Game show folks that left a mark

[Winkfan]

First query: Hands down, Elaine (Gambit) Stewart. I've said many times over, she had the biggest influence on me as a 10-year-old.

Second query: While the Winkster was my biggest GS crush, I must admit my first one was Jim Lange.

Cordially,
Tammy

[jmangin]

Eubanks and Rafferty. Both had a hosting style that was easily relatable, and they genuinely rooted for contestants. I love Bob's bravado when he walks out during the opening on Card Sharks, intros himself and then brings out Lacey and Suzanna using language that showed they're all friends. Bill, with his New York accent, "come on over and win five thousand bucks" on Blockbusters was great. Both of them are people that made contestants feel at ease even in high tense moments where a lot of money was at stake. They have a "We're gonna do this together"-style hosting. Their pace while speaking is also important. They were deliberate and did not rush through rules or speak too fast, and came across as a human being you might just bump into somewhere in life and strike up a conversation.

[TLEberle]

Eubanks and Rafferty. Both had a hosting style that was easily relatable, and they genuinely rooted for contestants. I love Bob's bravado when he walks out during the opening on Card Sharks, intros himself and then brings out Lacey and Suzanna using language that showed they're all friends. Bill, with his New York accent, "come on over and win five thousand bucks" on Blockbusters was great. Both of them are people that made contestants feel at ease even in high tense moments where a lot of money was at stake. They have a "We're gonna do this together"-style hosting. Their pace while speaking is also important. They were deliberate and did not rush through rules or speak too fast, and came across as a human being you might just bump into somewhere in life and strike up a conversation.

While I will go to my reward saying Bob was miscast on Card Sharks, there's no misunderstanding that he wanted everyone to do well. I don't know if I would call his style bravado but bringing his personality from Newlywed Game over and it worked well enough to get three years out of the format.

That said I adored how Bill was so different in terms of presentation and temperament. There was nobody like him.

Over the last couple of years I have gotten to work with Reach for the Top reading packets for online tournaments featuring middle schoolers. Several times I have exhorted the youngsters to "give me volume! I want to hear those right answers!" or coaching up to not stress over misses--there's never a penalty for a wrong answer other than the other team getting to try. Getting to tell Matt O seriously and sincerely that I nicked some of his phrasing but all of his friendliness and love for seeing young people shine, and he loved that quiz bowl was being passed on to another generation.

[steveleb]

Like so many others, I was an unapolgetic Uncle Bill fan. What really made me more so was the story a neighbor related when she met him while a contestant on Joe Garagiola's $otC.  Bill came out to promote the then-new 3OAM, and she was taken aback by how thin and unhealthy he looked.  He had recently recovered from pancreatic surgery, and that day his skin was clearly blotchy and pot-marked to someone who was seeing him from mere feet away.  Making small talk during a stopdown, she remarked to Garagiola that her husband was a huge Yankees fan and had loved watching Joe call their games, always dreaming about being a baseball announcer himself.  Bill quickly joined their conversation and confessed that was one of his dreams as well.  When she confessed that instead he had become a hairdresser, Bill broke into genuine laughter and said, "And I thought I went a different route!".

When she told us the story, she confessed "I always wondered how someone so unattractive could be so popular.  What he showed me at that moment was just how much of a regular guy he is.  It was the highlight of my day". (I should add she lost her only game and didn't buy a single Instant Bargain). 

As for crushes, I always did have a thing for Paola Diva, if for no other reason how she was able to make Bob Clayton blush when she'd dance for him on Mexico Day.

[Jeremy Nelson]

I feel like I've taken cues from a lot of different hosts over time, but I always come back to Bill Rafferty. He was always game-first with a dash of well-placed quips, and that's the mix I've always tried to hit as a presenter and host.

I had a huge crush on Hayley from Deal or No Deal, and...(checks Google)...yep, I'd still ask her out tomorrow.

[Neumms]

I think Barker is my big influence. Working in ad agencies, I’ve always been told I’m a good presenter to clients. There’s no particular reason for it, though. I’ve never acted, performed on stage, or joined the debate team. I figure it must be the hours upon hours of watching Bob make the perfect quip or properly build to a reveal.

My crush would be Anitra on The New Price Is Right. Nobody did more with a quart of Castrol than she did. Later I fell for Kyle in her too few appearances. 

[bulldog_06]

1. (This should make Ms. Tammy aka Winkfan proud) While Barker was THE master of ceremonies, my favorite was Wink Martindale. I used to watch TTD, Trivial Pursuit and others a lot and he had that amazing radio voice. He made me want to be a game show host...I still have those dreams still.

2. Vanna is the obvious choice. But for me, my game show crush I actually got to meet, it was Claudia Jordan (TPiR and DoND). At the time she was working with Jamie Foxx's XM radio show and I met her at a nightclub after she finished was on-air. I dunno if I still have that pic.

[Unrealtor]

I'm going to go off the board and give qualified negatives to both questions.

I can't really say that I have a particular host that I consciously emulate, but sometimes, when I'm using my electric lawnmower and dragging the extension cord behind me, I realize that I'm kind of subconsciously imitating Bob Barker tugging on his microphone cable as he walked around the stage.

I didn't really have that many crushes on adults before puberty hit, or at least not that I remember, and when puberty did hit, it was the mid 90s when the market for first-run game shows basically cratered. Although I did realize years later that maybe JD Roth was a part of the appeal of Fun House for me, but it wasn't particularly intense.