Author Topic: Greatest Hosts of All Time (Read 24608 times)

Robert Hutchinson · « **Reply #45 on:** September 15, 2006, 04:17:20 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'131642\' date=\'Sep 15 2006, 09:35 AM\'](I can think of two of those three names right now myself. I don't think either of them crack my 20.)[/quote]
Hmm, really? I would bet a shiny nickel that at least 1 of those 2 wasn't on my list of 3, considering what I think I know about the GS hosts you like.

(And I want absolutely nothing to do with "cracking your 20", thank you.)

clemon79 · « **Reply #46 on:** September 15, 2006, 04:28:52 PM »

[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'131702\' date=\'Sep 15 2006, 01:17 PM\']
[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'131642\' date=\'Sep 15 2006, 09:35 AM\'](I can think of two of those three names right now myself. I don't think either of them crack my 20.)[/quote]
Hmm, really? I would bet a shiny nickel that at least 1 of those 2 wasn't on my list of 3, considering what I think I know about the GS hosts you like.

(And I want absolutely nothing to do with "cracking your 20", thank you.)
[/quote]
Mail me off-list, then. I'm curious.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #47 on:** September 15, 2006, 04:29:03 PM »

[quote name=\'SRIV94\' post=\'131677\' date=\'Sep 15 2006, 01:38 PM\']
As of now, Johnny's on my list, but more for his name than anything else. If that's not the proper way to approach it, Matt, please let me know and I'll adjust accordingly.[/quote]
As I think I've made clear, I'm not judging anybody's choices. You do what you think is best, guided only by the word "greatest", which can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

uncamark · « **Reply #48 on:** September 15, 2006, 05:50:19 PM »

[quote name=\'Mike Tennant\' post=\'131701\' date=\'Sep 15 2006, 03:13 PM\']
To me, someone like Downs or Daly who helmed a long-running game show even if it wasn't his primary job deserves to be on the list. I would say the same for Dick Clark even though at least as many people would associate him with American Bandstand and New Year's Rockin' Eve as Pyramid.

Carson is a tougher call. Not having seen Who Do You Trust?, I can't judge his game show hosting abilities. Do I put him on the list simply because he's Johnny Carson, who happens to have hosted a game show that undoubtedly helped him achieve greater fame elsewhere? I don't know. I think that if could come up with 20 people who are deserving of being on the list solely on the strength of their game show hosting abilities, I'd probably leave him off. (I haven't started making my list yet, so I can't say whether Johnny will eventually make the cut or not.)
[/quote]

I don't really believe it, but Maxene Fabe had a quote from Stu Billett that on "Trust?" Carson couldn't really ad lib and that more than once if they ran short, they were forced to go to two minutes of credits and organ music at the end.

Considering that Carson was considered already on his game the night he started "Tonight," I take it with a grain of salt.

cweaver · « **Reply #49 on:** September 15, 2006, 06:01:10 PM »

[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'131714\' date=\'Sep 15 2006, 04:50 PM\']
I don't really believe it, but Maxene Fabe had a quote from Stu Billett that on "Trust?" Carson couldn't really ad lib and that more than once if they ran short, they were forced to go to two minutes of credits and organ music at the end.

Considering that Carson was considered already on his game the night he started "Tonight," I take it with a grain of salt.
[/quote]

Me too.

I only saw my first Who Do You Trust? last week when I got one in a trade (I'd seen clips before) and he seems like a decent host. Not Groucho, and not the same Johnny from years later but decent. At one point he does a live Jell-O commercial where he's supposed to make some kind of pineapple recipe and botches it terribly and irreversibly, to the audience's delight. It very clearly showed at that point (1958) he already had the "funnier when he bombs" bit down to an art. I don't know if he could ad lib for long stretches but as far as being the "go-to" man when disaster strikes, he was already there.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #50 on:** September 17, 2006, 01:02:07 AM »

Forty ballots have come in already, WAY ahead of last time. I've only tallied twenty of them, but here are some fun facts to keep you interested.

Remarkably, through twenty ballots, only 57 total names have been mentioned. Very few strays.

The person in first is the person you think it is. The person in second might surprise you.

Number of hosts who appear on 15 or more ballots: 10

Number of hosts who appear on exactly 19 ballots: 3

Number of hosts who appear on all twenty ballots: 1

Number of female hosts named: 3

Number of fictional characters named: 2

Number of hosting pairs named: 1

Keep 'em coming!

Don Howard · « **Reply #51 on:** September 17, 2006, 03:50:34 PM »

[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'131714\' date=\'Sep 15 2006, 05:50 PM\']
I don't really believe it, but Maxene Fabe had a quote from Stu Billett that on "Trust?" Carson couldn't really ad lib and that more than once if they ran short, they were forced to go to two minutes of credits and organ music at the end.

Considering that Carson was considered already on his game the night he started "Tonight," I take it with a grain of salt.
[/quote]
I'll split that grain with you seeing how Stu also claimed this past summer that The People's Court is a game show.

chris319 · « **Reply #52 on:** September 17, 2006, 06:10:30 PM »

Quote

people who have been game-show hosts as a primary career, not as a one-off or secondary job

That's an interesting topic for a side discussion. How many people can we name who have been career game show emcees almost to the exclusion of anything else? Barker would probably come the closest. Though he was a D.J. in the beginning, once he got T or C he did little else besides emceeing game shows and beauty pageants. You could probably say the same about Trebek and Sajak, who have such long-running and lucrative gigs that they haven't taken much outside work since getting J! and WOF respectively. Some had illustrious careers in radio before coming to game shows: Rayburn, Martindale, Edwards, Eubanks, Collyer, Daly. Some have dabbled in acting, others have had outside business interests (Merv, Jack Barry).

JasonA1 · « **Reply #53 on:** September 17, 2006, 06:13:03 PM »

Am I forgetting some major out-of-game-show work he did, or would Allen Ludden fit this bill?

-Jason

tyshaun1 · « **Reply #54 on:** September 17, 2006, 07:26:06 PM »

J.D. Roth.
(ducking)

Tyshaun

Robert Hutchinson · « **Reply #55 on:** September 17, 2006, 07:35:07 PM »

This seems tricky to pin down. How do we define Sajak's efforts that have failed (his two talk shows), or his efforts that just aren't as noticeable (his growing crossword business, his various baseball-related jobs)?

cweaver · « **Reply #56 on:** September 17, 2006, 07:59:59 PM »

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'131849\' date=\'Sep 17 2006, 05:10 PM\']
Some had illustrious careers in radio before coming to game shows: Rayburn, Martindale, Edwards, Eubanks, Collyer, Daly. [/quote]

Keep in mind, John Charles Daly's full time job wasn't game show host. During the first ten years or so of What's My Line? he was ABC's weeknight news anchor and most of his work was news-related, with WML? being more of an exception.

Don Howard · « **Reply #57 on:** September 17, 2006, 08:35:28 PM »

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'131850\' date=\'Sep 17 2006, 06:13 PM\']
Am I forgetting some major out-of-game-show work he did, or would Allen Ludden fit this bill?
[/quote]
Didn't he work for CBS News in some capacity for a while?

chris319 · « **Reply #58 on:** September 17, 2006, 08:44:27 PM »

He worked in radio management, for WCBS I believe.

clemon79 · « **Reply #59 on:** September 17, 2006, 09:08:47 PM »

Chuck Woolery, perhaps?

What's Tomarken's background?

Jim Perry?

Author Topic: Greatest Hosts of All Time (Read 24608 times)

uncamark

cweaver

cweaver