Would it have worked?

[edholland83]

before posting yesterday, it had been a while since I last posted, so I felt I had to make the second most recent post, interesting and to get the view of the members of the board. Anyway, here's my question, other than the given shows that they are known for do you think that this list of hosts would have been better away from the formats they worked with? If I confused anyone again, I was saying would these hosts have fit on other shows?

Gene Rayburn - TPIR
Allen Ludden - Jeopardy
Bill Cullen - Match Game
Bob Barker - Beat the Clock
Peter Marshall - Password
Pat Sajak - Concentration
Alex Trebek - College Bowl
Bob Eubanks -  Hollywood Squares
Chuck Woolery - Blockbusters

I'll post back with my thoughts later, i'm just interested in the opinions of everyone else

[cmjb13]

Gene Rayburn - TPIR
I think it might have worked but wouldn't have lasted very long

Allen Ludden - Jeopardy
I think the format would be too structured for him

Bill Cullen - Match Game
Wouldn't have been as much fun with Bill (sorry Matt!)

Bob Barker - Beat the Clock
Based on the success of TOC, I say yes

Peter Marshall - Password
Could work

Pat Sajak - Concentration
Never saw the original, but if it was CC, possibly

Alex Trebek - College Bowl
Never saw it. Can't comment

Bob Eubanks - Hollywood Squares
No

Chuck Woolery - Blockbusters
No

[PeterMarshallFan]

Marshall was actually on the list to replace Ludden on P+, so it's not that far-fetched.

[SplitSecond]

Gene Rayburn - TPIR
Rayburn's style was to act like he was holding court amongst a bunch of loons, which usually prompted the contestants, panelists, etc., to act like loons to trigger a mock brow-beating from him.  Look at how unruly everyone was with his guest-host appearance on Tattletales, and from there, project what you think the average Price audience would do with Gene.  That would be too annoying for a 31-year stretch.

Allen Ludden - Jeopardy
Well, he did do College Bowl...

Bill Cullen - Match Game
Given how uncomfortable Bill seemed with Celebrity Hot Potato vs. Hot Potato, I don't know that I would want to watch him at the helm of an intentionally rowdy show like Match Game.  I also think that there would be an added layer of sterility with having to have the host behind a podium, or at least be stationary.

Bob Barker - Beat the Clock
Bob's forte is audience participation, so I would say this would be the best match so far...

Peter Marshall - Password
I don't know if this would have worked (just call it a hunch), but he would certainly have been better for Super Password than Bert Convy.  Maybe he could have brought in Jerry Shaw to direct, rather than (from accounts I've heard) less-than-competent George Choderker.

Pat Sajak - Concentration
If I remember correctly, someone once called Concentration the \"golf of game shows\".  Combine it with Pat's current tendency to phone in his Wheel appearances, and I think this might be a combination guaranteed to make the audience's collective head implode.

Alex Trebek - College Bowl
Well, Alex does moderate the National Geography Bee...

Bob Eubanks - Hollywood Squares
I don't quite remember Bob's performance on All-Star Secrets, so I'm just going on Newlywed Game and Card Sharks here... it would be interesting to see, to say the least.  Bob's able to play the straight man, but in a much different way than Peter Marshall or Tom Bergeron.  His straight man is much more mean-spirited and seems to operate from a \"let's let them hang themselves with their own words\" standpoint.  I don't know if that would work in an environment where the principal players (on Squares, the stars) are supposed to appear both funny *and* smart.

Chuck Woolery - Blockbusters
Watch an episode of Lingo and tell me if you'd want that man reading questions to you against a 45- or 60-second clock.

[Adam Nedeff]

Gene Rayburn - TPIR

Nope. Too structured for Gene's tastes.

Allen Ludden - Jeopardy

Definitely. Allen could have added a certain feeling of class to the proceedings.


Bill Cullen - Match Game

60s Match Game, maybe, 70s Match Game, absolutely not. Bill seems more comfortable when he's in absolute control of his surroundings, while Gene made the show work by delibrately letting things get out of hand now and then.

Bob Barker - Beat the Clock

Close enough to \"Truth or Consequences\" for Bob to make it work. I could see it happening.

Peter Marshall - Password

Probably. Not to undermine Allen Ludden or anyone else who hosted, but \"Password\" seems a fairly simple game to host. Virtually anybody would work, but show would certainly have a different \"feel\" to it.

Pat Sajak - Concentration

See above.

Alex Trebek - College Bowl

Actually, I'm surprised he HASN'T. Why Pat Sajak was chosen for the '80s version I don't know/

Bob Eubanks - Hollywood Squares

Bob would be too relaxed, and the show would take on the same problems Davidson's version had (i.e. Bob wouldn't tell the celebs to shut the hell up when they needed to.)

