Past or present, what do you think is the hardest hosting job there is? I say then & now its \'Let\'s Make a Deal\'. Wayne Brady is underrated in my opinion.
The Price is Right, with all the people who have hosted it since 1972, including Doug Davidson. Because for one thing, you gotta memorize all the pricing games they have on rotation.
I second TPiR for the game memorization. I mean, most of us know the games, but how many would be able to remember them at the drop of a dime, then explain them to a contestant in 15 seconds or less, as Bob/Dennis/Tom/Doug/Drew have had to do?
Honorable mention: I always admired Jim Perry for his near-flawless execution on $ale, particularly the rapid-fire speed rounds.
How short a time span would you give me?I second TPiR for the game memorization. I mean, most of us know the games, but how many would be able to remember them at the drop of a dime, then explain them to a contestant in 15 seconds or less, as Bob/Dennis/Tom/Doug/Drew have had to do?
Family Feud. That\'s a show that takes a special kind of host...one that can be into the game and entertaining/witty just enough without being a camera hog.
I disagree that Wayne is underrated; I think he is ill suited for the gig. Furthermore, I think he and Drew are in exactly the wrong positions.Past or present, what do you think is the hardest hosting job there is? I say then & now its \'Let\'s Make a Deal\'. Wayne Brady is underrated in my opinion.
I second TPiR for the game memorization. I mean, most of us know the games, but how many would be able to remember them at the drop of a dime, then explain them to a contestant in 15 seconds or less, as Bob/Dennis/Tom/Doug/Drew have had to do?
How short a time span would you give me?
How many active games are there? I think back to the blog I read interviewing Roger Dobkowitz, where the initial plan was to give Drew the more popular games first, then a few per week, to the point of where he knew about 30 or so.
To answer your question, if anything, a few months maybe (six at most)? Like I said, a lot of us are more familiar than Drew is (was?). I think it would be an issue of getting the wording right. I know how to play One Away, but explaining it to the contestant off the top of my head is easier said than done. Then there\'s the vocal inflections...
Past or present, what do you think is the hardest hosting job there is? I say then & now its \'Let\'s Make a Deal\'. Wayne Brady is underrated in my opinion.
I disagree that Wayne is underrated; I think he is ill suited for the gig. Furthermore, I think he and Drew are in exactly the wrong positions.
Are you saying they\'d do well on each other\'s shows?
How many active games are there?
Seventy-two, give or take.
I think back to the blog I read interviewing Roger Dobkowitz, where the initial plan was to give Drew the more popular games first, then a few per week, to the point of where he knew about 30 or so.
Close. The first taping week, they taped shows using a total of seven games - if I recall, four of the lineups were identical, and the other two had one game swap out for another (for less frequent stuff like Golden Road that they didn\'t want to play six times in a row). They repeated this for four more weeks, then shuffled everything about on the air schedule so we didn\'t see repeating pricing games in a week on the air.
After that, they slowly added in the other 40 or so games at a rate of a couple per week or so.
First, you have to define toughest. Now, overall, \"I\'ve Got a Secret\" seems to be easy - be a friendly host, know which panelist you\'re starting with. But add in the stunts the host did, some of them with a legitimate amount of risk, and that gets very tough.
Granted, that\'s an exceptional way of looking at it. I think the goal here is \"which show required the most overall work by the host?\" Given that qualification, yes, TPIR would seem to be tops - if you are new at it, or Drew at it. I\'m sure it was tougher for Barker in the first few years, but after he got the games down, he was able to concentrate on interactions with the contestants - something he put on autopilot in the later years, and something Carey is inconsistent at. I agree Brady might work better on TPIR - he\'s sharp enough to pick things up and works very well with the contestants, For LMAD, you have to have that patina of the sharpie salesman, something Monty Hall did very, VERY well.
You could also say that the games that are toughest for the host are those that require the host to take an active part in the game, as Hall/Brady would do in trying to convince and confuse the contestant. Consider \"The Newlywed Game\" - the host is not only there to ask the questions, but perhaps nudge the contestants into embarassing themselves, something Bob Eubanks did ... you get the idea.
