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Over the years, there have been great new game show host and/or announcer talent. And most, if not all of that "newly found talent" came from the Executive Producers of the shows, The Bob Stewarts, Merv Griffins, etc... of the game show world.
• Which producer(s) in your opinion have had the knack for finding good announcing or host talent?
• Who seemed to constantly shove the worst Patrick Wayne-ish talent down our throats?
• And which producer(s) are the ones who first discovered the "newcomers" who went on to become the major names in the game show world?
For example, Ralph Edwards gets the credit for first introducing Bob Barker to game show audiences via "Truth Or Consequences".
Discuss...
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[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Oct 6 2005, 08:16 PM\']• Who seemed to constantly shove the worst Patrick Wayne-ish talent down our throats?
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IMO, Merv Griffin was pretty hit or miss...(Michael Reilly, Nick Spano)...while other times, finding good talent. (Pat Sajak, Ryan Seacrest...)
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[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Oct 6 2005, 09:16 PM\']• Who seemed to constantly shove the worst Patrick Wayne-ish talent down our throats?
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Well, Dan Enright was partly (mostly?) to blame for bringing Jim Caldwell AND Patrick Wayne into the fold.........
Tyshaun
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Would Chuck Barris be credited for finding Bob Eubanks (I *think* he was hired for NEWLYWED while employed at KRLA-AM in L.A.)?
Doug
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[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Oct 6 2005, 08:33 PM\']
Well, Dan Enright was partly (mostly?) to blame for bringing Jim Caldwell AND Patrick Wayne into the fold.........
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Pat Bullard and possibly Al Dubois can be blamed on Enright, too(Bumper Stumpers was co-produced with Global/Wink Martindale Enterprises). Dubois doesn't seem to be laughed at too much around these parts, however.
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Merv Griffin did not discover Pat Sajak. The account related to me is that the then-producer of Wheel called a certain individual at Goodson-Todman, seeking an emcee to replace Chuck Woolery. The individual at G-T suggested Sajak, who had just completed the Puzzlers pilot. It is also possible that people at NBC pointed Wheel in the direction of Sajak after Puzzlers.
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Oct 6 2005, 09:34 PM\']Would Chuck Barris be credited for finding Bob Eubanks (I *think* he was hired for NEWLYWED while employed at KRLA-AM in L.A.)?
Doug
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Chuck Barris was responsible for Eubanks and Jim Lange, both of whom had healthy careers as game hosts and as radio personalities. Barris seized on the fact that game show hosts and disk jockeys (as the job was at the time - it's so much different now in these days of tracking) shared the same skill set. Even so, Barris had written in his memoirs that Eubanks particularly didn't "get it" at first and slowly developed his Mr. Whoopee persona.
Not all of Barris' discoveries clicked with viewers (see under Race, Clark).
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[quote name=\'davemackey\' date=\'Oct 7 2005, 06:44 AM\']Not all of Barris' discoveries clicked with viewers (see under Race, Clark).
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Not to mention Barbour, John. But at least everyone realized that straightaway.
Chuck also has Dick Stewart, the first host of Dream Girl of '67, in the minus column, as well as Tom Campbell of Camouflage. But he also gave Jim MacKrell his first hosting gig.
I can't remember in which of his two books he claimed he'd wanted a homeless person to host The Gong Show.
For purposes of this discussion, shall we defined "discovered" as "gave first national exposure"? Several hosts were well known before they started their gigs (e.g. Arte Johnson, Dick Martin, Gary Owens).
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[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Oct 7 2005, 06:54 AM\']
Not to mention Barbour, John. But at least everyone realized that straightaway.
Chuck also has Dick Stewart, the first host of Dream Girl of '67, in the minus column, as well as Tom Campbell of Camouflage. But he also gave Jim MacKrell his first hosting gig.
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He also has Jeff McGregor and Don Bleu among the hosts he gave their first national exposure, too(at least his company does, as Barris sold off his company around that time, no?)
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[quote name=\'davemackey\' date=\'Oct 7 2005, 06:44 AM\']Chuck Barris was responsible for Eubanks and Jim Lange, both of whom had healthy careers as game hosts and as radio personalities.
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I didn't include Lange because he had hosted a show prior to TDG (granted, a local show, but a show nonetheless).
[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Oct 7 2005, 06:54 AM\']I can't remember in which of his two books he claimed he'd wanted a homeless person to host The Gong Show.[snapback]98899[/snapback]
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I'm almost positive it was Confessions.
Doug
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I was gonna say Merv, but then I remembered that his wife found Art Fleming anchoring the news in New York and Chuck Woolery was a regular on Chuck Barris' version of "Your Hit Parade" in 1974. I know Merv saw the revival because he mentioned to a guest on his talk show (might have been Snooky Lanson) "they tried to bring it back, and it didn't work."
