Alec Baldwin’s ‘Match Game’ Canceled at ABC, Along With ‘Card Sharks’ and More as Network Firms Up Summer Plans (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comMichael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThe Alec Baldwin-hosted “Match Game” isn’t expected to return to ABC, as the Alphabet web begins to firm up its plans for its annual game show-heavy summer lineup.Also unlikely to return are “Card Sharks,” “Celebrity Dating Game” and “The Hustler,” while “Celebrity Family Feud,” “Press Your Luck” and “The $100,000 Pyramid” are expected to be back.The fate of “Match Game” had been the source of speculation in the wake of Baldwin’s accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the independent production “Rust” last fall.
But ABC’s decision to cancel “Match Game” is not related to that incident; “Match Game” hasn’t been in production since 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic — and only aired two new episodes in 2021, which had been left over from the previous year.
The latest revival of “Match Game,” hosted by Baldwin, debuted in 2016, and ran for five seasons. The most recent season was shot before the pandemic began, with nine episodes spread out between May 31, 2000, and Oct.
29, 2000, and then the final two on July 21 and July 28, 2021. Produced by Fremantle, “Match Game” centered on four contestants competing for $25,000 as they try to match the answers of six celebrities in a game of fill-in-the-blank.
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