The Game Show Forum

The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Twentington on July 28, 2012, 11:50:25 PM

Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Twentington on July 28, 2012, 11:50:25 PM
Guest announcers. They used to be fairly normal, especially in the days when one man would be announcing several shows. That said, it seems the concept has all but disappeared. If an announcer isn't available, just dub him in post.

Obviously, this would be far too big a hassle to do with TPIR given the huge amounts of copy on that show, so Rod got his share of fill-ins when he was sick; there were the on-air auditions after his death and Rich's firing; and I think Burton filled in once because Rich had laryngitis. Likewise, Wheel did on-air auditions after Charlie's death (although I doubt the 3 weeks Johnny Gilbert did were true "auditions" so much as a last-minute replacement).

But beyond those examples, has any other show in the past several years had a guest announcer?
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Jimmy Owen on July 29, 2012, 09:44:46 AM
Nope.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: BrandonFG on July 29, 2012, 11:24:37 AM
Keep in mind a lot of shows don't even use main announcers anymore. Some do out of tradition, but it's looking like an endangered species...
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Jimmy Owen on July 29, 2012, 12:14:35 PM
In a world where a guy with the nickname "Stuttering John" can be a network-level announcer, yeah, announcing is not that valued as an artform.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: clemon79 on July 29, 2012, 01:17:19 PM
In a world where a guy with the nickname "Stuttering John" can be a network-level announcer,
...and did a TON of voice training to get rid of said stutter before the fact, and in fact that stutter never once manifested itself during his tenure as Tonight Show announcer.

Way low blow. Unsurprising, considering the source, but utterly out of line.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Matt Ottinger on July 29, 2012, 01:26:26 PM
Since we seem to have expanded our discussion to beyond game shows, it might be worth pointing out that both Paul Shaffer and Alan Kalter skip shows that fall during Jewish holy days, requiring a guest announcer (and separate guest bandleader) to handle their duties.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Jimmy Owen on July 29, 2012, 01:46:07 PM
In a world where a guy with the nickname "Stuttering John" can be a network-level announcer,
...and did a TON of voice training to get rid of said stutter before the fact, and in fact that stutter never once manifested itself during his tenure as Tonight Show announcer.

Way low blow. Unsurprising, considering the source, but utterly out of line.
I'd rather have professional announcers selected for announcing jobs.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: clemon79 on July 29, 2012, 02:22:13 PM
I'd rather have professional announcers selected for announcing jobs.
Well, I'd rather you realized how inappropriate your comment was.

Guess neither one of us gets what we want, do we?
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: GrandGame1440 on July 29, 2012, 03:34:52 PM
Since we seem to have expanded our discussion to beyond game shows, it might be worth pointing out that both Paul Shaffer and Alan Kalter skip shows that fall during Jewish holy days, requiring a guest announcer (and separate guest bandleader) to handle their duties.
I didn't remember Alan being absent in recent years, did anyone we might have heard of fill-in?
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: JasonA1 on July 29, 2012, 03:44:17 PM
it might be worth pointing out that both Paul Shaffer and Alan Kalter skip shows that fall during Jewish holy days, requiring a guest announcer (and separate guest bandleader) to handle their duties.
Who fills in for Alan?

-Jason
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Matt Ottinger on July 29, 2012, 04:26:32 PM
Who fills in for Alan?
Usually a woman, but I don't know her name.  It's extremely rare.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: BrandonFG on July 29, 2012, 04:50:43 PM
Something else just hit me as to why a show may not use alternate announcers: in addition to everything being done in post, a lot of shows knock out their seasons over the summer or in a month or two, so it's not like Joey Fatone* has to worry about whether Chris Kirkpatrick can fill in for him this coming Tuesday, with Lance Bass announcing on Thursday.

I'd love to see more Johnny Olson or Charlie O'Donnell types, or hell, see Randy and Alan Kalter get more gigs, but I'm just happy that some game shows realize that announcers help set the mood just as well as a theme song. If the announcer has a set of pipes that brings an air of drama to the game and an extra dimension, then I'm fine. I'm not going to become a snob because they picked up a goofy shock jock sidekick or, in the current case of The Tonight Show, a voice talent who does work on Family Guy, among other shows.