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[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Oct 7 2005, 06:54 AM\'][quote name=\'davemackey\' date=\'Oct 7 2005, 06:44 AM\']Not all of Barris' discoveries clicked with viewers (see under Race, Clark).
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Not to mention Barbour, John. But at least everyone realized that straightaway.
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Wasn't Barbour more NBC's idea? At that time, he was the caustic movie critic at KNBC and everyone thought that he would be perfect for this bad talent show. Turned out he didn't get the joke.
As for Nick Spano, don't blame Merv for that--"Peer Pressure" was Burt Wheeler and Sharon Sussman's show. (We can also blame Wheeler and Sussman for giving Jenny McCarthy a career.) Merv ran "Click" and for that we owe him the opportunity to eventually hear those magic words "Seacrest--Out!" :)
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I believe that Goodson & Todman has the best track record for finding and 'nurturing' talent. Two cases in point: Gene Rayburn was a panelist on their The Name's the Same before he got into the hosting game. Ditto for Bert Convy; he was on the panel of the original To Tell the Truth during its final years.
Also, we should thank these guys for giving us their discoveries:
Heatter & Quigley -- Peter Marshall
Ron Greenberg -- Jim Peck
Jay Wolpert -- Peter Tomarken and Ron Pearson
Wink Martindale -- Wayne Cox
Al Howard -- David Ruprecht
Cordially,
Tammy Warner--the 'Debbie Barlett of the Big Board!'
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[quote name=\'Winkfan\' date=\'Oct 7 2005, 10:22 PM\']Jay Wolpert -- Peter Tomarken and Ron Pearson
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I thought Ron Peason had done some kiddie show in 1988; "Skeddale" or something to that effect.
Not that it was widely known.
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[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Oct 7 2005, 10:55 PM\'][quote name=\'Winkfan\' date=\'Oct 7 2005, 10:22 PM\']Jay Wolpert -- Peter Tomarken and Ron Pearson
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I thought Ron Peason had done some kiddie show in 1988; "Skeddale" or something to that effect.
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Wasn't Skedaddle also produced by J. Wo?
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[quote name=\'Winkfan\' date=\'Oct 7 2005, 10:22 PM\']
Heatter & Quigley -- Peter Marshall
Ron Greenberg -- Jim Peck
Jay Wolpert -- Peter Tomarken and Ron Pearson
Wink Martindale -- Wayne Cox
Al Howard -- David Ruprecht
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Wayne Cox already had Canuck notoriety before Second Honeymoon premiered, no? Ruprecht had already had roles on Three's Company, Real People, and a Gilligan's Island TV Movie, among others, in the pre-Sweep years.
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Would Bob Barker get the credit for discovering the two hosts of the local KNXT LA game show "Lucky Pair": Geoff Edwards and Richard Dawson?
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[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Oct 8 2005, 07:47 AM\']Would Bob Barker get the credit for discovering the two hosts of the local KNXT LA game show "Lucky Pair": Geoff Edwards and Richard Dawson?
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Geoff mentioned both on ATGS and on his Radio Tonight show that some ATGSers called into in 2000 that Barker did help him get his start, though his first national exposure was subbing for MOnty on LMAD in 1968 or 1969. I think Dawson hosted Lucky Pair during his Hogan's Heroes years, no?
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[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Oct 8 2005, 07:54 AM\']Geoff mentioned both on ATGS and on his Radio Tonight show that some ATGSers called into in 2000 that Barker did help him get his start, though his first national exposure was subbing for MOnty on LMAD in 1968 or 1969.
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And apparently Monty was so impressed that he called upon Geoff again during the mid-80s LMAD.
Two other things:
1. Did Geoff host anything else for Hatos-Hall, not counting his subbing roles?
2. When Geoff subbed on LMAD in the late-60s, was that when Monty got his ribs broken by a LMAD contestant's hug? (it's in the EOTVGS)
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Oct 8 2005, 03:02 PM\'][quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Oct 8 2005, 07:54 AM\']
Geoff's first national exposure was subbing for MOnty on LMAD in 1968 or 1969.
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And apparently Monty was so impressed that he called upon Geoff again during the mid-80s LMAD.
Did Geoff host anything else for Hatos-Hall, not counting his subbing roles?
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If Monty was that impressed, he could have had the people that produced the 1990 LMAD call upon Geoff to host it.
Geoff only did the subhost roles for Hatos-Hall, unless he did a pilot for them we haven't mentioned here.
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[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Oct 8 2005, 06:17 PM\']If Monty was that impressed, he could have had the people that produced the 1990 LMAD call upon Geoff to host it.
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I think Jackpot would have still been in production at the time.
