There’s something about those old game and variety shows shot back in the ’60s and ’70s. The folks were so much more free and expressive than they are allowed to be today. Of course, this was a time when sexism was rampant and very much in your face, most people smoked anywhere they pleased; there were lots of other behaviors such as racism that were more socially acceptable. However, you can’t just paint an era all good or all bad, because life is an exciting swirl of conditions, situations, and attitudes, that make things more complicated than meets the eye.
And while most folks think complexity is a bad thing, I’ve grown to appreciate it. Complicated ideas and people make us think, and better understanding usually comes more readily when we have to take time to think about things a bit more, in my opinion. But, back to those old shows. During these shows, we started to see folks really push the boundaries of what can and can not be said or done on TV. Keep in mind, back then; it wasn’t so long ago that folks lost their freakin’ minds when Elvis swiveled his hips on the Ed Sullivan show. So, shows such as The Carol Burnett Show, Family Feud, and Match Game were pretty groundbreaking in many ways. We got to see men and women of different races, get together,, and have a good time on TV. The match game was one of my favorites, as many of the questions were obviously loaded to invite some of the most raunchy answers you can imagine. However, there was one episode in which host Gene Rayburn had quite enough of the antics of Charles Nelson, and decided to teach him a little lesson by making Charles host the show, while he took his place as a panelist.
Image via YouTube
In the video, Charles gives Gene a hard time because he didn’t walk over to ask him for his answer. So Gene walks over to Charle’s desk and admits that he is tired today and then grabs Charles by the shirt and stands him up, before directing him to take his microphone and question card and go down and ask Ava what her answer was. The whole thing was obviously a big comedic setup, but that’s what I love about shows back then, they were not afraid to experiment with different skits and formats even though they were considered “game shows.”
Image via YouTube
Watch Gene and Charles put on an excellent performance while having a blast at work in the video below.