Replies

I, er, hate to burst your pleasure but wasn't Gene Rayburn the host of Match Game and Richard Dawson the original Family Feud?

I'm a big Cheers fan---did you know one of the co-masterminds of Cheers was the son of one of Duffy's Tavern's collaborators? (James Burrows is the son of Abe Burrows, who mentored under Duffy's creator/writer/star Ed Gardner and credited the experience for helping to inform his later work such as Guys and Dolls.)

Seinfeld may be a 90s phenomenon but I actually find myself enjoying it more with the 90s gone, perhaps because I've unearthed a classic radio show that could have been called the original "show about nothing" and find pleasant similarities in turning the apparently mundane into a good, unobtrusive laugh: Vic and Sade.

I've come to appreciate character humour at least as much as situational humour; if you can have both you've really got something---which I think is why I came to like Seinfeld as much as any other good comedy and why I fell in love with Easy Aces when I discovered it---to my delight, it was also a serial comedy, storylines extending as far as five or six weeks, in which writer Ace and his cast could really plumb a good piece of absurdism.

(Trivia: Goodman Ace eventually became one of television's most respected comedy writers; among his original television assignments was some very early television work for Bob Newhart, plus work for Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, and ultimately fashioning the wry, easygoing camera persona Perry Como refined for over a decade.)

Yes, Rayburn is most definitely the host of Match Game. Dawson was a panelist for many years and sat in the bottom middle seat. His curmudgeonly ways were a great foil to Brett Somers ramblings. His ability to match contestants...and his often remarkably witty answers, are amazing. And the chemistry between Rayburn and Dawson (Early on mostly, they got a little testy with each other later) is pretty entertaining.

Thanks for the trivia. Wow! You know your stuff. I'm going to have to look some of that material up. I've heard of Easy Aces mostly because I'm a fan of George and Gracie and their work is sometimes compared to it. I haven't heard or seen it though, so now I'll have to go looking. I haven't heard of Vic and Sade either. Another for the list.

You know, I found some old Burns and Allen in a dvd discount rack and it is excellent. My favorite part is watching them hawk Cold Evaporated Milk to make things like whipped cream as part of the plot. It is just so funny to me and I can't imagine it tastes all the good. Ha!