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Steve Beverly's worst game show hosts

B

bpatrick

Game-show guru Steve Beverly, at his website this
week, lists his picks for the worst hosts. I won't
go into specifics, but I'll give the names, in no
particular order:

Jerry Van Dyke (Picture This)
George Fenneman (Anybody Can Play/Your Surprise
Package/Your Funny, Funny Films)
Nipsey Russell (Your Number's Up/Black College Quiz)
Lynn Swann (To Tell The Truth, '90s version)
Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (the Hollywood Squares portion
of The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour)
Doug Davidson (The Price Is Right, 1994 syndicated version)
Mike Reilly (Monopoly)
MoNique (Queen For A Day, Lifetime special)
Paul Rodriguez (The Newlywed Game, late '80s version)
Maury Povich (Twenty One, 2000 version)
Chris Wylde (Strip Poker/Taboo)
Sonny Fox (The $64,000 Challenge)
Billy Bush (Let's Make A Deal, 2000s version)
Norman Lear (The Quiz Kids, 1982 version)
Karyn Bryant (Name That Video)
Lynn Koplitz (Change Of Heart)

Beverly's opinions are at www.tvgameshows.net. While
you're there, check out some reminiscences about Peter
Tomarken, and info about John O'Hurley's replacing
Richard Karn on Family Feud.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by bpatrick on 03/31/06 07:07 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> Game-show guru Steve Beverly, at his website this
> week, lists his picks for the worst hosts. I won't
> go into specifics, but I'll give the names, in no
> particular order:
>
> Jerry Van Dyke (Picture This)
> George Fenneman (Anybody Can Play/Your Surprise
> Package/Your Funny, Funny Films)
> Nipsey Russell (Your Number's Up/Black College Quiz)
> Lynn Swann (To Tell The Truth, '90s version)
> Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (the Hollywood Squares portion
> of The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour)
> Doug Davidson (The Price Is Right, 1994 syndicated version)
> Mike Reilly (Monopoly)
> MoNique (Queen For A Day, Lifetime special)
> Paul Rodriguez (The Newlywed Game, late '80s version)
> Maury Povich (Twenty One, 2000 version)
> Chris Wylde (Strip Poker/Taboo)
> Sonny Fox (The $64,000 Challenge)
> Billy Bush (Let's Make A Deal, 2000s version)
> Norman Lear (The Quiz Kids, 1982 version)
> Karyn Bryant (Name That Video)
> Lynn Koplitz (Change Of Heart)
>
> Beverly's opinions are at www.tvgameshows.net. While
> you're there, check out some reminiscences about Peter
> Tomarken, and info about John O'Hurley's replacing
> Richard Karn on Family Feud.
>
Was that the "Monopoly" show that aired alongside the prime time "Super Jeopardy" back in the late 80's? If so, I agree that guy wasn't much to write home about. (I'd forgotten his name, even!) I remember Paul Rodriguez hosting "The Newlywed Game"...He's often quite funny as a standup comic, but was just totally wrong for that gig. Lynn Swann made the list...but not Rolf Benirschke for "Wheel Of Fortune"? Also, I know this list doesn't include local hosts, but a couple years ago I was watching the Illinois Lottery game show on Channel 9 in Chicago, and the host was Mark Goodman, one of the original MTV veejays...It was definitely one of those "how the mighty have fallen" moments.
 
> >
> Was that the "Monopoly" show that aired alongside the prime
> time "Super Jeopardy" back in the late 80's? If so, I agree
> that guy wasn't much to write home about. (I'd forgotten his
> name, even!)

I'm not sure anyone could have done anything with that bizarre Monopoly show. He may have been subdued, but if you consider his run would have been less than a month on a daily show, he also hardly had a chance to improve.

I remember Paul Rodriguez hosting "The Newlywed
> Game"...He's often quite funny as a standup comic, but was
> just totally wrong for that gig.

Separating Paul from all of the sudden changes to the Newlywed Game in midstream is hard. He looked ill at ease--is that surprising? At least when the show next came back in a different format, it began that way, so you didn't have someone trying to replace Bob--but it proved the point that the classic format was best when Bob came back the next year and the show went back to the original format.



>Lynn Swann made the
> list...

Disagree with Steve's assessment of how badly Lynn performed, but going with Alex was a better choice.


>but not Rolf Benirschke for "Wheel Of Fortune"?

AAAACK, the memories!



Where I'd really disagree strongly with Steve is in picking Doug Davidson. What I saw watching the show (and I just dug out my surviving tapes just to make sure I wasn't imagining it) was a great enthusiasm for the format, and a genuine relatability to the contestants. Was it the same as Barker? Of course not, nor should it have been. He was smooth with all of the games--not an easy task on Price.

But how any list of "bad" hosts can ignore Patrick Wayne is beyond me. From top to bottom, that revival was awful--set, music....and most of all, the host. The Joker's Wild revival wasn't spectacular, but it beat the heck out of TTD, and Pat Finn at least didn't feel like fingernails on a blackboard every time he opened his mouth.
 
> Pat Finn at least didn't feel like fingernails on a
> blackboard every time he opened his mouth.

I worked for him in radio, very briefly, in 1989. His biggest problem as a game show host was that his ego is overwhelming. I haven't seen him on the tube in several years now, so perhaps that reputation has now preceded him.<P ID="signature">______________


</P>
 
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