The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: danderson on September 24, 2015, 09:54:32 PM
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since this is my first time staring a new topic.. what are your favorite opening spiels over the years? my two favorites would have to be Don Morrow on the Challengers or John Harlan on American Gladiators i guess those were two of my favorites(what i liked about Mr. Harlan's intro on AG was the way he introduced both the gladiators and Adamle and whoever his co-host was(either Todd Christensen or Larry Csonka) and the contenders) i could say the same thing about Mr. Morrow and the way he introed Dick Clark too as well as the contestants that made me think highly of both of those guys as announcers
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#1: Whew! / Rod Roddy
"CLOSE CALLS!!!... NARROW ESCAPES!!!... SPLIT-SECOND DECISIONS!!! ...AND $25,000 IN CASH!!! It's a combination GUARANTEED to make you SAY... WHEW!..."
#2: $ale of the Century / Jay Stewart (Winner's Board Era)
(Something like...) <drum roll> "So far, champion Terry Howard has won cash and prizes totaling... $47,295!!!" <theme music>
#3: $10,000 Pyramid / Bob Clayton (original opening; don't recall it exactly, but it's "Keep your eye on this spot..." or something like that)
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I didn't realize it until this week when they brought them back, but I missed all of the messages on TPiR - "HOUR POWER", etc.
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Some of my faves:
1) Whew!
2) (The New) Treasure Hunt
3) Break The Bank (70's). One of the longest opening sentences: "We'll find out in a moment as these 9 celebrities <INSERT ALL 9 STAR NAMES HERE> all join us in playing 'Break The Bank'".
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One of my all-time faves, from the 70s:
GET READY TO MATCH THE STARS!
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"Look at this studio, filled with glamorous prizes..."
I love any intro where the announcer sets the stage for what's about to happen, especially if it's in a dramatic tone. Barris's "Treasure Hunt" is a good example.
On a not-so-dramatic note, I always enjoyed Gene Wood's introductions on "Feud". Can't remember where I read it, but someone compared it to a boxing announcer introducing the competitors in each corner. Very fitting.
I actually liked Howie Mandel's intro from D/ND's first week on the air, with him standing in the vault, then walking to the set, dramatically explaining what was to come.
I've never been a fan of how most shows just display the title, and the host walks out. Feels cold and lacking IMO.
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Who doesn't love a short poem read over a catchy beat? That's why I've got to log in a vote for Card Sharks.
I also enjoy the rather tense way The New Treasure Hunt opened. Gearing me up from something serious that never came.
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(paraphrasing) "A fortune of fabulous prizes could go to these people tonight, if they know when the Price is Right.....(insert name, come on down! X 4) You are the first four contestants on the New Price Is Right....and here's the star of the nighttime Price Is Right....Dennis James....!"
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I knew I'd forget one, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention $ale of the Century's stop motion zoom in on the car up for grabs. That with the "floating briefcase" superimposed over the set let you know a fun half hour was coming up.
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yeah, i forgot about Jay Stewart on SOTC and him introducing the champion over the drumroll.. could also add Shadoe Stevens on Hollywood Squares too.. and even Kenny Williams(id give a slight edge to Kenny because his intro was better) as far as underrated spiels i could add Ed MacKay on TJW 90 or Michelle Roth on Crosswits
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"Every answer to every question is right here before your eyes...and...now...you...see...it." Perfect match of graphics, intro language, and music.
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I believe this matter was already covered here before... (http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,6641.msg69577.html#msg69577)
Cordially,
Tammy
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Indeed it was. Ten years ago.
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I believe this matter was already covered here before... (http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,6641.msg69577.html#msg69577)
Cordially,
Tammy
I believe ten years is a significant amount of time and most people wouldn't remember such a thread existed...
Gobsmackedly,
CP
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I believe this matter was already covered here before... (http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,6641.msg69577.html#msg69577)
As already noted, it's been a decade. Topics have been recycled after way shorter periods.
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I believe this matter was already covered here before... (http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,6641.msg69577.html#msg69577)
As already noted, it's been a decade. Topics have been recycled after way shorter periods.
Not to mention, I'm sure opinions have changed!
SOTC and CS '78 are up there for me, but the Alpha and Omega of game show intros can be summed up in 3 words that Johnny Gilbert has been saying for the past 31 years.
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I believe this matter was already covered here before... (http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,6641.msg69577.html#msg69577)
As already noted, it's been a decade. Topics have been recycled after way shorter periods.
