Three on a Match (game show)
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- For the movie, see Three on a Match.
Three on a Match was an American television game show, created by Bob Stewart, that ran from August 2, 1971 to June 28, 1974 on the daytime schedule of NBC. The host was Bill Cullen, a veteran host of several successful television games. The network broadcast the show at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time/12:30 p.m. Central and Pacific Time. The series was produced at NBC's Rockefeller Center in New York City. Legendary NBC voiceover artist Don Pardo served as announcer on most episodes of the show, with Roger Tuttle and Bob Clayton substituting at times.
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[edit] Gameplay
In the game, three contestants competed to determine who could answer the most true-or-false questions in one of three categories. Before Cullen announced the categories, each contestant would bid on how many questions he or she could answer on that turn. The minimum bid was one question; the maximum bid was four questions.
The highest bidder got the first shot at the categories, but if two players tied, they canceled each other out, with the third contestant, regardless of number of questions bid, getting the only chance at the questions. If all three tied, they bid again; if they all tied on the second attempt, the categories were thrown out and new ones were announced.
When a contestant won the right to answer questions, he/she selected one of the categories. If a contestant failed to correctly answer as many questions as his/her bid, control would go to the next highest bidder. If he/she failed, the lowest bidder would get a shot. When two contestants matched bids and canceled each other out, and the remaining contestant failed to fulfill his/her bid, the game moved on to a new set of categories. If a contestant fulfilled the bid, he/she would win the pot, which was the total number of questions bid by all players multiplied by $10.
Some categories would have a special feature hidden behind them, which was revealed when it was selected. The most frequent was "Double Pot," which doubled the value of the pot the contestant was playing for; another was "Two Free Boxes" (sometimes three or one), which gave the contestant extra free selections on the game board. Packager Stewart devised these to help speed up the pace of the game, by enabling a lucky contestant to more easily win.
After winning a pot, the contestant could keep the money and continue playing, or could use his/her accumulated money to try to win the game at the bonus board. (If he/she won any free boxes in the previous round, they had to be used immediately after winning them; they could not be held in reserve for later use.) The minimum amount required in a contestant's bank to play the board was $90.
[edit] The Prize Board
The board consisted of three columns — the first worth $20 each, the second worth $30, and the third worth $40 — with four rows of boxes in colored rows (red, green, yellow, and blue) in each column. Originally, each box would conceal a prize; three prizes appeared in each column, and two (or three) others appeared in some columns but not others (this was done as if each prize was in each column, meaning that a player with $270 could guarantee a win); at least one box contained a "No Match" sign. The contestant would use his or her money to spend on the boxes, in an effort to reveal three like prizes. A contestant would select a box by saying "I'll take (money amount) on the (color row), Bill," and would continue until revealing three identical prize cards, in which case the prize and the game were won. If a contestant ran out of money before matching a prize, the game would continue with more question rounds. At least $90 was mathematically required for a chance to win, unless free boxes were involved. A contestant who made a match on his/her first three picks after winning a question series also won a new car. A contestant who won five games was awarded an additional $5,000 and retired undefeated.
In 1973, the format changed; instead of prizes, the boxes contained images (e.g., slot machine symbols, celebrity faces, even humorous photos of host Cullen). A player who got three matching symbols won that round; the first player to win three rounds, or to get three matching symbols with the first three picks on a board, won the game and a prize package worth at least $5000. Also, producers added a "stop sign" box, similar to one used on the 1966-1969 game Eye Guess, also produced by Bob Stewart and hosted by Cullen. When that space came up, the contestant's turn at the bonus board ended, the contestant retained any remaining money for future use, and question rounds resumed.
[edit] Other Details about the Show
Other minor rule variations were introduced throughout the show's run, such as having the same three contestants play three consecutive games only.
Because Cullen suffered from polio as a boy, he had a fairly pronounced limp. In order to conceal this from the viewing audience, the producers had him remain seated at his podium throughout each episode of 3oaM, not moving around; likewise, the contestants were not shown walking away or to their seats. Stewart and other packagers afforded Cullen this courtesy on most, if not all, the shows he hosted.
[edit] Ratings/Scheduling History
Three on a Match was the longest-running of eight shows NBC aired in the 1:30/12:30 time period from December 30, 1968 through April 21, 1975, when the network expanded the soap Days of Our Lives to one hour. It replaced a vehicle for sportscaster and Today Show host Joe Garagiola titled Memory Game.
Because the show was scheduled against two successful competing network shows, Let's Make a Deal on ABC and As the World Turns on CBS (then a half-hour soap opera), Three on a Match did not experience strong ratings, but proved better than most of its predecessors, probably due to Cullen's enduring popularity among viewers. Ironically enough, NBC had broadcast Deal in the very same time slot from 1964 through 1968.
NBC gained some stability in the timeslot with 3oaM until spring 1974, when daytime programming chief Lin Bolen asked packager Stewart to update the show; the two instead created a new game called Winning Streak. This show, a spelling-bee-themed game, was also hosted by Cullen, but ran only six months, from July 1 to January 3, 1975. Streak took over the 10:30/9:30 a.m. slot, with Jeopardy! spending the last six months of its original run as the replacement show at 1:30/12:30.
[edit] Episode status
The entire series has been wiped (as was the normal practice of most NBC daytime shows from the 1950s through the late 1970s or so), save for a very small number of episodes (at least four or five) circulating amongst videotape traders. A few more episodes survive in the UCLA film and television archive.
