Author Topic: Hosts who fit their show perfectly (Read 10512 times)

tyshaun1 · « **on:** October 11, 2004, 04:26:16 PM »

IYO, of course, what hosts helped make their shows last longer and work better?

Here are mine:
Jim Perry and Card Sharks: If you're watching the show right now, it's obvious Jim is literally carrying the show. He's taking the slow-paced, drab "Higher!/Lower!" card game and giving it a sense of excitement, as well as making it interesting.

Peter Tomarken and PYL: Let's face it, after the first 1st year, the Whammy's charm was fading fast. Peter knew to up the silliness factor, and the show seemed to follow in not taking itself seriously. And that's what helped the show acheive its "guilty pleasure" status.

Any others?
Tyshaun

Dbacksfan12 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 11, 2004, 04:31:21 PM »

[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Oct 11 2004, 03:26 PM\']IYO, of course, what hosts helped make their shows last longer and work better?

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You mentioned Jim Perry's stint on Card Sharks; I felt he fit the bill on "Sale of the Century" quite nicely as well. He was able to build the same drama and suspense while playing a mini game, such as "Instant Cash".

SamJ93 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 11, 2004, 04:42:29 PM »

Wheel of Fortune is definitely the first one that comes to mind. Both Chuck and Pat brought/bring a dry, everyman, almost self-deprecating quality to the show that makes the simple gameplay that much more interesting to watch. In fact, IMHO, Pat's hosting is really the lone bright spot right now on the otherwise bloated and overblown show.

--Sam

TimK2003 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 11, 2004, 04:43:31 PM »

Geoff Edwards = Treasure Hunt

Geoff's facial expressions and his vocal inflections were perfect for that show. I can not think of any other game show host of the 70's or 80's that could make that show run as great as Geoff made it.

Dick Martin = The Cheap Show

I could never see Dicky Bird hosting any show that could be listed in the "mo' money syndrome" category.

Chuck Barris = The Gong Show

'nuff said.

Rip Taylor = $1.98 Beauty Show

Ditto.

Mike Tennant · « **Reply #4 on:** October 11, 2004, 04:49:44 PM »

I think almost any host with a long-running show probably falls into this category. For example:

Bob Barker--ToC, TPIR (This is especially true given the number of others who have attempted to host other versions of both shows over the years only to see their ratings tank.)
Peter Marshall--HS
Richard Dawson--FF
Gene Rayburn--MG, especially MG '7x
Monty Hall--LMAD

. . . and so on.

clemon79 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 11, 2004, 04:59:06 PM »

Without question, the Pyramid games hosted by one Richard Wagstaff Clark (yeah, I looked it up) have to fit this bill. Only Bill Cullen came close to capturing the same feeling that Dick gave to this show, and I can't think of ANYONE who could have stepped in and done a better job.

(And I can think of few other shows that would have been improved by replacing their host with Dick Clark. The two were simply made for each other.)

(Interesting tidbit I found when I was looking up the name: when Dick and his wife Kari were married in 1977, the ceremony was performed by the father of....John Davidson, who would of course succeed him on the $100,000 show. Coincidence?

Winkfan · « **Reply #6 on:** October 11, 2004, 05:52:00 PM »

Some other examples:

Jack Barry on The Joker's Wild
Bud Collyer on Beat the Clock
Bert Convy on Tattletales
Wayne Cox on Talkabout
Bill Cullen on The Price is Right (1956-65)
George DeWitt on Name That Tune (1955-59)
Al DuBois on Bumper Stumpers
Bob Eubanks on The Newlywed Game
Pat Finn on Shop Til You Drop
Art James on The Who, What or Where Game
Tom Kennedy on You Don't Say or Split Second
Jim Lange on The Dating Game
Robert Q. Lewis on The Name's the Same
Hal March on The $64,000 Question
Wink Martindale on Gambit or Tic Tac Dough
Groucho Marx You Bet Your Life
Jack Narz on Now You See it (1974-75)
Regis Philbin on WWTBaM
David Ruprecht on Supermarket Sweep
Marc Summers on Double Dare

Cordially,
Tammy Warner--the 'Ruta Lee of the Big Board!'

