What I'm Watching Now: Perfect Match (1984 - 1989)

The Australian game show Perfect Match is a combination of a lot of things I love. For one, it’s Australian, and so was my mother! Secondly, it’s a cross between The Dating Game and Love Connection. It also aired in the 1980s, and that alone makes it awesome. And finally, it has an adorable robot named Dexter!

Seriously, did I just die and go to a neon-soaked heaven, where all the men and women have perms and say G’day?

Like, totally.

I was first turned on to Perfect Match via Alistair and Siobhan on their Movies About Girls spinoff podcast, The Down Under Variety Hour. They played clips from the show and without even being able to see all of the aqua-netted awesome, I still knew it was a totally tubular paradise. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, that podcast episode did not pan out and I was left alone with my pastel memories. Tragic, right? Well, my favorite Aussie couple decided to bring back clips and I could have jumped right out of my penny loafers!

Strangely enough, this is the same face I make right after I jump out of my penny loafers!

Perfect Match debuted in 1984 and ran for five glorious years, ending in 1989 and and it enjoyed a brief revival in 2002. Much like The Dating Game (well, exactly like The Dating Game), a contestant chooses an unseen mate by asking a series of questions which will hopefully provoke hilarious responses. It becomes like Love Connection because the winning couple goes on a trip together and then returns to the show to let everyone know if they’ve made a perfect match. Then it becomes like Big Brother when Dexter the Robot calculates each winning couples compatibility. That’s a lot of fuchsia colored leggings and oversized blazers to take in! And I loved it.

The Down Under Variety Hour brought back their Perfect Match segment in honor of Valentine's Day. You can listen to the podcast here. Enjoy! (Note: I was unable to play the podcast on Firefox, but it came up fine in Google Chrome. If you have problems, please try another server) (Note #2: The Perfect Match segment begins somewhere around the second hour, but there's lots of silliness beforehand, so kick up your feet and stay awhile!)

If you want to brush up on the visuals of the show, check out my gnarly and radical Perfect Match image gallery. It will make you squeal, “Like, oh my gawd!”

Here come our hosts: 

Here is someone looking to make a Love Connection, er, I mean find his Perfect Match: 

Here are the choices: 

This girl talked about wanting to spank boys and I loved her for saying so!

This one seemed to want to be on TV more than she wanted the date!

I have a feeling that this girl doesn't take crap from anyone. I love her.

 That's the host standing in a strangely heart shaped middle. It's got to be a perfect match! 

This is Dexter. I love him. 

 Here is the Love Connection segment: 

I bet you had no idea that the lead singer of A-ha was on Perfect Match!

This was not a perfect match, but the set up is so perfectly 80s: 

She said her date was very "excited."

He said his date was too "tragic."

This is Babe. She is looking for a Perfect Match and I hope she found it. 

Here are the hosts trying out what looks like a vaudeville act.

"It was this big! Ha! Get it... umm... this big...Hello? Is this thing on?"

Round Two: This time there are three dudes, and they are cute!

Purple bow ties need to make a serious comeback. Seriously.

I imagine that this guy would be killer fun at a Def Leopard show. Win!

There is not one single thing wrong with this guy at all. 80s Purr-fection!

This is the lucky girl living in 80s game show heaven (and she looks like Eve Plumb!)

Looks like a Perfect Match (and I love her dress)! 

Dexter says "G'day!"

TV Spot Tuesday Twofer: Suzanne Pleshette and Gil Gerard!

I am surprised and somewhat shocked that I had no idea that Suzanne Pleshette and Gil Gerard made two TV movies together – and then appeared yet again in the short lived series Nightingales! Where have I been?

I have loved Help Wanted: Male since I first laid eyes on it. Aside from Pleshette and Gerard, Harold Gould and Bert Convy also appear in this adorable comedy about a sharp and successful businesswoman who wants to have a child. Airing on CBS on January 16th, 1982, Help Wanted seeks to speak to that blurred lined of the then forming feminist ideology, where some women weren’t sure if having a career meant giving up a family. Pleshette is beyond sophisticated but is also caught up in the same dilemma that many women tackled during the era. Of course, choosing between Gerard and Convy is a nice perk, and this romantic comedy tends to speak more to the heart and only slightly to feminism. Take that as you will.

Help Wanted was a booming success, garnering 47.7 in the ratings for the evening, and coming in at the number 3 in the Nielsen ratings for the week!

Here is the promo for Help Wanted: Male:


For Love or Money was another CBS TV movie that paired Gerard and Pleshette together. It originally aired on November 20th, 1984, and I have not seen it, but it looks like a lot of fun. The premise revolves around a television producer (Mary Kay Place) who comes up with an idea for a game show: Find two extremely compatible people (Pleshette and Gerard) and offer them the choice of marriage or a huge amount of money.

This seems to be both a spoof of game shows and a parody of modern romance. Based on the chemistry exuded from Ms. Pleshette and Gerard in Help Wanted, I think we can assume that their touch of gold most likely applies to For Love or Money as well. Although it doesn’t seem to have garnered the same positive reviews of Help Wanted, anything with Jamie Farr as a sleazy game show host must be worth seeing!

Here is the promo for For Love or Money:


And finally, Gerard and Pleshette teamed up yet again for the series Nightingales! Nightingales also featured Barry Newman who appeared with Pleshette in one of my all time favorite TV movies, Fantasies (you can read my reviews here and here). I’m not sure where Gerard fits into the series, but I think he would make for a nice triangle with Newman and Pleshette! Again, I have yet to see this show, but as a bonus here is the opening credit sequence below.


I have also written about some Nightingales trivia, which you can read here!

Here is a newspaper promo for Fantasies that doesn't necessarily apply to this post but I wanted to post it, so there!

Dallas on the Family Feud

It was indeed a truly wonderful moment in TV when the cast of Dallas joined Richard Dawson, along with Eight is Enough (well, in this case five will do just fine) and the crazy crew at One Day at a Time for game show mayhem! The air date was Monday, October 8th, 1979 and several shows, including the ones mentioned and Benson (of man, I adore Benson!) all gathered to raise money for their favorite charities. The Dallas crew went with Charlene Tilton's charity, the Kennedy Child Study Center, located in St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica.

This was the first time the cast of Dallas appeared on Family Feud and they took it all the way to the $10,000 grand prize! However, the highlight of the show happened when Richard Dawson said he thought he recognized Charlene and she told him a story about meeting him when she was seven. Apparently he offered her candy and a smile, and the dirty jokes flowed for the rest of the show! Charlene was only 19 during this taping and she seems both amused and slightly uncomfortable about the way the story unfolded in front of our sullied eyes. In short, it was awesomeness. Richard, of course, handled everything with just the right touch of humor and all in all, this is what we call great TV! Here are a bunch of images from the episode which available on The All Star Family Feud DVD!



Let's start The Family Feud!




   The crew are literally holding up JR!     However, the Eight is Enough cast look like they have problems of their own!       Here are the gorgeous Dallas contestants:      Don't fret guys, the Speed Round makes us all nervous!      The One Day at a Time cast hopes to botch J.R.'s grand success      Has Dawson finally stumped J.R.?      Nope! Even Mizz Romano had to give J.R. a hand!      Speed Round #2: Same actors, same success!       J.R. puts another notch on his belt! Only this time it's a good notch!