The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: cmjb13 on December 24, 2003, 12:56:26 PM
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Was there any reason why Goodson in his later years went outside the hiring box so to speak? (hiring comedians, sports figures as proposed/actual hosts as opposed to people from Radio/TV)
Or was it a situation where he didn't have much to choose from?
A football player (Joe Montana) to host a game show on the surface doesn't seem like a good idea.
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Neither was hiring a certain San Diego Chargers kicker to host Wheel of Fortune....
I think everyone knows who I'm talking about. (Oh Wait, Wheel isn't Goodson, sorry, but was it at any time?)
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[quote name=\'JayC\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 01:16 PM\'] Neither was hiring a certain San Diego Chargers kicker to host Wheel of Fortune....
I think everyone knows who I'm talking about. (Oh Wait, Wheel isn't Goodson, sorry!) [/quote]
Would have been interesting to see how Goodson would have done Wheel.
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[quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 01:17 PM\'] [quote name=\'JayC\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 01:16 PM\'] Neither was hiring a certain San Diego Chargers kicker to host Wheel of Fortune....
I think everyone knows who I'm talking about. (Oh Wait, Wheel isn't Goodson, sorry!) [/quote]
Would have been interesting to see how Goodson would have done Wheel. [/quote]
Thought Goodson never did Wheel...
I bet Goodson would have kept shopping.
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[quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 12:56 PM\'] Was there any reason why Goodson in his later years went outside the hiring box so to speak? (hiring comedians, sports figures as proposed/actual hosts as opposed to people from Radio/TV)
Or was it a situation where he didn't have much to choose from?
A football player (Joe Montana) to host a game show on the surface doesn't seem like a good idea. [/quote]
I thought it was Joe Namath? At least Namath would've been able to kiss the contestants. (rimshot)
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 02:55 PM\'] [quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 12:56 PM\'] Was there any reason why Goodson in his later years went outside the hiring box so to speak? (hiring comedians, sports figures as proposed/actual hosts as opposed to people from Radio/TV)
Or was it a situation where he didn't have much to choose from?
A football player (Joe Montana) to host a game show on the surface doesn't seem like a good idea. [/quote]
I thought it was Joe Namath? At least Namath would've been able to kiss the contestants. (rimshot) [/quote]
My mistake. But either way, a football player didn't seem like a good choice.
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What show did Namath host?
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Nothing. I think he just did the pilot.
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 02:55 PM\'] [quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 12:56 PM\'] Was there any reason why Goodson in his later years went outside the hiring box so to speak? (hiring comedians, sports figures as proposed/actual hosts as opposed to people from Radio/TV)
Or was it a situation where he didn't have much to choose from?
A football player (Joe Montana) to host a game show on the surface doesn't seem like a good idea. [/quote]
I thought it was Joe Namath? At least Namath would've been able to kiss the contestants. (rimshot) [/quote]
He could then go on how he could care less if Team 2 is losing by 45 points
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[quote name=\'JayC\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 03:58 PM\'] What show did Namath host? [/quote]
According to the E! True Hollywood Story on Family Feud that aired during the summer of 2002, Joe was tapped to host the CBS Family Feud. I can't remember the exact reason, but it didn't pan out and went to Ray Combs.
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[quote name=\'Card Shark\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 05:59 PM\'] [quote name=\'JayC\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 03:58 PM\'] What show did Namath host? [/quote]
According to the E! True Hollywood Story on Family Feud that aired during the summer of 2002, Joe was tapped to host the CBS Family Feud. I can't remember the exact reason, but it didn't pan out and went to Ray Combs. [/quote]
I think the story said that Mark Goodson overheard an audience (at NBC? Amen?) laughing and asked who it was.
That's how he got the gig.
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[quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 04:34 PM\'] I think the story said that Mark Goodson overheard an audience (at NBC? Amen?) laughing and asked who it was.[/quote]
Change Mark Goodson to Johnny Carson, and change NBC to Paramount. Then change the subject from "Family Feud" to be about how Combs got the job as warm-up at "Tonight", and you'll be correct. Is somebody deep into the egg nog?
