Good evening.
I know I have been seeing a lot of “what ifs” about different subjects across different genres, including some here. I checked first to make sure if the subject wasn’t discussed previously, but one subject that crossed my mind regards the legendary Johnny Olson.
He passed away partway into the 14th season as announcer of The Price is Right in 1985, but let’s say that everything is fine and he went through the season, business as usual. As far as I know, there was no indication that he was going to retire at the end of that season, and he was 75 at the time of his passing.
I mention his age because given legends like Don Pardo (who announced SNL right up to his death at 97) and Johnny Gilbert (currently announcing Jeopardy! in his 90s), Olson could’ve gone at least another 10 years. To make this discussion simple, let’s say Olson calls it a career in 1995 (taking a route similar to Gilbert, Pardo, and O’Donnell - paring his career down to one show before the fact), and the producers start their search for a new announcer.
Would Rod Roddy still be relevant enough to become the permanent successor, as it was in this current timeline? Roddy had a successful run as announcer of Press Your Luck and parlayed it to an even more successful run at Price. If Olson went another decade, would that stock still be so high? Also, given how thin the game show landscape was around that time, would there be a rotation of substitutes as robust as it was in this current timeline? In 1995, the only active announcer who would’ve been available in the alternate timeline is Gene Wood, and if everything else went as it did, he would’ve still retired after Family Challenge with Ray Combs in 1996. With that, I believe there would’ve been one other choice that could be a suitable replacement, if only because he had couple of notable, recent shows under his belt…
Enter Burton Richardson. Being that it’s 1995, he would only be a year removed from finishing his announcing run with The Arsenio Hall Show (with his memorable part in the opening sequence), and if everything else stayed as it was, he would just finish his short-lived run as announcer of the ill-fated syndicated TPIR with Doug Davidson. I understand that not everyone is a fan, but Burton’s style would’ve been familiar for many and would’ve bolstered his status further with the Family Feud revival that was due to come four years later. Finally, if Burton’s run went long enough, could Rich Fields be on the outside looking in?
I like to see what your thoughts are on this. Do you agree with this, do you think something similar happens, or does something completely different happen?
As always, thank you in advance for your responses.
The Inquisitive One
