or Consequences and the 1990 revival of Let's Make a Deal, and announced on several other shows....
substituting during the run.
The series was a joint production of Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson was an American television producer who specialized in game shows.-Life and early career:...
Productions and Orion Television, who owned the rights to Squares at the time.
Match Game
The show began with two new contestants playing a round of 1970s-style Match Game with a panel of five celebrities and Jon Bauman. The gameplay format was the one used on the syndicated Match Game PM; it was up to the contestant to match as many of the panel's responses to fill-in-the-blank questions, with three rounds played and matched celebrities not playing subsequent questions. After three rounds, the player with the higher score won the game.In case of a tie, a modified version of the Match Game PM tiebreaker was used. Four possible answers to a Super Match-like statement (example: "_____, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
") were secretly shown to the contestants (examples: "Atlantic City", "Hoboken
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
", "Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
", "Trenton
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
"). They each chose one by number. Rayburn would then poll the celebrities for verbal responses one at a time, just as on the PM tiebreaker. The contestant whose choice was matched first by a panelist won the game.
Hollywood Squares
The winner of the Match Game segment of this show then advanced to face the returning champion in the Hollywood Squares segment. A third upper tier swung in to accommodate the three additional celebrities who were brought onto the stage for this round and Gene Rayburn assumed Jon Bauman's spot on the panel, playing as the bottom left square.Although the tic-tac-toe
Tic-tac-toe
Tic-tac-toe, also called wick wack woe and noughts and crosses , is a pencil-and-paper game for two players, X and O, who take turns marking the spaces in a 3×3 grid. The X player usually goes first...
format and the "agree/disagree" question concept of the original Squares were carried over to this version, there were several differences in gameplay. Here, the champion always played X
X
X is the twenty-fourth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-Uses:In mathematics, x is commonly used as the name for an independent variable or unknown value. The usage of x to represent an independent or unknown variable can be traced back to the Arabic word šay شيء = “thing,” used in Arabic...
and the opponent O
O
O is the fifteenth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet.The letter was derived from the Semitic `Ayin , which represented a consonant, probably , the sound represented by the Arabic letter ع called `Ayn. This Semitic letter in its original form seems to have been inspired by a...
(similar to that employed on then-popular Barry & Enright
Barry & Enright Productions
Barry & Enright Productions , was a United States television production company that was formed in 1947 by Jack Barry and Dan Enright.-History:Jack Barry and Dan Enright first met at radio station WOR in New York, where...
production Tic-Tac-Dough
Tic-Tac-Dough
Tic-Tac-Dough is an American television game show based on the pen-and-paper game of tic-tac-toe. Contestants answer questions in various categories to put up their respective symbol, X or O, on the board. Three versions were produced: the initial 1956–59 run on NBC, a 1978–1986 run initially on...
), regardless of the gender of the players; to date, this has been the only version of Squares not to use the traditional "Mr. X" or "M(r)s. Circle" distinction. Each individual square earned was worth $25, with a game win worth $100 for the first game and increasing by $100 per game until time ran out. No "Secret Square" was played in this version.
Additionally, most questions asked were of the true/false or multiple choice variety (this is generally believed to be the result of the show's writers not providing the same pre-show briefings to the celebrities as on other versions, as Mark Goodson did not want to have a scripted game show). Finally, on this incarnation of Squares it was possible to win a game "by default" on an opponent's mistake; on all other Squares versions, it was necessary for players to earn the winning square themselves.
The contestants played as many games as time allowed. When the final bell rang, the contestant in the lead won the game and the championship. Both players kept their money.
Super Match
The champion played Super Match from Match Game, which was structured just like its classic form. Rayburn and Bauman switched positions once again. As before, the round began with the Audience Match, with the contestant again being able to call on three of the nine celebrities for help. The payouts raised to $1,000 for the most popular answer, with $500 and $250 for each successive answer. However, unlike on the previous version of Match Game, a player's Super Match did not end if they failed to provide a top three answer. Instead, a player was spotted $100 for the Head-To-Head Match.For the Head-To-Head Match, the player selected one of the nine celebrities (Jon Bauman, the five other panelists from Match Game, and the three that were added for Squares). Each celebrity concealed a different multiplier. Four celebrities held a 10, four held a 20, and one had a 30. The chosen panelist then revealed his/her multiplier, which was then combined with the Audience Match earnings to create the prize the contestant was playing for; the potential top prize was $30,000. As always, the match had to be exact, or no money was awarded.
