Best Game Show Host

[anotherguyTN]

I normally don't do this, but considering that there was a more recent thread on this same topic here: http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?669650-Time-Magazine-s-15-best-game-show-hosts from last August why pull up an older thread from six years ago?

 

[danderson4411]

might also add jim perry of sale of the century and mike adamle from american gladiators and jim lange from name that tune

 

[LKellerIII]

Bob Barker, hands down!! I think he should have stayed with TPIR longer...til 2022 for it's 50th anniversary! (If he lives that long).

Barker is a long time vegetarian - originating with his views about animal cruelty, I'm sure. But it has health benefits, and he also believes in exercise, so Bob probably WILL be alive in 2022. He'll only be 99.

Here's Bob beating the crap out of "Happy Gilmore" (Adam Sandler) in the 1996 film, when he was a young man of 73. Great scene...bitch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QJiAK-s5a0

 

[anotherguyTN]

I see the thread from August was combined with this thread, which is OK I guess. Is this going to be a regular thing now? Just curious.

 

[frankberry]

If the subject of the threads is nearly identical, we merge them upon request.

 

[bmasters1981]

I think that a special acknowledgment should be made for actor Christopher McDonald, who is currently appearing in the film House Bunny, for his uncanny portrayal of Jack Barry in 1994's Quiz Show. In the scenes with the game show Twenty One, you would swear you were seeing the real Jack Barry. He had his look, mannerisms, and sound down perfectly.

I've rarely seen an imitation of anybody by anybody that was that on target.

And to think: McDonald was 39 when that movie was filmed, and I believe Jack Barry was the same age when that fateful Twenty-One episode was first shown on NBC.

 

[danderson6500]

Zoglin didn't pick John Daly or Bud Collyer because he felt Daly was too stuffy and Collyer not much fun. But Collyer did show his versatility by successfully hosting both the frenetic "Beat The Clock" and the more subdued "To Tell The Truth."

Tom Kennedy did have two long-running hits before "Password Plus": "You Don't Say!" (NBC, 1963-69; ABC, briefly in 1975), and I suppose its similarity to "Password" made him a natural to replace Allen Ludden on "Password Plus"; also, Kennedy hosted the '70s version of "Name That Tune" in syndication from 1974-81, as well as a short-lived daytime version in 1977.

Wink Martindale had a long run as host of "Gambit" (CBS, 1972-76; as "Las Vegas Gambit" on NBC, 1980-81) and "Tic Tac Dough" (1978-85) and was one of the hottest hosts of the '70s and '80s.

How could they leave out Chuck Woolery, first host of "Wheel Of Fortune" (1975-81), and later, "Scrabble" (1984-89 and again in 1993) and "Love Connection" (1983-95)?

As for Groucho, I can actually see him losing interest in "You Bet Your Life" from the last two years of "Best Of Groucho" reruns; his retorts just aren't as sharp as they were in earlier years. The reason for the writers' giving him prepared jokes and interview questions goes back to the beginning of the show on radio in 1947: the early shows were live, and Groucho seemed hesitant at times as to what to ask or whether he should say what he was thinking, since he might get run off the air. A combination of audiotape and (on television) film solved that problem; Groucho was more relaxed, knowing that anything risque or just simply unfunny need never be aired. But he liked to say in private that he was known for his lightning wit, and it didn't look good for him to sit up there for 20 or 30 seconds trying to think of something to say--or to say what he was thinking--and those were the times he was most likely to depend on prepared material. Some of the people who worked on the show said he was rarely off-color, however; Groucho did come out of vaudeville, where even mild profanity was forbidden, and that's something that stayed with him at least when he was on-stage. But whether or not "You Bet Your Life" was ad-libbed or even partially scripted, no one could deliver the lines as well as he did. And as for the quiz, it was completely honest (although there were some accusations that William Peter Blatty was given particularly easy questions, given that he once worked as a page at NBC, "YBYL"'s network).

Roy Kammerman, head writer on "Who Do You Trust?", often said that Johnny Carson did everything off the cue cards (that would make sense, given that the show was a live half-hour with three pairs of contestants to be interviewed and quizzed, an end game, whatever interaction Carson had with Ed McMahon, and the all-important commercials), but Kammerman said there were times when Johnny could come up with something even better than Kammerman had written for him.

I'd also vote for the first successful game show host on television, Dennis James, who started with a show on DuMont called "Cash And Carry" in 1946 (still the prehistoric era, which I would argue ended in 1948) and hosted shows at least through the syndicated "Price Is Right" in the '70s. I personally eliminated Bert Parks, although he hosted two of radio and early television's hottest games, "Break The Bank" and "Stop The Music," simply because of his unparalleled ability to grate on viewers and because he was more closely associated with the Miss America pageant.

I've always liked Barker's work on "TPIR", since he seemed to be really good.

Agreed about Woolery; my grandmother used to watch "Wheel" and even then, he was really good. That helped him well when he was doing "Scrabble" and "Love Connection"

My grandmother once said that Bob Barker and Bud Collyer were her favorite hosts, not to mention Woolery, Art Fleming and Hugh Downs.

 

[seatownmedia]

In modern times, there is no doubt Bob Barker is #1. Some don't realize he also hosted the syndicated "Truth or Consequences" in the late 60's and early 70's. Had the perfect tone for hosting a game show. He was one of the best.