[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'181352\' date=\'Mar 14 2008, 02:54 PM\']
[quote name=\'BillCullen1\' post=\'181209\' date=\'Mar 13 2008, 03:38 AM\']
I think Jack Narz might have gotten the announcing gig because G-T's two main announcers, Johnny Olson and Gene Wood, were both very busy at the time. Johnny O was doing TPIR, MG and Mindreaders, and Gene was doing, FF, CS and PP. I can't say this is the absolute reason Narz got the job, but it's a definite possibility.[/quote]
It's a big reason he got the job. I'm sure Frank would have liked to see him emcee it, but CBS had different ideas, so Jack was given the position of associate producer, possibly to enhance his announcer fee and make it closer to what he would have gotten as emcee. Even with Jack as associate producer, Mark Bowerman was brought in to oversee the inventory of physical props.
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Would you have known if Gene Wood was considered for hosting it as well? And I know it's been said before, but it's odd that G-T would hire the head of a rival production company to host a show.
Having Jack Narz around was a nice touch for the '79 BTC. Gave it a bit of heritage, and Jack was starting to gain a little prominence as an announcer again after a lot of hosting gigs, sort of like Jack Clark.