The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: SamJ93 on October 18, 2024, 08:12:36 AM
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As a sort-of counterpoint to the "hosts leaving the stage" thread, on the many shows where the host & winning contestant(s) stuck around and chatted while the credits rolled...what were they talking about that seemed so interesting and hilarious? Any former contestants here who might remember?
/12-year-old me was somehow convinced that they were just mouthing words and pretending to have a conversation, but I'm pretty sure now that that's not right...
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I had a chance to be on Millionaire in 2016, and my segment ended up straddling two episodes. Obviously being on a game show was a bucket list item, but a more specific item was to be able to have a credits chat with the host. So, when I realized I was going to be part of a credit roll, I pushed myself to make small talk with Chris Harrison just to make it look like we were having a great time (which I was). I told him about how I live in Philly but was born in TX and raised as a Cowboys fan (he is from north TX). I made sure to smile brightly the whole time. He kindly went along with it; no clue whether a producer was talking to him in his earpiece. Even still, this is my unabashed highlight from my appearance. (I was reaching for 20K and lost, dropped to 5K in the first question on the following episode.)
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/12-year-old me was somehow convinced that they were just mouthing words and pretending to have a conversation, but I'm pretty sure now that that's not right...
Oddly enough, I remember someone brought up a TV Guide article where a Joker’s Wild contestant said Jack Barry did exactly that - pretended to talk by just miming a conversation.
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/12-year-old me was somehow convinced that they were just mouthing words and pretending to have a conversation, but I'm pretty sure now that that's not right...
Oddly enough, I remember someone brought up a TV Guide article where a Joker’s Wild contestant said Jack Barry did exactly that - pretended to talk by just miming a conversation.
That was me! It was a letter to the editor in the Canadian edition (around 1978 I think), where a gentleman from Vancouver was a contestant and he said that during the credits Jack came over and stated something to the effect of "...this is the part of the show where I'm supposed to be talking to the contestants, so just pretend we're talking. He mouthed a few words without saying anything and I just went along with it."
That's the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread!
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Well I'll be. 12-year-old me wasn't right about very much, but I'll take it.
/and it somehow makes complete sense that Jack Barry was the type to do this...
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Well I'll be. 12-year-old me wasn't right about very much, but I'll take it.
/and it somehow makes complete sense that Jack Barry was the type to do this...
I think he explained it during a special or interview and said "This is what it looks like when I'm talking to you" while the contestants would smile and nod and keep up the ruse. Of course you can't hear them over the applause and theme tune.
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For a while, Jeopardy was posting their credit chats online. They might still be around somewhere.
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On my first episode, thanks to my score going up and down throughout the show, Alex said he was going to start calling me "Mr. Yo-Yo". In my second episode, we had a triple stumper in FJ!; when Alex came over to chat, the first thing he said was "When I read that one in the dressing room, I had a feeling no one would get it; that was a toughie."
Aside from that, it was mostly him just picking up the conversation he'd had with one of the contestants whose interview topic piqued his interest until they faded to black.
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For a while, Jeopardy was posting their credit chats online. They might still be around somewhere.
They are, but the page doesn't seem to have been updated since December 2023.
https://www.jeopardy.com/jbuzz/overheard
Excerpts from credit chats also frequently are played in the Inside Jeopardy podcast.
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/and it somehow makes complete sense that Jack Barry was the type to do this...
For some reason, I never felt quite comfortable watching Jack Barry. He just never seemed the least bit friendly or approachable. So this doesn't surprise me a bit.
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Well I'll be. 12-year-old me wasn't right about very much, but I'll take it.
/and it somehow makes complete sense that Jack Barry was the type to do this...
I think he explained it during a special or interview and said "This is what it looks like when I'm talking to you" while the contestants would smile and nod and keep up the ruse. Of course you can't hear them over the applause and theme tune.
I don't get it. Why not have a real chat, even if it's about the weather or the food in the green room before the show? Why is it to anyone's advantage to make it phony? The mill-arounds on To Tell the Truth were genuine. A friend was an imposter and recalled talking to Peggy Cass about one thing or another while the credits rolled. I also remember watching Bill Cullen and Art James chat during the credits and it's clear the conversations are genuine.
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The mill-arounds on To Tell the Truth were genuine.
Key word: genuine. Jack Barry seemed to be the opposite of that, hence the Quiz Show Scandals. :P
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I’d say more awkward. I don’t think he’d remember to bid us a most cordial welcome without a cue card.
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I don't get it. Why not have a real chat, even if it's about the weather or the food in the green room before the show? Why is it to anyone's advantage to make it phony?
You also have to remember that there’s multiple episodes taking place at the same session, so everyone involved has had their attitude adjusted as the day’s worn on. You might have started out fine, but it’s getting to be 5:00 and you’ve been there all morning and afternoon and you just want it to be over. And this is on both sides.
I know that doesn’t really excuse it, but that’s how I came to see it. (Ten hours in a green room is not ideal.)
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For some reason, I never felt quite comfortable watching Jack Barry. He just never seemed the least bit friendly or approachable.
He was neither of those things. I met him when NATPE was in San Francisco in 1976. I asked him about Break the Bank which they were trying to sell into syndication. He was cold and brusque. One walked away with a creepy feeling.
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Well I'll be. 12-year-old me wasn't right about very much, but I'll take it.
/and it somehow makes complete sense that Jack Barry was the type to do this...
I think he explained it during a special or interview and said "This is what it looks like when I'm talking to you" while the contestants would smile and nod and keep up the ruse. Of course you can't hear them over the applause and theme tune.
