Brand New Match Game Coming to Canada’s Comedy Network
Match Game is back! Well, sort of. Canadian cable station The Comedy Network has ordered 60 episodes of a Canada-based English-language version of FremantleMedia’s Match Game. A French-language version of the classic program titled Atomes Crochus has aired on the Quebec network V since 2010. This will be the first original English-speaking version of Match Game to emanate from Canada.
The 60 half-hour episodes will begin taping in Montreal this summer (the same city in which Atomes Crochus is recorded) to begin airing in the fall. The program will be produced in association with Bell Media’s Comedy Network, Zone3 and FremantleMedia Enterprises. The show plans on having a six-person panel with three rotating members, akin to the classic American version of the program. A search for the program’s host is currently ongoing. Reruns of the American versions have been able to be seen on some cable systems in Canada via GSN.
Match Game aired in various incarnations in the USA from the sixties up to 1999, including a one-shot on CBS’s 2006 Gameshow Marathon. A pilot for the show was shot for cable’s TBS two years later but was ultimately not picked up.
FANTASTIC news! I’ve just turned 18 three months ago. Any word on where to apply?
I’ve seen “Atomes Crochus”. While I don’t know much French, AC appears to be faithful to MG.
I don’t think we’ll be surprised if Comedy Network’s “Match Game” is recorded on the “Atomes Crochus” set. That’s how “The New/$40,000 Chain Reaction” and its French-speaking counterpart, “Action Réaction”, operated in the mid to late 1980s (the word games taped in Montreal).
I’ve just sent an email to the woman mentioned in the press release in the hopes of becoming a contestant. Fingers crossed!
Some game show formats have (sadly) outlived their usefulness. MATCH GAME is one of them. While (whatever) foreign versions may work, I’ll repeat what the late Gene Rayburn had said time and time again; it’s (still) a weak format. And, unless the “perfect” combination of host and at least three celeb’s can be put together, and can (somehow) recreate the “magic” of the 1973-81 era, then FReMantle should reconsider this, and retire the format, once and for all.
No, you mean 1973 to 1982.
Not a big fan of game shows produced in Canada, since most of them are cheap, with hosts who do not actually know how to host programs in an entertaining manner.
Are you Smarter than a Canadian 5th Grader…
Deal or No Deal Canada…
Instant Cash…
Wipeout Canada…
5th Grader was boring, even though Colin Mocherie was hosting it.
Deal or No Deal Canada was alright, because they brought Howie up here and kept the format the same.
Instant Cash is like Minute to Win It, but with only a $10,000 top prize, which is almost impossible to achieve.
Wipeout Canada… first off, we don’t even have our own Wipeout course here. Unlike the U.S., the Canadian version of Wipeout is filmed overseas. And then we have some of the most boring hosts in the history of television commentating throughout it.
The only game show in Canada that’s actually good, and still airing new episodes right now, is L’Oeuf D’or (The Golden Egg) in Quebec, which has French-speaking contestants select Eggs with random amounts of money in it (just like Deal or No Deal, except without the briefcases). And there’s a top prize of $250,000 as well that increases every week it’s not won, with a possibility of doubling it as well. Now that’s an expensive Canadian game show that’s been on the air for over 10 years now. :)
Well, Le Tricheur is pretty fantastic even if the format is a tad generic. Just that set… *drools*
you got your facts wrong about some of them instant cash actually had a $15K top prize in the first season which has been won a few times. it’s possible but tricky. but you’re right they knocked it down to $10K this season.
and wipeout canada’s hosts are boring? really are you watching the same show I’m watching. I will agree I didn’t like Jessica Phillips, but Jonathon Torrens and Ennis Esmer did a great job IMO.
but you are right about canadian 5th grader, it was boring and unfortuantely Colin didn’t do as a great a job as we all thought he would.
as far as the topic on ahnd, I’m just glad to see another Canadian game show, I’ve always wanted to be on one, but there are so few these in Canada and I don’t really have the means to fly to the US and audition for the handful of shows that allow Canadian contestants.
