The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Matt Ottinger on January 04, 2004, 02:02:14 PM
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I'm told reliably that a new game show book is in the works, but that David Schwartz will not be listed as one of the authors. It's just Fred Wostbrock and Steve Ryan who are pursuing the project now. No details yet on a release date, nor whether the book will take the same form as what's still being listed on Amazon right now:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=books&n=507846 (http://\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1566252199/qid=1073242611//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl14/102-6627980-7724958?v=glance&s=books&n=507846\")
Strangely, the Amazon site says the book is now available for purchase, which I find unlikely.
For those of you who don't know, Schwartz is the one of the three who did the most work to make the Encyclopedias true reference works, with voluminous, well-researched details on even the most obscure shows. Without his involvement, it's safe to say that the new offering will be a much lighter affair, and quite possibly a much less accurate one.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jan 4 2004, 02:02 PM\'] I'm told reliably that a new game show book is in the works, but that David Schwartz will not be listed as one of the authors. It's just Fred Wostbrock and Steve Ryan who are pursuing the project now. No details yet on a release date, nor whether the book will take the same form as what's still being listed on Amazon right now:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=books&n=507846 (http://\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1566252199/qid=1073242611//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl14/102-6627980-7724958?v=glance&s=books&n=507846\")
Strangely, the Amazon site says the book is now available for purchase, which I find unlikely.
For those of you who don't know, Schwartz is the one of the three who did the most work to make the Encyclopedias true reference works, with voluminous, well-researched details on even the most obscure shows. Without his involvement, it's safe to say that the new offering will be a much lighter affair, and quite possibly a much less accurate one. [/quote]
Personally, I'll be interested to know whether this book will count any sort of competitive reality show ("Survivor," "House Rules") as a game show, or certain relationship games such as "Change of Heart."
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That's how I hear it, Matt. The new book is a light and breezy read as opposed to the reference work of their past efforts. The best part... a TON of heretofore unseen photos!
OK, the photos were obviously seen by the photographer among other people back in the day, but "unseen" by us until now. ;-)
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jan 4 2004, 02:02 PM\'] I'm told reliably that a new game show book is in the works, but that David Schwartz will not be listed as one of the authors. It's just Fred Wostbrock and Steve Ryan who are pursuing the project now. No details yet on a release date, nor whether the book will take the same form as what's still being listed on Amazon right now:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=books&n=507846 (http://\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1566252199/qid=1073242611//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl14/102-6627980-7724958?v=glance&s=books&n=507846\")
Strangely, the Amazon site says the book is now available for purchase, which I find unlikely.
For those of you who don't know, Schwartz is the one of the three who did the most work to make the Encyclopedias true reference works, with voluminous, well-researched details on even the most obscure shows. Without his involvement, it's safe to say that the new offering will be a much lighter affair, and quite possibly a much less accurate one. [/quote]
It's obviously a different book altogether -- Amazon lists it as 300 pages (an unlikely page count; most books are in multiples of 16), but I doubt they would have brought a fourth edition of EOTVGS in at $19.95 anyway.
I'll be happy to proofread if they want me to...
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Jan 4 2004, 05:14 PM\'] The best part... a TON of heretofore unseen photos!
OK, the photos were obviously seen by the photographer among other people back in the day, but "unseen" by us until now. ;-)
Randy
tvrandywest.com [/quote]
The photos are definitely the best part of the book. I enjoy the first edition of the Game Show Encyplopedia far more than the other 2 just because of the great pictures that are on every page.
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Amazon lists it as 300 pages (an unlikely page count; most books are in multiples of 16)
They must still be using Windows 95.
Fred's photo collection, when I saw it, was emcee-centric. This bias is somewhat apparent throughout the encyclopediae.
Perhaps this is the Perfesser's cue to write his own "gameupedia".
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jan 5 2004, 07:09 AM\'] Fred's photo collection, when I saw it, was emcee-centric. This bias is somewhat apparent throughout the encyclopediae.
Perhaps this is the Perfesser's cue to write his own "gameupedia". [/quote]
It's one thing to write a game show book, and quite another to get a publisher interested in issuing it. (Trust me on this one -- I had an editor at SMP express mild interest after Millionaire became huge, but that went away in a hurry. Of course, I went away, too.)