Furthermore that aforementioned thread is FUBAR'd due to the board transition.
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"In a moment, a game that intrigued a nation. In a moment, the game strategy, knowledge, and fun. In a moment, TIC-TAC DOUGH!"
"The NBC Television Network presents... (chimes) (chimes) (chimes) (chimes) (chimes) CONCENTRATION!'
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"This is Jeopardy!" is up there for me. I actually like it in its current form better, because it seems that Johnny Gilbert puts even more punch into those three words than back when J! still had the swooshy globe thing on their logo.
Also a +1 to Gene Wood's Feud intros, and let's add PYL to the pile too. (Straw poll: do you prefer "After high stakes" or "big bucks"?)
And not really a "spiel" per se, but I always got a giggle out of Bill Anderson and Sarah Purcell pantomiming the dooba-dobba-deeba-dooba-dop-doo-wops (okay, fine, you transcribe that!) in the theme to The Better Sex.
"Every answer to every question is right here before your eyes...and...now...you...see...it." Perfect match of graphics, intro language, and music.
What I didn't like about that intro was how they hacked up the music by cutting out a beat or two during the "Now!" (da da da da, da da da da) "You!" (da da da da, da da da da)… etc." part. It made the song sound a bit staggered and uneven to me. (Although I believe in earlier episodes, they didn't do this.)
"In a moment, a game that intrigued a nation. In a moment, the game strategy, knowledge, and fun. In a moment, TIC-TAC DOUGH!"
That one has always struck me as comically hyperbolic. Which, in a way, fits TTD'90 like a glove.
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Also a +1 to Gene Wood's Feud intros, and let's add PYL to the pile too. (Straw poll: do you prefer "After high stakes" or "big bucks"?)
Don't care. The job of an announcer is to:
1) Identify the name of the show
2) Tell us any special guests appearing that day
3 Identify the host
4) Set the tone.
As long as the opening sequence accomplishes those things (and there are some cases where the opening doesn't have to do that, like in the case of England's game shows) I really don't care because I'm happy. "Attention, old people! Countdown is on!" is as good as "You have been invited to an Inquizition" or "All these people want to know!" for me.
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"Attention, old people! Countdown is on!"
This made me lol, and I don't even like Countdown that much. British game shows as a whole tend to put me to sleep, unless they involve the phrase "let's rotate the board".
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"Attention, old people! Countdown is on!"
This made me lol, and I don't even like Countdown that much. British game shows as a whole tend to put me to sleep, unless they involve the phrase "let's rotate the board".
Boo this man.
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So your favorite British game show is one that is most clearly a parody. That's certainly your own right but you're missing out. Lots of British game shows of late have some sort of animated or visual opening sequence rather than announcer gabbling on. In fact the only one I can think of right now is "University Challenge! Asking the questions: Jeremy Paxman."
The point I'm trying to make is that nostalgia is fun and all, but a laundry list doesn't require much effort in this case because all of the entries are equivalent. The only case that goes off the reservation was Camouflage: 1980.
And in the words of Clive Anderson and those who come after him: thousand Eberle Escudos to Chris Palmer.
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Speaking of British game shows, I don't know if it'd count as an opening spiel since it isn't said before or during the intro sequence, but I love every different thing Victoria Coren says to open Only Connect.
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I for one enjoy what limited access I have to UK shows...Countdown is such a simple yet appealing game, I quite enjoy Catchphrase, and I like the old Bullseye as well.
Never understood what their obsession with cartoony opens was but some of them are pretty nice, especially Countdown's and the current Catchphrase's.
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So your favorite British game show is one that is most clearly a parody. That's certainly your own right but you're missing out.
Not the most serious remark, that one. But my experience with British game shows has been that most of them have mostly solid formats that are just too dryly executed for my tastes, Countdown included (I love word based games). Tarrant WWTBaM seems to be one of the exceptions, as what I've seen of it (particularly earlier episodes) seemed to have an urgency and drama comparable to the Regis era. The Weakest Link also had a "flavor" to it that I find often lacking in British game shows, but not a flavor that I liked — I was never a fan of the "be a total dick to the contestants" shtick.
The point I'm trying to make is that nostalgia is fun and all, but a laundry list doesn't require much effort in this case because all of the entries are equivalent. The only case that goes off the reservation was Camouflage: 1980.