Yes, I remember Instant Cash having the $15k prize, then TVTropolis knocking it down to $10k to lower the production costs.
And I don’t know which Canadian version of Wipeout you’re watching Marc, but Torrens and Esmer are incredibly boring to me, in comparison to Anderson and Henson on the U.S. version. That, and I remember watching the early-on episodes of Wipeout Canada’s 1st Season, and seeing how dry and lackluster the course was, compared to the then-current 4th U.S. season, which was airing at the same time.
The 1st Season of Wipeout Canada seemed cheaper to me in terms of course-creation (things like blowing a horn instead of just standing up at the end of the course to end the timer), than the 1st Season of Wipeout on ABC, which even then kept switching things up with obstacle improvements like Sweeper Dodgeball and whatnot.
I think the Canadian version is filmed in Argentina, so I guess the Argentinians don’t want to spend time switching up the course as often as the U.S. does.
Couldn’t agree with you more Mr. Quiz – just hope they don’t bring it to the US, as the ’98 version still probably has Mark Goodson turning in his grave for how bad it was! Today’s celebrities are just not strong enough to compete with Brett, Charles, Richard, and Gene from the 1970′s version of the show. They tried with “The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour” (failed after one year), “Match Game ’90″ (failed after one year), and “Match Game ’98″ (again, failed after one year) – once you’ve had the best at times, it’s best to remember the show as it was, not what it could be!
The trouble with the other 3 Match Game versions are the Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour(NBC) and Jon Bauman instead of Peter Marshall of the Squares and change the format and ran opposite Guiding Light(CBS) and General Hospital(ABC). Match Game 90 (ABC) was in the 12 noon (death slot) time slot and the local noon news won out that beacuse most ABC affiliates show their local noon news. The format on Match Game 98 was only 5 celebs instead of 6. And $5,000 was top prize( chump change in game shows in the 90′s to today).
Adding a sixth celebrity would have done nothing for Match Game ’98.
And sometimes you get difficult slots…you can’t always draw the ideal slot.
Especially in ’98′s format where practically every other answer was censored!
I wish them luck for their success. If they do well, well Remember “The New Chain Reaction” they might make an English-version one as well.
Oops! My Bad.
Why not bring the classic show back to the states right now? I would say that Caroline Rhea, Jason Alexander, and Ben Stein will be outstanding panelists along with a rotation of three other celebrities two female and one male. I would also say that the new host of the Match Game revival would be John O’Hurley. He did To Tell The Truth and Family Feud in the past, but I’ll think he’ll do a good job hosting the show in the years to come.
Perhaps Fremantle is using Canada as a proving ground? Remember, “Atomes Crochus” has been airing in Québec with some success since 2010.
There have been several attempts to revive Match Game in the past 20 years or so, but they have all failed. Who could forget Match Game ’98, which turned down the celebrity wattage by several million volts, and was using the same prize money structure as the CBS version was? $5,000 was peanuts in 1998, and it’s more or less the same now.
As a Montreal native, I have grown up with a lot of French Canadian versions of popular American game shows. There was the aforementioned Action Reaction, and we’ve also had relatively faithful French reproductions of Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Lingo, Family Feud, Pyramid, Deal or No Deal (Le Banquier), and even Twenty One. The only differences were significantly lower prize budgets, although the top prize on Le Banquier is $500,000, and it was increased to $750,000 and even $1 million in some special episodes.
TQS even has their own version of The Price is Right, which remains very faithful to the original. And don’t get me started about our long-running lottery game show, La Poule aux Oeufs d’Or. I may not be that great with French, but that show is just plain awesome. Le Tricheur has a simple format that seems to be partially derived from Dirty Rotten Cheater, and like everyone else has said, it has arguably one of the best sets in game show history.
