And now, the host of Password Plus...

[Don Howard]

Two things to further this topic:
FIRST! Allen was in no condition to "hand-pick" anything. Months later, when he was heard but not seen on Hour Magazine that was quite apparent.
SECOND! Oh, just hear Art Fleming as he's plopping down those stairs: "Why, thank you! Thank you, my friends. Thank you, Gene Wood. Thank you so much. Welcome, welcome, welcome and thank you for coming to play our game and welcome to Password Plus, America's favorite game of word communication where our players must identify the password from a one-word clue." You know you'd love it.

[aaron sica]

If this has been said already, I apologize for repeating....But I noticed when watching P+ this week, at least on one show, when Tom Kennedy was introduced at the beginning, he said "Hi Allen!", which I thought was a neat gesture..

[calliaume]

[quote name=\'Terry K\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 08:40 AM\']I'm not convinced Eubanks was Mark's first choice for CS.  I think that Rafferty would have been better on the daytime version, but with Eubanks doing NG during that era, I'm guessing that was why Rafferty was tapped for the night time version)

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[/quote]
You might be right.  Eubanks had to audition for Card Sharks according to his book, and that was something he hadn't done since the original Newlywed Game.

I would think G-T would have gone back to Perry had he been available.  But since Sale of the Century had both a network and syndie version running, he was totally off limits.  Thus Bill Rafferty (and I haven't caught anything yet on GSN yet, so I'll have to tape some episodes after the move).

I wonder if either Fleming was more trouble to work with than we think, or production companies so associated him with Jeopardy! that he never got any other offers.  Even Allen Ludden, who I gather wasn't always the easiest guy to work with, hosted at least three other shows beside Password, but aside from a single episode of College Bowl, Fleming only did Jeopardy!

[melman1]

[quote name=\'Terry K\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 06:40 AM\']After watching Rafferty, he is as I've said is *very* under-rated as a host.[/quote]

Based on his version of Blockbusters, I'd have to strongly disagree with that assessment.  Maybe other elements of the show were working against him (as compared to Cullen's version, everything seems inferior - the set is cheaper, the contestants not as bright, etc.), but he just seems grating to me.

[Chief-O]

[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 10:18 AM\']ObCS: Anyone else find it odd that the syndicated CS used art cards for the short credit roll while CBS used CGI for the daytime show?

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[/quote]

Yeah, I guess I do find it weird. Same for Blockbusters '87---at least these first few. And here's my Horan moment of the day, but that crawl looked to have been snatched from TPIR, considering the font that they used for the syndicator info.

[quote name=\'Don Howard\']Oh, just hear Art Fleming as he's plopping down those stairs: "Why, thank you! Thank you, my friends. Thank you, Gene Wood. Thank you so much. Welcome, welcome, welcome and thank you for coming to play our game and welcome to Password Plus, America's favorite game of word communication where our players must identify the password from a one-word clue." You know you'd love it.[/quote]

I THINK we may have a Line of the Day here...

[Johnissoevil]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 09:00 AM\']This is somewhat straying from the topic, but I found it interesting that "Blockbusters" on NBC was up against "Card Sharks" on CBS.  So Rafferty had to compete against a version of a show he hosted in syndication.  Would that fall under irony?

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[/quote]

Or perhaps NBC possibly being spiteful? :-)

[Terry K]

[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 11:27 AM\']
I wonder if either Fleming was more trouble to work with than we think, or production companies so associated him with Jeopardy! that he never got any other offers.  Even Allen Ludden, who I gather wasn't always the easiest guy to work with, hosted at least three other shows beside Password, but aside from a single episode of College Bowl, Fleming only did Jeopardy!

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[/quote]

When J! was revived in 84-85, Fleming was reportedly miffed he wasn't contacted about doing it.  He was doing a trivia call in show on KMOX in St. Louis for the last few years of his life.  

And if you ask me, Trebek does J! just as well as Fleming did.  (Of course, Trebek has done it far longer than Fleming ever did!)  

As for Ludden, Stumpers was a take on Password, IIRC (It was also a lousy show!), and Liars Club was I think filler until he got P+ back on the air. (of course considering Larry Hovis was behind it!)

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'Terry K\' date=\'Apr 10 2005, 09:38 AM\']As for Ludden, Stumpers was a take on Password, IIRC (It was also a lousy show!), and Liars Club was I think filler until he got P+ back on the air. (of course considering Larry Hovis was behind it!)

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[/quote]

Please. It wasn't filler. It was a job, and he took cause it paid money, not because 'he' was waiting to get P+ back on the air. 'He' didn't have a thing with 'that' either.

