Is Sarah Silverman the new Brett Somers? Could Norm MacDonald be the next Richard Dawson?
The comedians have signed on to be on the panel for TBS' updated "Match Game" pilot, shot this week in Los Angeles. Also taking seats are Bob Einstein, a.k.a. comic stuntman Super Dave Osborne, Kids in the Hall trouper Scott Thompson, Rashida Jones ("The Office") and Niecy Nash ("Reno 911!").
Andrew Daly ("Semi-Pro") hosted the pilot for the cable channel.
"Match Game," in which contestants try to match missing words in a given phrase with a panel of celebrity guests, originally debuted in 1962. Several incarnations followed, and the format reached its naughty heyday with the Gene Rayburn-hosted version in the 1970s — once the questions were tweaked to allow for a generous amount of double-entendre humor.
The game is played by two contestants and a panel of six celebrities. Each contestant attempts to match the most celebrities in a series of fill-in-the-blank questions, such as "Sam is so short, he makes _____ look tall."
Along with Somers and Dawson, Charles Nelson Reilly was another longtime regular on the show. Other panelists over the years included Vicki Lawrence, McLean Stevenson, Betty White, Orson Bean, Fannie Flagg and Nipsey Russell.
The most recent version of "Match Game" ended its run in 1999. Reruns air regularly on cable network GSN, effectively exposing younger audiences to the format.