Author Topic: Game show personalities... (Read 15554 times)

ChrisLambert! · « **Reply #15 on:** July 06, 2011, 10:03:06 PM »

Laura Chambers, Randy West and Bob Eubanks (twice). And if you count local hosts, Kevin Gregory of "Hoosier Know It Alls" (but not until a few years later).

That list is unfortunately shorter than I'd like.

Strikerz04 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 06, 2011, 10:06:17 PM »

Met Pat and Vanna when I was on Wheel in 2005.

I've met Bob Goen and David Ruprecht at the TPiR Live! event in October, 2010. I got to take a picture with them for free!
Wasn't too bad of a 25th Birthday at all.

trainman · « **Reply #17 on:** July 06, 2011, 10:10:37 PM »

Does Matt Ottinger count?

Various personalities who have been to the Congrefffff aside, in September 1992, I used a urinal next to "Baggage" host Jerry Springer at NBC in Chicago.

Jay Temple · « **Reply #18 on:** July 06, 2011, 11:09:41 PM »

I met Vicki Lawrence in 1986 when she was making public appearances to promote union membership.

chris319 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 07, 2011, 01:34:00 AM »

I'm a spoiler here, but I've met several personalities completely outside the context of a show who impressed me as very nice people who were easy to deal and be with. Vanna White, Merv Griffin, Pat Sajak (all separately), Jack Narz and Betty White come immediately to mind.

The one game show personality who gave me the willies was Jack Barry. I met him in San Francisco in January of 1976 (the same month the Gong Show pilot was taped in that city). Barry was trying to sell Break the Bank into syndication. He just came off as brusque, curt and generally willy-making.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #20 on:** July 07, 2011, 01:59:24 AM »

Quote from: chris319 on July 07, 2011, 01:34:00 AM

[Jack Barry] just came off as brusque, curt and generally willy-making.

Somehow I'm not surprised. I don't mean to speak ill of the deceased, but I got a very condescending image of him from watching "Joker's Wild". Bill Cullen OTOH, came across as very grandfatherly.

knagl · « **Reply #21 on:** July 07, 2011, 04:21:16 AM »

I met Todd Newton and Daniel Rosen at TPIR Live at Harrah's North Kansas City in 2004 (where I may or may not have been called to "come on down" -- you can read about my experience here if you're interested).

I bumped into Todd a few other times when I had the pleasure of meeting up with Randy West when he was announcing TPIR Live in Las Vegas (and I was there feeding my gambing addiction). Randy and I may have enjoyed some margaritas and some awful solo guitar music at a now defunct Mexican restaurant inside of Ballys Las Vegas. (I also met chris319 on one of those same occasions.)

I created the opportunity to talk with Charlie O'Donnell for a few minutes between tapings of Wheel of Fortune in Las Vegas, which was also a true pleasure -- he was a very kind person. At that taping I saw Pat and Vanna in person, but other than a "thank you" from me in the front row as they said their goodbyes at the end of the taping session, I didn't "meet" them. Along the same lines, I got to see Millionaire host Regis Philbin in person at a show he put on at Grand Casino Hinckley in Minnesota, but again did not have the opportunity to meet him.

I was a contestant on Mall Masters at Mall of America so I guess I met future Bachelor host Chris Harrison then. I also got to say a very quick hello to Pyramid host Donny Osmond in 2003 as I was leaving the stage as a mall contestant during their city sweep tour (wow, I wrote about that experience, too (and sounded a little more like a fanb0i eight years ago, reading it today).

geno57 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 07, 2011, 04:25:38 AM »

Quote from: chris319 on July 07, 2011, 01:34:00 AM

The one game show personality who gave me the willies was Jack Barry.

He always gave me the creeps, too ... and I never met him.

chris319 · « **Reply #23 on:** July 07, 2011, 05:36:00 AM »

I don't mean to come off as self-aggrandizing here, but it's one thing when a member of the general public meets a celebrity at a public appearance such as a book signing or a meet & greet after TPIR Live. It's another thing when you meet a celebrity behind the scenes, away from the public eye, who has shown up basically to work, whether it be to do a show or to publicize some project they're involved in. In the former instance they clearly want to make a favorable impression on the public. In the latter instance you get to see more of a celeb's true colors and how easy or difficult they are to deal with after hours and hours of rehearsal. I didn't deal with Bill Cullen one on one when he did P+ and BB, but he was always jolly and affable to work with. Same with Gene Wood who just liked to have fun.

I wonder whether Jack Barry was any less brusque and curt to people who expressed an interest in putting his show on the air.