Not sure what you mean by the last sentence here, and I just looked up Camouflage 1980.
I did get the point though, and the high stakes/big bucks question was not a terribly serious one anyway. Personally, I think they both work about equally well.
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Not sure what you mean by the last sentence here, and I just looked up Camouflage 1980.
It means that trying to come up with a list of "the best opening announcer reads" amounts to little more than mental self-gratification, because it asks nothing of the people being questioned, because as long as the announcer can speak (and hey, what do you know, he does because he's paid to do that) then the opening script will accomplish what it sets out to do. Sure, those iconic ones are memorable because they're set to memorable musical pieces or we happen to like those shows, but there's no difference. Someone who grew up during the 1960s or 1970s will probably put forth "now entering the studios are today's contestants" or "one of these stars is sitting in today's Secret Square" while someone who grew up with me would plump for "On your mark! Get set! Go!" and there's not that much space to argue the point or discuss it other than "This is a thing I liked."
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This is the battlefield for our game of speed and strategy! These are the letters which lead to victory, on BLOCKBUSTERS!
Gotta love that oversized playing board, too; much better than a small video screen on the Rafferty version.
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My vote goes to the original NBC Jackpot! opening - that is, under the original rules, where you had to win a jackpot ending in the three digits of the target number to win the Super Jackpot.
The only thing I really remember about it is the last line - "(because) that's the player who'll stand up and yell... (insert contestant yelling "Jackpot!" here as in every other version)"
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"all this people want to know: where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?"
in the Italian edition the host would enter stage and have an excange with the audience
"hi guys!"
"HI MAURO!"
"you are all great!"
"THANK YOU!"
"you're welcome..."
and of course now we have Avanti Un Altro! where the audience begins the show by singing to the host "remember that you must die!"
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"all this people want to know: where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?"
in the Italian edition the host would enter stage and have an excange with the audience
"hi guys!"
"HI MAURO!"
"you are all great!"
"THANK YOU!"
"you're welcome..."
and of course now we have Avanti Un Altro! where the audience begins the show by singing to the host "remember that you must die!"
Geez, remind me never to host certain Italian game shows. ;)
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On a not-so-dramatic note, I always enjoyed Gene Wood's introductions on "Feud". Can't remember where I read it, but someone compared it to a boxing announcer introducing the competitors in each corner. Very fitting.
I like that intro as written, but I think Gene Wood was less suited for it than some other announcers would've been. I would have loved to hear someone like Johnny Gilbert booming out the "ready for action" and "on your marks" line. Gene's voice never conveyed that much tension or excitement, even when he was trying to build it. I felt the same way about his period filling in/auditioning on TPIR after Johnny Olson's death. He just couldn't get his energy high enough.
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On a not-so-dramatic note, I always enjoyed Gene Wood's introductions on "Feud". Can't remember where I read it, but someone compared it to a boxing announcer introducing the competitors in each corner. Very fitting.
I like that intro as written, but I think Gene Wood was less suited for it than some other announcers would've been. I would have loved to hear someone like Johnny Gilbert booming out the "ready for action" and "on your marks" line. Gene's voice never conveyed that much tension or excitement, even when he was trying to build it.
Johnny Gilbert announcing Feud, you say? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02RLbY56rzw)
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"One of these stars is sitting in the secret square.
And the contestant who picks it first could win a prize package worth over (insert value here)."
'Wooo...'s from the audience
"Which. Star. Is it?"
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"In a moment, a game that intrigued a nation. In a moment, the game strategy, knowledge, and fun. In a moment, TIC-TAC DOUGH!"
How many times can they say "in a moment" before the moment has come and gone? ;)
JakeT
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On a not-so-dramatic note, I always enjoyed Gene Wood's introductions on "Feud". Can't remember where I read it, but someone compared it to a boxing announcer introducing the competitors in each corner. Very fitting.
I like that intro as written, but I think Gene Wood was less suited for it than some other announcers would've been. I would have loved to hear someone like Johnny Gilbert booming out the "ready for action" and "on your marks" line. Gene's voice never conveyed that much tension or excitement, even when he was trying to build it. I felt the same way about his period filling in/auditioning on TPIR after Johnny Olson's death. He just couldn't get his energy high enough.
When Johnny Gilbert subbed on FEUD, the opening seemed entirely too rushed to me...
JakeT
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Likewise the Rod Roddy subs seemed too slow...