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50 free Match Game trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Match Game started in 1962 with questions about muffins and got un-cancelled once the writers made them saucier. This Match Game trivia covers the Gene Rayburn years, the six-celebrity CBS panel with Richard Dawson, Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly, the Super Match, the Star Wheel, and the revivals hosted by Ross Shafer, Alec Baldwin and Martin Short. Every answer is sourced, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss.
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Q 01On which network did Match Game premiere in 1962?
NBC
The original daytime run lasted until 1969; the famous six-celebrity version came to CBS in 1973.
Q 02Through which year did Gene Rayburn host every version of Match Game?
1984
He had been the original announcer on Steve Allen's Tonight before joining Goodson-Todman in 1953.
Q 03Which production company made Match Game?
Goodson-Todman
The same firm produced The Price Is Right, Password and, from Match Game's audience round, Family Feud.
Q 04What is Match Game called in its British version?
Blankety Blank
Australia's edition added an s, becoming Blankety Blanks.
Q 05On what date did the original Match Game premiere?
December 31, 1962
Arlene Francis and Skitch Henderson were the first two celebrity panelists.
Q 06Where at 30 Rockefeller Plaza was the 1960s Match Game taped?
Studio 8H
It has housed Saturday Night Live since 1975.
Q 07What saved Match Game from its 1963 cancellation?
Funnier, more risqué questions
Writer Dick DeBartolo pitched questions like "Mary likes to pour gravy all over John's ____" and ratings jumped.
Q 08Which magazine was question writer Dick DeBartolo best known for?
MAD
He stayed in New York and kept contributing broader, saucier questions to the 1970s version.
Q 09How many episodes of the 1962–69 NBC run are known to survive?
11
The pilot and ten kinescopes are archived at the Paley Center for Media.
Q 10Which network revived Match Game in 1973 with a six-celebrity panel?
CBS
The title carried the year, starting as Match Game 73, until the show moved to syndication in 1979.
Q 11What news event delayed the premiere of Match Game 73 by a week?
The Watergate hearings
It pushed the debut from June 25 to July 2, 1973.
Q 12Richard Dawson joined the 1973 panel straight from which cancelled show?
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
He was the first regular panelist and stayed until 1978, by which time he was also hosting Family Feud.
Q 13Brett Somers joined the panel at the request of which actor, her husband at the time?
Jack Klugman
Her chemistry with Charles Nelson Reilly got both of them hired as regulars.
Q 21In 1975, producers briefly banned contestants from doing what?
Picking the same panelist twice in a row
Everyone kept picking Richard Dawson for the Head-to-Head; the rule was dropped after four weeks.
Q 22What device was introduced in 1978 to choose the Head-to-Head celebrity?
The Star Wheel
It ended Dawson's spotlight feature and he quit the panel a few weeks later.
Q 23What was the daytime top prize after the 1978 bonus-wheel change?
$10,000
Match Game PM, the weekly evening edition, doubled that to $20,000.
Q 14Who substituted for Charles Nelson Reilly during his 1974–75 break?
Gary Burghoff, Nipsey Russell and Rip Taylor
Burghoff and Russell stayed on as semi-regular panelists afterwards.
Q 15Where did Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly usually sit on the panel?
Top row, middle and right
The male guest sat top left; the female guest and Richard Dawson took the bottom row.
Q 16How many points could a contestant score per question in the main game?
Six
One point for every celebrity matched, and judges allowed reasonable synonyms.
Q 17Which recurring character prompted the audience to shout "How ____ is she?"
Dumb Dora
The call-and-response routine was borrowed from Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.
Q 18What was the name of the fictional sleazy country in many Match Game questions?
Nerdocrumbesia
Other stock subjects included Superman, King Kong, Tarzan, the Lone Ranger and Howard Cosell.
Q 19What was the 1970s bonus round called?
The Super Match
It combined the Audience Match with the Head-to-Head Match against a single celebrity.
Q 20Which hit show was spun off from Match Game's Audience Match round?
Family Feud
Richard Dawson's knack for the round made him the natural host when it debuted on ABC in 1976.
Q 24Who was the only CBS-era champion to retire undefeated?
Carolyn Raisner
Her $32,600 remains the most ever won on Match Game.
Q 25How quickly did Match Game 73 become daytime TV's most-watched programme?
Within three months
Producer Ira Skutch ran the show and also served as on-stage judge.
Q 26What was the weekly syndicated evening edition of the show called?
Match Game PM
It ran from 1975 to 1981 with self-contained episodes and a third main-game round.
Q 27Where was the 1973–82 Match Game taped?
CBS Television City
Studio 33 was home, apart from one week in 1974 spent in Studio 41.
Q 28In 1983, Match Game was paired with which other game show in an NBC hour?
Hollywood Squares
Jon Bauman of Sha Na Na hosted the Squares half while Rayburn handled the Match Game segment.
Q 29Who hosted the 1990 ABC revival of Match Game?
Ross Shafer
The former Fox Late Show host lasted one season; it was ABC's last daytime game show.
Q 30Who hosted the 1998 syndicated Match Game?
Michael Burger
A 1996 pilot titled MG2 with Charlene Tilton as host never made it to air.