Alternate realities when it comes to game shows

[Steve_Bier]

Another thought exercise:

Pick a better emcee for Mindreaders than Dick Martin. Though the format was fundamentally flawed, Dick didn't help. He was better in office run-thrus but once he got into the studio he was never smooth at it. He was always a bit awkward.

I'm not sure exactly when Brockman departed NBC, but even though he was a client of the company there were those in the office who didn't hold him in particularly high regard. In watching his interview, the games he plays with his fingers remind me of the Simpsons' Mr. Burns character.

By the time we brought up Mindreaders in 1979, ISTR we were dealing with Noreen Conlin.

Who wasn't busy? Dan Rowan? Lloyd Thaxton?

Not sure about Dan Rowan (or his hosting abilities)...but Lloyd Thaxton was producing "Consumer Buyline" for NBC, which a year later became "Fight Back! With David Horowitz".

[Winkfan]

If Goodson had The Better Sex ready to go in the spring instead of letting it bake for a few more months, Second Chance never sees the light of day on TV. Interesting indeed.

And then Jim Peck would have to wait three years for his next game show gig. The 1978 You Don't Say was hosted by Mr. Peck, as some of us recall.

Cordially,
Tammy

[BillCullen1]

Not sure about Dan Rowan (or his hosting abilities)...

Dan would have hosted Hollywood Squares if Peter Marshall had turned it down. That's what the producers told him and why Peter took the job. He wasn't a fan of Dan.

[whewfan]

So if Dan hosted HS, then Laugh-In would've had different hosts, because there wouldn't have been Rowan and Martin. I believe once Laugh-In was cancelled, it was also the end of Rowan and Martin. Dick would make a number of game show appearances and Dan basically faded away. Based on the pilot, HQ certainly had the star power, so the writing would've been good, but who knows if Rowan would've had the same appeal as host over Peter Marshall.

[tpirfan28]

Mine has always been who wound have taken over Price is Right if Bob retired after 25 or 30 years.  Maybe Bob Goen in 1997?  Todd Newton in 2003?

In this alternate universe I see it getting a short-lived reboot in the mid-90s, then another one in the late-90s/early-2000s that runs to this day. Since evening Wheel doesn't give Feud a run for the money, Dawson goes a couple more years on syndicated Feud and passes off the torch to Ray Combs in '88. The ABC version still goes off the air in '85. Oh, and since Wheel went off the air around '87 Pat Sajak gets a CBS gig, but in 1993. Letterman replaces Carson in '92 and Jay Leno gets something in syndication.

I would argue in this scenario Pat get CBS Feud instead of Ray Combs, then potentially the Late Show in 93 when the market implodes.
(and maybe Pyramid lives longer than 1988...)

[Jamey Greek]

Mine has always been who wound have taken over Price is Right if Bob retired after 25 or 30 years.  Maybe Bob Goen in 1997?  Todd Newton in 2003?

Either Bob Goen or if he did not get fired from Feud and the whole unraveling how about Ray Combs?

[Scrabbleship]

Who wasn't busy? Dan Rowan? Lloyd Thaxton?

I'm going to go to game show hades for this take, but wouldn't Bill Cullen and Jack Narz have been available? Bill was between Love Experts and Chain Reaction and while Jack was done hosting he wasn't yet announcer for Beat the Clock. As much as this creates a "great host, awful show" situation both would've been an improvement over Dick Martin.

Going outside the list of known Goodson-Todman names, I'd toss Geoff Edwards in there as well. Goodson did want him for Family Feud and he wasn't doing anything TV wise at that point and had one foot out the door radio wise. That might have complicated things with Play the Percentages given the disdain Goodson had for Dan Enright.

[TheInquisitiveOne]

A very recent one keeps entering my mind.

I was always of the thought that they rushed into the 2020 Jeopardy GOAT special so they could get that in while Alex Trebek was in good enough health to do it. Little did they know they got that in just in time for a completely different reason.

I always wondered - taking what happened a few weeks after the tournament out of the equation - what would have happened if Alex was in good health. I think that this tournament would’ve had some more buzz and would’ve been scheduled as either part of the first-run summer syndicated block or (more likely) part of ABC’s Summer Fun & Games block.

