Game Show Files: Brett Somers

In the 1970's, a popular type of game show was the panel show. Theoretically featuring celebrity panelists, the celebrities on these types of shows were often enlisted to help the non-celebrity contestants win money and prizes. The celebrities on these shows were often on their way up, on their way down or famous for being on these types of shows. One of the best known panel game shows was Match Game and one of the best known famous for being on the Match Game celebrities was Brett Somers.

Ms. Somers did have outside credits to her name and was known as a funny comedienne, but her primary claim to fame was Match Game, where smoking and drinking were apparently encouraged. While Brett was often lousy at coming up with answers that matched those of the contestants, she was hilariously funny on the show, often stretching the patience of the network censors with her double entendres. 

Match Game Fame

Many celebrities participate in game shows to make some quick money while they're waiting for their careers to take off. Brian Billick, then a failed NFL player, tried to play Match Game but he was very bad at it. So bad, in fact, that the prickly Richard Dawson mocked him on the air. Mr. Billick was able to get the last laugh when he coached the Baltimore Ravens to the Super Bowl and won in 2001.

How's that tea taste now, Newkirk? Bitter?

Famed trashy talk show host Jenny Jones also tried her luck on the show, walking away with a tidy sum.

Dumb Dora was so dumb, she permed her hair and looked like a <blank>.

Years before losing her mind, Kirstie Alley also made a run for the big bucks. She didn't win, but then again didn't fail miserably like Mr. Billick.

Sorry, Kirstie, Xenu is not a match. He'll never be a match.

What Were They Thinking?: "You're in the Picture"

April Fools Week at TemporaryLayoffs.com will feature "What Were They Thinking?" a weeklong look at television's worst moments and dumbest television shows.

On January 20, 1961, Jackie Gleason premiered a new game show sponsored by Kellogg's called You're in the Picture which featured celebrities competing for charity by putting their faces through holes in a painting like they were taking photographs at a tourist trap. The celebrities were supposed to guess what the subject of the painting was by asking questions of the host- Mr. Gleason.

The show was an instant embarrassment. Some people claimed it to be the worst show ever aired up to that point. Jackie had hoped to show that he could do more than just a variety show or situation comedy, but this was not the project that would do so. CBS canceled the show after just one episode, but gave Mr. Gleason the chance to turn it into something else. In a legendary half hour of television, Jackie Gleason took his slot on January 27, 1961 to apologize for the show and admit that it was terrible-

"Last week we did a show that laid the biggest bomb—it would make the H-bomb look like a two-inch salute."

The show was renamed The Jackie Gleason Show and became a variety show. Mr. Gleason's career quickly recovered. His guest stars on that ill-fated show were just as lucky. Pat Harrington went on to play the character of Schneider on One Day at a Time. Pat Carroll has done many things, including providing the voice for the Disney villainess Ursula in the classic film The Little Mermaid.

Liar's Club

No, it's not a severely outdated Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor or a decrepit Shakeys- it's a game show set! Liar's Club was a unique game show in which its celebrity panel would try to trick the contestants into getting the answers wrong, a huge change from the usual game show formats in which the celebrity panel helped the contestants.

On Liar's Club, the host would introduce a bizarre looking item. One member of the panel would demonstrate the exact use of the item while the others simply made up a believable story about what the item was. It was up to the contestants to guess what the true story was and answer accordingly.

The bonus round featured a piece of art that two celebrities would interpret for the contestant. One interpretation was correct, the other was made up on the spot. Liar's Club ended in 1979, but a short lived revival appeared on cable in 1989.

TV Glossary: "Bicycling"

In the 1970's and 1980's, satellite time was very expensive; much too expensive to use to distribute television programming to local stations. In order to get syndicated programming out to local stations, distributors used a system called "bicycling". Basically, they made a few copies of each episode and mailed a week's worth of episodes to the top television markets. The station was then instructed to mail the tapes to the next station in a different market. This process repeated until the last station on the list had received the tape. (typically in the smallest market, like Paducah) The tapes would then get sent back to the studio, pretty worn out by this time, having been used quite a bit.

This system is the main reason why game shows of the time had limits on how many times a contestant could compete on the show. Since the various stations were airing the episodes at different times and in no particular order, it would be confusing to have a multi-day winner. That's why Match Game and Match Game PM had different rules and were differentiated from each other.

As satellite time became less expensive, syndication distributors did away with "bicycling" and now beam all programming to local affiliates. This has allowed shows like Jeopardy to remove its five win limit for contestants and for producers to do a better job of preserving their television shows, since they no longer have to deal with worn out tapes.

A Lifetime Supply of Rice-A-Roni!

In the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's, no game show contestant went home empty handed. They may not have gone home with the big prize, but at least they'd go home with something- like a lifetime supply of Rice-A-Roni! Certainly it was better than winning a real prize, right?

The era of the consolation prize ended in the 1990's as companies stopped wanting to associate their products with losing contestants.