Review: 'The Match Game' (2016)

"Match Game" may arguably be one of the most successful TV game shows ever, especially when you look at how long various incarnations of it have been on the air. It first aired on NBC from 1962-1969 as part of its daytime schedule. It returned to the air on CBS from 1973-1979 and then moved to first-run syndication until 1982. In the years since, there have been about a half dozen revivals of some sort, with an equal number of failed pilots.

But for all of the popularity of the show's format, the chemistry of the show is surprisingly difficult to recreate. Gene Rayburn hosted both the NBC and CBS daytime versions and the show was essentially built around his smarmy, almost cheezy on-air persona. Rayburn had a great deal of experience doing game shows before he got the job and he had the hosting chops to deftly wing it through a format that can be unpredictable. It's a rare skillset and even if it wasn't, today's TV producers aren't comfortable producing a show that is so unpredictable and unscripted. So most of the post-Rayburn attempts have ended up seeming stilted and soulless.

So I approached ABC's new take on the show with more than a bit of wariness. New host Alec Baldwin is not known for his skills as a punchline-driving quipster and the celebrity panel has potential but it's difficult to predict panel chemistry ahead of time. I wanted the show to be good, but wouldn't be shocked if it fell short creatively.

The good news is that the 2016 take on "Match Game" isn't terrible and in fact has a lot of positives going for it. There are some flaws in execution, but nothing that can't be fixed in the future.

The look of the show will be very familiar to longtime fans of the show. The set is very similar to the classic version, the theme music is only slightly tweaked for modern ears and the format of the show is identical to the 1970s CBS version. Six panelists, two contestants, two rounds of questions with the winner getting two rounds to win up to $25,000. And while the show runs an hour in length, it's really just two 30-minute episodes aired back-to-back.

The biggest flaw in the premiere episode is host Alec Baldwin but the problem isn't what you might suspect. Baldwin seems to have a real sense of humor (albeit a slightly cruel one), but he's also obviously given jokes to deliver throughout his hosting duties. Yes, the lines are often funny but often Baldwin is looking off-camera when he delivers them. I know this is primetime and everything has to be bigger than life. But Baldwin delivers the lines so relentlessly that he (and the audience) barely have a chance to breath.

Overall, the panel did a very good job although Michael Ian Black seemed at times to be channeling a bored, slightly constipated Charles Nelson Reilly. Rosie O'Donnell and J.B. Smoove were very solid and while she didn't say much, I could pretty much watch Sutton Foster laugh and flip her hair for hours.

While it's always dangerous to judge any show after only one episode, the premiere of this "Match Game" reboot is entertaining enough to bring me back for more. There were some laughs and I was reminded more than once about the things that I loved about the original.