The ideal book would have a DVD of clips included, which would necessitate a tie-in with GSN, as well as permissions from the current shows to include clips -- which would likely rule out The Price Is Right, which would be the first thing most fans would look for, which would affect sales and reviews. And, inevitably, there would still be carping among us purists about what's in it and what isn't. (How many reviews have you read of the Looney Tunes Gold Collection that have mentioned the absence of "What's Opera, Doc?" All of them?)
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[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Jan 5 2004, 09:49 AM\'] ... (How many reviews have you read of the Looney Tunes Gold Collection that have mentioned the absence of "What's Opera, Doc?" All of them?) [/quote]
ObGameShows: They did include "The Ducksters", the 1949 short where Daffy plays a demented radio-quiz host, so I'm happy.
I also liked "Rabbit Seasoning" and this exchange:
Bugs [to Elmer]: Would you like to shoot me now or wait until you get home?
Daffy: Shoot him now! Shoot him now!
Bugs [to Daffy]: You keep out of this! He doesn't have to shoot you now!
My guess is: they've got to save something for a potential second volume. WB released a lot of shorts, you know. CS educated guess question: Between 1930 and 1969, just how many did they make?
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[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Jan 5 2004, 03:02 PM\'] ObGameShows: They did include "The Ducksters", the 1949 short where Daffy plays a demented radio-quiz host, so I'm happy.
My guess is: they've got to save something for a potential second volume. WB released a lot of shorts, you know. CS educated guess question: Between 1930 and 1969, just how many did they make? [/quote]
I forgot to mention "The Ducksters," which is a vicious takeoff on Truth or Consequences (retitled Truth or AAAUGH! here).
Educated guess? About 700 shorts. And by my rough estimate (WB has offered similar numbers), 15 percent are classics, 15 percent really really good, 15 percent good (I would put the Bugs & Daffy race for the Million Box cartoon -- something of a takeoff on People Are Funny -- here), 15 percent okay, and 40 percent mediocre to lousy. The latter basically encompasses nearly all the pre-Bugs Bunny output, occasional bad series (Snuffles), and almost everything after 1960 (and there was a lot). Those of us old enough to have actually caught an occasional fairly new short in their local movie theater remember a new intro, an ugly Warner Brothers logo, and some staggeringly unfunny cartoons.
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[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Jan 5 2004, 02:02 PM\'] ObGameShows: They did include "The Ducksters", the 1949 short where Daffy plays a demented radio-quiz host, so I'm happy. [/quote]
It was a Truth or Consequences parody (Truth or AAAHHHHH!!!) where Porky Pig went through so much torture to win $26,000,000.03! Buys the radio station (Ajax Broadcasting Company) & tortures Daffy Duck!
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[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Jan 5 2004, 03:51 PM\'][quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Jan 5 2004, 03:02 PM\'] ObGameShows: They did include "The Ducksters", the 1949 short where Daffy plays a demented radio-quiz host, so I'm happy.
My guess is: they've got to save something for a potential second volume. WB released a lot of shorts, you know. CS educated guess question: Between 1930 and 1969, just how many did they make? [/quote]
I forgot to mention "The Ducksters," which is a vicious takeoff on Truth or Consequences (retitled Truth or AAAUGH! here).
Educated guess? About 700 shorts. And by my rough estimate (WB has offered similar numbers), 15 percent are classics, 15 percent really really good, 15 percent good (I would put the Bugs & Daffy race for the Million Box cartoon -- something of a takeoff on People Are Funny -- here), 15 percent okay, and 40 percent mediocre to lousy. The latter basically encompasses nearly all the pre-Bugs Bunny output, occasional bad series (Snuffles), and almost everything after 1960 (and there was a lot). Those of us old enough to have actually caught an occasional fairly new short in their local movie theater remember a new intro, an ugly Warner Brothers logo, and some staggeringly unfunny cartoons.[/quote]
And they even pop up on Cartoon Network every so often, but you know they're coming when you hear the 60s version of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" so you change channels immediately.
[Bob Eubanks] 700 [ding]--higher or lower? Hurry, please. [BE]
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Welcome to The Cartoon Forum. Will the photo of Bill Cullen be replaced by Mel Blanc?