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 08:43 PM\'] [quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 04:34 PM\'] I think the story said that Mark Goodson overheard an audience (at NBC? Amen?) laughing and asked who it was.[/quote]
Change Mark Goodson to Johnny Carson, change NBC to Paramount. Then change the question from "Family Feud" to be about how Combs got the job as warm-up at "Tonight", and you'll be 100% correct! Is somebody deep into the egg nog?
Randy
tvrandywest.com [/quote]
Combs did warm up on Tonight? Hang on a second...according to McMahon, they used a warm up guy from the 89-90 season onward. So did he do the warm up while he was hosting Feud?
T
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 05:43 PM\'][quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 04:34 PM\'] I think the story said that Mark Goodson overheard an audience (at NBC? Amen?) laughing and asked who it was.[/quote]
Change Mark Goodson to Johnny Carson, and change NBC to Paramount. Then change the subject from "Family Feud" to be about how Combs got the job as warm-up at "Tonight", and you'll be correct. Is somebody deep into the egg nog?[/quote]
Everybody's funny given a sufficient amount of egg nog.
(Posting today from Markie Post's home town of Palo Alto, California.)
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[quote name=\'tommycharles\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 07:52 PM\'] [quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 08:43 PM\'] [quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 04:34 PM\'] I think the story said that Mark Goodson overheard an audience (at NBC? Amen?) laughing and asked who it was.[/quote]
Change Mark Goodson to Johnny Carson, change NBC to Paramount. Then change the question from "Family Feud" to be about how Combs got the job as warm-up at "Tonight", and you'll be 100% correct! Is somebody deep into the egg nog?
Randy
tvrandywest.com [/quote]
Combs did warm up on Tonight? Hang on a second...according to McMahon, they used a warm up guy from the 89-90 season onward. So did he do the warm up while he was hosting Feud?
T [/quote]
I went to the Johnny Carson website and looked this up. Combs first appeared on camera on the TONIGHT SHOW in October 1986 (lead guest that night was Lily Tomlin, in case anyone's interested). The synopsis of that night's doings (from the website):
RAY COMBS - Ray is a studio warm-up man. Also has a recurring role on NBC's YOU AGAIN. His routine covers the following subjects: Potty training his daughter; he looks like Barney Rubble; athletes who become actors; The Love Boat; French and German languages; donating your organs upon death. Ray leads the audience in song crooning familiar television theme songs.
So at this point, I'm not sure if he's doing audience warm-up for Carson. But it stands to reason that either he was, or his routine was so strong that Carson's staff hired him to do warm up afterwards. A year later, he came back as a guest (after having been bumped a week earlier) and announced that he was to be the new host of FF (it would be another year before the show hit the air). As an aside, Tommy, that night was the classic Carson bit in which Johnny hits a baseball that winds up landing in David Letterman's studio. Whether Combs continued doing warm-up for Carson and hosting FF simultaneously, I don't know.
Doug
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 07:25 PM\'] Whether Combs continued doing warm-up for Carson and hosting FF simultaneously, I don't know. [/quote]
Ray did not host FF and do warm-up for Carson simultaneously. The warm-up gigs at sitcoms and "Tonight" definitely preceeded his landing "Feud". It's obviously been a few years since Ray and I had the conversation, and I can't remember whether he said his stand-up appearance or his warm-up work came first at "Tonight".
Sitcom tapings are usually quite tedious for the audience, and for the warm-up talent despite the fact that they pay well. Tapings/filmings can run for 4 or 5 hours or longer, and by the third take the show's jokes wear thin. In addition the set up of the sound stages usually has the audience further from the action than at game shows, in raised bleachers, which makes keeping their interest even tougher. Ray was really gifted; he did the best work I ever saw at a sitcom. While just a minor recurring bit, I'll never forget some of the great lines he had as he would point out different crew members and divulge for the audience what their "job" was on the show.
Imho... a tortured genius. RIP.
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Dec 25 2003, 02:54 PM\'] [quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 07:25 PM\'] Whether Combs continued doing warm-up for Carson and hosting FF simultaneously, I don't know. [/quote]
Ray did not host FF and do warm-up for Carson simultaneously. The warm-up gigs at sitcoms and "Tonight" definitely preceeded his landing "Feud". [/quote]
Ah. Maybe Ed's memory's a little shaky, then ;-)
Before someone asks me how I got that information in the first place, read "For Laughing Out Loud" - he mentions that he passed off the warm up for the last 3 years of production.
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Let's see...
