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What was Lin Bolen's influence on the game show business?

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danderson:
For example, she replaced hosts like Art Fleming, Joe Garagiola, and Bob Clayton with Alex Trebek, Chuck Woolery, and Geoff Edwards, all who became stalwarts in game shows, and green lighting shows like Wheel Of Fortune, High Rollers, and Jackpot. Did she have any say about wardrobe too?

TLEberle:
Yes she did. Younger hosts, flashier formats (literally and figuratively) and a more current wardrobe for the hosts.

(Quizmaster; Nedeff, Adam.)

BrandonFG:

--- Quote from: danderson on September 09, 2019, 08:00:56 PM ---Did she have any say about wardrobe too?

--- End quote ---
Absolutely. I think it was in Jefferson Graham's Come on Down book, but he mentioned how Lin was very upfront about wanting the talent wearing butterfly collar leisure suits and sporting longer hair. For Geoff, Alex, or Chuck, it made sense. On Dennis James or Bill Cullen, it looked kinda silly.

/By mid-70s standards
//All leisure suits look silly now

Adam Nedeff:
Working on Game Shows FAQ, I came to the conclusion that Lin gets a lot more crap than she deserves for her tenure.

-Although she pushed for new game shows, she continually relied on veteran producers and packagers for formats.
-She pushed for younger stars to host shows, but she had a great eye for talent, and many of them were old-school broadcasters in their own right
-Her hit/miss ratio was no worse than any other network VP, and some shows that the game show community generally speaks highly of came during her watch
-The people I've spoken to who directly worked with her spoke highly of her, among other things noting that she trusted the people who bought shows from; Lin definitely had a look and a feel that she wanted game shows to have, but as long as you adhered to that look, she left you alone in every other regard to run the show as you saw fit.

Dbacksfan12:

--- Quote from: Adam Nedeff on September 10, 2019, 01:00:25 AM ---but as long as you adhered to that look, she left you alone in every other regard to run the show as you saw fit.
--- End quote ---
Wasn't she the reason Jackpot went from riddles to Q&A?

In regards to people knocking her job performance, I strongly suspect its tied to her treatment of Jeopardy!.

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