Now, that doesn\'t mean a host who just stands/sits there and asks questions doesn\'t have a tough job and a key role in interacting with the contestants/panelists. That\'s what made Cullen the master - teasing the contestants, joking about the game, and generally lending a friendly aura. Or \"What\'s My Line?\" Being younger when it first ran, and not as educated, I never realized how much humor John Daly\'s obtuse \"clarifications\" added to the show.
And then there\'s knowing when to step out - Peter Marshall running the Squares, not as a funny man but as Mr. Setup.
Each show required unique talents - IGAS to play along with stunts, WML to be the wise misleader, TPIR/LMAD to keep a contestant who is about to lose his/her water somewhat focused on the game but still excited and do so with a variety of approaches, \"Malcolm\" to interact with a puppet.
Having thus confused the issue, I withdraw. (Now if you ask me what is the toughest job for a sportscaster, I will nail that one - horse racing.)
I say it\'s Jeopardy- flawlessly reading 61 clues at a steady pace while recognizing contestants every 7 seconds is a feat to me having seen my fair share of quiz bowl moderators.
I think the buzzer-beater shows (my favorite sub-genre) are tough to host. Also any show that involves quick mathematics (Monty\'s LMAD and Wizard of Odds.) From what I understand, Alex Trebek as a Canadian, got the job on WoO because the US-based hosts weren\'t able to do the math fast enough. Without question, TPIR and the AudPar shows (TorC) are also tough to host.
I say it\'s Jeopardy- flawlessly reading 61 clues at a steady pace while recognizing contestants every 7 seconds is a feat to me having seen my fair share of quiz bowl moderators.
I give a lot of cred to Tom Kennedy for his reading of clues on Whew! Having to read questions that fast without stumbling in a game where literally every second is important for the contestant.
I\'m not going to say that TTTT is the toughest, but it does require an interesting combination of skills:
And then there\'s knowing when to step out - Peter Marshall running the Squares, not as a funny man but as Mr. Setup.
To this I would add Match Game 7x. Gene knew how to run the show, let the stars shine, then reel them back in as needed. Along the same lines, ribbing the contestants\' awful answers or knowing the apparently \"definitive\" response was also important. That was something Michael Burger was unable to do as efficiently. Burger\'s still a great host on his other projects, but he never found that balance, showing that hosting was more than just letting celebrities display witty answers.
For the record, Alex is good, but he\'s not that good. The reason it looks like he reads 61 clues \"flawlessly\" is because after each show, they re-record anything they aren\'t absolutely perfectly happy with.
At the taping I attended, there were maybe 3 redos between the 2 episodes. He may not be perfect, but 98% is still pretty damn impressive.
The Barris-produced Treasure Hunt gets my vote. For Geoff Edwards to have pulled off all that mass memorization for each episode so flawlessly is pretty impressive, especially with the 80\'s version being daily.
Close. The first taping week, they taped shows using a total of seven games - if I recall, four of the lineups were identical, and the other two had one game swap out for another (for less frequent stuff like Golden Road that they didn\'t want to play six times in a row). They repeated this for four more weeks, then shuffled everything about on the air schedule
so we didn\'t see repeating pricing games in a week on the air.
Hands down, LMAD, TH and Beat the Clock are much more difficult to emcee than TPIR. Lucky Seven is the same thing every time, whether you\'re doing it for the 7th time or the 107th time. BTC is not as hard as LMAD and TH because there are fewer conditionals. LMAD requires less memorization than TH. On LMAD, not only do you have to understand the game and how to explain it, but there\'s so much \"if the contestant picks this, reveal what\'s inside the box; if the contestant picks that, reveal what\'s behind the curtain\" to memorize. LMAD is also different each show and has new things much more frequently than TPIR.
TTTT, Dating Game, MG and even FF are dead-nuts simple. I\'ve seen Gene Wood emcee FF and there isn\'t that much to it. Charming the contestants, being witty and imitating W.C. Fields are separate skills from running the game. On MG, running the game is simple. Keeping a bunch of tipsy celebrities in line with good humor is likewise a separate skill from running the game.
I wonder how much help Wayne Brady gets on LMAD from Mr. Earpiece.
