Next generation hosts?

[gamed121683]

The Jim Perry obit thread inspired this, but I thought it deserved its own post. When talking about the qualities of what made Perry a great host, one forum member replied:

"These very qualities are, sadly, lacking in practically all the current crop of hosts (at least those who started their gigs this century, with few exceptions).  It's one of the big reasons why today's game shows, rather than being something I look forward to watching and consider an enhancement to life, are just "there", easily ignored/ignorable, and practically irrelevant to me."

Makes me wonder which current crop of hosts (if any) do you think would rank right up with the Perry's and the Cullen's of yesteryear?

[TLEberle]

The problem is that it is silly to believe that game show hosts go through leagues like a high school athlete who wants to play college ball and then the minors and maybe a shot at the bigs. Dick de Rijk convinced Howie Mandel to take the Deal or No Deal job with a pile of index cards and a science fair bit of cardboard. Howie thought his performance was so bad that he left the country for the whole month of December 2005 only to find out that the show was a smash hit. Merv Griffin went off the reservation lots of times--sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't, but Chuck Woolery didn't exactly have a long list of game show credits to his name before he took on the Wheel of Fortune. And sometimes you get Jonathan Szeles or Ty Treadway.

To answer your question, if we're discounting things like reality shows and culinary competitions (Cutthroat Kitchen is made all the better because of the persona that Alton Brown takes on), I think you start with Tom Bergeron at the top.

[BrandonFG]

It does seem like the days of hiring a host who cut his teeth in radio or journalism are pretty much over. Alex Trebek's replacement will prolly have reporting chops, but comedians and actors have been the trend for about a decade now. Then again, there's also Chris Harrison, who started as a sports anchor. But, for every Chris, it kinda feels like there's 10 Billy Gardells or Wayne Bradys. Many of them do pretty well, and I'd attribute that to being able to think on their toes as comedians. Not every host works out, but I'm sure there's a newsman turned host who fizzled out as well. :-)

That being said, actors as hosts aren't necessarily a new concept, just the new normal, compared to 1975. But, back then, you still had guys like Richard Dawson and Travis's example of Chuck Woolery. I believe even Peter Marshall was an actor in commercials. Go even further back, and you could use Dick Van Dyke or Johnny Carson as examples.

I'd add Todd Newton and Mark Walberg to the new list. Great at their job, but yet to find a format that lets them shine...I'd put them in the Jim Peck category.

[TLEberle]

I'd add Todd Newton and Mark Walberg to the new list. Great at their job, but yet to find a format that lets them shine...I'd put them in the Jim Peck category.

Vigorously disagree: I think that Hollywood Showdown and Russian Roulette were excellent showcases of Todd and Mark's talents, respectively. One person who has shown himself to be capable in a quiz show arena with a live broadcast: Ryan Seacrest.

Two things happened to cause the shift that Tony is lamenting. First, the changing landscape of television schedules means that there's not that many game shows on anymore. And the second follows on from that: fewer hosts that can get a toe-hold so where you see Alex Trebek and remember him from Double Dare and High Rollers so you stick around for Battlestars and what do you know, that's fun too. Most of the time some guy is hired for this one thing, it concludes and everyone goes on with their lives, rather than jumping from a show that's cancelled on Friday to a new show that debuts the following Monday. Someone like Pat Kiernan is able to build up a pile of credits because he gives M. Davies what he wants, but the time frame from Studio Seven to Crowd Rules is ten years, not thirty-nine weeks.

[BrandonFG]

I'd add Todd Newton and Mark Walberg to the new list. Great at their job, but yet to find a format that lets them shine...I'd put them in the Jim Peck category.

Vigorously disagree: I think that Hollywood Showdown and Russian Roulette were excellent showcases of Todd and Mark's talents, respectively.

I should clarify. They have yet to find a successful format that lets them shine. They have hosted some pretty good shows, but unfortunately, none of them lasted beyond a year or two or became memorable hits (outside of the forum).

[Winkfan]

They have hosted some pretty good shows, but unfortunately, none of them lasted beyond a year or two or became memorable hits (outside of the forum).

Now just a split second! At least Family Game Night helped Todd earn a Daytime Emmy.

Cordially,
Tammy

[BrandonFG]

They have hosted some pretty good shows, but unfortunately, none of them lasted beyond a year or two or became memorable hits (outside of the forum).

Now just a split second! At least Family Game Night helped Todd earn a Daytime Emmy.

I did forget FGN, and that's had a nice run. But I hesitate to call it a "memorable hit". Basically, I'm talking about hosts who have nearly become synonymous with their shows. The landscape has changed, so career hosts are more or less a thing of the past.

[TLEberle]

I did forget FGN, and that's had a nice run. But I hesitate to call it a "memorable hit". Basically, I'm talking about hosts who have nearly become synonymous with their shows. The landscape has changed, so career hosts is more or less a thing of the past.

And that's the thing of it, as much as Hollywood Showdown or Family Game Night showed off Todd's skills, it's not the same as being on a landscape where CBS and NBC pepper the morning with game shows.

Y'know who is a current host with the throwback mentality? Chris Hardwick.