Host styles - (Barker TPIR)

[danderson]

I can try to break it down further. Between 1972-1973 Bob was just getting the feel of the show. His interactions with contestants was brief and he would play through the at the time limited library of pricing games. By 1974, the audience had more freedom to shout out prices and the level of excitement was enhanced, which I think improved Barker's hosting, and he was more conversational with the contestants. However, the show also had a glaring problem that there was too much "show" for a half hour, so thankfully the show was expanded to an hour (which translates to maybe 50 minutes of airtime with commercials).

By the time the show went to a full hour, Bob had the show down, and having more time to play with the contestants made him more relaxed. When Dorothy Jo died in 1981, you could notice a slight difference in Bob's demeanor. The episode where he acknowledges Dorothy Jo's death, he's conducting the show as normal, but you can still see a dark cloud over his head. However, he eventually gets past the sad event and things seem normal.

One key ingredient that made the show work so well was Johnny Olson. His immense talents and williness to get into funny costumes and do various dialects, made him a perfect second banana. During the 1984-1985 season, it's noticeable that Johnny's announcing voice is starting to sound tired. It wasn't because of boredom, but because of old age, as he was in his 70s. As we all know Johnny died in 1985.

During the audition process, it was jarring to see TPIR without much interaction between Bob and the announcer, however they found as close to a perfect replacement as they could with Rod Roddy. Rod was funny, and also willing to get into funny costumes, and while it would be unfair to compare his onstage talent to Johnny's, I think Rod still did a splendid job. However, Rod's involvement with the showcases would decrease over time as well as his appearances on camera.

However, in the wake of the Dian Parkinson scandal, Bob's demeanor changed drastically. He became more impatient with the slower contestants, he stopped flirting with the female contestants, and also stopped interacting with the models (which was no surprise knowing what we know now) but he still had his good days.

By the show's 30th year, Bob skipped doing any opening monologue and went straight to "here's the first item up for bids". He also almost stopped talking to Rod Roddy altogether, and Rod's overall presence was limited to the show's closing credits, then he didn't appear on camera at all with the exception of the 32nd season premiere.

When Rich Fields came into the picture, Bob's interaction with him was limited, but it seemed to me that his demeanor was more positive. I would dare say that Bob's hosting was the best it could be during his last year as host. I think since he knew the end was coming, he had more fun, which is far better than pulling a Richard Dawson and having a dark cloud over his head.

i remember Jay Stewart starting to sound tried on SOTC around 87-88 so it is not limited to Johnny O i was glad when they brought in Don Morrow

[whewfan]

Apparently Jay left Sale to try his hand as an agent. One of his clients is someone we all know very well.

[Neumms]

Pat's humor on Wheel has become drier over the years it seems. He's always been laidback, but was more......"loose" in the 80s. It's hard to explain.

He's 30 years older, and he's been standing there through 30 years of episodes. It's the longest continuous gig any host as ever had. Practically nothing happens on that show that hasn't happened before, and they choose contestants to ensure it. Pat was great in the recent speed-up round clip, but that just doesn't happen very often.

[Neumms]

One key ingredient that made the show work so well was Johnny Olson. His immense talents and williness to get into funny costumes and do various dialects, made him a perfect second banana.

Perhaps another topic, but did anyone really like the drawn-out skit showcases? Heavens, Johnny Olson is the best of the best, but having watched a couple lately, they don't seem all that funny. It's the kind of thing a staff would do when they're bored.

[TLEberle]

What's left to happen on Wheel of Fortune? A contestant who removes an article of clothing after every Bankrupt or Lose a Turn, or every time he tries to solve in the speed-up round he says "Crack Cocaine!" instead? I'm not sure the show needs to cast contestants to ensure that the show hardly ever veers off the reservation--I think most people who would go on a game show are clueful enough to know what to do, what not to do and what might make them look silly/a viral sensation.

[WarioBarker]

Practically nothing happens on [Wheel of Fortune] that hasn't happened before,

To be fair, Wheel's been on for 40 years, and personally I think all the really fun stuff happened in its first 25 or so. I agree with Brandon, Pat was a lot "looser" in the 1980s, although I'd add Season 7 and especially Season 12.

[BrandonFG]

Pat's humor on Wheel has become drier over the years it seems. He's always been laidback, but was more......"loose" in the 80s. It's hard to explain.

He's 30 years older, and he's been standing there through 30 years of episodes. It's the longest continuous gig any host as ever had.

I don't think that's so much it; the show itself has been on cruise control for a good 10 or 15 years. Outside of the occasional puzzle blooper nowadays, the show was much looser in the 80s and 90s, and seemed more spontaneous. Look at some of the bonus round wins from the mid-80s and you'll see what I mean, along with Pat's ad-libs. Most of his reactions now are pretty canned, so to speak (i.e. his jokingly overreacting to a bad puzzle solve, "frisking" a contestant who solves a puzzle with only two or three letters showing).

