The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Twentington on February 23, 2011, 04:54:24 PM
-
So I'm looking up the 1950s version of The Price Is Right on IMDb and I see several substitute hosts and announcers — Robert Q. Lewis, Sonny Fox, Jack Narz, Merv Griffin, Arlene Francis, Sam Levenson and Bob Kennedy are all listed as sub-hosts; Roger Tuttle, Edward Haeffor, Vic Roby and Ed Jordan sub-announced; and Jack Clark did both.
I've noticed this with many 1950s and 1960s shows in general — lots and lots of substitutes in both departments. What was the reasoning behind it?
-
This is so easy even I can answer it. Shows back then were live, and daily shows ran daily throughout the year. The only ways for on-air talent to get time off would be to bring in a substitute or to not do a show.
-
So I'm looking up the 1950s version of The Price Is Right on IMDb and I see several substitute hosts and announcers.....and Jack Clark did both.
So did Johnny Gilbert during the ABC run of TPIR.
Cordially,
Tammy
-
While we're on the subject, which GS holds the record for most sub hosts? TTTT was def up there...during the Collyer era, quite a few hosts got the chance to pinch-hit for Bud:
Ralph Bellamy
Sonny Fox
Robert Q. Lewis
Jim Fleming
Orson Bean
Gene Rayburn
John Cameron Swayze
Merv Griffin
Mark Goodson
Bert Convy
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
-
While we're on the subject, which GS holds the record for most sub hosts? TTTT was def up there...during the Collyer era, quite a few hosts got the chance to pinch-hit for Bud:
Ralph Bellamy
Sonny Fox
Robert Q. Lewis
Orson Bean
Gene Rayburn
John Cameron Swayze
Merv Griffin
Mark Goodson
Bert Convy
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
When you look at the fruit-basket turnover of the 1990 version, plus the fact that there have been five distinct versions, I think it's safe to say that more different people have hosted TTTT at least once than have hosted any other show. There are at least twenty. By comparison, the number of different people who have hosted Jeopardy at least once is three.
-
This is so easy even I can answer it. Shows back then were live, and daily shows ran daily throughout the year. The only ways for on-air talent to get time off would be to bring in a substitute or to not do a show.
I figured that might be the answer, but I wasn't too sure.
(Next question: Once live dailies became a thing of the past, which shows had intentional substitute hosts — not counting instances where the previous host died, or instances where the original host traded places to play their own game? First ones I thought of were Bill Cullen on P+, Jim Peck on TJW and the revolving door of hosts on TTTT'90.)
-
the revolving door of hosts on TTTT'90.
Except that the "revolving door" was a series of people who, at the time, were the regular host, weren't they? Was Lynn Swann presented as a substitute before Trebek came along? If not, then really all you have is the couple of shows that Mark Goodson stepped in to do.
You've also got Geoff Edwards on Chain Reaction while Bill was filling in on Password Plus.
-
You've also got Geoff Edwards on Chain Reaction while Bill was filling in on Password Plus.
This I've never understood. Was it an NBC decision? Seems odd that Bill could switch shows (and production companies to boot) for a couple weeks.
-
(Next question: Once live dailies became a thing of the past, which shows had intentional substitute hosts — not counting instances where the previous host died, or instances where the original host traded places to play their own game? First ones I thought of were Bill Cullen on P+, Jim Peck on TJW and the revolving door of hosts on TTTT'90.)
Jack Clark filled in for Bill Cullen on daytime TPIR on ABC for a five week stretch in early 1965. We have shows from four of those weeks in the trade circuit (this was when a celeb would also play for audience members all week long too).
-
Bud Collyer's Beat the Clock also had a fair number of guest hosts, didn't it? Sonny Fox and Frank Wayne come to mind immediately, but I think there were more.
Chances are, Cullen's TPIR had many guest hosts because Bill was a busy man. He also did IGAS, Name's the Same, and other shows while TPIR was on the air. By coincidence, Truth or Consequences followed TPIR on NBC in the beginning, so in theory, they COULD'VE asked Bob Barker to guest host, considering it was on the same network.
-
Am I correct in my recollection that, with the exception of stunts (The April Fools J!/WOF host switch, Peter Marshall and Tom Bergeron switching places, etc.), Millionaire is the only show to have a guest host since Goodson filled in for Trebek on TTTT '90?
-
By comparison, the number of different people who have hosted Jeopardy at least once is three.
Four, if you count Jeff Probst. Unless we're being sticklers and only counting shows actually titled Jeopardy!
-
Four, if you count Jeff Probst.
And we can make it five, too, if you want to include Bob Bergen and Jep! using similar logic.
-
And we can make it five, too, if you want to include Bob Bergen and Jep! using similar logic.
Not willing to go that far. Jep! was a demonstrably different game.
-
Not willing to go that far.
I would be. Separate categories with clue values of similar rising increments, phrasing responses in a question-like form and writing a question down at the end would be enough similarities, buuut of course that's just me. What's some bouncy balls and big button buzzers between friends?
-
On the subject of Price guest hosts, Don Pardo filled in at least twice -- December 31, 1959 and December 28, 1962.
While we're on the subject, which GS holds the record for most sub hosts?
To Tell The Truth had 13 fill-ins (including Joe Garagiola before he officially became host) and 20 hosts altogether. If I were a betting man, I'd say the record goes to the United Kingdom's Have I Got News For You -- 72 guest presenters since Angus Deayton was fired in 2002.
-
Am I correct in my recollection that, with the exception of stunts (The April Fools J!/WOF host switch, Peter Marshall and Tom Bergeron switching places, etc.), Millionaire is the only show to have a guest host since Goodson filled in for Trebek on TTTT '90?
