Westercon Postscripts: Match Game

[kevin_standlee]

When I got to the office this morning, I was relieved to find the bag of Match Game questions and supplies (envelopes, contestant cards, etc.) sitting on my desk. I say relieved because I was starting to worry that I'd accidentally thrown them out during the apartment clean-up the previous weekend, and there is stuff in that bag that I did not want to lose. For example, all of the tie-breakers are in there, as well as a store of questions we might use in another game sometime. Thanks again to Sharon Sbarsky for (a) helping me quickly compose sudden-death tie-breaker questions just before the show when I realized they were missing and (b) hastily cutting a bunch of the 5 x 8 cards down to half that size for use as contestant entries when I realized that the printed 4 x 6 cards weren't in our supply box.

For the next time we do the show, I may change the Bonus Round to require that the contestant do a Celebrity Match (simple questions such as "Captain _____") to win the prize. Not that I don't want to give away the prizes, but I'd also like to put some spark into the round.

As it happens, just as I turned on the TV when I got home yesterday, I caught the last five minutes of a 1970s Match Game episodes that shows that anything could happen. One player scored five matches on a round 1 question (that almost never happens) and the other did not "get" the question at all, and for that matter, neither did the panel: "Sitting Bull said, 'Me not worried that there be no rooms at Holiday Inn, because me got _______.'" I thought that one was way too easy for round 1, not to mention foolish because you should never write a question that telegraphs only one sensible answer. I forget what the contestant answered, but only one of the panelists -- Richard Dawson, natch -- had the answer that I (and Gene, and the audience) were thinking: "reservation." Maybe it's just the BASFA pun experience that sensitizes me to those sort of answers.

Comments

[sfrose.livejournal.com]

That was all part of the "production assistant" job...

Spare Markers are also a good idea to keep in the kit. I'm not sure if you noticed when I replaced Cody's marker when it broke and then figured out how to fix it.

BTW, I would have answered "Teepee" on that question.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I spotted you fixing his marker, and thank you. There were supposed to be spare markers -- they may have wandered away. Normally I put a couple of markers on the contestant desk for use in Sudden Death, but there weren't enough to go around this time. Must remember to refill (with spares) for the next show.

[cherylmorgan.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's just the BASFA pun experience that sensitizes me to those sort of answers.

Maybe it is those Native American genes. :-)