(Other Host) Was Right There!

[mmb5]

Gs Vault had a short clip of Michael Burger "Guest" hosting an unaired corporate Family Feud on the Karn set. I thought Burger would make a better host than Richard Karn.

Why thank you.

[BrandonFG]

As warm and friendly as Uncle Bill was on TJW, I think Jim Peck would've been the better choice for the pacing of the show. Not that TJW makes it past about 1987, I think Jim would've been the better fit.

[Jeremy Nelson]

I won't make a suggestion, but rather leave the door open for more suggestions. Once again, no disrespect meant, but surely MG90 could have done better than Ross Shafer.

No shade to Ross either, cause to my original point...he wasn't bad. But I think Vicki Lawrence would have been a much better get, especially as someone who'd had years of of wrangling celebs on Win Lose or Draw.

[Casey Buck]

I agree with Travis Eberle's stance that Tom Kennedy should have hosted Super Password, and Bert Convy should have hosted Body Language.

[tyshaun1]

Geoff Edwards over Kevin O'Connell for Go!

IIRC, Geoff did the pilot for Your Number's Up! and possibly Double Talk. Did he emcee the pilot for Go as well?

[PYLclark86]

I'm mentally scouring the list of regulars and semi-regulars who could've accomplished the unenviable task of wrangling the celebs on HS86 instead of John Davidson, but I can't think of anyone.

[BrandonFG]

I'm mentally scouring the list of regulars and semi-regulars who could've accomplished the unenviable task of wrangling the celebs on HS86 instead of John Davidson, but I can't think of anyone.

Years ago I remember seeing a blurb (grain of salt) that had the show gone into a fourth season, John Byner would've replaced John Davidson. For some reason I could see it working with his style of humor. Maybe Rich Little, if you can get him to limit the impersonations?

Davidson wasn't terrible or anything, but I also can't think of any game show where his hosting style really works.

[PYLclark86]

Davidson wasn't terrible or anything, but I also can't think of any game show where his hosting style really works.

Davidson needed the Bert Convy type of semi-casual game. You can play around between words on Super Password or chat with the celebs on Tattletales, but Davidson gave off substitute teacher vibes when at the mercy of the high-energy types like Jm J. Bullock.

He wasn't awful by any means, but it's hard not to see the flaws.

[chrisholland03]

I thought Davidson was a good fit for the proceedings HS86 prescribed.  Elsewhere his hosting was uncomfortable to watch, especially so on Pyramid.

[aaron sica]

I thought Davidson was a good fit for the proceedings HS86 prescribed.  Elsewhere his hosting was uncomfortable to watch, especially so on Pyramid.

"But keep playing......"

[clemon79]

I think I've mentioned this before, but an old friend of mine worked on Davidson Squares as the sound guy, and yeah, Davidson WAS that bad. You remember how many times an "X gets the...no, wait, we can't put an X there, you have to earn that yourself" got through? That's nothing compared to how many they edited out. He could NOT get that rule straight.

I've gotta think that a Time Machine taping was positively excruciating.

[PYLclark86]

You remember how many times an "X gets the...no, wait, we can't put an X there, you have to earn that yourself" got through?

My favorite slipup was "this is for... (nervous laugh) the heck of it!"

[TLEberle]

I won't make a suggestion, but rather leave the door open for more suggestions. Once again, no disrespect meant, but surely MG90 could have done better than Ross Shafer.

No shade to Ross either, cause to my original point...he wasn't bad. But I think Vicki Lawrence would have been a much better get, especially as someone who'd had years of of wrangling celebs on Win Lose or Draw.

This situation is similar to how MG-BT were caught under a barrel when Bobby Van Larry Blyden died, so you think they might know how to navigate it. I have to imagine that the production company wanted whoever was good enough to run things.

As much love as I have for someone from the Evergreen State, Match Game doesn't need a comedian, it needs a ringmaster, especially when the show has five rounds of game play as well as coming back from the last break to say how much the champion has collected. The host has to be able to downshift from fifth gear to first whenever the situation changes from Match-Up.

Would a Goen or Eubanks be better or even Vicki or Betty? Maybe? But I don't think the host matters hugely in this case.

EDIT: Thank you, Curt, for catching that.

[Jeremy Nelson]

I'm mentally scouring the list of regulars and semi-regulars who could've accomplished the unenviable task of wrangling the celebs on HS86 instead of John Davidson, but I can't think of anyone.

Years ago I remember seeing a blurb (grain of salt) that had the show gone into a fourth season, John Byner would've replaced John Davidson. For some reason I could see it working with his style of humor. Maybe Rich Little, if you can get him to limit the impersonations?

Davidson wasn't terrible or anything, but I also can't think of any game show where his hosting style really works.

First off...asking any comedian who does impressions as part of their schtick to hold back is like asking a dog not to chase cars.

As discussed elsewhere, maybe you can get Jamie Farr, since he's looking for his break in '86. Or, if you think you have a ratings winner, you write a check for Trebek, cause he was still doing pilots after Jeopardy's success.

[TimK2003]

John Davidson may not have been the best choice for that version of Hollywood Squares, but since a lot of those episodes had built-in "slowdowns" (when 1 or 2 celebrities per show had some little shtick or demonstration to do before the question was asked), John didn't look that bad.