Which host was better?

[Stackertosh]

Pyramid - Clark, Cullen,Osmond , Strahan, Richards and Davidson
Wheel of Fortune- Worley, Goen, Sajak, Rolf
Weakest Link-Robinson
Jeopardy- Art Fleming,Alex Trebek
TPIR current version - James,Barker, Kennedy, Doug Davidson, Carey
Match Game - Rayburn 1st, Shafer 2nd, Baldwin 3rd

[Sonic Whammy]

Something needs to be said for the shows with 5 or more hosts in it's history. In every case, there's a noticeable gap between the bad or serviceable and the top tier. And I'm not sorry to say that every current host is in the top tier of said show.

Feud: Top tier has Dawson #1 and Harvey and Combs juggling for #2. Everyone else is midcard but all have been serviceable.
Price: Bob & Bill may fight for 1 & 2, but Drew, Tom and Dennis are all just an inch behind battling for 3rd. All 5 are excellent in their own ways. Davidson is the only jobber, but blame OJ.
Pyramid: Top tier has Clark #1, Cullen #2, Strahan #3. But Osmond & Richards make up a rare upper midcard tier battling for 4th. Davidson is the only jobber.
Millionaire: Top tier has Regis #1, Meredith & Chris juggling for 2nd. Cedric is midcard 4th and I still really liked him from seeing him live. Terry is the jobber.

[Jeremy Nelson]

Price: Bob & Bill may fight for 1 & 2, but Drew, Tom and Dennis are all just an inch behind battling for 3rd. All 5 are excellent in their own ways. Davidson is the only jobber, but blame OJ.

I thought Doug was actually really good, considering what he had to work with. Would have liked to see how good he could have gotten with a second season, but them's the breaks.

Even when you consider the R&R and Sports versions, Jeopardy has had, IMO, four solid hosts. ALEX, then Art, then Jeff, then Dan. Dan is the lowest of the four, but not because he was bad. I REALLY liked Probst, but I can't put him in front of two legendary hosts.

Wheel: Woolery, Goen, Sajak, Benirschke: I know the role is mainly traffic cop, but there are ways to go about it, and it feels like Pat's been phoning it in for more than a decade. Even if you only count his work through 2000, I'd still put Goen and Woolery ahead.

Rafferty over Eubanks on Card Sharks.

[Sonic Whammy]

I thought Doug was actually really good, considering what he had to work with. Would have liked to see how good he could have gotten with a second season, but them's the breaks.

Like I said, blame OJ. The trial dominated airtime round the clock, which killed a lot of syndicated programming, Davidson included. So he didn't get much of a chance. I think if he actually had a shot at a full season, there's a chance he would have come around.

But at the same time, now that I think about it, Bob (Yes, Bob!) can also be blamed for dumping on Davidson's Price MULTIPLE times on the daytime show. No hype before the revival, no lending of support at all once it was on.

[Blanquepage]

Only going with my Top 2 for each show here:

Pyramid - Clark, Cullen

TPiR - add me to the "James over Barker" crowd, really enjoyed Dennis's work more, despite the latter's longevity. Comparing this version to Bill's isn't apples to apples so I won't even go there

TTTT - believe it or not, Gordon Elliot...then Garry

Wheel - Pat then Chuck; as much as I enjoy Woolery's version, I was always entertained more by Pat

TJW - Jack, then Bill; while Bill was his usual warm self, he really couldn't move the game along like Jack did

Password Plus - may be in a minority here...but I preferred Kennedy over Ludden

Card Sharks - Perry, then Rafferty

The Liar's Club - Ludden over Armstrong

Hollywood Squares - Bergeron over Marshall

Weakest Link - George over Anne; he was a riot and really knew how to zing contestants far better than Anne did (side note: the best host I've ever seen for WL in the world was Catalina Pulido from the Chilean version. So mean, yet so charming a the same time. Spanish-speaking folks can find some on Youtube)

GE College Bowl - Ludden over Earle

[BillCullen1]

But at the same time, now that I think about it, Bob (Yes, Bob!) can also be blamed for dumping on Davidson's Price MULTIPLE times on the daytime show. No hype before the revival, no lending of support at all once it was on. 

Barker did acknowledge that Davidson's version was going on when they faced off against each other on Comb's Family Feud. "I could go on your show, I know all the games" Bob told Doug. 

[BrandonFG]

But at the same time, now that I think about it, Bob (Yes, Bob!) can also be blamed for dumping on Davidson's Price MULTIPLE times on the daytime show. No hype before the revival, no lending of support at all once it was on. 

