[quote name=\'megamanj1986\' post=\'126209\' date=\'Aug 3 2006, 07:56 PM\']
TOP 3 Overrated:
1. Peter Marshall - He wasn't really anyone special, b/c on HS IT WAS THE STARS THAT MADE THE SHOW. All Mr. Marshall really did was his tee-hee laugh, which grated my teeth. I also hated the way he took bogus crappy potshots at the 2 most recent versions of HS.
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I have to step in and disagree here. I'm not saying Peter is perfect but I just haven't seen any of his shows where he came off acting like the show was about him. If anything he did an especially good job of making the contestants feel it was about them and not "in the way" (as Carl Reiner unfortunately acted on "The Celebrity Game"). One especially good example is when Marshall was hosting the hour-long week and he came to the defense of a contestant with an uncontrollable laugh, after Milton Berle had just insulted that laugh. (Peter's own "tee hee" laugh never got on my nerves, but I'm sure it would have if he'd done five or six times every show...and he didn't.) His criticism of the other versions of HS is a point well taken but I don't recall him ever doing that while actually hosting a game show, so that's obviously not a criticism of his hosting ability. (I do remember him taking potshots at NBC, the very thing that made David Letterman one of my heroes, and Peter was pretty good at it too.) Take a look at the Bert Parks pilot and you'll see it's not as easy as it looks to play straight man to nine egos and still make the contestants feel appreciated.
A whole lot of people who I think are overrated/underrated have already been mentioned in detail so here are a few more:
underrated:
1. Hugh Downs--who even remembers him as a game show host anymore? He did an especially good job on "Concentration." Very smooth and a comforting voice, no one could ever possibly accuse him of being obnoxious.
2. Johnny Carson--ditto, from what precious little I've seen.
3. Alan Thicke. (What, are you stoned? Dear God, get out the rocks and the tar!) In fact, I've seen Alan Thicke do exactly one thing I liked and it was to host "Animal Crackups." And I was reluctant to watch it when it came on because I was convinced he would suck. What can I say? He was funny and quick and nowhere near as obnoxious as I would think he would be. I was predisposed not to like him and I had to give in.
Honorable mention (so far): Danny Bonaduce, "Starface" (see #3).
Overrated:
Can't think of any that haven't been mentioned already, except maybe Wally Bruner of "What's My Line?" Much better on "Wally's Workshop," where he fit in with all the wood. (Or I might be unfair to Wally since he reminds me of a former TV boss of mine I never liked.)
I agree, Jack Narz and Bill Cullen really get shafted in discussions of legendary game show hosts. The fact that someone can do a lengthy documentary and never mention Cullen means something is horribly wrong in the universe.