Author Topic: Greatest Hosts of All Time - Results Thread (Read 113112 times)

Matt Ottinger · « **on:** October 02, 2006, 04:51:26 PM »

There ended up being 59 individuals who were named on at least two ballots, so we'll count down those 59 names over the next few days. Meanwhile, some names that didn't make the list, starting with:

Notables who received no votes on any ballot:

Bill Anderson
Bob Clayton
Ralph Edwards
Dick Enberg
Vicki Lawrence
Greg Lee
Dick Martin
Ed McMahon
Don Morrow
Ken Ober
David Ruprecht
Ryan Seacrest
Mike Wallace
Gene Wood

chad1m · « **Reply #1 on:** October 02, 2006, 05:13:01 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'133201\' date=\'Oct 2 2006, 04:51 PM\']Ryan Seacrest
[/quote]

Do I agree with this decision? We'll find out...

...after the break.

Actually, scrap that. That makes me smile inside because I feel his hosting skills are sub-par and he only gets by on a bit of a charisma and good looks.

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'133201\' date=\'Oct 2 2006, 04:51 PM\']Vicki Lawrence
Ed McMahon
David Ruprecht
Gene Wood
[/quote]

Those not being on anyone's list kind of surprise me. They were all pretty good with their respective shows. Then again, with a list of only twenty, that would be pretty difficult to include everyone who was semi-good on the list.

DrBear · « **Reply #2 on:** October 02, 2006, 05:49:20 PM »

Seacrest? Out!

TimK2003 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 02, 2006, 07:10:05 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'133201\' date=\'Oct 2 2006, 03:51 PM\']

Bob Clayton
Dick Enberg
Ken Ober
Gene Wood
[/quote]

These 4 I had on my list...of 50 (I know Matt's only looking for the top 20, but I had to figure out my top 50), and it was still a hard list to create & rank.

Here's how I ranked those above...

37) Ken Ober (Probably #1 if we were only ranking MTV hosts)
38) Gene Wood (higher had he hosted more shows and announced less)
39) Dick Enberg (like football games, he knew how to make bad shows still somewhat exciting...Oh My!!)

45) Bob Clayton (Concentration was the first show I remember watching regularly when I was a kid, and by that time Bob was at the helm. And like Gene, had he traded in a few shows he was announcer for a couple of hosting gigs, he would've gottten a better ranking).

BTW, I probably would have had Whisperin' Bill Anderson as #51 with Vicki at#52 -- they were on my initial list of 55-60. I told Matt O. he was at #53, but coulda been higher had he ever hosted a national show :-P

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #4 on:** October 02, 2006, 09:51:49 PM »

THE ONE POINT CLUB
The following individuals each received one vote at #20 on a single ballot:

Bob & Ray (The Name’s the Same)
Jimmy Carr (Distraction)
Gordon Elliott (To Tell the Truth)
Henry Morgan (sub, I’ve Got a Secret)
J.D. Roth (Fun House)
Paul Reubens (as Troy Stevens in You Don’t Know Jack!)

Mike Tennant · « **Reply #5 on:** October 02, 2006, 10:04:00 PM »

I know I had Ralph Edwards on my list before I whittled it down to 20. There are two reasons he didn't make it: (1) His most well-known TV hosting gig was This Is Your Life, which to me doesn't qualify as a game show; and (2) I've never seen or heard him hosting Truth or Consequences, so I can't really judge his game show hosting abilities. The man is much to be admired for his skills as a host as well as a creator and producer (not to mention his humility coupled with business acumen in turning over the reins of TorC to Bob Barker); but when you only get 20 choices (and this is not a complaint--I actually liked the small number), somebody is going to get left out. I do kind of feel bad that he didn't get a single vote, though, especially considering some of the oddballs who did.

Of the remaining ones, I'm most surprised at the absence of Ruprecht, given that there seems to be a sizable Supermarket Sweep contingent here,.