BrandonFG · « **Reply #7 on:** October 11, 2004, 06:22:04 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Oct 11 2004, 03:59 PM\'](Interesting tidbit I found when I was looking up the name: when Dick and his wife Kari were married in 1977, the ceremony was performed by the father of....John Davidson, who would of course succeed him on the $100,000 show. Coincidence?

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No, no, that's definitely irony. ;-)

TimK2003 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 11, 2004, 06:32:12 PM »

Hosts who fit their show perfectly, Show/Host= Peanut Butter & Jelly

Of course, the #1, nth, infinity answer would be....

<DING>

Ben Stein for Win Ben Stein's Money

And of course, Jimmy Kimmel would be the Peanut Butter to Ben's Jelly!!!

Don Howard · « **Reply #9 on:** October 11, 2004, 10:42:13 PM »

Add to the foregoing:
Regis Philbin on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
For the syndicated version, Meredith is good, but not quite peanut butter and jelly to the program.
She's more like tuna fish (don't even say it!).
Also, Chuck Woolery on Scrabble

The Ol' Guy · « **Reply #10 on:** October 11, 2004, 10:56:35 PM »

Allen Ludden - Password
Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life
Bill Cullen - The Price Is Right
John Daly - What's My Line?
Art Fleming - Jeopardy
Bill Rafferty - Every Second Counts
Dick Clark - Pyramid
Peter Tomarken - PYL
Gene Rayburn - Match Game
actually, Cullen fit so well with several of his shows - Blockbusters, Eye Guess, Chain Reaction, and even Three On A Match - his personality drove the show.

tyshaun1 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 11, 2004, 11:10:09 PM »

The Cullen point brings up what I meant about the question. What hosts' personality or style pretty much drove the show? Cullen and Blockbusters fit together perfectly and the show was more succesful than it should've been, IMO (witness Rafferty and BB '87), Cullen and Hot Potato, not so much. Although it can be argued that Hot Potato and anyone wouldn't have worked.

Tyshaun

The Ol' Guy · « **Reply #12 on:** October 11, 2004, 11:38:45 PM »

Tyshaun, you bring up an interesting side question - who could have been either the right or a better host on a particular show? Hot Potato is a challenging example. Considering what he had to work with, Cullen wasn't bad. Jim Peck - maybe, but what about Jim McKrell? Has to be a control guy with a little warmth, yet not take the show too seriously. Anyone flashy, like Wink, would have drawn away from the show. Who would you guys (or gals) pick?

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #13 on:** October 12, 2004, 09:32:50 AM »

Quote

Geoff Edwards = Treasure Hunt

Geoff's facial expressions and his vocal inflections were perfect for that show. I can not think of any other game show host of the 70's or 80's that could make that show run as great as Geoff made it.

I always liked Geoff's sense of humor. I remember one show where one of the contestants was pregnant. He asked her when her baby was due, after she answered, he said "in some of our cities you've already had your baby!!"

Neumms · « **Reply #14 on:** October 12, 2004, 04:08:20 PM »

[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Oct 11 2004, 10:10 PM\']The Cullen point brings up what I meant about the question. What hosts' personality or style pretty much drove the show? Cullen and Blockbusters fit together perfectly and the show was more succesful than it should've been, IMO (witness Rafferty and BB '87), Cullen and Hot Potato, not so much. Although it can be argued that Hot Potato and anyone wouldn't have worked.

Tyshaun

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What a great point about "Blockbusters." On "Chain Reaction," "Hot Potato" and others, Bill made a lousy show a little less lousy. Here, Bill made a decent show great. It helped, too, how they built the set around him.

Rayburn and "Match Game"--as Gene has said, there's not much of a game there. In the latter years, Gene wasn't as crazy, and maybe that more than anything caused the show's end.

"Family Feud" wouldn't have been what it was (and is) without Dawson. His ability to project warmth while at the same time poke fun at a stupid answer made it tick. With Jack Narz, FF would have been more like "Hot Potato."