Author Topic: Exictable Celebrities (Read 7212 times)

calliaume · « **on:** February 07, 2006, 08:19:55 AM »

All right, pretend the topic is spelled correctly.

Having watched the current clip of Mary Cadorette helping a contestant win big on The $100,000 Pyramid, and look like she was going to faint afterward, I was wondering -- how many celebrities get (nearly) as excited as contestants after a big win?

It certainly makes for better television if a celeb partner is genuinely excited. Witness Cadorette (and some of the other Pyramid partners), Jim MacKrell on the existing Three for the Money episode, and so on. (I pick these two out because MacKrell's such a nice guy, and I had a crush on Cadorette for years.) Which celebs showed genuine happiness for their partners, and which looked like they couldn't have cared less?

BrandonFG · « **Reply #1 on:** February 07, 2006, 08:34:24 AM »

[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Feb 7 2006, 08:19 AM\']It certainly makes for better television if a celeb partner is genuinely excited. Witness Cadorette (and some of the other Pyramid partners), Jim MacKrell on the existing Three for the Money episode, and so on. (I pick these two out because MacKrell's such a nice guy, and I had a crush on Cadorette for years.) Which celebs showed genuine happiness for their partners, and which looked like they couldn't have cared less?

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Happy:
-Jack Klugman on MGPM--ran around the set
-Rob Reiner on $10K Pyramid

Couldn't care less:
-One of the Miss Americas on Donnymid. Her and her teammate (another Miss America) won $10,000, but whoever received was really cold and acted like she was only there for her paycheck. I know it was for charity, but damn, act somewhat excited.

comicus · « **Reply #2 on:** February 07, 2006, 05:04:15 PM »

You cannot have the yin of this discussion without mention of it's yang, William Shatner, he of the dreaded flying furniture... not all impetuousness is of a positive nature. But original point taken, particularly with the most recent Pyramid update; you could barely crack emotion of any sort out of the majority of the C-list celebs Donnymid trotted out on a daily basis.

Adam Nedeff · « **Reply #3 on:** February 07, 2006, 05:10:42 PM »

[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Feb 7 2006, 08:19 AM\']I was wondering -- how many celebrities get (nearly) as excited as contestants after a big win?

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The first thing that jumped in my mind was Alan Alda's $10,000 Pyramid win (shown in the openings of the GSN-aired shows) where he kicks up and yells something like "Hey, you did it!" with genuine emotion.

ChuckNet · « **Reply #4 on:** February 07, 2006, 08:11:34 PM »

I'd add Stuart Damon, who always seemed to be genuinely happy when he helped his contestant partner win big on Pyramid, even kissing a female contestant on occasion.

And how about Richard Simmons? He once gave away $40K on Super Password and just about collapsed in tears after it happened.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

TimK2003 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 07, 2006, 08:16:43 PM »

[quote name=\'CountdownRound\' date=\'Feb 7 2006, 05:04 PM\']You cannot have the yin of this discussion without mention of it's yang, William Shatner, he of the dreaded flying furniture... not all impetuousness is of a positive nature.

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Shatner was definitely emotional on the premiere episode of "Blankety Blanks" (US Version -- 4/21/75). Either that or he REALLY wanted to get into his civilian partner's pants before the taping of the second ep.

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Feb 7 2006, 08:11 PM\']And how about Richard Simmons? He once gave away $40K on Super Password and just about collapsed in tears after it happened.

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When *doesn't* Richard get teary-eyed??? :-p

BrandonFG · « **Reply #6 on:** February 07, 2006, 09:37:53 PM »

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Feb 7 2006, 08:11 PM\']And how about Richard Simmons? He once gave away $40K on Super Password and just about collapsed in tears after it happened.

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No tears, but when he was on HS, if a contestant won the bonus round, he always ran over to their podium to give them a hug. :-P

Blanquepage · « **Reply #7 on:** February 07, 2006, 09:52:22 PM »

Nipsey Russell on Pyramid; I can easily recall at least three instances in which he went absolutely ballistic.
Joyce Bulifant was another favorite of mine who always shared in the excitement with winning contestants.

