Author Topic: Have you seen... (Read 16698 times)

cmjb13 · « **Reply #15 on:** November 18, 2003, 09:22:01 AM »

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Nov 18 2003, 09:07 AM\'] [quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Nov 18 2003, 07:28 AM\']

Quote

Ray Combs

Was he just doing promos? [/quote]
He and RIchard Dawson hosted a Family Feud salute on Thanksgiving 1995(repeated on Thanksgiving 1996 IIRC). Dawson's segments from that 1995 marathon were shown on THanksgiving 2000 as part of a Feud marathon. [/quote]
I take it they weren't sitting together?

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #16 on:** November 18, 2003, 09:34:59 AM »

[quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Nov 18 2003, 08:28 AM\']

Quote

Ray Combs

Was he just doing promos? [/quote]
Pretty much, yeah. In fact, of the three people Joe mentioned, only Peter Tomarken was "very involved" in those early days. Gene Wood showed up for interviews and special segments occasionally (and did some announcing for them, of course). I honestly don't remember Combs doing any more than the same sorts of promos they got just about every game show personality to do, but he may have made some other contribution I don't recall.

Basically, their three original on-air personalities were Tomarken, Laura Chambers and Steve Day. Tomarken hosted the phone-in games they played in between classics in prime time, and Chambers & Day handled the daytime hours.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #17 on:** November 18, 2003, 09:52:31 AM »

[quote name=\'combsisthebest\' date=\'Nov 18 2003, 03:44 AM\'] Sry. Let me rephrase that. What were the plusses and minuses of the old GSN? [/quote]
The biggest plus was its very existence. For the first time, you could watch dozens of different classic shows going all the way back to the early fifties and into the seventies and eighties. Up until that time, a collector might have owned a couple dozen episodes from Shokus, and a few grainy seventies shows if you happened to know someone who knew Bob Boden. ATGS was just starting to hit its stride about that time too, so it was a very exciting time to be a classic game show fan.

The biggest minus, by far, was the original content. Those call-in games like "Decades" and "Race for the Numbers" had no imagination to them at all, and slightly more ambitions efforts like "Trivia Track" were just laughably bad. Frankly, all the original programming on GSN the first couple of years had a claustrophobic, low-budget feel to it. (Their studio was just about the size of a decent walk-in closet.)

The station was extremely hard to get. Most of us had to pick it up on the BIG satellite receivers. I always had the feeling that there were maybe a few dozen of us watching at any given moment. And believe me, it wasn't hard to get through on their call-in programs! One of my favorite moments was getting to talk to William Windom, one of my favorite character actors (and someone with only a tenuous connection to game shows).

zachhoran · « **Reply #18 on:** November 18, 2003, 09:55:42 AM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Nov 18 2003, 09:52 AM\'] One of my favorite moments was getting to talk to William Windom, one of my favorite character actors (and someone with only a tenuous connection to game shows). [/quote]
William Windom? Man that channel always gets happening stars on it.

He did do a week of SUper Password in 1986.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #19 on:** November 18, 2003, 10:02:53 AM »

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Nov 18 2003, 10:55 AM\'] He did do a week of Super Password in 1986. [/quote]
And believe me, they showed a clip from it. But WE got to talk about his interest in James Thurber, and the fact that I got to see him perform his one-man show when he toured college campuses back in the early eighties.

DrBear · « **Reply #20 on:** November 18, 2003, 10:28:52 AM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Nov 18 2003, 10:02 AM\'] But WE got to talk about his interest in James Thurber, and the fact that I got to see him perform his one-man show when he toured college campuses back in the early eighties. [/quote]
And for those who didn't know, Windom starred in the Thurber-based "My World and Welcome To It" in the late 60s. An excellent show that only lasted one year; those are the type of shows I'd love to see on some channel. Hello, Trio?

zachhoran · « **Reply #21 on:** November 18, 2003, 10:37:08 AM »

[quote name=\'DrBear\' date=\'Nov 18 2003, 10:28 AM\']
And for those who didn't know, Windom starred in the Thurber-based "My World and Welcome To It" in the late 60s. An excellent show that only lasted one year; those are the type of shows I'd love to see on some channel. Hello, Trio? [/quote]
Cable networks seem to be going for more recent shows these days, the odds of something that's 20+ years old being added to a rerun schedule seem to be much less these days. Case in point: GSN is acquiring more recent stuff like Millionaire rather than stuff not seen in years as of late. If any network would air "My World......", Trio would probably be it.

