TV Review: “Match Game” Season 5 (ABC)

Complete the sentence: ABC’s BLANK returns for its fifth season on Sunday, May 31st with a special crime-themed episode called “Shooting Blanks.” If you guessed Match Game, then you correctly guessed the phrase that every celebrity wrote on their card and are now in the lead! Alec Baldwin returns as host for this retro celebrity game show.

The season premiere finds the host in a striped prison suit with a panel of celebrities who have all played cops or detectives at some point in their career*. Jennifer Esposito (Blue Bloods) Adam Rodriguez (Criminal Minds), Angie Harmon (Rizzoli & Isles), Michael Chiklis (The Shield), and Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) all have crime-themed shows in common.

*Mario Cantone (Sex and the City) appeared on NYPD Blue for a second, but has never played a cop.

Alec Baldwin reads a statement, replacing one word with the word “Blank” and the celebrities get to work writing an answer on a hidden card. The contestant says what they think the answer is out loud and then the celebrities reveal their cards, earning the contestant one point for each celebrity they match with. But with so many large personalities in the game, some of the answers are pretty far out there.

The winner of the main round then gets to choose three celebrities to help solve the “Blank” in a simple phrase, such as “Blank” Hour. The audience was polled and the top three answers each have a dollar value, which they win after choosing which they think is the best chance. They can then multiply that number by going head to head with one celebrity of their choice on another simple phrase.

I’ve been a fan of Match Game since it returned to ABC in 2016. The real fun for me comes from watching Alec Baldwin interact with the celebrity guests and laugh at or make fun of their answers. And with so many strong personalities, you get some pretty jaw dropping answers.

Match Game returns to ABC on Sunday, May 31st, at 10:00 pm.

Alex Reif
Alex joined the Laughing Place team in 2014 and has been a lifelong Disney fan. His main beats for LP are Disney-branded movies, TV shows, books, music and toys. He recently became a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA).