50 Days of Dragon Con Day 20

Match Game in the 25th Century

Year in and year out Gil Gerard also known as Buck Rogers hosts a game show called Match Game in the 25th century.  If you do not know the game from the 70's and maybe earlier/later there are 2 contestants and many panelists.  The host asks the panelists a question and they write their answer on a card.  The contestant then tries to guess what the panelists have written.  Depending on the panelists and the questions, hilarity ensues.
 
Gil gets fellow con guests to be the celebrity guests for him.  In years past he has had Julie Benz, John Ratzenburger, Garrett Wang, Sylvester McCoy, Herbert Jefferson, Jr and many, many others.   I have been to a few of these and I have to say the funniest person BY FAR was Sylvester McCoy.  You might know him as the Seventh Doctor from Doctor Who or more recently as Radagast the Brown form the Hobbit movies.  Holy bananas that dude is hilarious.  He must have asked to repeat the question a zillion times.  Gil-the host- even handed him the card so he could read his own question and as Sylvester was reading the card he asked Gil to repeat the question.  He was so amazing.  His answers were so hilarious I thought Garrett was going to pee his pants, let alone the rest of us.  This is put on by Gil himself in coordination with the American Sci-Fi Classics Track.  They put together a great show and it is great fun to watch.  I hope they continue to do it for many years to come.  If you get the chance to stop by the walk of fame, stop and talk to Gil, he is an amazing and great all around guy.

Photo Courtesy of Buck Rogers a.k.a. Gil Gerard

Buck Rogers

Last year at DragonCon I attended a panel and it totally threw me for a loop.  I went to the Match Game in the 25th century.  This panel was a part of the American Sci-Fi Classics track and has been reoccurring for years.  The game was hosted by Buck Rogers a.k.a. Gil Gerard.  I had heard of Buck Rogers but I have never seen the show before.  The panel was awesome and hilarious.  I came out of it NEEDING to see Buck Rogers.


I have since watched it and I have to tell you this show ROCKS.  Looking back to 1979 and watching the technology that was available for tv then and what garbage is on tv now, I choose then.  WOW.  Gil was very much like his character, Buck.  He was cheeky and saucy. I do not know which I liked better, the show or Gil himself.    Twiki the mascot and robot is adorable and sarcastic.  Erin Gray plays Captain Wilma Deering.  She is bright sexy and a character that was wayyyy ahead of what was socially acceptable in 1979.  The performances by all of the actors and the technology is amazing.  Check out this show and see how tv today compares to back then.

The Match Game is put on by Gil and his friends...no really his friends.  Gil goes to cons all the time and recruits his fellow celebrities to be on the game.  Last year the cast included: Sylvester Mccoy better known as Rhadagast from the Hobbit movies and the Seventh Doctor on Doctor Who, Herbert Jefferson, Jr who is best known for his role as Captain Boomer on the 1980's Battlestar Galactica,  Garrett Wang best known for playing Ensign Harry Kim from Star Trek: Voyager and also the director of the TrekTrack at DragonCon.  The panel was lewd and crazy.  A blast to say the least and The Doctor repeatedly asking to have the question repeated.  The hilarity was more than one would expect.

As for DragonCon and the Classics track, you should check it out.  Joe and Gary, the directors, are awesome and the track is usually pretty filled.