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I forgot to mention "The Ducksters," which is a vicious takeoff on Truth or Consequences (retitled Truth or AAAUGH! here).
Audience?
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[quote name=\'SplitSecond\' date=\'Jan 5 2004, 04:38 PM\']
I forgot to mention "The Ducksters," which is a vicious takeoff on Truth or Consequences (retitled Truth or AAAUGH! here).
Audience?[/quote]
RIGOLETTO!
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[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Jan 5 2004, 04:25 PM\'] Welcome to The Cartoon Forum. Will the photo of Bill Cullen be replaced by Mel Blanc? [/quote]
Hey, Mel Blanc must have done a game show here and there.
I was happy to discover Bea Benaderet, one of the world's worst Password players, did many of the female voices on Warner Brothers cartoons ("Baseball Bugs," "The Scarlet Pumpernickel," etc.) through a Petticoat Junction web site -- same place I found a picture of Geoff Edwards and Meredith MacRae 17 years before $50,000 a Minute.
Back on subject: if Ryan and/or Wostbrock are lurking, here's a clue for your publisher: coated text stock. If there are as many photos as promised, it will make them look so much better. (It'll cost a lot more, however.)
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Well, Mel Blanc did do a quiz show for the Armed Forces Radio Network - I have a cassette of a little 15-minute time-killer called "Are You A Genius?", with Mel reading questions, occasionally dropping in cartoon voice asides, then doing little novelty bits with music while the listeners took the time to write down the answers to the questions posed by quizmaster Blanc. Not sure if it was 40s or 50s. Lame, but cute in a nostalgic way.
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Mel Blanc was a regular panelist on the 1955 summer replacement series Musical Chairs. He also appeared on The Object Is... in 1964.
More importantly, I learned today that the book is coming out in May and will be chock full of Wostbrock photos.
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[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Jan 5 2004, 07:56 PM\'] Well, Mel Blanc did do a quiz show for the Armed Forces Radio Network - I have a cassette of a little 15-minute time-killer called "Are You A Genius?", with Mel reading questions, occasionally dropping in cartoon voice asides, then doing little novelty bits with music while the listeners took the time to write down the answers to the questions posed by quizmaster Blanc. Not sure if it was 40s or 50s. Lame, but cute in a nostalgic way. [/quote]
Well, there was the phone call on that one PYL episode. :-)
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In the 1930-1969 period of WB animation (counting sold out and subcontracted work from 1964-1969), there were over 1,000 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts produced. To a tens, about 1,060, IIRC.
BTW, the complaints over What's Opera, Doc? will be subsided, I'm sure many more DVD sets will be coming out in the future, and all WB was trying to do what have variety.
ObGameShow: I had no idea Mel Blanc did "Musical Chairs" in the 50s... interesting indeed.
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QUOTE (SplitSecond @ Jan 5 2004, 04:38 PM)
QUOTE
I forgot to mention "The Ducksters," which is a vicious takeoff on Truth or Consequences (retitled Truth or AAAUGH! here).
Audience?
RIGOLETTO!
Soooo....you must pay the penalty.
My mom got me the DVD set in question for Christmas. I wasn't aware the set included The Ducksters, which is one of my all-time favorite Tunes.
"Game Show Man" Joe Van Ginkel
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I was happy to discover Bea Benaderet, one of the world's worst Password players, did many of the female voices on Warner Brothers cartoons ("Baseball Bugs," "The Scarlet Pumpernickel," etc.) through a Petticoat Junction web site
Are you sure it wasn't June Foray?
Dave Mackey?
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I doubt they would have brought a fourth edition of EOTVGS in at $19.95 anyway.
Personally, I think they should make a web version of the EOTVGS. Then they could keep it constantly up-to-date with new shows and information (and pictures you won't find anywhere else. :P)
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jan 6 2004, 07:24 AM\']
I was happy to discover Bea Benaderet, one of the world's worst Password players, did many of the female voices on Warner Brothers cartoons ("Baseball Bugs," "The Scarlet Pumpernickel," etc.) through a Petticoat Junction web site
Are you sure it wasn't June Foray?
