Author Topic: Greatest Hosts of All Time - Results Thread (Read 111017 times)

uncamark · « **Reply #105 on:** October 12, 2006, 12:29:56 PM »

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'134252\' date=\'Oct 12 2006, 10:53 AM\']

Quote

I don't think Richard Dawson was the best possible host for Family Feud

I hate to hijack the thread so to speak, but do you think "Feud" would have been as big a smash if it were under the direction of...let's say two people who have oft been connected to it pre-Dawson in our circles - Geoff Edwards or Jack Narz? Jack especially I could see keeping the game a'movin' and not allowing for a lot of the humor that made the show popular.
[/quote]

Geoff might've kept things moving faster, but anyone who remembers "Jackpot" would know that he would find time to insert humor when he could. He wouldn't have been like Dawson, but he wouldn't have stuck to dry mechanics like glue, either.

PYLdude · « **Reply #106 on:** October 12, 2006, 12:41:44 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'134243\' date=\'Oct 12 2006, 10:11 AM\']
So everything I'm reading there stems from your belief that she doesn't empathize with the contestants while they are playing their game. And I'm sorry, I just don't see it. I've always thought she was fine in that regard.

Sounds to me like you're knocking her because she doesn't do the Geoff Edwards "You...are...RIGHT!!!!" thing. Which is your right, but I think you'll find that opinion isn't shared by many.
[/quote]

Addresing point one, I guess we each see different things.

Addressing point two...I don't know if I'd go THAT far, but almost anything else would be better than what she does.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #107 on:** October 12, 2006, 12:42:32 PM »

Quote

I don't think Richard Dawson was the best possible host for Family Feud

I was going to wait until he showed up in our countdown, but Dawson didn't make it to my Top 20. I think in order to be considered one of the "best" hosts, you need to have a certain warmth and accepting of all people, and to make them feel comfortable to be there. To me, Dawson wasn't like that.

Oh, he had his moments - he was usually very polite and welcoming when meeting the families for the first time, but there were so many stories we've heard about his out-of-control ego, his putting down of contestants and celebrities off-camera, and his over touchie-feeliness with the women. Plus, some of his remarks to the contestants on the show could be taken several ways.

I enjoy watching Feud, but personally I enjoy the Ray Combs version a bit more than Dawson's. I never thought he was that great of a host.

DrBear · « **Reply #108 on:** October 12, 2006, 03:10:49 PM »

I'll stand by what I said...but:

The show in many ways was built around Dawson in its format - the staging, the banter with families and so on. Had G-T had another host in mind, the staging might have been different - say, two fences with the host staying at the podium - the tone might have been different - more "feud" than "family" - and so on. For that matter, how does a British comedian fit in with the "down-home, fiddle music" trappings of the original Feud? But it worked.

And it's the way we expect Feud to be - through four other hosts.
PS-Dawson did make my Top 20.

cweaver · « **Reply #109 on:** October 12, 2006, 03:14:15 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'134243\' date=\'Oct 12 2006, 09:11 AM\']
So everything I'm reading there stems from your belief that she doesn't empathize with the contestants while they are playing their game. And I'm sorry, I just don't see it. I've always thought she was fine in that regard.
[/quote]

I think she's fine that way too. I saw her one day not long ago when a contestant appeared nervous, then heavily relieved, after sweating and correctly getting an expensive question. She appeared nervous right along with him. And she winced when he missed a question later. I didn't see anything suggesting she couldn't care less.

TLEberle · « **Reply #110 on:** October 12, 2006, 03:27:20 PM »

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'134241\' date=\'Oct 12 2006, 06:54 AM\']1) She brings nothing to the table in regards to being excited for the contestant when they start to climb the ladder and get up to the higher level questions. [/quote] Oh, I disagree. Watch some of the first season stuff when there were people actually winning $250k, $500k and the jackpot. She was as immersed in the game as any host I had seen in years.

Quote

Yeah, I can understand how Regis put some people off (at times, he did seem a little over the top),

Regis committed the greatest sin that a game show host can commit: he put himself ahead of the game and the contestants. He would think nothing of poking fun at the contestant's foibles, or even their name. And it was downright offensive at times. And then there's the business of "You've won $500,000!" right after the chosen answer turns yellow.

Quote

Meredith gives off this vibe that she doesn't care whether the contestant wins $1,000 or $25,000. I can't speak for anyone else but myself, but she doesn't seem to get that you need to give a little more effort that what she does when a contestant is going for an upper level question.

I think that's just your own opinion, since you already don't like her, you're crafting reasons.

I think the problem is what other people have already said: the focus of the show has changed from the questions to the contestants. When people only win $25,000, or quit with $16,000 time and time again, it's hard to get excited, since it's just going to happen again next time.