With that being said, this new Match Game revival has the potential to work, but it also has the potential to be a complete failure. I can’t judge something that doesn’t even exist yet, so I will reserve my judgement for when the show actually premieres. The Comedy Network is probably the perfect place for this show, as I can’t see it being broadcast on any of our major networks (CTV, CBC, or Global). I’m hoping for the best with this revival, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Small correction: The French Canadian version of The Price is Right actually airs on V, and not TQS.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Global aired the short-lived 5-or-so episodes of the Canadian versions of Deal or No Deal and 5th Grader. Those didn’t last long, especially with the same amount of money being up for grabs as in the U.S. versions.
Canadian networks, except for the French ones in Quebec, seem to be very stingy with producing game shows and giving away money on them.
Even when CBC aired “Canada’s Smartest Person”, the winner didn’t actually win anything, except the title of being the smartest person on the dumbest Canadian network.
You’re right, Scott. Global did indeed air Deal or No Deal Canada and Are you Smarter than a Canadian 5th Grader?. This was strange because I believe that Global also had the rights to the American version of Deal or No Deal at the time. Both shows were hosted by Howie Mandel, who is Canadian. However, when a Canadian version of Millionaire aired several years ago, it was on CTV, oddly enough.
I also agree that aside from French-language and other cable networks, game shows are few and far between on the Canadian television landscape. However, that was not the case in the ’70s and ’80s, where shows like The Mad Dash, Pitfall, Definition, Headline Hunters, The Joke’s On Us, and many others aired on the major networks.
We also had some locally-produced game shows on CFCF 12, which is now a CTV affiliate. They included It’s Your Move, and a sports-themed quiz show whose name escapes me at the moment. Shows like Chain Reaction, The Mad Dash, Action Reaction, and Beat the Clock all taped at the CFCF 12 studios at 405 Ogilvy Ave. The station has since moved closer to downtown Montreal with a new office at 1205 Papineau Ave.
The channel hopping of the game shows is not odd at all. CTV had the Canadian simulcasting rights to “Millionaire” at the time, just as Global had the rights to “DoND” and “5th Grader?”. I actually saw a taping of “…Canadian 5th Grader?” with Colin Mochrie as host. I thought he did a fine job, especially considering one of the kids’ desks broke down and stopped tape for roughly 45 minutes.
When you say “sports-themed quiz show”, I hope you’re not referring to “Game On”, the Canadian ripoff version of Jeopardy that more often than not saw contestants win with a negative amount of money. Because it’s still airing on GameTV right now, along with the old Canadian Supermarket Sweep. :P
I just remembered what this sports-themed quiz show was called. It was produced exclusively for CFCF 12 in Montreal, and was called Know Your Sports. It aired in the ’70s, and it was hosted by the late Dick Irvin, Sr., who did the play-by-play for Montreal Canadiens broadcasts.
Unlike Game On, which aired from 1998 to 2000, and was just plain awful, Know Your Sports was highly cerebral and offered some decent prizes for the winners. I believe the show was conducted in a tournament fashion, with the highest scorers returning at the end of the season to compete for even bigger prizes.
Match Game is a show that can’t adjust with the times without needing to go to the extremes. It was fine in the 70′s when double entendres were the rule. But today? Anything said back then is normal now.
Plus, the 1998 version was hampered by bad design on all levels including overall production and question writing.
SMB, the 1973-82 version of Match Game was great because the comedy was “naughty” not “filthy.” The 1998-99 version did go to extremes (filthy) and suffered because of it. What’s the point in watching when many of the answers get bleeped out? Also, having limits on language forced the writers and panelists to be clever with the questions and answers in the classic version. I think most viewers will take “clever” over “blue” comedy, even in this day and age.
The 70s version worked because the “dirtiness” was in everyone’s MIND, but then contestants and panelists ultimately would give clean answers. I remember a celebrity panelist saying “they told me to be funny and to be clean.”
And it was more of a comedy show – but disguised as a game show. It was about the celebrities, and the contestants really didn’t do very much. The questions were frequently either jokes or riddles, where identifying the “operative word” would lead to “the definitive answer.”
The 1990 version wasn’t bad however; it was also more of a “game” show, especially with the addition of the Match-Up segment. With a better time slot, and better clearances, it might have been successful. Ross Shafer was a decent host, but had Bert Convy lived, I think he’d have done an excellent job hosting.