--Jamie

Winkfan · « **Reply #8 on:** February 08, 2006, 12:50:56 AM »

Ah, but leave us not forget Richard Dawson on Match Game '7X; especially during the "head-to-head" portion of the "Super Match." He really did want the contestant to win the big jackpot; even if he didn't let it show sometimes. Ditto for Brett Somers; only she DID care (even in the 1990 version) when someone won big.

Cordially,
Tammy Warner--the 'Robin Riker-Halsey of the Big Board!'

whewfan · « **Reply #9 on:** February 08, 2006, 05:45:03 AM »

I always thought it was interesting how celebs on $10k Pyramid seemed more excited than the contestants when winning the big money.

Other excitable celebs

Dick Clark on Cullen's Pyramid- Not only did Dick look genuinely happy for the contestants, but he certainly looked RELIEVED that he could play the game just as well as he could host it.

I'll add one thing about Richard Dawson, he truly did care if the contestant won or not, even in the final days of MG 78, he always crossed his fingers when a contestant picked his answer.

My list for those that could care less...

Virtually all soap stars on game shows, notably...

Kin Shriner on MG 98- Kin had that Richard Dawson MG 78 mentality. He looked sour, hated it when Mike would joke about his speed writing down an answer (to his credit, he HATED copying off someone else, he usually tried to come up with his own answer)
He remained seated during the credits while the other celebs were doing the usual moving and dancing, and during one show, Mike is seen talking to Kin, and it's obvious that he's telling Kin something like "you've GOT to get out of this funk you're in"

Deidre Hall- She looked bored on MG/HS, came up with horrible answers, and when the celebs joked about it, you could tell she was thinking "Oh, just leave me alone, I'm only here for the paycheck anyway"

pownster · « **Reply #10 on:** February 08, 2006, 06:29:44 AM »

We had a music producer/interviewer/guru, Molly Meldrum, who took the audience with him on a rollercoaster ride of emotions on Australian "Millionaire". He was most definitely concerned for the welfare of his charity, and displayed genuine expressions of nerves, anxiety and elation in his trip to a $500,000 win. It was truly a magical hour of television.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #11 on:** February 08, 2006, 08:49:37 AM »

Looked like he didn't really care (to me anyway): Robert Vaughn on "Whew"

Rooting for the contestants: Rosie O'Donnell on "Hollywood Squares"

I guess we could expand this to the hosts as well - which hosts were genuinely happy when a contestant won? Bob Eubanks got really excited on a few of the "Dream House" wins.

tyshaun1 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 08, 2006, 10:21:10 AM »

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Feb 8 2006, 08:49 AM\']Which hosts were genuinely happy when a contestant won? Bob Eubanks got really excited on a few of the "Dream House" wins.

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Bill Cullen seemed genuinely happy when a player completed the Gold Run on Blockbusters. Bert Convy showed excitement when the end game was won on SP, although sometimes he seemed more happy for the celebrity..... Eubanks, IMO, seemed quite phony in his celebrations with contestants, and he eventually made CS' Money Cards about as unexciting as you could make it later in the show's run.

Tyshaun

zachhoran · « **Reply #13 on:** February 08, 2006, 10:59:44 AM »

[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Feb 8 2006, 10:21 AM\'] Eubanks, IMO, seemed quite phony in his celebrations with contestants, and he eventually made CS' Money Cards about as unexciting as you could make it later in the show's run.

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Jim Perry was just the opposite of Eubanks during the Money Cards, witness his excitement when someone wins more than $1000 after busting on the first level and Norma Brown's win.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #14 on:** February 08, 2006, 12:45:28 PM »

Quote

Eubanks, IMO, seemed quite phony in his celebrations with contestants, and he eventually made CS' Money Cards about as unexciting as you could make it later in the show's run.

Point taken about Eubanks. His attitude did seem to change by the late '80s - which is somewhat surprising considering that, in a GSN interview one time, he stated "Card Sharks" was one of his favorite shows to host. Go figure...maybe it was the format changes as someone had previously mentioned.