Howard Felsher

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Apr 25 2004, 10:52 PM\'] Any producer would have trouble getting along with Dawson and Ludden, IMO. You might say they are/were equal opportunity pricks. It's more coincidental than anything that Howard got to work with these two. [/quote]
 Chris, how was Ludden a prick? Not to have you slander the guy, but what kinds of things would he do?

[adamjk]

Felscher was "barred" from the set sometime in '83. He was made executive producer, and he would not need to be present on the set. Cathy Hugart Dawson, Richard's daughter in law, was made producer.

I heard on the THS, that he was barred in 81.

[Card Shark]

[quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Apr 26 2004, 03:09 PM\']

Felscher was "barred" from the set sometime in '83. He was made executive producer, and he would not need to be present on the set. Cathy Hugart Dawson, Richard's daughter in law, was made producer.

I heard on the THS, that he was barred in 81. [/quote]
 A good estimation, but who knows? Don't take everything that is reported in a E!THS at face value, especially when it comes to game shows.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Card Shark\' date=\'Apr 27 2004, 06:25 AM\'] [quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Apr 26 2004, 03:09 PM\']

Felscher was "barred" from the set sometime in '83. He was made executive producer, and he would not need to be present on the set. Cathy Hugart Dawson, Richard's daughter in law, was made producer.

I heard on the THS, that he was barred in 81. [/quote]
A good estimation, but who knows? Don't take everything that is reported in a E!THS at face value, especially when it comes to game shows. [/quote]
 Kinda like how their 50% of the TPiR THS was devoted to Janice's missing husband.

[calliaume]

[quote name=\'Card Shark\' date=\'Apr 27 2004, 06:25 AM\'] A good estimation, but who knows? Don't take everything that is reported in a E!THS at face value, especially when it comes to game shows. [/quote]
 THS (E! True Hollywood Story, for those who dislike acronyms) is a fairly shoddy enterprise.  Most of the "news" is already common knowledge, and if they're able to get a famous face or two to jazz up the story, so much the better.  And someone who has a terrible memory can go on there and leave misleading impressions.

I remember getting an e-mail from Laura Chambers not long after the Ray Combs show aired (she appeared on it) -- she was not impressed.

[CaseyAbell]

Well, yeah, E! ain't exactly the most reliable source. But Felsher himself used most of his time on the FF show to badmouth Dawson, Combs, Louie, and Dawson's daughter. Really, the only exception was when he expressed sadness over Combs' suicide.

Okay, maybe they edited his interviews for just the juicier bits. But I didn't notice anybody holding a gun to Felsher's head as he dumped on all these people. The blunt fact is that he came off looking at least as obnoxious and unlikeable as he tried to make his targets look.

This may be totally unfair and Howard Felsher may be a saint among men. But if you do a lot of trash talk on teevee interviews, it's hard to look sweet and kind.

[chris319]

[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Apr 28 2004, 05:46 AM\'] Well, yeah, E! ain't exactly the most reliable source. But Felsher himself used most of his time on the FF show to badmouth Dawson, Combs, Louie, and Dawson's daughter. Really, the only exception was when he expressed sadness over Combs' suicide.

Okay, maybe they edited his interviews for just the juicier bits. But I didn't notice anybody holding a gun to Felsher's head as he dumped on all these people. The blunt fact is that he came off looking at least as obnoxious and unlikeable as he tried to make his targets look.

This may be totally unfair and Howard Felsher may be a saint among men. But if you do a lot of trash talk on teevee interviews, it's hard to look sweet and kind. [/quote]
Consider these points:

1. They're not going to ask questions which elicit fluff, they're going to ask questions which elicit dirt/scandal/gossip. Howard was responding to the questions they were asking and the sound bites they used were the ones containing dirt/scandal/gossip.

2. He was being candid. He wasn't sugar-coating his answers or trying to protect anyone's reputation the way an agent, manager or P.R. person might. He had nothing to lose by giving honest answers.

3. He was discussing two emcees who had major "issues" and one he hadn't worked with but simply didn't like.

4. This is a man with decades of experience going all the way back to the '50s quiz scandal. He knows whereof he speaks.

[CaseyAbell]

And this is also a man who came off looking like a world-class pain in the butt. As for how "candid" he was, some of his targets might beg to differ. E! actually did offer a chance to Dawson's daughter to respond to Felsher's attack. Combs, of course, was sadly unavailable for comment, and Dawson has become a semi-recluse with regard to media interviews. Louie didn't appear to have been informed of Felsher's comments.