[/quote]
Not according to the Internet Movie Database (http://\"http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0070153/\"). I wouldn't swear to it being 100 percent accurate (I thought Foray (http://\"http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0004931/\") always did Granny, for example), but there's no question to me on "Baseball Bugs" and "Feed the Kitty" it's Benaderet handling the voice -- in those instances (the Statue of Liberty, Marc Anthony's owner) her voice is no different than her normal speaking voice.
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[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Jan 6 2004, 09:51 AM\'][quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jan 6 2004, 07:24 AM\']
I was happy to discover Bea Benaderet, one of the world's worst Password players, did many of the female voices on Warner Brothers cartoons ("Baseball Bugs," "The Scarlet Pumpernickel," etc.) through a Petticoat Junction web site
Are you sure it wasn't June Foray?
[/quote]
Not according to the Internet Movie Database (http://\"http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0070153/\"). I wouldn't swear to it being 100 percent accurate (I thought Foray (http://\"http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0004931/\") always did Granny, for example), but there's no question to me on "Baseball Bugs" and "Feed the Kitty" it's Benaderet handling the voice -- in those instances (the Statue of Liberty, Marc Anthony's owner) her voice is no different than her normal speaking voice.[/quote]
There were two different Granny voices. Benaderet handled the more familiar voice for the more familiar-looking Granny. Foray, of course, did her patented old lady voice, heard in countless Jay Ward and H-B cartoons, after Benaderet (for whatever reason) quit the role. Foray's Granny was more squat and round, with circular, thin-rimmed glasses and a somewhat less harsh personality. Foray has been the voice of Granny, regardless of how she is drawn, ever since.
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Mel Blanc was a regular panelist on the 1955 summer replacement series Musical Chairs. He also appeared on The Object Is... in 1964.
He also did a guest shot on the 1971 version of Juvenile Jury.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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[quote name=\'TonicBH\' date=\'Jan 6 2004, 09:09 AM\'] Personally, I think they should make a web version of the EOTVGS. Then they could keep it constantly up-to-date with new shows and information (and pictures you won't find anywhere else. :P) [/quote]
No one's stopping you -- or anyone else -- from making a comprehensive internet game show site that lists and describes every game show ever made and is constantly updated with new shows and information and pictures you won't find anywhere else. And as a matter of fact, Chris Lambert already does a very good job of creating write-ups for every new show that comes along.
No one got rich off the Encyclopedias, but perhaps "they" don't feel like putting their hard work into something that at best will COST them time and effort and money just to keep a group of notoriously dissatisfied whiners like us happy.
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[quote name=\'Mike Tennant\' date=\'Jan 6 2004, 10:41 AM\'] There were two different Granny voices. Benaderet handled the more familiar voice for the more familiar-looking Granny. Foray, of course, did her patented old lady voice, heard in countless Jay Ward and H-B cartoons, after Benaderet (for whatever reason) quit the role. Foray's Granny was more squat and round, with circular, thin-rimmed glasses and a somewhat less harsh personality. Foray has been the voice of Granny, regardless of how she is drawn, ever since. [/quote]
Benaderet was indeed also featured as the voice in the Marc Antony cat cartoons, Ralph Phillips' mother in "From A to Z-z-z-z", and as the Mother Bear in Chuck Jones' exceptional Three Bears cartoons along with Billy Bletcher and Stan Freberg. And she was the first Granny, with June Foray taking over in 1955 with "Red Riding Hoodwinked". Other WBs she made were "Little Red Rodent Hood", "Of Rice and Hen", "Punch Trunk", "Wild Wife", "Bewitched Bunny", and "The Hole Idea" . And of course she was Betty Rubble. Tee hee hee hee!
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[quote name=\'Robair\' date=\'Jan 6 2004, 11:36 AM\'] Benaderet was indeed also featured as the voice in the Marc Antony cat cartoons, Ralph Phillips' mother in "From A to Z-z-z-z", and as the Mother Bear in Chuck Jones' exceptional Three Bears cartoons along with Billy Bletcher and Stan Freberg. [/quote]
So that was her uttering the unforgettable "Tell me more about my eyes" in "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears"? Blanc of course was the only voice to get any screen credit in that cartoon, but the voice of Papa Bear in that particular short did sound more like Blanc rather than Freberg (cue the MG7x "think music"--sorry, bad joke, but I couldn't resist). So it's conceivable that someone other than Benaderet could've been the first Mama Bear.
