[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'250582\' date=\'Nov 10 2010, 07:13 AM\']Also look for my point that a lot of people don't realize the episodes are taped weeks if not months in advance, so even if you have Pat announce that in a pre-recorded announcement, you still stand the chance of overcomplicating the situation. You have viewers see the tribute on Friday, then tune in Monday and hear Charlie announcing all over again, and you have utter confusion. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if some viewers either forgot the tribute, or didn't even catch it.[/quote]
I don't see any likely confusion from viewers that would hear Charlie O'Donnell after his tribute aired. The same people who follow that closely would have heard Pat talk about shows being taped in advance when he posted his first tweet on Twitter.
As for the general viewing public, nearly everyone is aware of the fact that shows are taped. At the very least, the concept of a re-run is well established, and anyone confused might just dismiss the confusion by the fact that a re-run is airing.
Some of the other examples in this thread about What's My Line and the early '70s Hollywood Squares happened when it was still commonplace to have live programming.
I think the likely cause of the overdubbing of Johnny Gilbert's voice was necessity, not to avoid confusion. As the episodes this week were shot in Las Vegas, it makes sense that something such as the Spin I.D. segments would be done in post-production. Therefore, to avoid the need for two announcers in the same episode, all of the voice overs were replaced. It is also likely that Charlie was still alive when this dubbing took place, so at the time there was no other reason than in-episode continuity.
That said, I am sure there was much hand-wringing and debate on how to handle the situation in the most sensitive way possible. Maybe it would have been better to have Pat announce the Spin I.D. number as if he read it live, keeping Charlie's voice in. Death is never easy to handle generally, and as "the show must go on", so must difficult decisions be made.