New SB Interview Online

[CBSJokersWildFan]

http://www.tvgameshows.net/thommckee.htm

[cmjb13]

And one photo was submitted by our own Tammy Warner.

[melman1]

<< \"Thom McKee---a name which continues to send chills through game show enthusiasts of the late 1970s.\" >>

<< \"Thom, you are unquestionably the most requested interview subject we have ever had among contestants and it's great to finally visit with you.\" >>

I watched my fair share of game shows in the 1970's.  By no means am I an expert, but I read this board and others from time to time.

I don't remember this guy, and have never seen any discussions about him.  Does Mr. Professor's notion of \"importance\" differ from reality yet again?

Does he post here?  I get the impression that he does not, although this is where most of his readers hang out.

How could you write an article like this and fail to mention when McKee had his run?  All I see is \"9 weeks\" and \"48 opponents\"... but no dates, not even the year.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'melman1\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 08:29 AM\'] << "Thom McKee---a name which continues to send chills through game show enthusiasts of the late 1970s." >>



I watched my fair share of game shows in the 1970's.  By no means am I an expert, but I read this board and others from time to time.

I don't remember this guy, and have never seen any discussions about him.  Does Mr. Professor's notion of "importance" differ from reality yet again?

Does he post here?  I get the impression that he does not, although this is where most of his readers hang out.

 [/quote]
 Thom McKee has been discussed back in the old digs, most recently of note is when GSN ran his last two TTD episodes last Thanksgiving during the Feast of Favorites. He is pretty well remembered among the diehard GS fans, one of the two best remembered contestants from 80s game shows(the other being Michael Larsen)

Steve used to post in ATGS back in 1996 or 1997, but does not post on this board(not sure whether he's signed up for this board, but I tend to think he hasn't)

As for Steve not posting the year of Thom's reign, 1980, outright, perhaps he should have, though inferences can be drawn as McKee remembers the WHo Shot JR episode of Dallas airing around the time of Mckee's defeat.

[Timsterino]

Thom McKee is the most well known contestant from \"Tic Tac Dough\". His long reign as champion was a much talked about one in the media at the time. I thought the interview was interesting.

Tim :-)

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Timsterino\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 08:40 AM\'] Thom McKee is the most well known contestant from "Tic Tac Dough". His long reign as champion was a much talked about one in the media at the time. I thought the interview was interesting.
 [/quote]
 Would his celebrity status be able to compare to that of John Carpenter? Thom says his reign was during the \"Who Shot J.R.\" summer, and he got lots of media hype...

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 02:33 PM\'] [quote name=\'Timsterino\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 08:40 AM\'] Thom McKee is the most well known contestant from "Tic Tac Dough". His long reign as champion was a much talked about one in the media at the time. I thought the interview was interesting.
 [/quote]
Would his celebrity status be able to compare to that of John Carpenter? Thom says his reign was during the "Who Shot J.R." summer, and he got lots of media hype... [/quote]
 While there were differences, yes, his \"fame\" was pretty consistant with what Carpenter got from WWTBAM.  A few talk show appearances, lots of print interviews, and even an appearance a few years later as the central subject on TTTT (Ward).  He was a clean-cut, uniform-wearing, handsome good-guy.  Had this been the TTD of the fifties, he's the sort of person they would have rigged to win!

It wouldn't surprise me that he'd be Steve's most requested contestant interview.  As Zach said, he'd be alongside Larsen as the best-known contestants to come out of that era.  In their early days, GSN even did a tribute marathon featuring twelve of his episodes.  There's a website dedicated to it:
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/44...9/thommckee.htm

[PeterMarshallFan]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 10:09 AM\'] [quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 02:33 PM\'] [quote name=\'Timsterino\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 08:40 AM\'] Thom McKee is the most well known contestant from \"Tic Tac Dough\". His long reign as champion was a much talked about one in the media at the time. I thought the interview was interesting.
 [/quote]
Would his celebrity status be able to compare to that of John Carpenter? Thom says his reign was during the \"Who Shot J.R.\" summer, and he got lots of media hype... [/quote]
While there were differences, yes, his \"fame\" was pretty consistant with what Carpenter got from WWTBAM.  A few talk show appearances, lots of print interviews, and even an appearance a few years later as the central subject on TTTT (Ward).  He was a clean-cut, uniform-wearing, handsome good-guy.  Had this been the TTD of the fifties, he's the sort of person they would have rigged to win!

It wouldn't surprise me that he'd be Steve's most requested contestant interview.  As Zach said, he'd be alongside Larsen as the best-known contestants to come out of that era.  In their early days, GSN even did a tribute marathon featuring twelve of his episodes.  There's a website dedicated to it:
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/44...9/thommckee.htm [/quote]

Wasn't his appearance on Ward's TTTT the second ep of the series from fall 1980? Couldn't have been a couple *years* later....maybe a few months. If I'm right, the ep aired September 9th 1980.

[zachhoran]

If his TTTT appearance aired in September 1980, then his TTD stint was still airing in first run at the time. INteresting that one show would promote a contestant on another syndicated show from another packager, in some cases up against each other (TTTT80 aired on WCAU at 7PM in Philly, as TTD did on WPVI at the time)

[ChuckNet]

Wasn't his appearance on Ward's TTTT the second ep of the series from fall 1980? Couldn't have been a couple *years* later....maybe a few months. If I'm right, the ep aired September 9th 1980.

His TTTT appearance actually aired a coupla mos into the series, although I suspect the then-standard process of \"bicycling\" syndie shows may have made it the first aired week in your area.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious \"Chuckie Baby\")

[PeterMarshallFan]

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 10:38 AM\']

Wasn't his appearance on Ward's TTTT the second ep of the series from fall 1980? Couldn't have been a couple *years* later....maybe a few months. If I'm right, the ep aired September 9th 1980.

His TTTT appearance actually aired a coupla mos into the series, although I suspect the then-standard process of "bicycling" syndie shows may have made it the first aired week in your area.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby") [/quote]
 That must have been it. I remember seeing him and thinking \"How could they not recognize him?!\" That was one of only two times I've ever disqualified myself [the other being when Larry King was on]

[drmusic_99]

One of the game show books floating around out there has a picture of McKee with Wink, and they have the DOPIEST looks on their faces. That's what sprung into mind when I heard the name.

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'PeterMarshallFan\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 10:54 AM\'] That must have been it. I remember seeing him and thinking "How could they not recognize him?!" That was one of only two times I've ever disqualified myself [the other being when Larry King was on] [/quote]
 I didn't see McKee's game, but I did see King's and would have recused myself if I were on the panel.  Ditto for John McLaughlin, but Tony LaRussa (manager of the Cardinals, then manager of the White Sox) fooled me.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'drmusic_99\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 11:14 AM\']One of the game show books floating around out there has a picture of McKee with Wink, and they have the DOPIEST looks on their faces. That's what sprung into mind when I heard the name. [/quote]
With apologies to Mike Klauss :-)

http://tv-gameshows.com/gallery/ttd6a.jpg

Would this be the pic? I believe it was in Come On Down.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'PeterMarshallFan\' date=\'Aug 4 2003, 08:54 AM\'] That was one of only two times I've ever disqualified myself [the other being when Larry King was on] [/quote]
 The thing with Larry King, though, is that you had the benefit of hindsight. NOBODY had ANY idea who he was in 1980. I would bet if we took a walk through the historical archives of that show, we'd find quite a few other people you'd recognize. Hell, wasn't Orville Redenbacher on WML as a regular non-blindfold contestant in the JCD days? Could they have gotten away with that under Larry Blyden? No way.