combsisthebest · « **Reply #22 on:** November 18, 2003, 06:56:09 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Nov 18 2003, 06:34 AM\'] [quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Nov 18 2003, 08:28 AM\']

Quote

Ray Combs

Was he just doing promos? [/quote]
Pretty much, yeah. In fact, of the three people Joe mentioned, only Peter Tomarken was "very involved" in those early days. Gene Wood showed up for interviews and special segments occasionally (and did some announcing for them, of course). I honestly don't remember Combs doing any more than the same sorts of promos they got just about every game show personality to do, but he may have made some other contribution I don't recall.

Basically, their three original on-air personalities were Tomarken, Laura Chambers and Steve Day. Tomarken hosted the phone-in games they played in between classics in prime time, and Chambers & Day handled the daytime hours. [/quote]
I remember seeing on the E!THS of Ray Combs that he and Laura were sitting together. So I'm guessing that he was on Laura's show at one time.

Don Howard · « **Reply #23 on:** November 19, 2003, 01:17:01 AM »

Quote

slightly more ambitious efforts like "Trivia Track" were just laughably bad.

The only thing I liked about Trivia Track was its theme music. Anyone know where I can get a clean copy of that?

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #24 on:** November 19, 2003, 08:48:54 AM »

Quote

. And believe me, it wasn't hard to get through on their call-in programs! One of my favorite moments was getting to talk to William Windom, one of my favorite character actors (and someone with only a tenuous connection to game shows).

For sure. Shortly after it went on the air I was watching around noon, and Steve and Laura suggested people to call in if they wanted to talk to them. I called, a spoke to a very nice gentleman (don't know his name) and they decided to put me on the air. They talked to me on the air for three minutes straight, right before the 12:30 "Match Game" they had at the time. Afterwards, they sent me a "thank you" card with Peter Tomarken's, Steve Day's and Laura Chamber's signatures, and a "winnie" pin.

I've still got those three minutes on tape!!

bricon · « **Reply #25 on:** November 19, 2003, 10:34:21 AM »

Quote

I remember seeing on the E!THS of Ray Combs that he and Laura were sitting together. So I'm guessing that he was on Laura's show at one time.

Ray filled in for Steve Day on Club AM/Late Night Games.

Other fill-ins were Johnny Gilbert, Gene Wood, Charlie O'Donnell, Burton Richardson, and Betsy Palmer.

Don Howard · « **Reply #26 on:** November 19, 2003, 04:47:35 PM »

Quote

Ray filled in for Steve Day on Club AM/Late Night Games.

Other fill-ins were Johnny Gilbert, Gene Wood, Charlie O'Donnell, Burton Richardson, and Betsy Palmer.

Oh, I almost wish this topic wasn't posted. Just hearing about all this good
stuff which has long gone by the wayside has me on the verge of weeping
openly in the halls.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #27 on:** November 19, 2003, 05:59:32 PM »

On the other hand, back when the network debuted, we would have been THRILLED to see original programming of the quality of Cram, Friend or Foe or Russian Roulette. And frankly, at the time, a lot of the live talk show stuff was pretty lame.

As I've said before, nostalgia isn't what it used to be. It's nice to think back (or imagine back) to some vague "golden age" of GSN, but people were pointing out its shortcomings back then too.

aaron sica · « **Reply #28 on:** November 19, 2003, 06:04:16 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Nov 19 2003, 05:59 PM\'] And frankly, at the time, a lot of the live talk show stuff was pretty lame.
[/quote]
I'm sure I wasn't the only one who pressed their fast-forward button on their GSN tapes then...:-)

Although oddly enough, when I finally *did* get GSN thanks to Dish Network in '96, I enjoyed the live segments...

ChuckNet · « **Reply #29 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:47:56 PM »

Quote

The only thing I liked about Trivia Track was its theme music. Anyone know where I can get a clean copy of that?

Don't know, but it was actually stock music that I recall hearing a year or 2 later in a promo for Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reruns on NY's WPIX (Ch. 11).

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")