GSF 50 Greatest List - RESULTS THREAD

[cweaver]

Wow, so much for my idea Bob Barker would be a "lock" for the top two.  I didn't realize anti-Barker sentiment ran so high on the board (or is this a few just making a lot of noise?).  In any event, he definitely makes my top two and the entire board falling on me (not that they did this time) couldn't change that.

I don't watch TPiR every day so I don't see the things that make him so "intolerable."  But I have to believe if demo-enslaved CBS puts an 80-something year old man on TV for an hour every morning, he must be doing something other than drooling or scratching his butt.  The ratings indicate people are watching, and the idea there are no other game shows that time of morning just doesn't hold up well in the era of GSN, the syndicated Family Feud and a hundreds-of-channels cable universe.  If anything I think he's the man keeping the show alive and popular at a time the daytime network game show is a lost art.  Remember this is the same network that edged Walter Cronkite out of the anchor chair and gave Captain Kangaroo his marching papers so if they want to get rid of a longtime beloved icon they'll do it in a heartbeat.

I do still like him in the shows I do see and my main complaint is that they don't let him cut up with the contestants as much anymore, perhaps to shave time for more commercials (like perhaps the real reason the final spin on Wheel of Fortune is so often choppily edited).

Whatever it is about him that is "not what it used to be" (and I'll admit he's not the same man he was when he was mischievously sending contestants off on another crazy stunt on Truth or Consequences), it still doesn't appear to me to be enough to bring him down a couple dozen notches (not on my list) and trash the place he built in television history.  The Bill Cullen utility players one poster mentioned are actually few and far between in game show history and what Bob Barker has done, he has done very well.  Going from "superb" to "just pretty good" in quality over the years isn't what I would call a collapse.      

This host list ought to be interesting.  I would love to see who gets #1 and where Cullen and Barker end up.

[JasonA1]

For me anyway, it was your saying Barker had a lock on number two that got me to respond. If you had said top 10, you'd have no issue with me. But with Tom Kennedy, Dick Clark and hosts (har har) of others out there, saying he had number 2 was a bit of stretch IMO.

Matt brings up excellent points in ranking the emcees. There have been several posters over the years on our boards who have noted people like Art James and Jim Peck as good hosts despite never having any truly successful series, and I hope that kind of reasoning shapes our list rather than mere success. I'd want to see one of the few pilots Kevin O'Connell did, for example, before I really could judge where he belongs on my list.

-Jason

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'cweaver\' post=\'131493\' date=\'Sep 14 2006, 08:37 AM\']
I don't watch TPiR every day so I don't see the things that make him so "intolerable."  But I have to believe if demo-enslaved CBS puts an 80-something year old man on TV for an hour every morning, he must be doing something other than drooling or scratching his butt.
[/quote]

I agree. (Ha!) The notion that we'd all be better off if the show had been cancelled back in '94 is poppycock. Granted, I've thought they needed a new set since about '82, and I admit I'd rather see Barker step down than see the show die with him, but it's still a terrific show.

Where I notice Bob's age is (a) hearing the contestants' bids and (b) now that the camera doesn't pan with him while he walks up the stairs to the turntable. Someone cheats at Flip-Flop? That's just one of the little surprises that keeps the show endearing. His mistakes are still very few over 6,000+ shows. And, yeah, he's crabbier, but then so are we all. (Heck, Rayburn started to get crabby around Match Game '79. And I love Rayburn.)

[cweaver]

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'131495\' date=\'Sep 14 2006, 09:38 AM\']
For me anyway, it was your saying Barker had a lock on number two that got me to respond. If you had said top 10, you'd have no issue with me. But with Tom Kennedy, Dick Clark and hosts (har har) of others out there, saying he had number 2 was a bit of stretch IMO.[/quote]

I never said he absolutely had a lock on #2, I said "it would seem" he and Cullen would have a lock on the top two.  I always try to qualify my statements lest I be embarrassed when I'm proven wrong, like the poor fellow who said the number one GSN Top 50 show would be Jeopardy! and said "Take that to Vegas."   I don't like to be one of those "swear on a stack of Bibles" types when I'm trying to predict what other people will say or do.

Matt brings up excellent points in ranking the emcees. There have been several posters over the years on our boards who have noted people like Art James and Jim Peck as good hosts despite never having any truly successful series, and I hope that kind of reasoning shapes our list rather than mere success.

Me too and I think Jim Peck is an excellent host who will rank fairly high on my list.

[Ian Wallis]

Barker would probably rank in my top 10 - and personally, I have nothing against him.  But I think there are some other hosts out there who have handled all different kinds of games and done them well that deserve a higher spot.  Of course, some would say that because of all the different pricing games on PIR that Bob deserves a high ranking because he's handled all of them pretty well.  That's why he'd be in my top 10!

There have been several posters over the years on our boards who have noted people like Art James and Jim Peck as good hosts despite never having any truly successful series, and I hope that kind of reasoning shapes our list rather than mere success.

I guess it depends on the definition of "successful".  I think if a game show runs two or three years it's successful.  Art James had one that I can think of - Who, What or Where Game.  I don't have my EOTVGS in front of me, but didn't Say When! have a fairly long run too?  

I agree on Peck though - good host, but he couldn't get a format that could last for a while.

[Mike Tennant]

OK, Matt, you wanna start the host poll before we have it all hashed out in this thread?

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Mike Tennant\' post=\'131520\' date=\'Sep 14 2006, 02:40 PM\']
OK, Matt, you wanna start the host poll before we have it all hashed out in this thread?
[/quote]
Fine.

[DoorNumberFour]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'131504\' date=\'Sep 14 2006, 12:07 PM\']
didn't Say When! have a fairly long run too?  

[/quote]

Say When!! ran from 1961 to 1965.

Art was #3 on my list. He really was a good host; he had a very personal quality about him.