TPIR - April 18

[Twentington]

I thought George was the best of the tryouts, myself. I didn't see many epsiodes when David was filling in, but I've listened to some of his work on YouTube and he would've been my second choice.

I guess I'm in the minority for not liking Jeff Davis too much. He seemed too low-key.

So how many game-show-hosts-turned-announcers are there now? I can think of Grey and Gary Kroeger. Was Jack Clark a host before he started announcing?

Jim McKrell?

[JasonA1]

So how many game-show-hosts-turned-announcers are there now? I can think of Grey and Gary Kroeger.

Johnny Gilbert, Art James, Gene Wood, Joey Fatone (with a huge asterisk since his stuff is pre-recorded), Bob Clayton...

...Johnny Olson, Bill Armstrong, Jack Narz, Bob Hilton...

-Jason

[Jimmy Owen]

Good choice! Always enjoyed his work.

[TimK2003]

Was Jack Clark a host before he started announcing?

Get off my lawn, you little bastard.

/yes, Crosswits and Dealer's Choice, at least

He may or may not count, as he was one of the announcers on the original Password (IIRC, when they did shows on the Left Coast).  However he did fill-in as host, but I think he was already announcing on PW by then.

Same thing with Marc Summers (Fill-in announcer on "Bruce Forsythe's Hot Streak" just before hosting "Double Dare") in '86...

[JakeT]

George Gray announced as the new announcer. Good choice - one of the better who auditioned for the gig.

Although I really hadn't paid that much attention to the whole rotating announcer audition process stuff, when all is said and done, of all the guys who were given a shot at the full-time gig, I think George Gray was definitely the best choice and best fit overall.  

While I didn't strongly object to any of the other candidates, I will admit that each of them (except for George) did exhibit at least one minor trait that I views as a flaw/quirk/annoyance and therein a wee distraction from the game for me:

J.D. Roberto just came across as too much of a "yes man" for my tastes...c'mon...calling Drew "Boss" was just a bit cheezy and butt-smooochy for me.  

Jeff Davis, while a decent announcer, somehow just felt a wee bit oily to me...dunno why...also, I kinda felt he was there because he was Drew's buddy and not because he was necessarily the best man for the job.

Brad Sherwood, partially for the buddy buddy aspect, but mainly because, to me, he almost always sounded like he was playing the part of a game show announcer on a sitcom...rather over-the-top and lacking a degree of sincerity.  With that said, I continue to be a Brad Sherwood fan outside of TPiR.

David Lawrence...dammit...I hate my reason for not liking him for the job since, as an announcer, I thought he did a really nice job.  However, the whole "this is David Lawrence the FIVE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTH speaking for The Price Is Right"...it just sounded goofy to me and it bugged me for some reason I can't explain.  Well, maybe because every time I heard it, I had flashes of Henry Polic II and that kinda scared me...  I acknowledge that I am quite the disturbed individual.

Steve White...hmmmmm...what can I say about someone who was so forgettable to my ear that I never have heard of him before now and don't have any recollection of any of his appearances.


As for George, I think his voice is easy on the ear...almost has an odd gentle quality at times which I seem to enjoy, I guess.  He also has a quick wit yet avoids stepping on anyone's toes when displaying it.  And ya know, for all the little old ladies out there in TV Land, Georgie boy simply has that clean-cut "boy next door" look these days that so many find to their liking.

And for the record, I was not always a George Gray fan.  In fact, I was one of those people who HATED HIS GUTS from the whole EXTREME GONG debacle.  That whole thing left such a bad taste in my mouth that, upon EG's cancellation, I was thrilled to see him gone and hoped he would never be seen or heard from again.  

But alas, this was not to be...George Gray returned from the cancellation graveyard as the host of the syndie "WEAKEST LINK"...and I must admit, after only the first few episodes, he absolutely won me over completely.  I loved loved LOVED his hosting style on WL.  Hey, I love Anne Robinson and got the whole "mean bitch from Hell" thing was all schtick and enjoyed the joke.  Unfortunately, too many others out there just didn't get it and I think that the number of viewers who refused to watch that mean old lady be cruel to those poor little innocent contestants couldn't have helped the ratings.  But George was able to take the necessary taskmaster/dominatrix attitude needed for the WL host and adapt it to yankee sensibilities.  George, at his harshest, came across as more naughty and haughty (and usually very funny) while Anne just kinda sounded mean.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is...YEA GEORGE...good going, dude...