But anyone who sets out to duplicate the 70s version will ultimately fail, primarily because it was a product of its time, and that can’t be recreated.
One of my favorite game shows of the 1980s was a little canadian program called Bumper Stumpers. Yeah semi small budget, but a nice entertaining game. It was a rather large joint venture between Global Television , Wink Martindale Enterprizes, Berry & Enright & the USA Network here in the states.
How about another crazy show The Mad Dash? You can find it on YouTube.
I liked The Mad Dash when it was still airing on Game TV here in Canada. Its host, Pierre Lalonde, actually hosted “Action Reaction”, the French-Canadian version of “The New Chain Reaction”, in the late 80s. Anyway, here’s hoping that this new version of “Match Game” ends up doing okay. One thing that occurred to me about it is that if they tape it at the right time, it could end up being around the same time as the long running Just For Laughs comedy festival, which has been running for a long time on both CBC and The Comedy Network. It could just be a coincidence…. or could it? Just a theory, that’s all.
The Mad Dash – you just spouted lots of memories: “$” replaced the 6 on the die, earning a $10 bonus, 3 $’s in a row got a bonus; Roll Forward, Roll Back, Roll Over (you rolled, but the opponents moved up); Breakaway (a REALLY Mad Dash – roll for how many seconds you run at a flat-out sprint); Go Broke (like WOF’s Bankrupt)…Memories…
You’ll be happy to know (if you don’t already) that GTV in Canada recently picked up Bumper Stumpers and is currently airing it daily!!
Sort of? Match Game is back!!!… and we have it exclusively on Comedy here in Canada!!! O Canada, our home and native (BLANK).
Okay, so I just watched an episode of Atomes Crochus on V’s website, and despite having a very low knowledge of French – which is ironic because I’m from Quebec – it was very good. The format is somewhat similar to that of the 1990 version.
Two contestants compete, and the game is played in three rounds. We’re back to A or B instead of inventive question names. In round 1, each match scores 25 points, and that doubles in round 2. The final round is Match-Up from the 1990 version. Each contestant picks one celebrity – there are six on this version – and they try to get as many matches as possible in 45 seconds at 50 points per match. The winner moves on to the Super Match.
The Super Match is again very similar to the 1990 version. Before playing, the winning contestant’s points total is converted to dollars. A statement is shown, and the contestant calls on three celebrities for answers. The top answer is worth $2,000, followed by $1,500 for the second most popular answer, and $1,000 for the third. Whatever the contestant wins, they have a chance to double by spinning the Star Wheel, which is a clone of the one that was used on the 1990 version.
I expect that the Comedy Network Version will use the same format, albeit with a slightly increased prize budget. The celebrities will most likely be an array of Canadian actors and comedians. As for who the host will be, your guess is as good as mine.
If you’d like to see how Atomes Crochus works, you can watch full episodes online here: http://vtele.ca/emissions/atomes-crochus/
I’m quite excited that this is happening. I’d love to be a contestant on this show. I will be glued to this site for more details. :D
Now, it used to be in situations like this that the Canadian producer of an English-language game show (especially one on a property originally based in the U.S.) would try and find a syndication market for a show like this in the U.S. to help add revenue. See, for instance, Lingo and the 1980 version of Let’s Make a Deal. Comedy’s one of the fields where there are a lot of famous Canadians that are familiar faces in the states. Would it be feasible nowadays?
Can somebody contact me the exact moment when someone puts up full episodes on Youtube?
If you want to apply to be a contestant, here is a link to the inscription page:
http://matchgame.lesaffranchis.ca/
I’ve just watched a couple episodes of this Canadian english version. I was pretty excited and pvr’d them with anticipation. What a let down. Bad hosting skills, “so called” celebs that no one knows or of a c grade status. On top of that, they all try to out do each other to capture a min or two extra of air time. They think they are being funny but aren’t. Too bad, could have been a possibility with real stars and real money.