They say bad things happen in threes. Charles Nelson Reilly died in May. Now, Match Game panelist Brett Somers has kicked the bucket.

Hence the title of this post. Or is it Gary Burghoff with the bullseye now? Or Fannie Flagg? Or – God forbid – Richard Dawson.

I grew up watching “Match Game.” I remember once when I was punished and supposed to go without TV for some God awful period of time, I would sneak in the hallway outside my parents’ room and watch it without my mother knowing. The show came on at 3 in the afternoon, I think, and she would be too engrossed in it to notice me lurking.

They just don’t make game shows like this anymore. I don’t want to sound too crotchety, but the cleverness and simplicity of “Match Game” just doesn’t exist these days. Now, you have to have some super-hyper contestant with a best friend in the audience to cheer them on.

What happened to good old fashioned double entendres?