*/Gotta admit, that was a left-field choice for Family Feud
//I really need to stop twiddling my thumbs and get into voiceovers
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: chris319 on July 29, 2012, 06:01:21 PM
What exactly were John's Melendez' qualifications for getting the Tonight show?
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: PYLdude on July 29, 2012, 06:10:29 PM
In a world where a guy with the nickname "Stuttering John" can be a network-level announcer,
...and did a TON of voice training to get rid of said stutter before the fact, and in fact that stutter never once manifested itself during his tenure as Tonight Show announcer.

Way low blow. Unsurprising, considering the source, but utterly out of line.
I'd rather have professional announcers selected for announcing jobs.

I'd rather have you post a whole lot less, but like Chris L. said.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: J.R. on July 29, 2012, 06:35:42 PM
In a world where a guy with the nickname "Stuttering John" can be a network-level announcer, yeah, announcing is not that valued as an artform.
You are truly a shameful individual.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Jimmy Owen on July 29, 2012, 06:51:05 PM
In a world where a guy with the nickname "Stuttering John" can be a network-level announcer, yeah, announcing is not that valued as an artform.
You are truly a shameful individual.
That's not nice, J.R.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: J.R. on July 29, 2012, 07:01:49 PM
That's not nice, J.R.
Neither are your stupid, immature, petulant, inflammatory, trollish excuse for "posts".

Do us all a favor and shut the fuck up.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Jimmy Owen on July 29, 2012, 07:15:37 PM
That's not nice, J.R.
Neither are your stupid, immature, petulant, inflammatory, trollish excuse for "posts".

Do us all a favor and shut the fuck up.
I have my opinions.  I am not shy about expressing them.  How you react to them is something that is within your power.  I don't try to supress discussion.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: BrandonFG on July 29, 2012, 07:20:50 PM
Stop, please, just stop. It's one thing to have an opinion. It's another thing when you go out of your way to disagree or be contrary. You can play innocent all you want, but you know you're guilty of baiting posters here with the occasional offensive statement, and Joe is not the first to notice it. You've got two people in this thread alone calling you out for your statement about Stuttering John.

Again, you have gone on record for defending the more uninformed posters, which is why you continue with posts like this one.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: PYLdude on July 29, 2012, 07:29:39 PM
That's not nice, J.R.
Neither are your stupid, immature, petulant, inflammatory, trollish excuse for "posts".

Do us all a favor and shut the fuck up.
I have my opinions.  I am not shy about expressing them.  How you react to them is something that is within your power.  I don't try to supress discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgT1qksYgxk (http://"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgT1qksYgxk")
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: chad1m on July 29, 2012, 07:31:36 PM
I have my opinions.
And they're now only the second set to appear on my "ignore" list since 2006.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Jimmy Owen on July 29, 2012, 07:32:13 PM
Messages recieved.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: PYLdude on July 29, 2012, 07:58:13 PM
Messages recieved.

Habits changed?
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: clemon79 on July 29, 2012, 08:05:13 PM
Habits changed?
Let it go, man. His actions going forward will determine that.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Twentington on July 29, 2012, 08:39:11 PM
What exactly were John's Melendez' qualifications for getting the Tonight show?

In a similar vein, what the hell were Joel Godard's qualifications on Conan 1.0? Godard was so damn shrill he made Rich Fields' shrieking "HERE IT CAAAAAMHS!!!" sound like Don Pardo in comparison.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: clemon79 on July 29, 2012, 08:50:15 PM
In a similar vein, what the hell were Joel Godard's qualifications on Conan 1.0?
Does six years under his belt as an NBC staff announcer meet your exacting specifications?
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: BrandonFG on July 29, 2012, 08:51:15 PM
What exactly were John's Melendez' qualifications for getting the Tonight show?

