Three On a Match

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Bob Stewart produced this Game Show hosted by Bill Cullen that ran from 1971-74 on NBC, in which three contestants "bid" to answer true/false questions. To do so, each contestant bid on how many questions s/he could answer (from one to four) in one of three shown categories. The person with the highest number, or the untied contestant in the event of a tie, won the right to choose a category and play for $10 times the total number of questions voted (e.g., 1-2-3 would be worth $60).

Upon winning at least $90 (or one of the "Free Box" bonuses), the contestant could spend the money on boxes on the giant 4x3 gameboard, calling out a dollar amount ($20, $30, or $40) and a color (Red, Green, Yellow, or Blue): e.g., "$40 on the Blue". A prize was hidden behind each box, and to win a prize a contestant had to find it in the $20, $30, and $40 columns. Upon doing so, that contestant won the game and played against two new challengers. (A column was "closed" if three of its four boxes were chosen.)

On April 23, 1973, the prizes were removed from the board and replaced with pictures according to a certain "theme" (movie monsters, actors, animals, etc.). Further, the game was amended to keep three contestants on until one scored three matches (tracked by placards on each podium), winning a prize package worth about $5,000.

Still, despite lasting far longer than any previous show had at the 1:30 PM slot vacated by Let's Make a Deal in December 1968, getting some affiliates to stop pre-empting the slot, and giving away much more with the format update, TOAM consistently ranked a solid third behind ABC's Deal and CBS' As the World Turns in the east (in the Pacific time zone, where it aired at Noon, against ABC's Password and local programming on CBS)...but even then, that wasn't what killed it — see Screwed by the Network, under the Trivia tab.

The following Game Show tropes appear in Three On a Match:
  • Bonus Round: The Big Match, used during the second format, where the day's contestants would try to match two halves of a $1,000 bill to win just that — $1,000 (plus $1,000 for every three shows it wasn't claimed).
  • Bonus Space:
    • "One Free Box", "Two Free Boxes", and "Three Free Boxes", which gave bonus picks if the contestant won the pot and went to the board right then. The money was spent first, followed by the free boxes.
    • "Double Pot" multiplied the bets by $20 instead of $10, for a possible maximum of $220.
    • "Instant Match", awarded if a contestant's very first three picks matched — it awarded the game and either that prize and a new car (1971-73) or simply the $5,000 prize package (1973-74).
    • During the second format, any contestant who managed to get seven consecutive matches won a new car and $5,000 cash.
  • Game Show Winnings Cap: Five matches during the first format, no limits at all for the second format.
  • Home Game: Milton Bradley made one in 1972.
  • Personnel:
  • Whammy: The occasional "No Match" square, which did nothing but waste the amount spent on that box (or a free pick, depending on the circumstances).
Tropes used in Three On a Match include:
  • Catch Phrase:
    • "The two [number]s cancel."
    • "That's true/false, Bill."
    • "[Amount] on the [color]."
  • The Cameo: Geoff Edwards appeared on February 11, 1974 to promote Jackpot!, and tested Bill with a few Super Jackpot riddles. Jackpot! had only aired for a month at this point, and probably hadn't even debuted yet when this episode was taped.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Larry Blyden guest-hosted the show circa 1973, and was introduced as "the host of What's My Line" Due to syndication practices of the era, however, some markets were still watching Line hosted by Wally Bruner.
  • Once an Episode: Bill's knock on the wall behind him after his introduction, and (during the second format) the Big Match.
  • Opening Narration:
    • 1971-73 (first format): "[Contestants], if your first three picks match you win that prize plus a [year and model of car], on Three On A Match!"
    • 1973-74 (second format): "[Contestants], if your first three picks match you win the game instantly and at least $5,000 in cash and prizes! It's Three On A Match!"
  • Trans-Atlantic Equivalent: Australia got a low-stakes version produced by Reg Grundy and hosted by Bob Moore, which aired for a period in 1973.
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