I\'ve got to go with LMAD, too, for the reason of the huge potential variety in games and scenarios.
Charming the contestants, being witty and imitating W.C. Fields are separate skills from running the game. On MG, running the game is simple. Keeping a bunch of tipsy celebrities in line with good humor is likewise a separate skill from running the game.
I think the host\'s people skills do factor into in their overall ability to run the game for MG and other shows with a set full of potentially hammy celebrities, and on audience participation shows like TPIR, LMAD, and Treasure Hunt where your contestants are being asked to play the game while simultaneously having their \"Holy crap! I\'m going to be on national TV!\" adrenalin rush. On the other hand, there are some shows where the format is so simple and repetitive that the contestants could practically play the game themselves and all the host really has to do is prompt them when it\'s their turn to act. (Countdown comes to mind as the epitome of this; also Concentration and Wheel before every round had a different gimmick that had to be explained.) About the only thing that keeps Feud from being in that last category is the fact that Fast Money requires at least some ability to accurately read aloud when under time constraints.
Good reading & memorization skills, as well as interaction with the focal characters of the game are one thing, but there\'s something else that sets shows like TPIR & LMAD aoart from others. There\'s alwsys that possibility that something unexpected will happen & the host must be able to react quickly & promply without feeling dazed or confused. On one TPIR episode, when the model was having all sorts of issues with the appliances, Barker made a quick witty comment & seemed to play off of it. It\'s really not enough to have good knowledge of the rules & format of the game. It\'s how you handle those unexpected events that might crop up.
Chris, you\'ve worked with hosts, but let me play devil\'s advocate. What seems hard isn\'t reciting rules but getting the unprepared excited person to understand them without sucking away the excitement.
TPIR seems harder than LMAD and Treasure Hunt to me because there\'s more game play. Rules of Lucky Seven are harder than anything on the other two. Not that they\'re chess, but they\'re less intuitive than \"money or curtain,\" and \"pick a number 1-30 and it doesn\'t really matter which one.\"
With LMAD, sure, deals can flow different ways, but the variables don\'t really change much. And heck, couldn\'t a stage hand point at which curtain to open?
On Treasure Hunt, Geoff was wonderful, but he didn\'t need the contestant to do much. The rest was \"Tony & Tina\'s Wedding.\"
Maybe the reason Barker got better after the first few years may be that the contestants walked in knowing the drill better, the same reason Drew isn\'t more of a disaster.
that\'s nothing. in Italy we have Avanti Un Altro! which is like hosting Who Wants To Be A Millionaire except:
-every episode begins with your co-host\'s hit song \"Remember That You Must Die\". and that \"you\" is YOU!
-your \"lovely assistant\" is often the oldest or the stupidest person in the audience.
-you are randomly interrupted by annoying comedy characters.
-you are supposed to read some questions in a foreign language, with a Smurf cap on, or with cotton in your mouth.
-contestants want to pat your ass for good luck.
-\"Kama Sutra\" is a category. and guess who\'s demonstrating the positions?
and finally, the bonus round requires you to read at lightning speed
-contestants want to pat your ass for good luck.
You say that like it\'s a bad thing.
Close. The first taping week, they taped shows using a total of seven games - if I recall, four of the lineups were identical, and the other two had one game swap out for another (for less frequent stuff like Golden Road that they didn\'t want to play six times in a row). They repeated this for four more weeks, then shuffled everything about on the air schedule
so we didn\'t see repeating pricing games in a week on the air.
Fixed that for you. Drew\'s first season was still structured so that everything could be aired in order without any repeating games if they felt like it. The episode shuffling was CBS\'s doing, initially front-loading shows with a lot of wins (the first ten broadcasts included three perfect shows) and later just moving things around for no discernible reason. In fact, in a couple of cases when they shuffled episodes from the second set of repeating lineups in with the first, they actually caused games to repeat.
I was just saying that they weren\'t aired in tape order. Whether they aired in the order they were intended to air or not is something I had forgotten about, and I reckon not very important for 99.999% of the viewing audience.
