Match Game-Hollywood Squares - Why two hosts?

[Mr. Brown]

The wife and I are watching MGHSH tonight and a thought came across my mind: why didn't they just have Gene host the whole damn thing? Contractual reasons? Creative control? Just 'cuz? Something else?

My non-game show fan wife NEEDS TO KNOW.

[Adam Nedeff]

That was an NBC thing. Goodson and company wanted Gene to host the entire hour, but NBC was adamant that the show have two hosts.

[SuperMatch93]

That was an NBC thing. Goodson and company wanted Gene to host the entire hour, but NBC was adamant that the show have two hosts.

And, if I'm not mistaken, someone at NBC really liked Bauman and insisted he host the second half.

[JMFabiano]

That was an NBC thing. Goodson and company wanted Gene to host the entire hour, but NBC was adamant that the show have two hosts.

And, if I'm not mistaken, someone at NBC really liked Bauman and insisted he host the second half.

I'd also imagine that it meant not having to book one extra celebrity, if you had the host not in play on the panel for each respective half.

[Jeremy Nelson]

I'd also imagine that it meant not having to book one extra celebrity, if you had the host not in play on the panel for each respective half.

I'm guessing that the host's salary is considerably larger than the fee they pay that extra celebrity.

[Mr. Matté]

I'd also imagine that it meant not having to book one extra celebrity, if you had the host not in play on the panel for each respective half.

I'm guessing that the host's salary is considerably larger than the fee they pay that extra celebrity.

But if it means that they didn't have to reach out to Mr. Smith himself to be a celeb, it made it much easier for the booker.

[clemon79]

But if it means that they didn't have to reach out to Mr. Smith himself to be a celeb, it made it much easier for the booker.

You're silly. Clearly they would talk to Mr. Smith's agent.

[Adam Nedeff]

I'd also imagine that it meant not having to book one extra celebrity, if you had the host not in play on the panel for each respective half.

I'm guessing that the host's salary is considerably larger than the fee they pay that extra celebrity.

But if it means that they didn't have to reach out to Mr. Smith himself to be a celeb, it made it much easier for the booker.

And this is ended up being a particularly valuable consideration. I've talked to one staffer who recalled that MG/HS had awful luck with celebrities dropping out day before or day of.

[JohnXXVII]

The best case scenario for this show would have been for Gene to host the whole thing himself.

Jon Bauman just does not seem like a professional Goodson-Todman host. I especially cringe each time Hollywood Squares ends and he attempts to recap the game and analyze where the losing contestant went wrong. It's just awkward and not entertaining; I'm surprised no one told him to stop that!

[steveleb]

Sounds like we all have the same Intel.  I know from dealing with Jon personally he was indeed seen as a budding young star and he ingratiated himself with many of them by personally lobbying for opportunities. Pop and Rocker Game was very well received even though it failed to get a large audience.  By piggybacking him onto an established format and a proven pro it was seen as a way to minimize his downside. One shudders to think who we’d get today.  I mean Alec Baldwin and Liza Koshy come to mind…

[JohnXXVII]

Watching MG/HS Hour, you wonder if Jon had ever watched an episode of the Match Game or Hollywood Squares before, or ever realized what made those shows successful. These are supposed to be funny games. And the sort of humor was not the rather tame wordplay and puns that Jon tries to do on every single episode.

If they had to have two hosts for this show, the least they could have done was find someone who had a similar sense of humor to Gene's, to at least make the show flow a little better tone-wise.

[SuperMatch93]

Sounds like we all have the same Intel.  I know from dealing with Jon personally he was indeed seen as a budding young star and he ingratiated himself with many of them by personally lobbying for opportunities. Pop and Rocker Game was very well received even though it failed to get a large audience.  By piggybacking him onto an established format and a proven pro it was seen as a way to minimize his downside. One shudders to think who we’d get today.  I mean Alec Baldwin and Liza Koshy come to mind…

I'd like to see Liza Koshy get another game show. Maybe not MG or HS but I could see her hosting something loose and laid back like Whose Line.

[carlisle96]

The best case scenario for this show would have been for Gene to host the whole thing himself.

Jon Bauman just does not seem like a professional Goodson-Todman host. I especially cringe each time Hollywood Squares ends and he attempts to recap the game and analyze where the losing contestant went wrong. It's just awkward and not entertaining; I'm surprised no one told him to stop that!

I didn't think he was that bad even if he wasn't really needed. But I've heard he's a hell of a nice guy offscreen.

[BrandonFG]

I've said this before, but I think it's a little unfair to bash Jon for two reasons:

1. It was one of his first hosting jobs (dunno whether this or Pop N Rocker started taping first), and

2. As of 1983 Peter Marshall was the show's only other host, on a show that just went off the air two years prior. Tom Bergeron and John Davidson prolly would've had just as much trouble filling those shoes. He was a mismatch alongside Gene Rayburn, and was given a weak format.

[Sodboy13]

Watching MG/HS Hour, you wonder if Jon had ever watched an episode of the Match Game or Hollywood Squares before, or ever realized what made those shows successful. These are supposed to be funny games. And the sort of humor was not the rather tame wordplay and puns that Jon tries to do on every single episode.

I think this overlooks the bigger question, which is if Mark Goodson ever watched an episode of Hollywood Squares, or understood what made that show successful.