I happen to like Rolf Benirschke on
Wheel of Fortune, even before I read his autobiography (which only increased my respect for the man).
As for the ongoing discussion on
Crosswords, it's not like
Jeopardy! where you not only have to be knowledgeable but also anticipate your opponents' moves in Final and know math so you don't screw yourself over; on
Crosswords, you only have to look at the timer and jump in at the last possible moment to win stuff through almost no effort. There was also the fact that if second place was behind by a considerable margin, s/he had to
deliberately give wrong answers to maybe become a Spoiler.
And Travis, Jay does have a point regarding
Caesars Challenge, and Neil Bines is a good example of that.
Another one: I didn't think that Rich Jeffries or M.G. Kelly were bad announcers
Honestly, I have to second these. Kelly in particular could ad-lib around his script pretty well.
The Prize Puzzle is my absolute least favorite part of the show because it turns the risk/reward factor of the show on its ear. A major appeal is the "risk your luck" element, and element damaged by the prize puzzle. And yeah, frankly, it kills the format for me.
This, this, many times this. Not just because it's a guaranteed prize (I've seen contestants solve it for little to no money), but also because the puzzle writing generally sucks because it always
has to be a trip. There's also the fact that some contestants have won solely through the guaranteed prize.