So I give her credit for taking the show in a different direction than Regis, but she's not Top 20 material yet.

goongas · « **Reply #111 on:** October 12, 2006, 03:59:35 PM »

Meredith isn't as dramatic as Regis, but she is excited for the contestants. I used to have the same criticism of Meredith, but it doesn't matter to me as much.

JasonA1 · « **Reply #112 on:** October 12, 2006, 04:37:41 PM »

Letting Richard's off-camera antics as we know them shouldn't let you form an opinion on his hosting. Heck, a lot of people seem to hold Allen Ludden in the highest regard despite anything that's been said about his attitude off camera. If that put him out of your top 20, yet the ON-camera antics of Ray Combs didn't hurt his reputation for you...

Say what you will about Richard...and I grew up watching Ray and was ecstatic to see his version back on GSN and still like him despite this...but when I finally caught a Combs for the first time since initial airing, I saw him do something that was incredibly out of character for a game show host. A contestant gave a really lame answer. Not the so-bad-it's-funny answer, just so lame it didn't even fit the question. His sister down the line cheers him on anyway, and Ray mocked her accent saying "oh yeah that's a goooood one" and gave some winks to the camera. It was funny for me as a viewer and for the studio audience as well, but for the family who was at home watching the broadcast later, it probably made them feel like garbage. And that's not the only time - it seemed to be a theme for Ray to just put down the contestants for the sake of a laugh.

Suggesting Richard Dawson is the only host who spoke derisively of his contestants after the fact would be a bit naive. I'm sure at least one host had something to say about contestant caliber on their shows. But at the very least there's Bob Barker who quite openly mocks his contestants on the air.

...

Okay, bad example.

-Jason

tvwxman · « **Reply #113 on:** October 12, 2006, 04:39:59 PM »

I think it's safe to say that we're going to have this debate when 3 names come up:

Richard Dawson, Bob Barker, and Patrick Wayne. They're all in the top 20, right, Michi-Matt?

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #114 on:** October 12, 2006, 05:25:49 PM »

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'134295\' date=\'Oct 12 2006, 04:39 PM\']
Richard Dawson, Bob Barker, and Patrick Wayne. They're all in the top 20, right, Michi-Matt?[/quote]
None of them have been mentioned yet, have they?

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #115 on:** October 12, 2006, 05:46:02 PM »

[color=\"#CC33CC\"]30 Groucho Marx[/color]
You Bet Your Life
(90 13/68)
The one, the only.

[color=\"#CC33CC\"]29 Ray Combs[/color]
Family Feud, Family Challenge
(108 12/68)

[color=\"#CC33CC\"]28 Art James[/color]
The Who, What or Where Game, The Magnificent Marble Machine, Say When!!
(119 18/68)
A lot like Jim Peck, dependable but without a distinct style. Loved him in Mallrats.

[color=\"#CC33CC\"]27 Regis Philbin[/color]
Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, The Neighbors
(155 21/68)

[color=\"#CC33CC\"]26 Bud Collyer[/color]
Beat the Clock, To Tell The Truth
(162 20/68)

chris319 · « **Reply #116 on:** October 12, 2006, 05:56:21 PM »

Quote

[color=\"#CC33CC\"]28 Art James[/color]
The Who, What or Where Game, The Magnificent Marble Machine
(119 18/68)
A lot like Jim Peck, dependable but without a distinct style. Loved him in Mallrats.

Hey, don't forget Say When!!

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #117 on:** October 12, 2006, 06:43:02 PM »

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'134305\' date=\'Oct 12 2006, 05:56 PM\']

Quote

[color=\"#CC33CC\"]28 Art James[/color]
The Who, What or Where Game, The Magnificent Marble Machine, Say When!!
(119 18/68)
A lot like Jim Peck, dependable but without a distinct style. Loved him in Mallrats.

Hey, don't forget Say When!!
[/quote]
Consider it not-forgotten!

Eric Paddon · « **Reply #118 on:** October 12, 2006, 06:58:08 PM »

Bud was an easy vote for me, because of his warmth and sincerity, and the fact that he had two hits in shows that were far apart in tone.

SRIV94 · « **Reply #119 on:** October 12, 2006, 08:42:27 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'134303\' date=\'Oct 12 2006, 04:46 PM\']
[color=\"#CC33CC\"]30 Groucho Marx[/color]
You Bet Your Life
(90 13/68)
The one, the only.
[/quote]
This is how I made up for leaving YBYL off my top 50.

And TCM is spotlighting Groucho tonight, including airing a Dick Cavett interview with him from 1969.

Doug

Author Topic: Greatest Hosts of All Time - Results Thread (Read 111017 times)

uncamark

cweaver