Doug
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Jan 6 2004, 02:04 PM\'] ... the voice of Papa Bear in that particular short did sound more like Blanc rather than Freberg (cue the MG7x "think music"--sorry, bad joke, but I couldn't resist). ... [/quote]
Some years back, I read Mel Blanc's autobiography, That's Not All Folks!, published just months before his passing. In it I found out that his original last name was indeed Blank. After enduring jokes about his name, he changed the "k" to a "c", and it's been that way ever since. BTW, that book was also the source to my question. So, Curt says 700, Nicholas says higher. The actual number of cartoon shorts released by Warner Brothers between 1930 and 1969 is...
1,001 [ding ding ding ding]
Two others were made in the 1980s, "The Duxorcist" and "Night of the Living Duck", both included in the movie Daffy Duck's Quackbusters. BTW, by Mel's count, he did 898 of these 1,003 total cartoons. Nicholas, you get control of the cards. :-)
Welcome to The Cartoon Forum. Will the photo of Bill Cullen be replaced by Mel Blanc?
There's an idea for a spinoff forum! :-D
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Jan 6 2004, 02:04 PM\'] Blanc of course was the only voice to get any screen credit in that cartoon, but the voice of Papa Bear in that particular short did sound more like Blanc rather than Freberg (cue the MG7x "think music"--sorry, bad joke, but I couldn't resist). So it's conceivable that someone other than Benaderet could've been the first Mama Bear.
[/quote]
Freberg was Junior Bear, not Pa Bear. He does commentary on the new boxed set of Looney Tunes for 2 cartoons. (One is his Pete Puma cartoon, the other is the first of the three bears cartoons "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears").
That cartoon is the only one to feature Mel Blanc as Pa Bear. He was voiced by Billy Bletcher after that.
ObGameShows: Freberg was a guest panelist on 11/8/1964 on WML, according to the iMDB.
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More OB game shows: Bea Benaderet started in radio at San Francisco station KFRC, the same station that carried the radio quiz "Pop the Question". If "Pop the Question" doesn't register with you then disregard this post.
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jan 6 2004, 03:19 PM\'] More OB game shows: Bea Benaderet started in radio at San Francisco station KFRC, the same station that carried the radio quiz "Pop the Question". If "Pop the Question" doesn't register with you then disregard this post. [/quote]
In the book More Of Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story, there's a tale about another very influential game-show person who started his radio career at KFRC.
In brief: He had started by wanting to play the piano, but the station already had a pianist on staff. They were looking for a singer, he was hired and audiences loved him (KFRC billed him as the "Romantic Voice of America"). So much so that one fan ventured to KFRC's studios to meet him. When she met him, she was stunned to find that he was a 260-pound teenager. Then she started to laugh. He then resolved to lose the weight and found his way to few movies and eventually to television. And while the creation of J! and WoF didn't find its way into this Paul Harvey tale, we know him for so much more than his chat show. If anyone here doesn't know his name by now, {sarcasm alert}please kindly turn in your membership card at the door{end sarcasm alert}.
And now you know the rest of the story. :)
Doug -- soon to celebrate 300 posts
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jan 6 2004, 07:24 AM\']
I was happy to discover Bea Benaderet, one of the world's worst Password players, did many of the female voices on Warner Brothers cartoons ("Baseball Bugs," "The Scarlet Pumpernickel," etc.) through a Petticoat Junction web site
Are you sure it wasn't June Foray?
Dave Mackey? [/quote]
Here, o forum owner.
Bea Benaderet did the majority of WB female voices from 1943 until about 1954, when June Foray took over. Of course, we all remember Bea quite fondly from her role as the original Betty Rubble on "The Flintstones" and later on "Petticoat Junction".
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Add her radio work on programs like The Jack Benny Show and Burns & Allen, which carried over into their tv show (Blanche Morton, neighbor and good friend of Gracie Allen - with her tv husband played early on by Hal March), and you have quite a talent portfolio.
*sigh* - one of the disadvantages of being my age - you really miss having that kind of talent around now. Thank God for recording devices.
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ObGameShows: Freberg was a guest panelist on 11/8/1964 on WML, according to the iMDB.
He also did a week of MG/HS in late 1983.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")