I couldn't have put it any better

Jamie Weinman on the debut of Million Dollar Password.

I agree with everything he said, and make sure you read the last paragraph:

Another reason the format started to crumble was that audiences increasingly wanted to get involved with the adventures of the contestants, rooting for them to win and watching their struggles and tragedies and triumphs. That’s hard in a celebrity game show, because the celebrities are so often inept. Not all of them are. Betty White was a game-show staple not just because she was married to the host of Password, but because she knew how to play the games and be a good partner for the contestants. And if you watch an old episode of Match Game you’ll know why the contestants usually chose Richard Dawson as their partner in the final round: because underneath the drunk act and the leering, he actually tried to come up with a good answer that the contestant might be likely to match.

This is probably why I was so ambivelant about Game Show Marathon. The celebrities who were playing were, for the most part, morons.