Broadcast history
The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour debuted on October 31, 1983 at 3:00 PM Eastern timeEastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
(2:00 PM in the Central
Central Time zone
In North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...
, Mountain
Mountain Time Zone
The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time, during the shortest days of autumn and winter , and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time in the spring, summer, and early autumn...
, and Pacific
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
zones) on NBC. Both Match Game and Hollywood Squares had been aired on NBC, with (The) Match Game (albeit with different rules) airing from 1962-1969 and (The) Hollywood Squares airing from 1966-1980.
The show's only regular panelists were the co-hosts—Bauman sat on the panel during Match Game and the Super Match, while Rayburn sat on the panel during Hollywood Squares. Several guests on the show did have prior Match Game experience including Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly was an American actor, comedian, director and drama teacher known for his comedic roles in theater, movies, children's television, animated cartoons, and as a panelist on the game show Match Game....
, Fannie Flagg
Fannie Flagg
Patricia Neal , known professionally as Fannie Flagg, is an American actress, comedienne and author. She is perhaps best-known for the 1988 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was adapted into the 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes; Flagg was nominated for an Academy Award for...
, McLean Stevenson
McLean Stevenson
Edgar McLean Stevenson, Jr. , better known as McLean Stevenson, was an American actor most recognized for his role as Lt. Colonel Henry Blake on the TV series M*A*S*H...
, Fred Travalena
Fred Travalena
Frederick Albert "Fred" Travalena III was an American entertainer, specializing in comedy and impersonations.-Early life:...
, and Bauman (who previously appeared on Match Game and Password Plus
Password Plus and Super Password
Password Plus and Super Password are American game shows that are revivals of the game show Password. Both Password Plus and Super Password had the same format other than some subtle changes....
in his "Bowzer" persona). Of the former 1970s regulars of Match Game Reilly appeared the most, guesting in seven weeks of episodes, followed by Flagg with four weeks. Few of the original Hollywood Squares regulars appeared in this version, though George Gobel
George Gobel
George Leslie Gobel was an American comedian and actor. He was best known as the star of his own weekly NBC television show, The George Gobel Show, which ran from 1954 to 1960 .-Early years:He was born George Leslie Goebel in Chicago, Illinois, His father, Hermann Goebel, was a...
did appear.
Cast members of other NBC series often appeared on the show, as did stand-up comedians
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
like Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
and Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
. Game show hosts also appeared on the show, including Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
, Bob Eubanks
Bob Eubanks
Robert Leland "Bob" Eubanks is an American television/radio personality and game show host, best known for hosting the game show The Newlywed Game on and off since 1966, where he was known for using the catchphrase, "Makin' Whoopee"...
, Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak is a television personality, former weatherman, actor and talk show host, best known as the host of the American television game show Wheel of Fortune.-Early life:...
, Bill Rafferty
Bill Rafferty
William "Bill" Rafferty is a comedian and impressionist who hosted the game shows Every Second Counts , Card Sharks , and Blockbusters .Rafferty was born in Queens, New York...
, and Chuck Woolery
Chuck Woolery
Charles Herbert "Chuck" Woolery is an American game show host. He has had long-running tenures hosting several different game shows. He was the original host of Wheel of Fortune from 1975–81, the original incarnation of Love Connection from 1983–94, and Scrabble from 1984–90...
(who promoted Scrabble
Scrabble (game show)
Scrabble is an American television game show that was based on the Scrabble board game. The show was co-produced by Exposure Unlimited and Reg Grundy Productions. It ran from July 2, 1984 to March 23, 1990, and again from January 18 to June 11, 1993, both runs on NBC. A total of 1,335 episodes were...
during the week before it premiered). The cast of Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...
was reunited for one week at the end of 1983, while a week in May 1984 featured NBC soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
stars.
