Playing the Part of a host

[Kevin Prather]

At age 4, I would watch The New Price is Right and emulate Doug Davidson. When that show went off the air, I turned to Bob Barker.

[Bob Zager]

Having had a lot of game show home games over all these years, I'd often play the role of host, or if a friend(s) of the same age as me were playing, I'd let my older brother do the job.

I liked how when my brother played host to a friend and me at a game of CONCENTRATION, when he'd reveal two pieces of the puzzle, he would occassionally say "CAREFUL, AUDIENCE!!" as Hugh Downs and Bob Clayton were often heard saying!

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Kevin Prather\' post=\'246623\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 07:17 PM\']At age 4, I would watch The New Price is Right and emulate Doug Davidson.[/quote]
You. Lawn. Hell. OFF.

[sideshowPA]

I built Price sets out of Legos all the time, with working doors and turntable.  Made "trilons" using cardboard and toothpicks.  And set up Wheel of Fortune shopping areas in my basement.  Always saw myself more as the announcer than the host, though.

[gameshowcrazy]

Glad to see I'm not the only one...

Growing up, the kids in my neighborhood were subjected to playing TPIR, Pyramid, Scam of the Century (yes, it was a scam, when we didn't buy the instant rip-offs the host would raise the price), WOF and many others.

I guess it never stopped since in recent years I've hosted trivia night at a local pub and as I've been creating game shows, I've had game show parties at home with friends testing my games to see if my ideas work.

[Marc412]

My first vivid memory of playing the part of a game show host comes from when I was about 5 or 6.  High Rollers was on at the time, so we had the idea that I'd "be" Wink Martindale, and Mom and Dad would be my contestants.  I had 9 square wooden building blocks on which Mom had written the digits 1 through 9, and I'd set up for each round by arranging them randomly in a square on the end of our coffee table.  As for questions, I had a little electronic toy with a bunch of multiple-choice question cards (written for kindergartners, mind you).  I'd ask them the questions, and a right answer earned control of the dice.  It was fun.

Also, in 1999, my junior year of high school, I took Spanish III with a bunch of kids who were taking Spanish II.  When it came time to review for a test, our teacher, being a nice woman and knowing I knew the material better than the younger students, would let me host various game show-inspired games, such as Jeopardy!, Tic Tac Dough, Wheel of Fortune, even The Joker's Wild (I used three dice instead of a slot machine, and 6's were wild).  I'd make up questions on the spot based on the categories needed, and a good time was had by all.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'Marc412\' post=\'246634\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 07:03 PM\']even The Joker's Wild (I used three dice instead of a slot machine, and 6's were wild).  I'd make up questions on the spot based on the categories needed, and a good time was had by all.[/quote]Oh, you poor sod. Somehow, I had in my posession a copy of the rerelease of Go For Broke, with various actual moving parts and stuff. One of them was a slot machine, and the Rich Guy in Top Hat became Joker, and the other five fruit machine symbols became verb conjugations, nouns, numbers, potpourri, and of course, Fast Forward: Pain.

[Strikerz04]

When I was 6, and after watching $ale of the Century, I tried to talk like Jim Perry--with both diction and speed.


/Helped out when I was on the Debate Team 8 years later.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'246636\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 07:06 PM\']and of course, Fast Forward: Pain.[/quote]
Matt Ottinger once reeled off 47 correct answers in a row in this category.

[Jeremy Nelson]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'246644\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 10:55 PM\'][quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'246636\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 07:06 PM\']and of course, Fast Forward: Pain.[/quote]
Matt Ottinger once reeled off 47 correct answers in a row in this category.
[/quote]
Well played.

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'246597\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 12:45 PM\']Looking back, I'm really lucky and appreciative all of the adults in my life tolerated and, somehow, encouraged my obsessive crap dream. [/quote]
Fixed that for ya, but seconded nonetheless.

I was big on Wheel of Fortune; I'd use the cardboard circle from the most recent frozen pizza to make a wheel, along with magnetic fridge letters for my puzzle board. I also had the pleasure of hosting Family Feud or Generic Trivia Game whenever my school had some sort of school spirit event where we had to pit grades, genders, or students and faculty against each other.

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'Bob Zager\' post=\'246625\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 06:37 PM\']I liked how when my brother played host to a friend and me at a game of CONCENTRATION, when he'd reveal two pieces of the puzzle, he would occassionally say "CAREFUL, AUDIENCE!!" as Hugh Downs and Bob Clayton were often heard saying![/quote]

That made me chuckle. I also know of a talk-show host in his 60s who frequently says, "Not a match. Board goes back."

[Tim L]

When I was probably 6-8 years old I would take an old desk or TV stand and I would play host on "The Price Is Right" (Cullen Version) with family members..We would use the Spiegel or Montgomery Ward Catalog for Bidding prices, this would have to be during the ABC years (1963-65)

[geno57]

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'246583\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 05:47 AM\']...I distinctly remember using our mini blinds to "play" Classic Concentration.[/quote]

We had a pair of wooden doors with slats, between the kitchen and the dining room.  Those were my "Concentration" prize doors.  Contestants had to come in through them (although they didn't slide like elevator doors).

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'246626\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 04:40 PM\'][quote name=\'Kevin Prather\' post=\'246623\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 07:17 PM\']At age 4, I would watch The New Price is Right and emulate Doug Davidson.[/quote]
You. Lawn. Hell. OFF.[/quote]Pay no mind to the cranky black man, Grasshoppa.


[quote name=\'Strikerz04\' post=\'246639\' date=\'Aug 31 2010, 07:43 PM\']When I was 6, and after watching $ale of the Century, I tried to talk like Jim Perry--with both diction and speed.[/quote]A couple of weekends ago, the family met up in Port Angeles. As The Guy Who Knows Games, that falls upon me, and I cart along Time's Up: Title Recall. I have the misfortune of having Mumsy as my partner, and a combination of bad short term memory and...daftness, I guess, has brought some gems like (For Green Acres) "OK, what do you get when you mix blue and yellow?" "Orange!"

When I said "Wrong!" you would think that someone had just blown their shot at a cash jackpot.

[mbclev]

In my 11th grade English class I hosted a regulation match of "Gambit" using questions based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac (which we were studying).  I even recreated the "Gambit" logo from that time as part of the Any 21 jackpot sign (the jackpot I used for this match was $8000).  Nowadays, I enjoy imitating Mac McGarry whenever I see Washington It's Academic videos on YouTube and on WJZ-TV's web site (the most recent It's Ac "Super Bowl" is now up).  (I watched the Washington It's Academic in the 1970s when my grandmother on my father's side was still living in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, and I got to see a taping there on November 11, 2000 and got to meet Mac, as well as show creator Sophie Altman.)