As for the actual merits of Felsher's complaints, I would say his swipe at Dawson's daughter was completely undeserved, and I was happy to see her reply in a dignified and professional way. His harsh opinions of the three hosts might have been somewhat justified, though I'm sure the hosts would have responded with comments on Felsher's own unappealing personal style.

[tyshaun1]

[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Apr 30 2004, 07:09 AM\'] And this is also a man who came off looking like a world-class pain in the butt. As for how "candid" he was, some of his targets might beg to differ. E! actually did offer a chance to Dawson's daughter to respond to Felsher's attacks. Combs, of course, was sadly unavailable for comment, and Dawson has become a semi-recluse with regard to media interviews. Louie didn't appear to have been informed of Felsher's attacks.

As for the actual merits of Felsher's complaints, I would say his swipe at Dawson's daughter was completely undeserved, and I was happy to see her reply in a dignified and professional way. His harsh opinions of the three hosts might have been somewhat justified, though I'm sure the hosts would have responded with comments on Felsher's own unappealing personal style. [/quote]
 While I do agree that they made Felsher out to be a jackass, I don't agree with the assessment that he somehow bashed Dawson's daughter-in-law. I think he was referencing the fact that when he left the show, the ratings finally went in the toilet. I think that was more of a shot at Dawson than Cathy, since it was his "decision" to remove Felsher from the show, not Cathy Dawson's.
The show lasted 18 months without Felsher as producer, whereas it top-rated for 7 years with him. Plus I get the impression that if you were to talk to any person involved directly with the production of a show, some ego's going to come out.

Tyshaun

[CaseyAbell]

IIRC, Felsher commented that the decision to install Dawson's daughter as an exec on the show was a "disaster." E! then cut to the aformentioned daughter pointing out her Emmy nominations. She did not attack Felsher personally.

Wouldn't have minded more such give-and-take when Felsher slammed Dawson or Louie. But Dawson clearly didn't grant an interview to the producers of the show, and Louie didn't seem to be aware that Felsher had ripped him for "not giving a damn" about the contestants.

Again, Felsher's complaints may have had some merit. But it would have been nice to see more responses from his targets. And, to put it gently, Felsher did not come off as a particularly easy guy to work with himself.

[David Lawrence]

[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Apr 30 2004, 09:03 AM\']Again, Felsher's complaints may have had some merit. But it would have been nice to see more responses from his targets. And, to put it gently, Felsher did not come off as a particularly easy guy to work with himself.[/quote]
I agree. Even if I can understand Howards's point of view (especially in his beef with Dawson, since Dawson occasionally criticized Felsher on the air), he loses credibility when he starts in on the same tirade regarding Combs and even Anderson, whom he'd never even worked with. It became apparent to me at that point that it's less about any one host's issues or demons and more about Felsher's issues. The legitimate issues have less impact as Felsher comes across as a crank upset that FF may have been more "The Richard Dawson Show" or "The Ray Combs Show", as opposed to "The Howard Felsher Show".

Still, Howard's snarking about Cathy's leadership followed by the information about Cathy's award nominations was humorous. And it could have been worse...Howard could have spent his entire interview discussing the misadventures of Janice Pennington's husband.

[chris319]

It became apparent to me at that point that it's less about any one host's issues or demons and more about Felsher's issues. The legitimate issues have less impact as Felsher comes across as a crank upset that FF may have been more "The Richard Dawson Show" or "The Ray Combs Show", as opposed to "The Howard Felsher Show".

As producer, Howard was responsible for the operation of the show and these two trampled on his authority in that regard. Richard's disregard for bringing the show in on time cost them big time in terms of added studio and edit time. Howard's personality could be described as "abrasive" but Dawson insisted that the producer of Match Game, Ira Skutch, be banned from the studio, and Ira is positively mild-mannered.

[adamjk]

Did Dawson do this around the time he began not participating so to speak, on Match Game?

[Steve Gavazzi]

[quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Apr 30 2004, 04:27 PM\'] Did Dawson do this around the time he began not participating so to speak, on Match Game? [/quote]
 If he had Howard booted from the set in '80, he'd already been gone from Match Game for two years.

[adamjk]

I was speaking of when Ira got banned from the Match Game set.