I think it would’ve unfolded in the exact same manner that it did and would’ve had the same strong viewership as what they actually got. Then Alex could get ready for the next season. If only…

The Inquisitive One

[Stackertosh]

Mine has always been who wound have taken over Price is Right if Bob retired after 25 or 30 years.  Maybe Bob Goen in 1997?  Todd Newton in 2003?

If Bob Retired in 1997 Doug Davidson could replace him since he hosted 1994 version and it would probably be an easier transition. Todd Newton in 2003 with Randy West as announcer.


I wonder if LMAD would've been a thing in 2009.

[Kevin Prather]

I hope you'll forgive the bump of an old thread, but it's a fun topic. Rereading the first page with speculation about the Twenty One pilot reminds me of an alternate universe scenario I've brought up in private conversation a few times.

It's 2000, and Twenty One is on NBC, trying its best to compete with Millionaire and Greed. Along comes a *really* great quizzer who goes on a Ken Jennings-like run. (Heck, it could even *be* Ken Jennings.) This contestant manages to win 20 or 30 games, amassing an eight-figure payday.

Does America become captivated with this champion not unlike they were with Charles Van Doren? Do the inevitable parallels to Van Doren cause viewers to question whether or not this version is rigged as well? Is all the mystique enough to even push Twenty One ahead of Millionaire in the ratings?

[SuperMatch93]

I'd say the contestant gets a level of publicity not unlike what John Carpenter got, but given that by that point the viewing landscape was more fractured than it had been in the 50s (and beginning to develop into what we see today) I don't think he necessarily attains a Van Doren-level of fame. Maybe something closer to what James Holzhauer would eventually get.

[Nick]

Going outside the list of known Goodson-Todman names, I'd toss Geoff Edwards in there as well. Goodson did want him for Family Feud and he wasn't doing anything TV wise at that point and had one foot out the door radio wise. That might have complicated things with Play the Percentages given the disdain Goodson had for Dan Enright.

It's definitely a "what if" I'd love to have seen, though there's a part of the Geoff-Edwards-could-have-had-Family-Feud story that's never made sense to me.  He never appeared, before or after Feud launched, on anything for Goodson-Todman.  Why would Goodson have been so interested in someone who had never worked for him and only for his competitors?  If he liked him so much, why did he never get considered for anything else Goodson ever did?  Was the one "no" to the Feud pilot enough for Goodson to reject him forever?

[Jeremy Nelson]

It's definitely a "what if" I'd love to have seen, though there's a part of the Geoff-Edwards-could-have-had-Family-Feud story that's never made sense to me.  He never appeared, before or after Feud launched, on anything for Goodson-Todman.  Why would Goodson have been so interested in someone who had never worked for him and only for his competitors?  If he liked him so much, why did he never get considered for anything else Goodson ever did?  Was the one "no" to the Feud pilot enough for Goodson to reject him forever?

Why would Goodson be interested? Cause Geoff was still a good host, despite not working for the guy. Alex Trebek, IIRC didn’t work for Goodson until Concentration.

As to why he didn’t work for Goodson afterwards…well, we’re turning the corner to the 1980s, which is a revival decade for Goodson, and he still had his stable of established hosts at that point. Geoff can’t be a choice because honestly, I don’t see any G-T show from 1977-92 where he’s “best available option”.

[Chief-O]

Alex Trebek, IIRC didn’t work for Goodson until Concentration.

"Double Dare"; 1976.

[steveleb]

As someone who was intimately involved with Jeopardy GOAT, let me assure you Alex’s health was anything but an issue that was in the table.  The concept had been discussed during the 50th anniversary year.  GSN was among the networks Harry and team pitched it to.  Needless to say, it was well beyond our pocketbook (and besides, it had a shiny floor, which killed it with my superiors).  The ABC station group advocated for it with the network but at the time their brass was down on game shows.  As Rob Mills got more entrenched and as Sony became a reliable supplier the topic was revisited several times—other experiments got in the way.  We finally found a window of budgetary opportunity on both sides in 2019.  Alex’s health issues were a constant factor but that did not factor into the green light.  As even he said so often, it’s the game that mattered the most.