TPiR's latest announcer du jour

[ChuckNet]

If you were watching today (3/26), you prolly heard Jim Thornton behind the mike...any thoughts? Personally, I thought he did a decent job, but his delivery needed work in a coupla spots.

Also, does he have any prior credits, GS or otherwise?

Chuck Donegan (The Curious "Chuckie Baby")

[PeterMarshallFan]

I really liked him. His only real weakness was his opening IMO.

[tyshaun1]

[quote name=\'PeterMarshallFan\' date=\'Mar 26 2004, 08:41 PM\'] I really liked him. His only real weakness was his opening IMO. [/quote]
 IMO, he had the least enthusiasm (yes, even worse than Rosen) of all the announcers I've heard so far, albeit it's just his first performance. He hardly had any inflections on calling the contestants, and he pretty said the show's name as "ThePriceIsRight" throughout the show. Even the audience was oddly quiet on several occasions, which hints at a bad warmup (which is hard to do, since the audience obviously wams itself up). But to remind everyone, it's just my two Lincolns.

Tyshaun

[jrjgames]

I was there for Jims first day, as he seemed like a nice guy and he did good for never doing it before...however...im not an impartial judge

John

[davemackey]

My wife, a casual TPIR viewer, wishes they'd stick to one announcer and be done with it. She says it's annoying to hear different voices at every turn. Can you imagine if, say, "The $20,000 Pyramid" had a different announcer every week?

(Hmm.... Bob Clayton... Steve O'Brien... Dick Heatherton... Fred Foy... John Causier... Alan Kalter...)

Maybe I better think of a better example.

[WorldClassRob]

Jim Thornton is a really nice guy... a good voice and one of the best traffic reporters in Los Angeles today.  

For those of you who are not familiar with Los Angeles radio, Jim is the morning traffic reporter on KNX-1070, which is owned by CBS, from 5 AM to 10 AM every Monday through Friday.  He's been doing traffic in L.A. now for some 15 years, including filling in for the legendary Bill Keene, the guru of Southern California traffic before Bill's retirement in the early-90s.

That is way too cool... I didn't realize he announced on TPIR!  

Rob

[Robert Hutchinson]

I thought he did fairly well. Only two complaints that I can think of off the top of my head: he overemphasized small prizes, and his voice was a little too "booming announcer guy" for TPIR. Guys (and gals?), y'all need to sound like you're in the same room with everyone else, even if there's no visual evidence.

Big plus--he actually played off of Bob's throws to him, unlike the guy from last week whose name I've already forgotten:

"We need another contestant--what can you do about that?"
". . . Bill Smith, come on down!"

"You folks at home can join the fun! Can't they?"
". . .  . . . if you'd like to see The Price Is Right in person . . ."

[cmjb13]

[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' date=\'Mar 27 2004, 02:33 PM\'] I thought he did fairly well. Only two complaints that I can think of off the top of my head: he overemphasized small prizes, and his voice was a little too "booming announcer guy" for TPIR. Guys (and gals?), y'all need to sound like you're in the same room with everyone else, even if there's no visual evidence.

Big plus--he actually played off of Bob's throws to him, unlike the guy from last week whose name I've already forgotten:

"We need another contestant--what can you do about that?"
". . . Bill Smith, come on down!"

"You folks at home can join the fun! Can't they?"
". . .  . . . if you'd like to see The Price Is Right in person . . ." [/quote]
 That would be Don Bishop.

I think Don & Rich Fields are really good.

Your mileage may vary.

[ChuckNet]

Big plus--he actually played off of Bob's throws to him, unlike the guy from last week whose name I've already forgotten

That was another thing I liked about Jim, as well...it always bugged me when Paul Boland, Daniel Rosen, et al. just stuck to the script and didn't use Bob's cues as improvisational intro points.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[Skynet74]

[quote name=\'jrjgames\' date=\'Mar 27 2004, 12:40 AM\'] I was there for Jims first day, as he seemed like a nice guy and he did good for never doing it before...however...im not an impartial judge

John [/quote]

   I unexpectedly saw you there. Always in the front row too arn't you? You must know someone in a high place. ;-)



John

[Mike Tennant]

[quote name=\'davemackey\' date=\'Mar 27 2004, 02:06 AM\']My wife, a casual TPIR viewer, wishes they'd stick to one announcer and be done with it. She says it's annoying to hear different voices at every turn. Can you imagine if, say, "The $20,000 Pyramid" had a different announcer every week?[/quote]
Yes, my sarcasm detector is working, but to continue with your point:  The difference between switching announcers on a program like $20K Pyramid and switching them on TPIR is that on Pyramid the announcer is essentially only heard at the beginning and the end, whereas on TPIR he is heard throughout the show, second only to Bob in on-air time.  Plus, working a show like TPIR requires practice and experience to get the rhythm, pacing, and "feel" right.  When the announcer keeps changing, it's hard for anyone to nail, so to speak, the format.  As even our esteemed Mr. West will tell you, his first day or two were a little rough.  Imagine what it's like for someone with little or no game show experience who only gets to do the show for a week.  The audience needs the familiarity of a voice heard throughout the show, and the announcer needs the constant experience to improve and refine his performance--not to mention build some rapport with Bob.