Jake

[davemackey]

Was Jack Clark a host before he started announcing?

Get off my lawn, you little bastard.

/yes, Crosswits and Dealer's Choice, at least

He may or may not count, as he was one of the announcers on the original Password (IIRC, when they did shows on the Left Coast).  However he did fill-in as host, but I think he was already announcing on PW by then.

Same thing with Marc Summers (Fill-in announcer on "Bruce Forsythe's Hot Streak" just before hosting "Double Dare") in '86...

Jack Clark announced Password from the very beginning on both coasts. He did host 100 Grand prior to that.

Did they announce it on the show today?

[Steve Gavazzi]

Did they announce it on the show today?

Before the first Item up for Bids, yes.

[Matt Ottinger]

Was Jack Clark a host before he started announcing?

Get off my lawn, you little bastard.
/yes, Crosswits and Dealer's Choice, at least

No, YOU get off MY lawn!

As has been mentioned, he started as an announcer before he became a host.  Password famously, but also for Mike Wallace on Big Surprise.  I've also got him on camera as a commercial spokesperson on Down You Go.

Of course, the chicken-egg thing is tricky in some cases, depending as it so often does on how you define it.  Strictly speaking, Bill Cullen was a game show announcer before he became a game show host, but that was on the radio.  Also, some of the legends of announcing (Olson, Gilbert, Wood) also have some hosting on their resumes, but I for one don't know their timelines well enough to say for sure which was first.

[BrandonFG]

Also, some of the legends of announcing (Olson, Gilbert, Wood) also have some hosting on their resumes, but I for one don't know their timelines well enough to say for sure which was first.

I wanna say Gilbert and Wood hosted shows first...in Gilbert's case Music Bingo and for Wood Beat the Clock, but those are both guesses.

Don't think I've heard Gray yet, but I'm happy that he's getting another gig. I liked his work on Weakest Link...hard to believe that was almost 10 years ago.

[Jeremy Nelson]

George is definitely a great choice; it was, for me, down to either him of Jeff Davis, but seeing how long George has been a guest announcer, I wasn't surprised.

I'm just now noticing the new announcer's podium. Shiny- I like the classic radio mic they have up there, too.

[Jimmy Owen]

IIRC, Gene was the announcer on Narz BTC, but he did that somewhat concurrently with hosting "Anything You Can Do."  I think he also announced CBS Password from time to time.

[Mr. Brown]

I said it before and I'll say it again: I like George Gray, but he's a compromise candidate.

Simply put - Jeff Davis didn't necessarily have the best announcing chops, but they were decent, and he interacted very well with Drew, providing excellent interaction. David Lawrence, while he didn't have the screen presence of Jeff Davis, had awesome chops.

George, on the other hand, isn't a David Lawrence in regards to his announcing skills, and doesn't have the same interaction that Jeff Davis had. He's a compromise.

/There was no compromise.
//Mike Richards FTW.

[TLEberle]

I said it before and I'll say it again: I like George Gray, but he's a compromise candidate.

I think if you look at the way the show is going, in that the announcer is no longer a guy holed up on the side of the studio who gets camera time to show off his sport jacket, but instead participates in gags and modeling the prizes, George becomes an obvious choice. Who else would do the "facepalm" after a Contestant's Row overbid?

The job no longer entails just reading words from a page, so his hiring makes sense.

[clemon79]

I said it before and I'll say it again: I like George Gray, but he's a compromise candidate.

The job no longer entails just reading words from a page, so his hiring makes sense.

More to the point, I fail to see why "compromise" is a bad thing, anyhow. The Los Angeles Lakers have had players who can play inside but can't shoot a three or a free throw to save their life, players who don't have the physical game needed to drive the lane, but can shoot the lights out from outside, and people who can do both ably, but not spectacularly. They've won championships with all three types.

TPiR decided they wanted someone who could talk *and* interact; they wanted flexibility. They decided that George was the most flexible of the candidates. Jeff couldn't talk, David couldn't schmooze, Sherwood was a caricature, Roberto was just a talking Ken doll, and I didn't even REMEMBER Steve White until Steve brought him up earlier in the thread. It sounds like that if the #1 sought-after trait was "best all-around," he's a pretty obvious choice.

[Neumms]

More to the point, I fail to see why "compromise" is a bad thing, anyhow.

Wasn't Rich hired as a compromise between the Randy faction (aka "people with taste and discernment") and the Burton faction?