Gawd, if 'you' don't know what 'you' are talking about, please 'don't post'.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'Apr 10 2005, 12:11 PM\'][quote name=\'Terry K\' date=\'Apr 10 2005, 09:38 AM\']Liars Club

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[/quote]

Please. It wasn't filler. It was a job, and he took cause it paid money, not because 'he' was waiting to get P+ back on the air. 'He' didn't have a thing with 'that' either.

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[/quote]


Remember we're talking about Ralph ANdrews. Ralph Andrews and "paid money" do not go hand-in-hand

[The Ol' Guy]

Fleming did throw a few barbs at the revised Trebek Jeopardy in an article on J! in Sports Illustrated (honest!) back around '88-'89. The writer has Fleming, the then Breckenridge, Colorado saloon keeper, saying the new version is "much too easy", going on to say the prizes were lousy. "Runners up used to keep their prize money. A dollar out of first place and you win a year's supply of lip gloss." As to the glitz, the polish, "It's not part of the real world. It's part of Hollywood." Sour grapes? The show has moved on nicely from it's tacky looking early days. Wonder what Art would say now if he were here?

[uncamark]

I'm guessing in the late 70s that there were some at G-T who blamed Trebek for "Double Dare" bombing, so he didn't have a chance at another job there--at that time.

As for Perry getting his "CS" job back, the understanding I had was that all hands wanted something closer to Bruce Forsyth's take on the format in the UK, which was more of a comedy show.  Out of everyone they looked at, Eubanks probably fit the bill the best.  Granted, Raferty may've been better, but they may not've looked at him at the time.

[ChuckNet]

As for Perry getting his "CS" job back, the understanding I had was that all hands wanted something closer to Bruce Forsyth's take on the format in the UK, which was more of a comedy show.

In fact, the original revival plans called for the use of married couples, just as it was played across the pond.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Apr 12 2005, 11:44 PM\']

As for Perry getting his "CS" job back, the understanding I had was that all hands wanted something closer to Bruce Forsyth's take on the format in the UK, which was more of a comedy show.

In fact, the original revival plans called for the use of married couples, just as it was played across the pond.

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[/quote]
Ah ha! That could explain why Bob was selected for this version of the show. It's well known that he had a rich on-camera history in dealing with couples and perhaps that was the reason he was considered the top candidate.

[Terry K]

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'Apr 10 2005, 12:11 PM\'][quote name=\'Terry K\' date=\'Apr 10 2005, 09:38 AM\']As for Ludden, Stumpers was a take on Password, IIRC (It was also a lousy show!), and Liars Club was I think filler until he got P+ back on the air. (of course considering Larry Hovis was behind it!)

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[/quote]

Please. It wasn't filler. It was a job, and he took cause it paid money, not because 'he' was waiting to get P+ back on the air. 'He' didn't have a thing with 'that' either.

Gawd, if 'you' don't know what 'you' are talking about, please 'don't post'.

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[/quote]

You said it better than I did.  I was getting at the fact that Allen was filling time and getting himself back out there.  It didn't hurt that MG was planning a revival of Password, but you totally missed the point.  

Some people in this business take jobs to fill time till the next best thing comes along.  Ludden took the Liars Club job not necessarily because he needed work, but because he *wanted* work.

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'Terry K\' date=\'Apr 13 2005, 10:50 AM\'][quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'Apr 10 2005, 12:11 PM\'][quote name=\'Terry K\' date=\'Apr 10 2005, 09:38 AM\']As for Ludden, Stumpers was a take on Password, IIRC (It was also a lousy show!), and Liars Club was I think filler until he got P+ back on the air. (of course considering Larry Hovis was behind it!)

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[/quote]

Please. It wasn't filler. It was a job, and he took cause it paid money, not because 'he' was waiting to get P+ back on the air. 'He' didn't have a thing with 'that' either.

Gawd, if 'you' don't know what 'you' are talking about, please 'don't post'.

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[/quote]

You said it better than I did.  I was getting at the fact that Allen was filling time and getting himself back out there.  It didn't hurt that MG was planning a revival of Password, but you totally missed the point.  

Some people in this business take jobs to fill time till the next best thing comes along.  Ludden took the Liars Club job not necessarily because he needed work, but because he *wanted* work.

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[/quote]

No, I think you're STILL missing the point. Do you know for a fact that MG was planning a revival of Password in 77 when he took Liars Club? If you have privy to such knowledge, please share. Otherwise, you are speculating, and DON'T know what you are talking about (see above criticism.)

Are you in this business? Cause I don't think you are. So don't suggest that you get Ludden's karma....cause I don't think you do.