Your favorite host entrance?

[SRIV94]

I was kinda partial to Chuck Barris being lowered from the rafters (that was one interesting thing about GONG--Chuckie's entrances varied).

There was also one time where Barris was introduced, but Siv Aberg came out instead and did the rules (before Chuckie came out to take over).

As for the more traditional shows, Narz, Rayburn and Ludden win for me, as does Dick Clark's laughing entrances on PYRAMID.

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' post=\'174518\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 10:29 AM\']
Not only that, but Jack RAN down those stairs.  Never ceases to amaze me that there wasn't a train wreck, or a  host skidding down the shag.

Much as I like that entrance, by the way, it seems to me that the platform with the two curving sets of stairs is just about the least essential piece of GS setwork ever.
[/quote]
Point taken, but I love that set.

To continue the side-topic though, with the exception of Joe G's Sale of the Century, when 'did' stairs matter into a set?

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'mitchgroff\' post=\'174508\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 09:32 AM\']That Ludden entrance from the first episode of Password Plus is a great one. Everyone was very excited that show was back.[/quote]
Better still is the one from the first episode back after his illness.  Gene Wood pauses just exactly long enough to remind us that it's special, and with Cullen playing and already seated, Ludden had the stage to himself.  That's one of those momnets I'll watch again and again.

And heck, I'm a sucker for the emotional, so any long-running show's last episode is likely to have moments like that.

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'174497\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 02:48 AM\']
Bill Cullen was so great, he didn't have to enter.  He was already there![/quote]
Well said!

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'174524\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 11:34 AM\']
To continue the side-topic though, with the exception of Joe G's Sale of the Century, when 'did' stairs matter into a set?[/quote]
Plinko?

[Mike Tennant]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'174497\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 02:48 AM\']Bill Cullen was so great, he didn't have to enter.  He was already there! [/quote]Yeah, but Matt Ottinger is so good they bring the set to him!

Of course, he learned from Uncle Bill . . .

[lobster]

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'174524\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 10:34 AM\']
To continue the side-topic though, with the exception of Joe G's Sale of the Century, when 'did' stairs matter into a set?
[/quote]

Love me, love me not
and Bergeron Squares as they're entering the bonus round..

I'd say Whew! too, but I suppose the Gauntlet could have been done on stage level just the same probably .. something about its elevated status that made it seem more important though.. plus, where would you put that huge "$25,000" marquee? (and the tracking of the cam behind Tom and the contestant up the stairs went well with the music..)

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'lobster\' post=\'174528\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 11:50 AM\']I'd say Whew! too, but I suppose the Gauntlet could have been done on stage level just the same probably .. something about its elevated status that made it seem more important though.[/quote]
But that's the point.  Stairs make it cooler, but are they needed?  

For some reason, the unsold pilot "King of the Hill" sprung to mind.

[TenPoundHammer]

Here are my picks:

* The early eps of Deal or No Deal, with Howie in the vault

* Any of Rayburn's goofy entries on Match Game

* Jack Narz on Now You See It (wish they'd left the music alone, though -- seems like later eps cut out a couple seconds of silence from the theme, thus screwing up the meter)

* I always liked Bob Barker's intro on TPiR as well, even though it sounds best with Johnny (or Randy, or even Rod in his early days). Just the way that he always came out looking so dignified, even at 127 years old.

And of course...

*Jim Peck on the Big Falldown Showdown (sorry, Rigsby, but that was funny...)

[tvmitch]

[quote name=\'opimus\' post=\'174513\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 10:03 AM\']
Larry Blyden's on WML
[/quote]
I knew I was forgetting one. Not to echo another sentiment, but the stage presence that Larry had as he walked onto the set and seemed to stop and smile, even though he didn't stop, was very cool.

[lobster]

I know this wasn't so much a great game show, but you have to admit having Pee Wee (or whatever his game show persona's name was) coming out on the conveyor belt on YDKJ was pretty ... unique

[Pyramid80]

[quote name=\'CountdownRound\' post=\'174488\' date=\'Jan 10 2008, 11:23 PM\']
I was always partial to Jim Perry's energetic sprint to the podium on Sale of the Century.  Was a hint of the fast paced awesomeness to come.

By that logic, Rossi Morreale should make his Temptation entrance on a Rascal scooter with a nearly dead battery.
[/quote]

I almost lost my drink reading that!  Hilarious!

[Chief-O]

[quote name=\'Mike Tennant\' post=\'174527\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 10:50 AM\']
Of course, he learned from Uncle Bill . . .
[/quote]

No. Uncle Bill learned from Ottinger.

[rigsby]

[quote name=\'TenPoundHammer\' post=\'174538\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 12:15 PM\']
*Jim Peck on the Big Falldown Showdown (sorry, Rigsby, but that was funny...)
[/quote]That would be why I mentioned it originally.

[PYLW]

Always loved the way Johnny O. introduced Garry Moore on To Tell the Truth. Always sounded like they were doing a routine they'd been doing for ten years. Bill Wendell always sounded nice on the show, and I liked how Alan introduced Joe.

Another favorite is Jack Narz going down the stairs on Now You See It.

Loved the Super Password intro too, with the stars and then Bert coming out, smiling and doing a half bow to the audience and television cameras.

I have to also agree about Blyden's intro. He was always either waving or sort of bowing while walking to his desk. I always liked how it looked.

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'TenPoundHammer\' post=\'174538\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 01:15 PM\']
* Jack Narz on Now You See It (wish they'd left the music alone, though -- seems like later eps cut out a couple seconds of silence from the theme, thus screwing up the meter)
[/quote]

One thing that strikes me more now than it did when I was 7 is how great that music is. The riff they play when the first four players take their seats is just awesome. Two other great things about Jack's entrance: his unrivaled collection of sportcoats, and Johnny O's great "now you see HIM."

Let me also note Eubanks' entrance on the original Newlyweds. The way the set pieces part for him and his nice walk to the camera make it very grand, but then there's that awkward ten seconds where he has to say something, anything, before the commercial.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'PYLW\' post=\'174560\' date=\'Jan 11 2008, 03:59 PM\']Always loved the way Johnny O. introduced Garry Moore on To Tell the Truth. Always sounded like they were doing a routine they'd been doing for ten years. Bill Wendell always sounded nice on the show, and I liked how Alan introduced Joe.[/quote]
Nifty bit of trivia I've always liked to keep in my back pocket:  The 70s TTTT was one of the very few game shows (if not the ONLY one) where the host was introduced first ("Ladies and gentlemen, Garry Moore!"), and then they named the show.

Of course, often on Millionaire, Regis wasn't introuduced at all, not even "Hi, I'm Regis Philbin."