On Wally Brunner, Jerry Orbach and Jack Cassidy

[The Pyramids]

In an online interview once, Bob Barker spoke of the difficulty of when a new host replaces someone well known. He was specifically referring to Doug Davidson. Bob B. said a new person can not  and should not  act like his predecessor.

 I thought of this when I saw host Wally Brunner clearly try to be like John Daily, esp. in his opening remarks. I did not think it fit well. I noticed the same thing last year when GSN ran the Rodney Dangefield show.

Also it was fun seeing young Jerry Orbach. I imagined seeing young married Officer Lennie Brisoce in 1970's New York.

Finally panelist Jack Cassidy sure was full of himself. He was the one Peter Marshall called 'the most egotistical square' in his book. He went on to mention how Cassidy cut a wide swath through the women of New York.

[MyCapableAssistant]

THIS IS MY LAST ATTEMPT AT A RESPONSE!!

>>>In an online interview once, Bob Barker spoke of the difficulty of when a new host replaces someone well known. He was specifically referring to Doug Davidson. Bob B. said a new person can not and should not act like his predecessor.

I thought of this when I saw host Wally Brunner clearly try to be like John Daily, esp. in his opening remarks. I did not think it fit well. >>>

I thought the very same thing!

>>> Finally panelist Jack Cassidy ... <<<

I thought it was awfully bizarre how he entered the stage after he was introduced; given how he was found the other year.  Eeery.

[whewfan]

[
I thought of this when I saw host Wally Brunner clearly try to be like John Daily, esp. in his opening remarks. I did not think it fit well. >>>

Bennett Cerf made that sort of observation when he was on the show. After Wally gave a very "Daly-esque" long winded answer, Bennett replied "You're just as bad as John Daly!" Larry Blyden, on the other hand, was much more laid back. At first, Blyden needed a sheet of notes to follow what was going on, but as he got the hang of it, he was fine.

>>> Finally panelist Jack Cassidy ... <<<

It's interesting that someone as egotistical as Jack could be booked on so many game shows as a panelist. Jack was on The Gong Show, Personality, Rhyme and Reason, WML of course, and his last appearance was on the short lived Stumpers, which aired after his death.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'whewfan\' date=\'Jan 8 2005, 04:22 PM\']It's interesting that someone as egotistical as Jack could be booked on so many game shows as a panelist. [/quote]Egos in show business are hardly unusual, and in Cassidy's case, at least part of it was just for show.  Much like Jack Benny's stinginess or Milton Berle's reputation for stealing material (to use two far more famous examples), Cassidy's reputation for an oversized ego was something he cultivated.  He knew full well the persona he was presenting to the public.

Make no mistake, he had a mean side to him.  David Cassidy (who does an eerie impression of his dad, BTW) tells all sorts of stories about his father's viciousness and vindictiveness.  Still, he could present himself as a dashing, clever guy with an ego as his one charming flaw, so naturally he was popular on the panel shows.

[Mike Tennant]

[quote name=\'PaulD\' date=\'Jan 8 2005, 11:45 AM\']Finally panelist Jack Cassidy sure was full of himself.

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Cassidy's egotistical personality was, in fact, the model for Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  Cassidy was approached for the role but turned it down (see here), giving Ted Knight his big break.  (Being Ted Baxter certainly beats solemnly intoning "And Aquaman [spoken with a leading A as in cat] summons his undersea friends . . ." for the 78th time.)

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Mike Tennant\' date=\'Jan 10 2005, 03:41 PM\']Cassidy's egotistical personality was, in fact, the model for Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  Cassidy was approached for the role but turned it down (see here), giving Ted Knight his big break.  [/quote]
Cool, I had never heard that before.  Since Cassidy almost certainly wouldn't have been willing to play the buffoon, there might have been an entirely different dynamic to the show.

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jan 10 2005, 02:53 PM\'][quote name=\'Mike Tennant\' date=\'Jan 10 2005, 03:41 PM\']Cassidy's egotistical personality was, in fact, the model for Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  Cassidy was approached for the role but turned it down (see here), giving Ted Knight his big break.  [/quote]
Cool, I had never heard that before.  Since Cassidy almost certainly wouldn't have been willing to play the buffoon, there might have been an entirely different dynamic to the show.

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Don't know if you knew this or not, but in one MTM episode, Jack Cassidy had a guest role as Ted Baxter's brother.