OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
ABC has just given actor and Donald Trump impersonator Alec Baldwin the ax, months after he accidentally shot and killed a woman on the set of his movie “Rust.”
ABC Network in recent years has had several games show during the summer months, but they are cutting some of them and Baldwin’s show “Match Game” is among the cuts, Variety reported.
The new “Match Game” is a reboot of the classic game show from the 1970s that was hosted by the legendary Gene Rayburn and featured contestants attempting to match fill in the blank puzzles with a panel of celebrities.
Also unlikely to return are “Card Sharks,” “Celebrity Dating Game” and “The Hustler,” while “Celebrity Family Feud,” “Press Your Luck” and “The $100,000 Pyramid” are expected to be back.
The fate of “Match Game” had been the source of speculation in the wake of Baldwin’s accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the independent production “Rust” last fall.
But ABC’s decision to cancel “Match Game” is not related to that incident; “Match Game” hasn’t been in production since 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic — and only aired two new episodes in 2021, which had been left over from the previous year.
The latest revival of “Match Game,” hosted by Baldwin, debuted in 2016, and ran for five seasons. The most recent season was shot before the pandemic began, with nine episodes spread out between May 31, 2000, and Oct. 29, 2000, and then the final two on July 21 and July 28, 2021.
It continues a string of unwelcome news for the movie and television star as it was reported in February that he is being sued by the family of the woman he killed.
report says that the family of the woman he killed, Halyna Hutchins, is suing him for “reckless conduct,” CNN reported.
Hutchins was fatally shot last October during a rehearsal for a scene for the film, which was being shot near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Director Joel Souza was also injured in the shooting which occurred when Baldwin practiced a draw with a revolver and fired the weapon.
The lawsuit, filed in Santa Fe, alleges numerous industry standard violations by Baldwin and others charged with safety on the set, attorney Brian Panish announced in a news conference Tuesday.
The lawsuit claims the production companies and producers “cut corners” and “chose to hire the cheapest crew available,” specifically noting that they “knowingly hired a wholly unqualified armorer,” and required her to split time in a second role as assistant props master.
“We continue to cooperate with the authorities to determine how live ammunition arrived on the ‘Rust’ set in the first place. Any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false. He, Halyna and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun that it was a ‘cold gun’ — meaning there is no possibility of a discharge, blank or otherwise,” the attorney for Baldwin, and other producers of the movie, said. “This protocol has worked on thousands of films, with millions of discharges, as there has never before been an incident on a set where an actual bullet harmed anyone.”
Others named in the lawsuit include Hannah Gutierrez Reed, prop master Sarah Zachry and assistant director Dave Halls, who handed the gun to Baldwin. His attorney argued that he was not responsible for checking the safety of the gun.
“There are regulations and guidelines in place today that should prevent something like this from happening, but they need to be enforced,” the family’s attorney said. “Had they been followed, this never would have happened.”