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[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Oct 8 2005, 09:40 PM\'][quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Oct 8 2005, 06:17 PM\']If Monty was that impressed, he could have had the people that produced the 1990 LMAD call upon Geoff to host it.
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I think Jackpot would have still been in production at the time.
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Nope, the 1989 version had gone belly up before Let's Make a Deal came back. And even if both were running simultaneously, Geoff could have done them both (since one was on NBC and the other was syndication), allowing for the fact that one was in southern California and the other in Orlando.
Geoff probably would have been a better choice than Bob Hilton, whose voice was recognized by some but not his face. Geoff would have been better known to the public at large.
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[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Oct 8 2005, 09:43 PM\'][quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Oct 8 2005, 09:40 PM\'][quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Oct 8 2005, 06:17 PM\']If Monty was that impressed, he could have had the people that produced the 1990 LMAD call upon Geoff to host it.
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I think Jackpot would have still been in production at the time.
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Nope, the 1989 version had gone belly up before Let's Make a Deal came back. And even if both were running simultaneously, Geoff could have done them both (since one was on NBC and the other was syndication), allowing for the fact that one was in southern California and the other in Orlando.
Geoff probably would have been a better choice than Bob Hilton, whose voice was recognized by some but not his face. Geoff would have been better known to the public at large.
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I think the bigger problem with Geoff hosting that version would have been that he was already commuting to Canada to do Chain Reaction. At that point in his life, Geoff probably wasn't interested in living in hotels...Of course, his current gig is travel writing, so what do I know?
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[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Oct 6 2005, 07:44 PM\'][quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Oct 6 2005, 08:33 PM\']
Well, Dan Enright was partly (mostly?) to blame for bringing Jim Caldwell AND Patrick Wayne into the fold.........
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Pat Bullard and possibly Al Dubois can be blamed on Enright, too(Bumper Stumpers was co-produced with Global/Wink Martindale Enterprises). Dubois doesn't seem to be laughed at too much around these parts, however.
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No, if you're referring to All About the Opposite Sex that also ran w/ Hold Everything!, then you're talking about David Sparks (the same David Sparks, who previously hosted the 1986-87 Crosswits revival).
You're right about getting Pat Bullard into the GS mold. He couldn't host a day in his life to save himself.
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Anybody know who 'Discovered' the other big-name hosts, like the Narz Brothers (Tom Kennedy & his brother Jack), Alex Trebek, etc...?
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[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Oct 11 2005, 08:08 PM\']Anybody know who 'Discovered' the other big-name hosts, like the Narz Brothers (Tom Kennedy & his brother Jack), Alex Trebek, etc...?
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Somehow, I'd credit Alan Thicke for bringing Trebek into the spotlight. He co-produced [or at least worked on] "Wizard of Odds", did he not?
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[quote name=\'Chief-O\' date=\'Oct 11 2005, 10:10 PM\'][quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Oct 11 2005, 08:08 PM\']Anybody know who 'Discovered' the other big-name hosts, like the Narz Brothers (Tom Kennedy & his brother Jack), Alex Trebek, etc...?
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Somehow, I'd credit Alan Thicke for bringing Trebek into the spotlight. He co-produced [or at least worked on] "Wizard of Odds", did he not?
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TV Game $how Magazine did report that Thicke did at least convince NBC to consider Trebek for the host, but wasn't Wizard Burt Sugarman's baby?
WHomever produced Big Game would have given Jim Narz his big break, and whomever produced Life with Elizabeth would have given Jack Narz his big break, no? Wasn't Narz's first national TV role as announcer on Betty White's first TV series?
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whomever produced Life with Elizabeth would have given Jack Narz his big break, no? Wasn't Narz's first national TV role as announcer on Betty White's first TV series?
Life With Elizabeth was produced by Don Fedderson. My recollection is that LWE started out as a local show on channel 13 (KLAC/KCOP) in Los Angeles and was later syndicated nationally. Narz was either a staff announcer on channel 13, or a D.J. on KLAC radio, or both.
Fedderson's other noteworthy shows include My Three Sons, Family Affair and Who Do You Trust?
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Oct 12 2005, 07:30 AM\']Fedderson's other noteworthy shows include My Three Sons, Family Affair and Who Do You Trust?
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Fedderson's production company also syndicated the Welk show after ABC ceremoniously dumped it (call it payback--IIRC, Welk's orchestra did the M3S and FA themes).
Oh, the nuggets you get on an Internet message board. . .
Doug
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Thicke may've brought Trebek to Sugarman and Lin Bolen's attention, but it seems to me that there was at least another Canadian on board as a producer who could've brought Trebek up as well.
And in the end, I have the feeling that Bolen called the final shots on whoever was going to be hired to host at NBC back then.