In a similar vein, what the hell were Joel Godard's qualifications on Conan 1.0? Godard was so damn shrill he made Rich Fields' shrieking "HERE IT CAAAAAMHS!!!" sound like Don Pardo in comparison.
His main qualification was being an NBC announcer in New York. As for his personality, I think the difference was that Godard was supposed to be intentionally over-the-top, for the zany quirkiness of the show. At times, he was almost parodying the exuberant late-night announcer.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: WarioBarker on July 29, 2012, 08:57:14 PM
and I think Burton filled in once because Rich had laryngitis.
He did -- December 22, 2006.

Likewise, Wheel did on-air auditions after Charlie's death (although I doubt the 3 weeks Johnny Gilbert did were true "auditions" so much as a last-minute replacement).
Johnny's first and third weeks were definitely that, as I think Pat noted it at least once; the second was more "Hey, Charlie died, could you dub over these five episodes for us?"

in addition to everything being done in post, a lot of shows knock out their seasons over the summer or in a month or two, so it's not like Joey Fatone* has to worry about whether Chris Kirkpatrick can fill in for him this coming Tuesday, with Lance Bass announcing on Thursday.

*/Gotta admit, that was a left-field choice for Family Feud
Not really. Fatone's work for Feud has amounted to one opening spiel, which got chopped down in post after the show left Orlando. Say what you want about Burton, but at least he was there in the studio.

If an announcer isn't available, just dub him in post.
It's quite possible that an announcer has missed tapings, but the sub wasn't acknowledged on-camera and the show acted as if the regular announcer was always there. I once read that Jeopardy! does that if Johnny Gilbert is unavailable.

I think part of the problem is that some announcers sound pre-recorded, such as Rolonda Watts on Temptation and all the Season 28 subs on Wheel, when in at least some cases they were actually in the studio.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: SamJ93 on July 29, 2012, 09:23:21 PM
As for his personality, I think the difference was that Godard was supposed to be intentionally over-the-top, for the zany quirkiness of the show. At times, he was almost parodying the exuberant late-night announcer.

And as over-the-top as he was, I much prefer him over Andy Richter announcing on "Conan."  While I like Andy as a comedian and foil, he just doesn't have the announcing chops needed to open a show well.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: trainman on July 29, 2012, 09:24:04 PM
At times, he was almost parodying the exuberant late-night announcer.

I think fixing that is proper, based on many of the comedy sketches in which he appeared.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Twentington on July 29, 2012, 09:27:38 PM
In a similar vein, what the hell were Joel Godard's qualifications on Conan 1.0?
Does six years under his belt as an NBC staff announcer meet your exacting specifications?

Fair enough. His NBC work must've been more subdued, since you guys are pointing out that his ear-splittingness on Conan was deliberate. That never occurred to me.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: chris319 on July 30, 2012, 01:26:01 AM
That's not nice, J.R.
Neither are your stupid, immature, petulant, inflammatory, trollish excuse for "posts".

Do us all a favor and shut the fuck up.
You've been told to cool it, Joe, so cool it.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: clemon79 on July 30, 2012, 01:28:03 AM
Fair enough. His NBC work must've been more subdued, since you guys are pointing out that his ear-splittingness on Conan was deliberate. That never occurred to me.
How do you see stuff like this (http://"http://a1.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/58/675e2982ba881e3e2a4457e8083f71c5/l.jpg") and not have that occur to you?

You'd have to be seriously thick to watch Godard work on that show and not realize most of it is parody.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: Twentington on July 30, 2012, 02:23:42 AM
Fair enough. His NBC work must've been more subdued, since you guys are pointing out that his ear-splittingness on Conan was deliberate. That never occurred to me.
How do you see stuff like this (http://"http://a1.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/58/675e2982ba881e3e2a4457e8083f71c5/l.jpg") and not have that occur to you?

Because I never made it that far into the show, as I find Conan annoyingly unfunny. So I was unaware as to exactly what all went on with his show.
Title: Guest announcers
Post by: TLEberle on July 30, 2012, 10:37:47 AM
Because I never made it that far into the show, as I find Conan annoyingly unfunny. So I was unaware as to exactly what all went on with his show.
But you obviously saw enough to feel secure in making a value judgment about the announcer.