But to your point of longest continuous gig, unless I misunderstood you, doesn't Barker still hold the record for another couple of years, or are we counting number of episodes? Regardless, even though he'd obviously slowed down in the final years, Bob still exhibited more energy towards the end.

[Neumms]

But to your point of longest continuous gig, unless I misunderstood you, doesn't Barker still hold the record for another couple of years, or are we counting number of episodes? Regardless, even though he'd obviously slowed down in the final years, Bob still exhibited more energy towards the end.

You are correct. I'd forgotten about Bob's 10-12 year head start.

[Neumms]

What's left to happen on Wheel of Fortune? A contestant who removes an article of clothing after every Bankrupt or Lose a Turn, or every time he tries to solve in the speed-up round he says "Crack Cocaine!" instead? I'm not sure the show needs to cast contestants to ensure that the show hardly ever veers off the reservation--I think most people who would go on a game show are clueful enough to know what to do, what not to do and what might make them look silly/a viral sensation.

That's my point. There's good reason Pat's lethargic. I would contend, though, that Wheel could find contestants who might be interesting on camera if they wanted. TPIR gets a roomful of them every morning.

[TLEberle]

That's my point. There's good reason Pat's lethargic. I would contend, though, that Wheel could find contestants who might be interesting on camera if they wanted. TPIR gets a roomful of them every morning.

Interesting how, though? And I contend quite vigorously that TPIR's contestant chooser was derelict in his duty quite a lot in the last few years or so.

Wheel of Fortune is a pleasant game played on television by pleasant people. If they've traded homogeneity for excitement that's their dime. I know that on the job I don't want interesting in the fortune cookie sense--I want to do my tasks and GTFO.

/maybe they should have the show on a remote island and every puzzle is a prize puzzle and the reward is something to either help you leave or to make the stay a little more bearable.

[Neumms]

If they've traded homogeneity for excitement that's their dime. I know that on the job I don't want interesting in the fortune cookie sense--I want to do my tasks and GTFO.

True, I don't imagine Sajak cares a whole lot if the contestants are dull.

[TLEberle]

Thing one: well done there, smearing several members of our board with that whitewash.

Thing two: You still haven't answered the question "what would you have the contestants do differently?" If Let's Make a Deal/Treasure Hunt levels of emotion is a ten, how much do you want the contestants to emote? If that's not what you want, please be as specific as humanly possible in answering the question put to you.

[Neumms]

Thing one: well done there, smearing several members of our board with that whitewash.

Thing two: You still haven't answered the question "what would you have the contestants do differently?" If Let's Make a Deal/Treasure Hunt levels of emotion is a ten, how much do you want the contestants to emote? If that's not what you want, please be as specific as humanly possible in answering the question put to you.

I would hope that any members who've appeared on WoF figured I'm writing in a very broad sense as a TV viewer who knows none of them personally. If any feel smeared, my sincere apologies. I envy you.

On the scale you suggest, I'd put current WoF contestants at about a three. Let's bump them to 7 and see how it works.

It's not strictly enthusiasm level, though. On the original WWTBAM, Regis was dealing largely with culled but randomly selected people from the phone. That was more interesting to me. They weren't kooks, but it was more natural, and Regis, to his credit, drew them out.

Maybe Wheel promotes a week where they get contestants that way, maybe a local contest when they're on the road, say, in NYC. You play an online game well enough, you go into a drawing to win tickets. Win that, you show up, and they either pick from the crowd at random or screen them like TPIR. They get called onto the stage five minutes before cameras roll, set up the apple crates, let them spin a couple of times, then see what happens.

Either that, or make changes to the show that actually add excitement. Yes, it's a pleasant show, but even Concentration, a pleasant show with organ music for heavens' sake, occasionally put winners in a glass box to lunge at paper money. It doesn't have to involve screwing over (or screwing) the other contestants, but this pleasant show is now runner up to Family Feud, and the host and hostess look older and more bored than ever.

[Kevin Prather]

I still say my favorite period of WoF came in the 90s when, like Pyramid, contestants got so good at the game that they actually had to try and make the game harder. It was around this time that intellectual categories like Clue and Where Are We? came along, along with shorter, more basic bonus round puzzles (and yes, Megaword).

[JasonA1]

I still say my favorite period of WoF came in the 90s when, like Pyramid, contestants got so good at the game that they actually had to try and make the game harder. It was around this time that intellectual categories like Clue and Where Are We? came along, along with shorter, more basic bonus round puzzles (and yes, Megaword).

My take on that era was it was their attempt (see: Nancy Jones, et al) to update the show, much the way Harry Friedman did later with the mystery round and whatever else. Rather than figuring out to write puzzles with less frequent letters for the bonus, they decided to just go with super short puzzles. Instead of coming up with a concept that weaves into the game, we got Charlie's awkward $1,000 question, and the not-well-thought-out Megaword. This is purely my conjecture, but it's another possible explanation why things were changing.

-Jason