Quote

a now defunct Mexican restaurant inside of Ballys Las Vegas

Defunct? Say it ain't so! What replaced it? I could have rented the space and called it The Ground Zero Cafe, but some people might not appreciate that.

(MOMENTS LATER)

It's either still in business or their web site is out of date:

http://www.ballyslasvegas.com/casinos/ballys-las-vegas/restaurants-dining/tequila-bar-and-grill-detail.html

jmangin · « **Reply #24 on:** July 07, 2011, 09:09:09 AM »

I met Rod Roddy and the cast of models at the time when I was at Price in 2002. Rod was definitely one of the nicest, friendliest people I have ever met. He was on his way out of the studio after a taping day and actually set his stuff down to take us on an amazing tour of Television City. We talked about his earlier career, other shows and production teams he worked with, etc. Very very friendly guy. Claudia, Nikki and Brandi were a hoot too. All three ladies hammed it up on the set with us, taking pics and goofing around, and Brandi sat with us for a video while we all spun around on the turntable. Ian Ziering also popped up later that day to drop off some stuff for Nikki.

Louise DuArt was touring with Harvey Korman and Tim Conway in 2004 (I think). A friend emailed Louise through her website and she brought us backstage to meet everyone. Tim was great and friendly, but Harvey was a bit more stand off-ish. I asked Louise if, instead of doing her show that night, we could walk arm-in-arm down a fake street and I could try and guess who she was gossiping about...she seemed floored that I remembered Rodeo Drive and she initially didn't understand my obscure reference (which, admittedly, was pretty damned obscure since it had gone off the air 10 years before).

I met Randy West, Todd Newton and Roger Lodge a couple times when my friend John was working at TPIR Live in Atlantic City, all of them great guys, and just as friendly as you would expect!!

DrBear · « **Reply #25 on:** July 07, 2011, 10:22:59 AM »

Not counting phone interviews (usually when a celeb was coming to town for a performance and we had to do a promo interview) I can think of only two. One was the host of everybody's favorite, Freakin' Studs, Mark De Carlo, when he was filming a "Taste of America" bit in our area. Great guy.

The other may be a bit obscure as it's a former Hollywood Squares producer, fellow name of Henry Winkler ... wonder if he's done anything else?

[size="2"]Yeah, I know - I went back to the office and was doing the "shake the hand that shook the hand of the Fonz" bit. He was in Green Bay for a benefit appearance - a day or two after his close friend John Ritter died, so he talked about that a lot. Another very classy guy.[/size]

Greggo · « **Reply #26 on:** July 07, 2011, 11:37:59 AM »

I booked Bob Bergen as a guest at Tekkoshocon during one of my years there.

MikeK · « **Reply #27 on:** July 07, 2011, 01:51:59 PM »

Outside of the oodles of hosts from the two GSCs I have attended...

* John O'Hurley at a 2006 book signing, the same one Aaron mentioned above. I told him I was making the 5-hour trip for the signing. Being a Seinfeld fan, Aaron tagged along.
* Paul Tapie (long time Cash Explosion host) doing a radio broadcast from a Cleveland Indians' fanfest around 1993-94.
* Todd Newton at a Hollywood Showdown contestant search in Pittsburgh in 2000, and at a Get Schooled event in 2003.
* Jerry Springer outside the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland around 1995, back when I spent my free time waiting at hotels, trying to get profesional athletes to sign autographs.

I saw Dick Clark at a health expo in 1999, days before Greed was announced. I was within 5 feet of him but he walked off.

knagl · « **Reply #28 on:** July 07, 2011, 02:38:29 PM »

Quote from: chris319 on July 07, 2011, 05:36:00 AM

Defunct? Say it ain't so! What replaced it? I could have rented the space and called it The Ground Zero Cafe, but some people might not appreciate that.

(MOMENTS LATER)

It's either still in business or their web site is out of date:

Maybe it reopened -- I just remembered trying to go there once and it was closed -- maybe it was one of those "closed for remodeling" things where they actually did remodel and reopen.

I forgot to add a sighting of Monty Hall to my list -- he was hosting a horribly produced live version of Let's Make a Deal at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, MN. I nearly got to shake his hand after the show, but as I was about to get the opportunity I was told "Mr. Hall has left" (even though I could see him ten feet away being whisked behind the stage).

The Pyramids · « **Reply #29 on:** July 07, 2011, 06:51:42 PM »

I met Peter Marshall at a book signing in 2002. I got to see Bob Barker and Randy West in action at a 'TPIR' taping in 2003. Also I met Ed McMahon at a book signing event in 2005.