Written By Rick Ellis, Sunday, November 26th, 2006

One of the toughest things to do in show business is to be casual, conversational and funny. Until the 1980's, there was always a group of "celebrities" around whose only real claim to fame was that they were great guests. You could plop them into a talk show, a game show or any other type of TV program, and they could entertain for hours without a script, a preset list of topics or a writer.

Which is part of the reason I suspect "Match Game" is still so popular twenty plus years after it went off the air. At its best, it was a show that highlighted the talents of these professional guests.

GSN take a look at the long-running game show with a new special, "The Real Match Game: Behind The Blank." The hour-long program gives the viewer more than they'll ever need to know about the show, hosted by raconteur extraordinare Gene Rayburn.

Rayburn was a star before "Match Game" came along. In fact, the series was created especially for him. He had guested on a number of other game shows, worked as the sidekick on the pre-Carson "Tonight Show," had a hit morning radio show and won awards for his performance in 'Bye Bye Birdie" on Broadway. He was a special talent, and famed game show producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman wanted to spotlight his talents in the best way possible.

Their solution was "Match Game," which premiered in December 1962 on NBC. This version of the show--which aired until 1969--was a completely different version than the one best known by fans. While Rayburn hosted, the format was different. In this version two three-person teams, each with one celebrity and two civilian contestants, attempting to match answers to simple audience-survey or fill-in-the-blank questions.

While the flow of the show was much more traditional, Rayburn still managed to inject plenty of humor into the show. So much so that in the summer of 1973, Goodson and Todman attempted to resurrect the show with Rayburn as host. The remake was a ratings disappointment, and CBS canceled the show after a season. But there ended up being six weeks between the cancellation and the time the last episode was produced.

Writer Dick DeBartolo asked whether the writers could inject some outrageous and suggestive humor into the tame questions; the producers agreed since the show would soon be off the air anyway.

The result was the show that most fans are familiar with. DeBartolo introduced the show's trademark double entendre questions, and ratings climbed enough in the final six weeks of the show to convince CBS to pick it up for a new season.

This second incarnation of the show is where most of the special's attention is focused, and it recounts the twist and turns on and off camera. There is some interview footage from Rayburn's final interview, as well as a snippet of an interview with panel regular Richard Dawson. There are also healthy interviews with many of the show's writers and creative staff, as well as several other of the show's star panelists, including Brett Somers. One regular not heard from at all is Charles Nelson Reilly. He is still alive and apparently opted not to participate.

While there aren't a lot of deep dark secrets in the special, it's a nice recap for both the casual and hard-core fans of the show. You get the chance to see footage of the famous "nipples" comment by Rayburn, as well as plenty of other scenes from the show.

There is also sadness in the show, as friends and family of Gene Rayburn tell the bittersweet last years of his life. After the show was canceled in 1979, he never recovered from it, and seems to have just waited to die.

There have been several attempts to launch a new version of the show, but I'm not sure it's possible to recreate the magic of the original. Rayburn was a one-of-a-kind talent, and there just isn't that pool of professional celebrity guests today.

"Match Game" has been rightfully voted by fans of the GSN as the best game show ever. There's a new DVD box set devoted to the show, and its even been adopted into a casino gambling game.

And now there's a documentary, which stands as a fitting tribute to a truly classic piece of television history.

"The Real Match Game: Behind The Blank" premieres on GSN on Sunday, November 26th, 2006.