Barker did acknowledge that Davidson's version was going on when they faced off against each other on Comb's Family Feud. "I could go on your show, I know all the games" Bob told Doug. 

Richard Dawson returned by the time Davidson’s TPiR was on the air, but I don’t recall a TPiR vs. Y&R week that late in the run. Not saying you’re wrong, but from the one clip I saw where Bob implied there was only room for one TPiR host, I don’t think he seemed very warm to the idea.

Wasn’t the Davidson version produced by a completely different crew, including Jay Wolpert? Did Roger or “Fingers” Greco have anything to do with it?

[Chief-O]

Wasn’t the Davidson version produced by a completely different crew, including Jay Wolpert? Did Roger or “Fingers” Greco have anything to do with it?

Wolpert was there, Roger (IIRC) wasn't. Not sure about Fingers, though. I do recall Phil Wayne was involved as well.

[JasonA1]

Here's a full credit roll from Davidson Price:



-Jason

[MSTieScott]

Here's a full credit roll from Davidson Price:

And if anybody is curious and has enough free time, here's a credit roll from a daytime episode from around the same time:

[BillCullen1]

But at the same time, now that I think about it, Bob (Yes, Bob!) can also be blamed for dumping on Davidson's Price MULTIPLE times on the daytime show. No hype before the revival, no lending of support at all once it was on. 

Barker did acknowledge that Davidson's version was going on when they faced off against each other on Comb's Family Feud. "I could go on your show, I know all the games" Bob told Doug. 

Richard Dawson returned by the time Davidson’s TPiR was on the air, but I don’t recall a TPiR vs. Y&R week that late in the run. Not saying you’re wrong, but from the one clip I saw where Bob implied there was only room for one TPiR host, I don’t think he seemed very warm to the idea.

The FF week I'm recalling is from the '93-'94 season with Combs hosting and TPIR facing off against Y&R. It had been announced that there would be a syndie TPIR in September.

[BrandonFG]

The FF week I'm recalling is from the '93-'94 season with Combs hosting and TPIR facing off against Y&R. It had been announced that there would be a syndie TPIR in September.

Ah, gotcha. Carry on.

With a lot of rankings, the last host mentioned wasn't bad (Wheel, TPiR), it just happens to be how they fall IMO.

TPiR: Barker, Kennedy, Davidson, Carey, James. I actually haven't seen enough Cullen episodes to rank him.

Hollywood Squares: Bergeron, Marshall, Davidson, Bowser. Davidson's version is growing on me again.

Pyramid: Clark, Cullen, Strahan, Osmond, Richards, Davidson. Richards actually wasn't a bad host; he was just more of a traffic cop here without much to work with.

Wheel: Sajak, Woolery, Goen

Feud: Dawson 1.0, Combs, Harvey, Dawson 2.0, O'Hurley, Karn, Anderson

Match Game: 70s Rayburn, Shafer, Baldwin, Burger

[TLEberle]

TPiR: Barker, Kennedy, Davidson, Carey, James. I actually haven't seen enough Cullen episodes to rank him.

This is, not to put too fine a point on it, fixable.

Pyramid: Clark, Cullen, Strahan, Osmond, Richards, Davidson. Richards actually wasn't a bad host; he was just more of a traffic cop here without much to work with.

If he was given room to say anything not written for him, I think he could have been good enough (see his work on Divided, for example.)

Match Game: 70s Rayburn, Shafer, Baldwin, Burger

Presuming that it goes Rayburn, (field), it is nice to see Ross getting a little love.

[Sonic Whammy]

Pyramid: Clark, Cullen, Strahan, Osmond, Richards, Davidson. Richards actually wasn't a bad host; he was just more of a traffic cop here without much to work with.

If he was given room to say anything not written for him, I think he could have been good enough (see his work on Divided, for example.)

Maybe GSN does stick to the script a little too much sometimes (hmm... reminds me of someone). But I'd also reason that Pyramid is a "traffic cop" kind of show. The host does very little, his is not the dominant voice. Plus, Richards still tried to keep the Clark spirit alive with tossing in some WC clues after. He knew the show and did it very good justice. GSN and the viewers failed it. Pyramid needs 2 seasons to cultivate and prove its worth, that's the kind of show it is.

[Unrealtor]

Here's a full credit roll from Davidson Price:

And if anybody is curious and has enough free time, here's a credit roll from a daytime episode from around the same time:

With the exception of adding Jay Wolpert and Andy Felsher instead of Roger and Paul Alter, the rest of the credits are pretty much the same names but sometimes under slightly different titles.