Chuck Woolery - Blockbusters

Hmmm....nah. Q&A doesn't seem like Chuck's forte.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Adam Nedeff\' date=\'Aug 10 2003, 04:39 PM\'][Alex Trebek - College Bowl

Actually, I'm surprised he HASN'T. Why Pat Sajak was chosen for the '80s version I don't know/[/quote]
Or in the case of the 1987 Disney Channel version (which was the national College Bowl tournament for that year), why did they hire Dick Cavett, the most ill-at-ease game show host in recent history?  Jim McKrell announced that show and was probably gritting his teeth more than once during those taping sessions in Orlando.

[trainman]

[quote name=\'edholland83\' date=\'Aug 10 2003, 10:41 AM\'] Allen Ludden - Jeopardy [/quote]
 \"Here's the Final Jeopardy! answer for you, and for you, and for you at home.\"

[Esoteric Eric]

On a scale of zero (would fare very poorly) to ten (would fare excellent):

Gene Rayburn - TPIR
Cullen version: 3.  Barker version: 8.
The looser structure of the CBS remake would have worked to Gene's advantage.  Unlike earlier respondents, I believe Gene was able to exert as much control as necessary, and that he was careful not to control a situation too much.

Allen Ludden - Jeopardy!: 10.
Especially in the way I believe he would have challenged the home audience with FJ!, as trainman pointed out; yes, Alex does it to some extent (and so did Art Fleming,) but Allen might have done it better.  Allen never forgot that, while the outcome of the game is important to the contestants, the chief reason for any game show's existence is to entertain the viewers.

Bill Cullen - Match Game
NBC version: 9.  CBS version: 5.
EoTVG$2 doesn't list any sub hosts for MG '62 - '69, but I'd probably pass a polygraph test swearing that Bill filled in for him at least once.  (Proof? -shrug- Ain't got any.) Of course, Bill's physical limitation would have altered MG '73 - '82's set, and perhaps the interaction with the celebs.

Bob Barker - Beat the Clock
Before he stopped dyeing his hair: 8. Silver Fox Bob: 4.
Keep in mind that Bob would have to explain DIFFERENT stunts every day, with hardly any repetition at all.  One of the chief reasons he's still going strong at 80 is that he could do most of TPIR in his sleep.
 
Peter Marshall - Password: 8.
Pat Sajak - Concentration: 9.

I agree with Adam Nedeff that \"virtually anybody would work\" as hosts for these shows.  Sajak's experience with emceeing a puzzle-solving show wouldn't hurt.

Alex Trebek - College Bowl: 10.
After 19 years of J!, plus the Geography Bee, etc., College Bowl would be a piece of cake.

Bob Eubanks - Hollywood Squares: 6
My concern re: Bob's hosting style would be that he'd get started on a four-minute interview riff with Charo based on the opening phrase of the question. (BE (agog): \"Really?!? THEN what happened?\")  I've seen him do this on every show he's done, including CS '86.

Chuck Woolery - Blockbusters: 4 (7 if new, untimed bonus round)
The main game's questions are somewhat remeniscent of Greed's Terminators, but the show would need a different bonus round.  (Heck, the Gold Run / Rush was too easy, anyway.)

Esoteric Eric, throwing his hat (a baseball cap from the replica of Stonehenge in Maryhill, WA) into the ring as the next host of Concentration

[Clay Zambo]

Cullen on Match Game would have at very least required a rethinking of the set, since he nearly always sat for his hosting duties; that alone would seem to have made the proceedings more sedate--and, thus, less the game we've come to know and/or love.

Sajak on Concentration--why not?  From \"No, there are no Rs in the puzzle,\" to \"No match\" doesn't seem that much of a stretch.

Marshall Password would have been dandy, though I'm betting there'd be more playfulness and less gameplay.

[ChuckNet]

Cullen on Match Game would have at very least required a rethinking of the set, since he nearly always sat for his hosting duties; that alone would seem to have made the proceedings more sedate--and, thus, less the game we've come to know and/or love.

The same thing happened when Bert Convy switched hosting jobs w/Gene Rayburn on MG '7X for a wk (apparently there's clearance issues, since it never aired on GSN). Bert hardly moved from that blue dot on the carpet, claiming he didn't wanna turn his back to the camera (as an actor, I guess it was understandable).

As for Eubanks on HS, I'd have to say no...his work on Rhyme & Reason and All-Star Secrets showed that he was ill at ease playing straight man to a buncha crazy celebs.

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

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Aug 12 2003, 01:49 PM\']Bert hardly moved from that blue dot on the carpet, claiming he didn't wanna turn his back to the camera (as an actor, I guess it was understandable).
[/quote]
Wasn't this also the same reason Larry Blyden always did that weird side-step on WML, considering HIS acting background?