Game shows have enjoyed a renaissance over the last few years. Jeopardy! and sometimes even Wheel of Fortune have been headline fodder. Classic shows have been revived. As such, this news seems ominous: As per Variety, ABC is probably not bringing back four of their game shows, most notably the Match Game revival that was hosted by now-troubled actor Alec Baldwin.
The network is in the midst of planning it summer schedule, and among those shows reportedly getting the axe are Card Sharks, Celebrity Dating Game, The Hustler, and Match Game. The latter hasn’t been in production for a while, with the last episodes were taped in 2020, prior to the pandemic’s outset. Last year it only aired two new episodes, filmed the previous year.
ABC insists the likely cancellation does not have anything to do with the accidental shooting on the set of Rust, which involved Baldwin.
Launched in 2016, the Match Game revival brought back the classic show, which features contestants trying to match the answers of a bevy of celebrity guests. The show began in 1962 but didn’t come into its own until the 1970s, when it was dramatically revamped as a more comedic program, with the famous participants, often with drinks in their hands, regularly trying to crack each other up. The Baldwin version, which wasn’t as loose as that, ran for five seasons.
In the meantime, other ABC game shows, such as Celebrity Family Feud, Press Your Luck, and The $100,000 Pyramid, are expected to return.
(Via Variety)
Source: https://uproxx.com/tv/match-game-revival-alec-baldwin-cancelled/