The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: beatlefreak84 on December 01, 2003, 10:36:00 PM
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Hello all,
An interesting question occurred to me over the weekend (at least, I think it's an interesting question) as I was writing my rule page on "The Joker's Wild."
We all know that Jack Barry both hosted and produced the show, along with some shows from the '50s. I think we all also know that Monty Hall both hosted and produced "Let's Make a Deal" for four decades.
If one looks at the production credits (and I'm not talking about "Executive Producer: Bob Barker," I'm talking about "A Mark Goodson Production"), were there any other times in game show history that a producer took over as host as well, not counting substitute hosting gigs?
I'm interested to see if these were the only two!
Anthony
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Ralph Edwards on "Truth or Consequences," Merv Griffin on "Word for Word," Chuck Barris on "Gong Show," Ralph Andrews on "Lingo," Scott Sternberg on "Let's Go Back." Jan Murray on "Charge Account," Mike Stokey on "Pantomime Quiz/Stump the Stars," etc.
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Bert Convy comes to mind with Win, Lose or Draw and 3rd Degree. Chuck Barris took over The Gong Show. Merv Griffin did Word For Word, his first independent game venture. Ralph Edwards did the first TV Truth or Consequences. This may need to be checked, but I thought I read Dennis James was either the producer, creator, or both of the prime-time game High Finance.
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I forgot Bob Eubanks "All-Star Secrets" Dick Clark on "Challengers" and Wink M. "Headline Chasers"
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[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Dec 1 2003, 10:36 PM\']
We all know that Jack Barry both hosted and produced the show, along with some shows from the '50s. I think we all also know that Monty Hall both hosted and produced "Let's Make a Deal" for four decades.
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Jack also hosted We've Got Your Number(pilot), and the syndicated Break the Bank as well as co-produced them. Monty also hosted-produced It's Anybody's Guess and Split Second 1986-87.
Peter Tomarken had a supervising producer role on Wipeout, though that probably counts in a similar category to Barker on TPIR.
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[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Dec 1 2003, 10:55 PM\'] I forgot Bob Eubanks "All-Star Secrets" Dick Clark on "Challengers" and Wink M. "Headline Chasers" [/quote]
EUbanks also hosted-produced the not close to a game show Infatuation, and Wink hosted-produced Trivial Pursuit, and Boggle/Jumble/Shuffle, and the little-seen Travel Channel show Great Getaway Game.
Bill Armstrong had a producer role on 1976-77 Liar's Club as well as his hosting role.
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[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Dec 1 2003, 10:59 PM\'] Peter Tomarken had a supervising producer role on Wipeout, though that probably counts in a similar category to Barker on TPIR. [/quote]
Just out of curiosity, what was Peter's background in broadcasting prior to hosting a few game shows?
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[quote name=\'Card Shark\' date=\'Dec 1 2003, 11:02 PM\'] [quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Dec 1 2003, 10:59 PM\'] Peter Tomarken had a supervising producer role on Wipeout, though that probably counts in a similar category to Barker on TPIR. [/quote]
Just out of curiosity, what was Peter's background in broadcasting prior to hosting a few game shows? [/quote]
Essentially a struggling actor. He had a small role in the 1978 movie Heaven Can Wait(he played a porter as I recall reading), and did a few commercials. He was a magazine editor for Women's Wear Daily, as per the EOTVGS2. His first hosting gig was the Rodeo Drive pilot in 1980.
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I believe that Bill Cullen was a producer for his hosted version of TPiR during part of its run.
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Maybe I'm reading the question incorrectly, but wouldn't Trebek count as having been producer AND host for the 1984-85 season or so of J!?
Doug -- soon to celebrate 200 posts
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Dec 1 2003, 11:32 PM\'] Maybe I'm reading the question incorrectly, but wouldn't Trebek count as having been producer AND host for the 1984-85 season or so of J!?
Doug -- soon to celebrate 200 posts [/quote]
He hosted and produced J! from 1984-87, and he counts like Cullen counts as a producer of TPIR in its ABC days.
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[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Dec 2 2003, 01:12 AM\'] [quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Dec 1 2003, 11:32 PM\'] Maybe I'm reading the question incorrectly, but wouldn't Trebek count as having been producer AND host for the 1984-85 season or so of J!?
Doug -- soon to celebrate 200 posts [/quote]
He hosted and produced J! from 1984-87, and he counts like Cullen counts as a producer of TPIR in its ABC days. [/quote]
I believe the original question referred to the producer as the owner of the production, so in that sense Zach is right. On the other hand, we could probably further subdivide "producer" to separate the ones who actually had the responsibility from the ones who got, for lack of a better word, a courtesy title.
Trebek was the geniune producer for the three seasons he wore both hats. He reported to corporate bosses, of course, but he called the shots in the making of the show. Cullen, on the other hand, was far too busy to concern himself with the day-to-day of getting TPIR on the air. He eventually received a producer credit, and I'm sure his input when he gave it was taken seriously, but other people (mostly Bob Stewart, of course) held the reins.