Aftermath
Original Squares host Peter Marshall expressed dislike of the Hour, saying that he was "happy" that it did not last more than a season. When the Hour was cancelled, plans were immediately made to revive both franchises as stand-alone programs. MG-HS was the last time that Hollywood Squares aired on a network; in 1986, a successful syndicated revival aired for three years with John DavidsonJohn Davidson (entertainer)
John Hamilton Davidson, Sr. is an American singer, actor and game show host known for hosting That's Incredible!, Time Machine, and Hollywood Squares in the 1980s, and a revival of The $100,000 Pyramid in 1991....
as host. A further revival, hosted by Tom Bergeron
Tom Bergeron
Tom Bergeron is an American television personality and game show host, best known as the host of the ABC reality series Dancing with the Stars and host of America's Funniest Home Videos . He was also host of Hollywood Squares and a fill-in host for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire...
, aired in syndication from 1998 to 2004.
However, this was the last time Gene Rayburn hosted any form of Match Game. Rayburn went on to host two more game shows: Break the Bank
Break the Bank (1985)
Break the Bank is a game show created by Richard S. Kline. It aired for one season in syndication from September 16, 1985 to May 23, 1986 with repeats airing until September 12. It was not related to two previous shows by the same name....
(from which he was fired after 13 weeks and then went largely into retirement) and the short-lived game The Movie Masters
The Movie Masters
The Movie Masters was an American television game show which ran from August 2, 1989 to January 19, 1990. It was the last game show hosted by Gene Rayburn and aired as filler programming on the American Movie Classics cable network....
for AMC from 1989 to 1990.
Match Game did not return to the airwaves until a revival on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in 1990, with Ross Shafer
Ross Shafer
Ross Shafer is a comedian and television host turned motivational and customer service speaker/trainer, based in Carlsbad, California. Although he now splits time in Nashville, Tennessee, where his wife Leah has an aspiring singing career.-Biography:Shafer graduated from Federal Way High School in...
as host. Match Game was again revived in 1998, hosted by Michael Burger
Michael Burger
Michael Burger is an American actor and game show host. He is best known for hosting the game show, Match Game, and co-hosting the 1994 ABC talk show Mike and Maty...
. Both lasted one season each, with the failure of the former attributed to its 12:00 Noon timeslot (which many affiliates used for local news) and the latter's many changes to its gameplay (five celebrities, no returning champions) in addition to an outdated $5,000 top prize.
Match Game was used as one of the semifinal games in CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
' Summer 2006 airing of Game $how Marathon.
Music
The theme of The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour was composed by Edd KalehoffEdd Kalehoff
Edward Woodley "Edd" Kalehoff is a music composer who specializes in compositions for television.-Notable pieces:Composer of about 1,000 pieces, mainly for television, his credits include the majority of cues used on The Price is Right as well as the Nickelodeon game show Double Dare, a music...
for Score Productions
Score Productions
Score Productions is an American musical production company specializing in background music and themes for television programs. Started in 1963 by music producer Robert A...
. The theme and the music played during the show's ticket plug are used as prize cues on The Price is Right
The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)
The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
, as well as the 1986–1989 version of Card Sharks
Card Sharks
Card Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...
.
A revamp of the theme, "Lottery", was used by WNEV-TV/WHDH-TV in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
during the late 1980s and early 1990s as well as several local Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
game shows; it can also be heard at the stage show The Price Is Right Live!
Episode status
All episodes of the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour are believed to be intact. However, aside from dozens of original-broadcast clips on YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and full episodes on other video-sharing websites, no episode has been repeated on terrestrial stations. Joint ownership of the program is the reason most often cited for the lack of reruns.
Match Game (a Goodson
Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson was an American television producer who specialized in game shows.-Life and early career:...
-Todman
Bill Todman
William S. "Bill" Todman was an American television producer born in New York City. He produced many of television's longest running shows with business partner Mark Goodson.-Early life:...
production, bought out by All American Television (now FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
) in 1994) and Hollywood Squares (a Heatter-Quigley
Heatter-Quigley Productions
Heatter-Quigley Productions was an American television production company that was launched in 1960 by two former television writers, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley....
production, acquired by Orion Television
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
in 1983, Orion bought by MGM in 1998) had different producers and each series' rights are held by a different company. Match Game is held by Fremantle, whereas the format rights to Hollywood Squares are held by CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution is a global television distribution company, formed from the merger of CBS Corporation's two domestic television distribution arms CBS Paramount Domestic Television and King World Productions, including its home entertainment arm CBS Home Entertainment...
.