The Barris-produced Treasure Hunt gets my vote. For Geoff Edwards to have pulled off all that mass memorization for each episode so flawlessly is pretty impressive, especially with the 80\'s version being daily.
I know I\'ve heard this from various people, but I can\'t help but think there was a cue somewhere (small writing somewhere on the box, cue card out of contestant\'s sight, semaphore, etc.) that at least clued him in as to what kind of prize was in the box. If not though, kudos to him for having the skill to memorize that many boxes, especially on multiple show tape days.
I know I\'ve heard this from various people, but I can\'t help but think there was a cue somewhere (small writing somewhere on the box, cue card out of contestant\'s sight, semaphore, etc.) that at least clued him in as to what kind of prize was in the box. If not though, kudos to him for having the skill to memorize that many boxes, especially on multiple show tape days.
I remember, back in the ATGS days, Geoff was an occasional poster, and my brother and I, who had just watched a bunch of episodes, e-mailed him asking him about that. He, first off, was extremely kind in responding to us, and said that, during the break between when the contestant picked her box and when he made the cash offer, he would go off-stage and be briefed on what the skit was/what was in the box. There were no cue cards on set because, otherwise, the contestant could look and have the surprise spoiled.
If the check was in the box, he was simply told how much time he had to stall before showing the check. :)
I wasn\'t sure if he was briefed before the show on all possibilities, or just briefed after a box was chosen, though. Whether he had to memorize all of them or not, I still think he did a terrific job hosting that show.
Anthony
Late to the thread, but...
To Tell the Truth doesn\'t appear difficult to me. Unlike the other two panel shows, the host has no need to step in and say, \"Well, generally yes, but in this situation...\" Whatever the imposters and the central subject say goes. So what\'s left? Reading the affadavit, and maybe asking a question or two afterward if there\'s time. Look at the Collyer episodes, where that didn\'t even happen for the most part.
LMaD is likely a very hard show to do, and the original version was made easier since the cast worked together for so long. (We really haven\'t seen much from the first few years, right?) Monty would give a lot of credit in interviews to Carol Merrill, who was so good at knowing where to be on the stage that the camera guys naturally followed her around.
The Newlywed Game looked easy when Eubanks hosted it. It was painful to watch Jim Lange host (he just didn\'t have the ability to draw out the contestants).
Split Second must have been very difficult to do.
I wasn\'t sure if he was briefed before the show on all possibilities, or just briefed after a box was chosen
It would have been a waste of everyone\'s time and unnecessarily taxed Geoff\'s metal faculties to memorize the contents of the unpicked boxes, given that they probably taped five shows per day.
Running the mechanics of a game is a separate undertaking from being Richard Dawson or Gene Rayburn. I\'ve seen enough run-throughs of shows with other than the on-air emcee to know this, including a run-through of a game they weren\'t sure if they were going to call \"Blankety Blanks\" or \"Match Game\" which was emceed by Mark Goodson and had a panel of six celebrities filling in blanks in questions. In the run-through all of the celebs were sober.
*cough*Cashcab*cough*
*cough*Cashcab*cough*
Speaking of, the other night I watched Ben Bailey: Road Rage on Netflix. Freakin\' funny as hell and there\'s a couple good Cash Cab-related bits in there. Highly recommended.
I haven\'t posted much but I\'ll throw my two cents in (great topic, by the way)...
I\'ll give a shout out to this for Jim Perry\'s job on $ale of the Century...many hosts are great at reading questions, such as Alex Trebek, but I couldn\'t imagine him hosting The Price Is Right. On the same note, I\'ve watched TPIR for 30 years but can\'t picture Bob Barker, who might be the ultimate \"gamesmaster\", for lack of a better term, reading questions on Jeopardy!.
That said, I loved watching $ale, and one of the main reasons was Jim Perry. I greatly admired his ability to transition from being IMHO nearly every bit as good as Trebek reading questions to almost every bit as entertaining as Barker in the sale segments.
I don\'t know if that makes $ale the toughest job, but it certainly requires two very different skill sets when most hosts have mastered one or the other.
Indeed, there are probably more hosting jobs that are tough because of a combination of skills required than jobs that are tough because you have to be really, really good at one thing.