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[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Dec 1 2003, 11:04 PM\'] [quote name=\'Card Shark\' date=\'Dec 1 2003, 11:02 PM\'] [quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Dec 1 2003, 10:59 PM\'] Peter Tomarken had a supervising producer role on Wipeout, though that probably counts in a similar category to Barker on TPIR. [/quote]
Just out of curiosity, what was Peter's background in broadcasting prior to hosting a few game shows? [/quote]
Essentially a struggling actor. He had a small role in the 1978 movie Heaven Can Wait(he played a porter as I recall reading), and did a few commercials. He was a magazine editor for Women's Wear Daily, as per the EOTVGS2. His first hosting gig was the Rodeo Drive pilot in 1980. [/quote]
Peter was also a commercial director for a number of years before getting in front of the camera. I've also read that Peter has gotten back into that field, which is why youy see him occasionally pop into commercials recently. BTW, he's currently in a commercial for Lincoln-Mercury, playing an "Xbox" with his "son" (it's a real quick shot, so watch carefully).
Tyshaun
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Donny Osmond also has a producer credit on the current Pyramid. This is probably another in the vein of the Bob Barker/Peter Tomarken credits discussed above.
Interestingly, the head contestant co-ordinator for Pyramid, Leslie Aquavive-Shulman, also bears the title of "Contestant Producer" on the show. This is the first time to my knowledge that a contestant coordinator has been given a producer title on a show.
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[quote name=\'scully24\' date=\'Dec 2 2003, 12:50 PM\'] Donny Osmond also has a producer credit on the current Pyramid. This is probably another in the vein of the Bob Barker/Peter Tomarken credits discussed above. [/quote]
To be specific, Donny is the consulting producer. BTW, Jeff Probst is now a producer for Survivor.
Drifting more toward producing, anyone notice just how many executive producers there are on prime time shows nowadays? For example, Everybody Loves Raymond has eight EP's (including Ray Romano himself and former Make the Grade host Lew Schneider)! Why do they need that many, and what exactly do they do besides sign paychecks? I remember reading some years back that Whoopi Goldberg's EP title during her years on Hollywood Squares was little more than justifying her (large) salary.
ObGameShows: Anybody notice the credits in the April Fool's day edition of Cram? Every credit was "executive producer"!
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Actually when it comes to sitcoms and one-hour dramas, those "producers" are all the staff writers on the show. In television, unlike in feature films, the writer is king, and as he/she gets promoted, they move up the ranks with titles like coordinating producer, supervising producer, executive producer. When you see all these producing credits, just substitute the word "writer" for "producer." Of course there are also vanity credits given to certain stars, but in the case of a performer like Ray Romano, or say, Jerry Seinfeld, his producer credit would be an acknowledgement that he does contribute creatively to the writing of the show and he exercises a fair amount of control over the show's creative direction.
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By the way, when they give somebody like Whoopi Goldberg an exec producer credit on Hollywood Squares, it does stand for something more than just ego appeasement. It is a reflection of the fact that at the time they revived the show, she was a cornerstone of the deal that made it possible. Whoopi's role in the show's revival was to attract A-list stars along with herself, and make the format viable again after it had fallen out of popularity. She was still a fairly in-demand movie star at the time of the revival, and without her participation and her active recruiting of other stars to be on the show, it probably would not have been sold. So particularly because of her ability to recruit good stars for the show, she rightly deserved to share in the exec producer credit. In a sense, her contribution was as valuable as those who actually put up money to produce the show.
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[quote name=\'scully24\' date=\'Dec 2 2003, 10:50 AM\'] Interestingly, the head contestant co-ordinator for Pyramid, Leslie Aquavive-Shulman, also bears the title of "Contestant Producer" on the show. This is the first time to my knowledge that a contestant coordinator has been given a producer title on a show. [/quote]
Actually, Laura Chambers held it when she did Weakest Link. I think that the current head of the contestant department on Feud has that title.
Of course, the strangest contestant coordinator title I've seen given was Harv Selsby's on Win Ben Stein's Money: "Talent Executive"
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That's a good one!
When I think of talent executive, I think of someone who books and preps celebrities for celebrity shows--not someone who recruits conventional contestants. I guess it takes a lot of talent to beat Ben Stein!
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Y'all are confusing the terms "producer" and "packager".
Monty Hall, Ralph Edwards, Merv Griffin, Jack Barry = "packagers". They own the show.
Larry Hovis (Liars' Club), Alex Trebek (Jeopardy!) = "producers". They approve material and contestants.
Bob Barker, Whoopi Goldberg = "executive producers". They can't be bothered with the minutiae of prizes, questions and contestants. Their role is to complain when they don't like the prizes, questions and contestants chosen by the producer who works under them. Barker probably approves new games and Whoopi recruited panelists.
There are probably "vanity producers" who get their name on the credits as a perc to emceeing the show.
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I don't think there's any confusion. I think the point we're all making is that the term "producer" is a huge umbrella that covers a wide variety of roles, from the barely involved to deeply involved, from the folks who conceive a project to the folks who run it day by day. But "producer" is the word that flashes by on the credits, with various adjectives attached. And it carries with it a certain aura of respectability that is sometimes deserved and sometimes not.