The Game Show Forum

The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: TimK2003 on November 17, 2005, 08:21:31 PM

Title: Ralph Edwards
Post by: TimK2003 on November 17, 2005, 08:21:31 PM

With the passing of Ralph Edwards, I was wondering how much involvement did Ralph really have on the creation and taping of his production company's game shows of the past?

I guess it seems to me that Ralph was more the bankroll for any game that he thought could fly on TV (Cross-Wits, Name That Tune, etc...) and not the type of producer you'd always see on or near the set, like a Mark Goodson, Jay Wolpert or Merrill Heatter.  I just don't see him sitting in his office creating game ideas like Knockout and BZZZ!, or other ideas like The People's Court.

Does anyone know how much involvement Ralph had on his shows from inception to air?

And for that matter, were there any others who 'produced' game shows but weren't that involved in those same shows?

Title: Ralph Edwards
Post by: whewfan on November 18, 2005, 12:55:24 PM

Forgive my ignorance (my computer at home is kaput and temporarily I am checking email at school) but when did Ralph Edwards die?

Title: Ralph Edwards
Post by: uncamark on November 18, 2005, 03:01:56 PM

[quote name=\'whewfan\' date=\'Nov 18 2005, 11:55 AM\']Forgive my ignorance (my computer at home is kaput and temporarily I am checking email at school) but when did Ralph Edwards die?

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[/quote]

Wednesday.

And the best answer I could give is "depends."  There were those shows he was more involved with than others ('Life" and "T or C" while he was hosting it, obviously)--and probably in his later years he was not involved that intimately with his shows.  On the other hand, it seemed from accounts that he was on-set during the run of "NTT" he supervised.  Whether he was there every day, I don't know--but Goodson wasn't on set every day on his shows, either.

Whether or not he was actively involved in the day-to-day dealings of every show he produced, from all descriptions he did provide an atmosphere at work that encouraged his people to do their best, which is enough of a compliment in itself.

Title: Ralph Edwards
Post by: chris319 on November 18, 2005, 11:09:58 PM

Quote

And the best answer I could give is "depends." There were those shows he was more involved with than others ('Life" and "T or C" while he was hosting it, obviously)--and probably in his later years he was not involved that intimately with his shows.

I don't mean to be harsh with you, Mark, nor to single you out, but there is no one on this board who is qualified to answer this question, and this includes a number of people who work or have worked in the game show business. To the best of my knowledge there is no one who posts to this board who has ever worked for Ralph Edwards and/or Stu Billet who would legitimately be qualified to answer. I'm prepared to be corrected if I'm wrong, but I don't think even Randy has worked for them.

Again, not meaning to single you out, but when someone answers these questions with an air of authority but without the slightest shred of qualification it gets tiresome in a hurry.