I don't get it. Why not have a real chat, even if it's about the weather or the food in the green room before the show? Why is it to anyone's advantage to make it phony? The mill-arounds on To Tell the Truth were genuine. A friend was an imposter and recalled talking to Peggy Cass about one thing or another while the credits rolled.
Genuine but...perfunctory. I don't know that this particular game has ever been rerun, but Dick DeBartolo once came up with a game for To Tell the Truth that had to do with the mill-around. For a five-episode session, the show sent out one extra person for each of the first four shows, and tasked him with having a conversation with each of the four panelists. For episode #5, that extra person was the central character, and they established at the start that all four panelists had had a conversation with him within the past few hours. None of the four panelists recognized him.
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I don't get it. Why not have a real chat, even if it's about the weather or the food in the green room before the show? Why is it to anyone's advantage to make it phony?
You also have to remember that there’s multiple episodes taking place at the same session, so everyone involved has had their attitude adjusted as the day’s worn on. You might have started out fine, but it’s getting to be 5:00 and you’ve been there all morning and afternoon and you just want it to be over. And this is on both sides.
I know that doesn’t really excuse it, but that’s how I came to see it. (Ten hours in a green room is not ideal.)
Still, these guys are broadcasters and having worked in the business, the ability to ad-lib is a requirement. But it doesn't take great skill or such a big intellect for Jack Barry or whoever to say "So tell me about your son... or "How did you find your job?"... or anything for two minutes. It certainly would be simpler than standing there doing a Marcel Marceau routine.
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For some reason, I never felt quite comfortable watching Jack Barry. He just never seemed the least bit friendly or approachable.
He was neither of those things. I met him when NATPE was in San Francisco in 1976. I asked him about Break the Bank which they were trying to sell into syndication. He was cold and brusque. One walked away with a creepy feeling.
I can believe it. Remember TV critic's (Jack O'Brien?) review of Jack Barry hosting The Big Surprise? He said (paraphrasing) that Barry had all the warmth of a headwaiter who someone forgot to tip.
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I don't get it. Why not have a real chat, even if it's about the weather or the food in the green room before the show? Why is it to anyone's advantage to make it phony?
You also have to remember that there’s multiple episodes taking place at the same session, so everyone involved has had their attitude adjusted as the day’s worn on. You might have started out fine, but it’s getting to be 5:00 and you’ve been there all morning and afternoon and you just want it to be over. And this is on both sides.
I know that doesn’t really excuse it, but that’s how I came to see it. (Ten hours in a green room is not ideal.)
Still, these guys are broadcasters and having worked in the business, the ability to ad-lib is a requirement. But it doesn't take great skill or such a big intellect for Jack Barry or whoever to say "So tell me about your son... or "How did you find your job?"... or anything for two minutes. It certainly would be simpler than standing there doing a Marcel Marceau routine.
I can say in the only experience I have with this, there was a conversation. Like about thirty seconds as whatever needed to roll rolled.
But really, in the grand scheme of things, is it so big a deal?
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I wish I could remember the specifics of the anecdote. I think it was a guest (whose name I can't remember) telling about an appearance on Dick Cavett, but I could be wrong.
At the end of the program as the credits rolled, the guest said, "I always wondered what people are talking about when the mikes are off." And Cavett responded, "Mostly, this."
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I can say in the only experience I have with this, there was a conversation. Like about thirty seconds as whatever needed to roll rolled.
But really, in the grand scheme of things, is it so big a deal?
I presume that if the host was interested in the contestant, they talked. If they weren't, they didn't. Simple as that, just like all of us.
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I presume that if the host was interested in the contestant, they talked. If they weren't, they didn't. Simple as that, just like all of us.
Yeah, but it was his job to be outgoing—and as the head of the company, you’d think he’d have a vested interest in it.
A few years ago my family and I were in Southern California, and I was meeting someone who was in the business. My son was balking at going. I explained, “This is someone who meets people they don’t know, and helps them get on television to win cash and prizes. You think they’re going to be difficult to talk to?” (He still wasn’t interested.)
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I can also confirm that I worked for people who did business with Jack on a regular basis on behalf of many of the stations that carried his shows, including JOKER'S at a time when its lineup was beginning to erode. One would think that at least that sort of transactional relationship would have brought out his better side. Nope. Dick Colbert was consistently putting out fires that he would ignite.
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I bet NATPE would've been a fun time for all if Barry & Enright and Sandy Frank ever got booked next to each other.
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Colbert and Frank would often be grouped in similar areas based upon their limited catalogues. (To be fair, Sandy’s involvement with animation and his more global focus made him slightly more consequential. Both of them were extremely tenacious and involved salespeople, but Dick was a much more grounded and approachable—he’d be the de facto good cop when Jack would be around. (Dan was far more detached until Jack passed and Dick decided to close up shop). Tad I’m sure you know the Tic Tac revival was sold by a company that Dick’s son Ritch ran. I’ve met few more decent people in this industry than Ritch Colbert.
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I can see where Jack could prove difficult to work with or work for.
As for his faking the chatting at the end of each episode, perhaps Jack was paranoid or fearful that cynical game show fans might think he was giving the players answers to future questions?
Jack did seem a bit "clunky" at times but still did a masterful job of hosting Joker from 1972-75 and again 1977-84. Wink on the other hand seemed far more personable. Perhaps it's easier for hosts to be that way when they are not also producing the show, but then Monty Hall was very personable.
Makes me sad to think the only legendary game show hosts that are still alive and kicking are Wink, Bob Eubanks and Pat Sajak.
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My one experience with Tom Kennedy was genuine. We actually had to redo our close due to a technical glitch and he actually asked me a follow-up question to the one he asked in the first place. Mostly about what I was hoping to do in the industry. Perfunctory, obviously, but professional and courteous,