Match Game (1979)

Match Game is the fourth version of the game show. It was hosted by Gene Rayburn. It ran three seasons in syndication from 1979 through 1982.

History
After the cancellation of Match Game 79, there was still enough interest in the series for Goodson–Todman and Jim Victory Television to consider a continuation of the daily series in syndication as the weekly Match Game PM was still airing and had not stopped production. The consideration eventually came to fruition as a daily syndicated Match Game, without a year attached, debuted 10 September 1979.

Game
The rules and gameplay were the same as before, including the star wheel bonus, but the format was altered slightly. Each contestant on this version played a two-game match against another contestant, and the Super Match was played after each game. A contestant did not win any money for winning the game. There were also no returning champions on the daily syndicated series, as two new contestants began each match. The star wheel reduced the golden star sections to three, making it more difficult to double the winnings in the head-to-head match.

The maximum payout for a contestant was $21,000 (two $500 audience matches and two $10,000 head-to-head match wins), the same its syndicated sister series Match Game PM was offering during this time.

Panelists
For the first two seasons Bill Daily, Dick Martin, Richard Paul, and Bob Barker were among the male semi-regulars who filled Dawson's old spot on the panel. McLean Stevenson, who had done so once in September 1978 and twice near the end of the second year of this version, appeared in nearly all of the third season (1981–82) and became a regular from the eleventh taped week through the end of the season.


 * Bob Barker
 * Bart Braverman
 * Jamie Lee Curtis
 * Bill Daily
 * Robert Donner
 * Melinda O. Fee
 * Fannie Flagg
 * Sydney Goldsmith
 * Dick Martin
 * Richard Paul
 * Charles Nelson Reilly
 * Brett Somers
 * Skip Stephenson
 * McLean Stevenson
 * Melody Thomas
 * Marcia Wallace
 * Marjorie Wallace
 * Betty White