Worry Not, ABC's Match Game Revival Set Is Still Way Groovy (PHOTOS)
The set for ABC's upcoming Match Game revival is still so 1970s-groovy, I bet you can find shag carpeting on ______.
That's the good news born of a series of BTS photos shared on Threads by actress Constance Zimmer, who was among the more than two dozen celebrity panelists announced earlier this month.
"Did you know @matchgameabc is coming back in July with the one and only [Martin Short as host]!!! And some of us got to play along!!" wrote Zimmer. "Such a blast!!"
Short of course co-stars on Hulu's Only Murders in the Building, which also contributed more than a couple of celeb panelists to the upcoming season.
ABC's previous incarnation of the classic, fill-in-the-blank game show debuted almost exactly nine years ago, hosted by 30 Rock's Alec Baldwin and featuring a set that avoided the ultra-glossy finish and dramatically swooping klieg lights spawned by Who Wants to Be a Millionaire's 1999 heyday.
Instead, there was warm carpeting, family den-appropriate wood paneling, and a long, skinny, handheld mic just like former host Gene Rayburn wielded once upon a time.
The "revival" set appears to be near-identical to that one, with the same logo and only the most minor of cosmetic tweaks. (The fate of the long, skinny, handheld mic, however, remains TBD.)
The Baldwin-hosted Match Game produced a total of 61 episodes, the last of which aired in July 2021. Baldwin, of course, was in the headlines in fall 2021 after a tragic incident on the set of the film Rust where he accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Match Game's cancellation at ABC was not connected to that incident, Variety reported in April 2022; in fact, the show hadn't been in production since the COVID pandemic shut down Hollywood in March 2020.
The celebrity panelists on tap for this summer's Match Game revival include Adam Pally, Amy Sedaris, Ana Gasteyer, Andrea Martin, Anthony Anderson, BD Wong, Beanie Feldstein, Cara Delevingne, Caroline Rhea, Constance Zimmer, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Ego Nwodim, Jackie Tohn, Jay Pharoah, Jim Belushi, Joel Kim Booster, Joel McHale, Kal Penn, Kevin Nealon, Lamorne Morris, Pete Holmes, Phoebe Robinson, Randall Park, Selena Gomez, Thomas Lennon, Tituss Burgess, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Von Miller and Ziwe Fumudoh.
The new season of ABC's Match Game premieres Wednesday, July 23, at 9/8c, with episodes streaming next day on Hulu.
A total of four contestants compete in each hour-long installment, and the prize money remains a depressingly paltry $25,000.
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