TLEberle · « **Reply #6 on:** October 02, 2006, 11:04:58 PM »

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'133202\' date=\'Oct 2 2006, 02:13 PM\']Actually, scrap that. That makes me smile inside because I feel his hosting skills are sub-par and he only gets by on a bit of a charisma and good looks.[/quote] And the Beatles were popular for only one reason: they were good singers.

C'mon. It's clear the guy's a good host. I doubt his hosting would suffer if the Greater Los Angeles area suddenly rain out of hair gel. There's a reason he had the radio gig, Idol, and that On-Air show all at the same time.

And yes, I also saw him hosting Click. Exactly once. When I saw it, I thought, "Hey, they've managed to completely duplicate the final round from Ruckus, except it's dragged out over three rounds and the questions are uninteresting. Yawn." <click>

ChrisLambert! · « **Reply #7 on:** October 03, 2006, 07:29:30 AM »

Well, I screwed up. Unlike the show list, I was able to go a long period of time without obsessing over doing this list -- so much so, that I completely forgot about it until late Saturday night, when I e-mailed what I had.

Yesterday, I realized that the list I sent did not include a certain eightysomething animal activist who currently has a show.

Granted, I'd dock him quite a few slots on character issues, but there's no excuse IMO for me not putting him at least 14th.

BTW, the foreign host I was considering adding to the list was Brucie - I would have slotted him at #10 or so based on his whole body of work. But for "Hot Streak" alone? Not so much.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #8 on:** October 03, 2006, 08:51:04 AM »

Quote

Notables who received no votes on any ballot:

Dick Martin

Not surprised about Dick Martin. He was an OK panelist on Match Game and Password Plus, but I didn't think he was a very good game-show host.

Robert Hutchinson · « **Reply #9 on:** October 03, 2006, 02:13:49 PM »

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'133275\' date=\'Oct 3 2006, 08:51 AM\']Not surprised about Dick Martin. He was an OK panelist on Match Game and Password Plus, but I didn't think he was a very good game-show host.[/quote]
Based on Mindreaders alone, the phrase "hosting at gunpoint" comes to mind. It's amazing to me to see the huge difference between his demeanor there and on other shows.

Eric Paddon · « **Reply #10 on:** October 03, 2006, 03:50:32 PM »

Not that I'm clamoring to see repeats of it (though having a few more would be nice) but did Martin nix any potential repeats of Mindreaders? I can't imagine those wouldn't still exist in the Goodson vault.

Blanquepage · « **Reply #11 on:** October 03, 2006, 03:57:00 PM »

Quote

I can't imagine those wouldn't still exist in the Goodson vault.

I recall Mandel mentioning in a post that while scouring the library's catalog, the Mindreaders tapes are simply nowhere to be found.

--Jamie

clemon79 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 03, 2006, 05:54:37 PM »

[quote name=\'Jimmy Fiono Coyne\' post=\'133320\' date=\'Oct 3 2006, 12:57 PM\']
I recall Mandel mentioning in a post that while scouring the library's catalog, the Mindreaders tapes are simply nowhere to be found.
[/quote]
They're in Clementson's basement.

Don Howard · « **Reply #13 on:** October 03, 2006, 09:15:11 PM »

[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'133306\' date=\'Oct 3 2006, 02:13 PM\']
[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'133275\' date=\'Oct 3 2006, 08:51 AM\']Not surprised about Dick Martin. He was an OK panelist on Match Game and Password Plus, but I didn't think he was a very good game-show host.[/quote]
Based on Mindreaders alone, the phrase "hosting at gunpoint" comes to mind. It's amazing to me to see the huge difference between his demeanor there and on other shows.
[/quote]
How was he as host of The Cheap Show? That program was never carried in my town.

DrBear · « **Reply #14 on:** October 03, 2006, 10:49:10 PM »

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'133345\' date=\'Oct 3 2006, 08:15 PM\']

How was he as host of The Cheap Show? That program was never carried in my town.
[/quote]
He was OK, but the show was pretty bad. It was a one-joke show. He was prob'ly better on it - it was supposed to be a spoof - than on Mindreaders.