Author Topic: Which game show most suited the announcer? (Read 9716 times)

Gameshowcrackers · « **on:** April 24, 2009, 11:40:35 AM »

Some game show announcers suit some shows but not others?

What programs do you think most suited the best known game show announcers' voices and on which shows do you think their vocal talents were most out of place (optional).

Here goes.......

GENE WOOD - Legendary announcer who lent his voice to almost 20 different GT games. Most suited IMO to Card Sharks, but seemed oddly out of place when he auditioned for The Price Is Right

JOHNNY OLSON - Probably the most famous of all game show announcers; his career spanned 40 years. At his all time best IMO on Gene Rayburn's Match Game but seemed oddly out of place when he lent his vocal talents to Tattletales.

BOB HILTON - Forever associated with the Bill Cullen hosted version of BLOCKBUSTERS

JOHNNY GILBERT - Forever identified as the booming voice of JEOPARDY but also lent his voice to more than 25 other shows

CHARLIE O'DONNELL - Forever the voice of WHEEEEEL OF FORTUNE

JACK CLARK - At his best IMO on the $25,000 Pyramid, his vocal did not really suit Wheel of Fortune (IMO)

KENNY WILLIAMS - Will always be the voice of The Hollywood Sqaures

DoorNumberFour · « **Reply #1 on:** April 24, 2009, 01:06:48 PM »

Rod Roddy on Press Your Luck.

tpirfan28 · « **Reply #2 on:** April 24, 2009, 01:18:53 PM »

In my opinion, Gene failed horribly at the bombastic TPIR opening, but he has a great voice for prize descriptions.

Johnny Gilbert on Pyramid was really good fit.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #3 on:** April 24, 2009, 01:21:18 PM »

Maybe it's a generational thing, but I always associate Don Pardo as the "voice of Jeopardy!"

Jay Stewart probably had the most strenuous announcing gig on LMAD.

Chief-O · « **Reply #4 on:** April 24, 2009, 01:31:24 PM »

[quote name=\'Gameshowcrackers\' post=\'213916\' date=\'Apr 24 2009, 10:40 AM\']
GENE WOOD - Legendary announcer who lent his voice to almost 20 different GT games. Most suited IMO to Card Sharks, but seemed oddly out of place when he auditioned for The Price Is Right[/quote]
Gene didn't really have a conventional GS announcer voice, but he seemed to fit every show he did. "Price" is the exception, however. I might also say Narz BTC, but I'll cut him some slack there---that was his first full time announcing job.

Quote

JOHNNY OLSON - Probably the most famous of all game show announcers; his career spanned 40 years. At his all time best IMO on Gene Rayburn's Match Game but seemed oddly out of place when he lent his vocal talents to Tattletales.

I thought Johnny did a great job on TT. Now, when he subbed on P+ [the week Bill Cullen sub-hosted, IIRC], that was somewhat out of place. Same with "Mindreaders".

Quote

CHARLIE O'DONNELL - Forever the voice of WHEEEEEL OF FORTUNE

Also did very well on "Joker" and TTD--heck, every B&E show he did.

I'd have to throw in Johnny Jacobs---not a huge "Newlywed" fan, but he did quite well there. Also did really great on "Joker".

aaron sica · « **Reply #5 on:** April 24, 2009, 01:55:18 PM »

I think Gene Wood was most suited for "Family Feud". Even now, since 1999 with Burton Richardson at the helm, it still doesn't seem the same without him.

Also echoing what others have said about him being out of place on TPiR. Whereas Johnny O would exclaim, "HERE IT COMES!!...television's most exciting hour.." Gene was almost monotone and there was no excitement. "Here it comes...television's most exciting hour of fantastic prizes.."

Have a listen.

Twentington · « **Reply #6 on:** April 24, 2009, 07:40:28 PM »

Let's see:

I think Johnny Gilbert fit $25KP/$100KP very well, and sounds perfect on Jeopardy! "This... is... ~~Sparta~~ Jeopardy!" just wouldn't sound the same with anyone else's voice.

Charlie O'Donnell and Gene Wood have a good mellow-yet-energetic vibe that I've found fits most of the shows they announced, especially Charlie on the B&E library and Gene on the Family Fyooood. Charlie still sounds great on Wheel, even the show has been amped up over the past several years.

As for ones that didn't fit: Jack Clark was just too laid-back for Pyramid and Wheel and... well, just about anything else he announced, in my opinion. I was never a fan of Johnny Jacobs either. He always seemed to be stiff and restrained, which I thought especially made him clash with the loose, campy feel of the Chuck Barris library.

I agree that Johnny Olson didn't fit on Tattletales, but I'll add that Gene didn't either. Both of them seemed unnaturally bored-sounding on that show, which certainly needed a "fun" announcer. Johnny sounded bored on Body Language as well.

