'Match Game' Season 5: ABC slammed as 'tone deaf' for airing cop-themed episode amid George Floyd protests

Not letting the ongoing pandemic affect its programming, ABC decided to present its viewers with the fifth season of its game show 'Match Game', which premiered tonight (May 31). 

The first episode titled 'Shooting Blank' was cop-themed, which saw host Alec Baldwin clad in a striped prison suit along with a panel of celebrities who have all played the role of cops or detectives at some point in their careers. The star-dubbed episode included Jennifer Esposito, Adam Rodriguez, Angie Harmon, Michael Chiklis, Mario Cantone and Melissa Fumero. Season 5 Episode 1 followed the original pattern with Baldwin reading out a statement with one of its words replaced with 'Blank' and the celebrities taking their guesses to fill in the blank. If their answer matched with that of the commoner contestants Natalie and Audrey, then the latter would be awarded a point for each correct match. 

The latest episode of ‘Match Game’ was overall fun to watch. However, it failed to choose the right time to grace our screens. On watching the ‘Shooting Blank’, viewers took to Twitter to express their disappointment in the network for airing the cop-themed episode at a time when the country is witnessing widespread protests and riots following the death of 46-year-old George Floyd. 

While one viewer wrote, "For some truly mind boggling reason ABC went ahead and aired a police-themed episode of Match game tonight. I’m not sure if I’ve seen anything more tone deaf." Another said, "Reallyyyyy wondering why abc didn't think twice about the match game episode they were airing tonight????? Like really not one person thought 'hmmm maybe we should think twice about airing this tonight'????" One more disappointed fan said, "Every time I hear the cop siren on the tv during #MatchGame I twitch a little, been hearing sirens all night out the window from cops speeding by." A few of them even called out the network for including handcuffs and other prison-related props on the show. "Match Game or whatever this is has an incarceration theme. Chalk outline on floor: handcuffs and thus host dressed like a convict. Why is @ABC running this tonight?" asked another follower of the show. 

‘Match Game’ Season 5 airs on Sundays on ABC.