"Amen" was 1986 - 1991. I don't know which years Ray did warm-up.
Carson's last "Tonight" was 5/21/92
When did Combs start on Feud? I believe it was around 1992, in which case it all makes sense. Even McMahon's recollection fits, I think.
Other dates that may or may not help...
Ray's car accident was in 1994
Ray and I talked about all this at "Family Challenge" - I was next door on "Wild Animal Games" in 1995, and I worked Ray's last FC episode which taped 11/8/95. We talked again at Oakwood Apartments just days before his death in 1996 (June, I think).
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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Didn't Ray start FF around 1988? I remember being in studio 33 as it was starting up.
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Dec 25 2003, 06:05 PM\'] Didn't Ray start FF around 1988? I remember being in studio 33 as it was starting up. [/quote]
Combs did start his Feud gig in mid-1988 on CBS, shortly after in syndication.
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[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Dec 25 2003, 03:11 PM\'][quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Dec 25 2003, 06:05 PM\'] Didn't Ray start FF around 1988? I remember being in studio 33 as it was starting up. [/quote]
Combs did start his Feud gig in mid-1988 on CBS, shortly after in syndication.[/quote]
Too many painkillers for Ray in telling the story? Too many Budweisers for Ed in estimating when he quit warm-up? Too much egg nog for me today? You make the call!
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Dec 25 2003, 06:02 PM\'] [quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Dec 25 2003, 03:11 PM\'][quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Dec 25 2003, 06:05 PM\'] Didn't Ray start FF around 1988? I remember being in studio 33 as it was starting up. [/quote]
Combs did start his Feud gig in mid-1988 on CBS, shortly after in syndication.[/quote]
Too many painkillers for Ray in telling the story? Too many Budweisers for Ed in estimating when he quit warm-up? Too much egg nog for me today? You make the call!
Randy
tvrandywest.com [/quote]
I'd rule the eggnog out, at least for now.
Since Carson's website details that Combs announced in a 7/87 episode of THE TONIGHT SHOW that he was to be the new host of FF (which as Chris C. and Zach pointed out started in 1988--7/4/88 to be exact), and also given that Peter Marshall had some memory blocks in his memoir 20some years after the fact (saying that WoF was in the midst of their wrap party when they and HSq were cancelled to make room for David Letterman's morning show, then that WoF was resurrected when Letterman got a half hour trimmed--when in fact WoF was never stripped in favor of Dave to begin with), I'd say McMahon was a little hazy with his details. So that would be my vote. Your mileage may vary.
Doug -- celebrating 250 posts (and 341 edits)
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Dec 25 2003, 02:54 PM\'] [quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 07:25 PM\'] Whether Combs continued doing warm-up for Carson and hosting FF simultaneously, I don't know. [/quote]
Ray did not host FF and do warm-up for Carson simultaneously. The warm-up gigs at sitcoms and "Tonight" definitely preceeded his landing "Feud". It's obviously been a few years since Ray and I had the conversation, and I can't remember whether he said his stand-up appearance or his warm-up work came first at "Tonight".
Sitcom tapings are usually quite tedious for the audience, and for the warm-up talent despite the fact that they pay well. Tapings/filmings can run for 4 or 5 hours or longer, and by the third take the show's jokes wear thin. In addition the set up of the sound stages usually has the audience further from the action than at game shows, in raised bleachers, which makes keeping their interest even tougher. Ray was really gifted; he did the best work I ever saw at a sitcom. While just a minor recurring bit, I'll never forget some of the great lines he had as he would point out different crew members and divulge for the audience what their "job" was on the show.
Imho... a tortured genius. RIP.
Randy
tvrandywest.com [/quote]
Do you know what I just realized? Randy West and Ray Combs are the same person!
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Do you know what I just realized? Randy West and Ray Combs are the same person!
That's not funny.
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A little correction, Randy. Carson's last Tonight was 5/22/92. On 5/21, Bette Midler secured herself an Emmy. What a fabulous performance that was!
David
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Hey guys...
Thanks for the discussion about Ray!! I had NO idea he did
warm-up for CARSON! I thought the E! THS said he only appeared
as a **guest??**
The date to which Randy was referring was June 2, 1996.
Thanks also to Doug and Randy for detailing and recalling old memories!
I never get tired of hearing about Ray.