Unrealtor · « **Reply #7 on:** April 24, 2009, 11:47:12 PM »

[quote name=\'Twentington\' post=\'213971\' date=\'Apr 24 2009, 06:40 PM\']
As for ones that didn't fit: Jack Clark was just too laid-back for Pyramid and Wheel and... well, just about anything else he announced, in my opinion.
[/quote]

I always thought he was well-suited to the 60s Password because he was so laid back. The atmosphere was more "televised party game" than "game show," and a high-energy announcer wouldn't have worked there.

Johnny Gilbert seems to do well on shows with big openings (like Pyramid and Jeopardy.) I would love to hear him do the TPIR "Here it comes..." intro.

pentellit · « **Reply #8 on:** April 25, 2009, 12:18:22 AM »

I think Rod Roddy was the perfect choice to step into Price after Johnny O, especially since his suits were as colorful as the Big Doors!

Strikerz04 · « **Reply #9 on:** April 25, 2009, 01:09:42 AM »

[quote name=\'Twentington\' post=\'213971\' date=\'Apr 24 2009, 06:40 PM\']

As for ones that didn't fit: Jack Clark was just too laid-back for Pyramid and Wheel and... well, just about anything else he announced, in my opinion.

[/quote]

I'll agree with Pyramid (then again, I'm used to Charie O. and Johnny), but not with wheel.

Jack was laid back, but at the same time, he read the prize descriptions quite nicely and would even chuckle from time to time. I would think for a show that had him announce for 7 1/2-8 years (and judging from the clips and episodes I've seen), he had a smooth voice that wasn't bombastic or jagged, but it wasn't boring either. Charlie will always be the voice of Wheel (some might disagree), and I'm used to his low-pitch tone (which is also innocuous).

Craig Karlberg · « **Reply #10 on:** April 25, 2009, 04:00:07 AM »

Johnny O. will always be identified with TPIR. His voice was undeniably authentic. Even calling Barker's name sends good viibes to open the show the right way. He may've been out of place on TT, but he wasn't all that bad either.

Jay Stewart was not only a fit at LMAD, he was also a natural fit at the 80's $otC. When it comes down to style, he's on top of his game.

Nobody can compare to Kenny Williams' announcing on the original NBC version of HSq. He was so good at it, he rerely strays too far off even if the audience was laughing it up during the intros.

Don Howard · « **Reply #11 on:** April 25, 2009, 08:49:35 AM »

[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' post=\'214002\' date=\'Apr 25 2009, 04:00 AM\']
His voice was undeniably authentic.
[/quote]
So it was his real voice. I knew it!!
I've wondered why Johnny G. never auditioned for the announce job at TPiR when Johnny O. died.
His plate, though, was very full during the 1980s.
I remember hearing either his voice or that of Gene Wood in the '80s and thinking, "Does this guy ever take a day off?"
Shifting back to topic, I liked Don Morrow on The Challengers...particularly during the era of The Ultimate Challenge when he'd tell us at the open how many steps away the champion was from a stab at the big jackpot.

Gameshowcrackers · « **Reply #12 on:** April 25, 2009, 09:17:40 AM »

[quote name=\'Twentington\' post=\'213971\' date=\'Apr 24 2009, 06:40 PM\']

I was never a fan of Johnny Jacobs either. He always seemed to be stiff and restrained, which I thought especially made him clash with the loose, campy feel of the Chuck Barris library.

[/quote]

I have to say tho that I felt he did a great job at the top of each edition of the Gong Show!

As for Johnny Gilbert, I agree that it would have been great to hear him do the opening to the Price Is Right and command contestants to Come On Down to take their places in contestants row. I wonder why he wasn't offered an audition following the death of Rod Roddy - perhaps it could be that he is contracted exclusively to Sony Pictures and is precluded from doing other shows; I do not know.

But the Price Is Right certainly has more announcer copy than any other program and IMO Gilbert possbily has the best diction of any of the announcing greats making him a perfect fit for the show!

Strangely tho, Gilbert was never really a prolific GT annoucer in a career spanning more than 50 years, only occasionally subbing for Gene Wood on a few GT shows such as Family Feud and Card Sharks.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #13 on:** April 25, 2009, 09:24:20 AM »

Johnny Gilbert did announce TPIR for two years. ABC TPIR, but still.....

Chief-O · « **Reply #14 on:** April 25, 2009, 09:46:06 AM »

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'214008\' date=\'Apr 25 2009, 07:49 AM\']
Shifting back to topic, I liked Don Morrow on The Challengers...particularly during the era of The Ultimate Challenge when he'd tell us at the open how many steps away the champion was from a stab at the big jackpot.
[/quote]

Yes----why did I not mention him??? I thought he actually did better on "Sale" than Jay Stewart did.

Author Topic: Which game show most suited the announcer? (Read 9716 times)

pentellit