Match Game returns to TV

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Don’t let this picture fool you. Match Game is returning to TV, with two tapings today in Los Angeles at CBS. But Sarah Silverman isn’t hosting. She’ll be one of the celebrity panelists. UPDATE: The other panelists for the pilot, shot at CBS but for TBS, were Norm MacDonald, Scott Thompson (Kids in the Hall version, not Carrot Top), Rashida Jones, Super Dave Osborne and Niecy Nash.

So who will be hosting in place of the late Gene Rayburn?

Despite mass petitions to hire Jimmy Pardo, the man who’s been holding down the fort on Match Game Live at the UCB in Los Angeles, the producers went with Andy Daly.

Pardo went to the message boards and offered congratulations to his friend Daly, writing…

Hey everyone,
Since the petition was started here on AST, I feel I
should let you guys know what has happened. I am sad to report that I
did not get the job.
Obviously, I am very disappointed but ASTers
can rejoice in knowing that the producers picked a great talent in one
Mr. Andy Daly.
Andy is a great friend and will do a super job.
I don’t have to tell anyone on this board how funny Andy is and I’m sure the show is going to be a great success.
JIMMY

It doesn’t end there…

And Mr. Daly replied in kind!
Thanks for the kind words you guys, and especially Jimmy.
As a friend of Jimmy’s and a HUGE fan of his and an eager signer of the petition, this is a weird moment.
Like
anyone who’s seen Match Game Live, I always alternate between cackling
at Jimmy’s jokes and staring slack-jawed and dumbfouded by the
supernatural quickness of his mind.  I don’t expect to do this as well
as he does.  I just hope to do the show justice in my own way. That’s all I’ll say for now, except that JP is four and half feet of pure class!

Related: Pardo also delivered an amusing and informative interview last week to SFStandup.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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