When did WWTBaM have a guest host? I stopped following it after Super Millionaire ended.
-
I would be.
Apparently.
Separate categories with clue values of similar rising increments, phrasing responses in a question-like form and writing a question down at the end would be enough similarities, buuut of course that's just me.
Yes, that's certainly you all over.
The fact that the game is fundamentally changed in a major way (no control over clue value, never mind the cosmetic issues of the board being radically different *and* the minor point of a player being locked out for the next clue on their third wrong answer) where the other three versions are *exactly* the same game passes the "which of these things is not like the other" test pretty clearly, I think.
-
By comparison, the number of different people who have hosted Jeopardy at least once is three.
Four, if you count Jeff Probst. Unless we're being sticklers and only counting shows actually titled Jeopardy!
I'm not sure you'd have to be called a 'stickler' to consider Probst's gig a different show. Same with Jep. I honestly haven't seen that one recently enough to know what the dramatic difference is. Everybody's line is going to be one place or another.
-
When did WWTBaM have a guest host? I stopped following it after Super Millionaire ended.
Several times in the last few years. Off the top of my head, Tom Bergeron, Al Roker, Cat Deeley, Steve Harvey, Dave Price, and I'm sure I left a couple off.
-
Just to stir the pot - does that make J! 78 a different show, because of the cutting of contestants after each round?
-
Just to stir the pot - does that make J! 78 a different show, because of the cutting of contestants after each round?
Possibly; and it also had a new bonus round. But since it had the same host as the prior version...
-
Just to stir the pot - does that make J! 78 a different show, because of the cutting of contestants after each round?
Sure, and feel free to discount it, too, because...
But since it had the same host as the prior version...
:)
-
I remember when we did our Top 50 event a few years ago, we had several discussions about what constituted a 'different' version of a show and what didn't. Since I was administering it, I got final say, but I'm still not entirely sure some of my choices were right. On the other hand, I was very comfortable with some choices even though others disagreed. Much like defining precisely what is or is not a game show, we're all going to have our own internal barometer, and our choices may appear arbitrary to someone else.
-
Is the first format of Play the Percentages considered the same show as the last format of Play the Percentages?
-
By comparison, the number of different people who have hosted Jeopardy at least once is three.
Four, if you count Jeff Probst. Unless we're being sticklers and only counting shows actually titled Jeopardy!
I'm not sure you'd have to be called a 'stickler' to consider Probst's gig a different show. Same with Jep. I honestly haven't seen that one recently enough to know what the dramatic difference is. Everybody's line is going to be one place or another.
The ONLY differences between Trebek's show and Probst's were the show's name, host, subject matter, and the lack of returning champions on the latter. The formats themselves were identical.
I never saw Jep!, but according to Wikipedia, the board had 20 clues instead of 30, clue values were chosen at random, and there's that whole "three strikes and you're out for one question" thing. The whole 'pick a clue and question an answer' schtick was the same, but it didn't play out the same as Grand-daddy Jeopardy! the way Probst's did.
/I can't remember...did Probst's version use the same set?
//that might be another one
-
Is the first format of Play the Percentages considered the same show as the last format of Play the Percentages?
And for that matter, the second format of Snap Judgment — same show as the first, or a short-lived Password revival?
(Seriously, why did they do that anyway? Desperation?)
-
/I can't remember...did Probst's version use the same set?
Same basic set pieces, very different trim.
-
Is the first format of Play the Percentages considered the same show as the last format of Play the Percentages?
I'd say yes, because it's the same show but with a different format. You could probably ask the same question of a show like Wheel of Fortune. It's played much differently today than it was in 1975, but it's still the same show.
-
/I can't remember...did Probst's version use the same set?
Same basic set pieces, very different trim.
I could swear I read somewhere it was the traveling set (obviously dressed up for the program).
-
Is the first format of Play the Percentages considered the same show as the last format of Play the Percentages?
I'd say yes, because it's the same show but with a different format. You could probably ask the same question of a show like Wheel of Fortune. It's played much differently today than it was in 1975, but it's still the same show.
True, but the format change in PtP was pretty dramatic. In the second format, you weren't taking guesses at the percentages anymore; they were outright given to you in the form of "X percent of people got this question wrong". So it was kind of a stretch to say that you were playing the percentages — what you were really playing was Twenty One plus four.
Wheel, on the other hand, has always kept the core elements of Hangman with a wheel, despite whatever window dressing it gets.
-
True, but the format change in PtP was pretty dramatic. In the second format, you weren't taking guesses at the percentages anymore; they were outright given to you in the form of "X percent of people got this question wrong". So it was kind of a stretch to say that you were playing the percentages — what you were really playing was Twenty One plus four.
On my last trip to UCLA I finally got to watch an episode of The Wizard of Odds for the first time since I saw it growing up. The one they have is from very late in the run, at which point the show had almost totally abandoned its original format. Aside from Alex awkwardly inserting the "odds" of a player's name turning up on one wheel spin, the title of the show had nothing to do with the game they played.
-
On my last trip to UCLA I finally got to watch an episode of The Wizard of Odds for the first time since I saw it growing up. The one they have is from very late in the run, at which point the show had almost totally abandoned its original format. Aside from Alex awkwardly inserting the "odds" of a player's name turning up on one wheel spin, the title of the show had nothing to do with the game they played.
Out of curiosity, what were the show's formats anyway? Best I can find is "questions about statistics".
Also, seems even Trebek has forgotten about the show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD0vVZyfvW8