Yes, noted gameutorian Steve Beverly picks his worst game show hosts of all time in a column that reads like the perfesser we all know and love, including:
1. A comment that "One reason we have not succumbed to that is because some readers interpret such perspective as suggesting weak emcees equate weak human beings. That's not our business or focus here. " And then he goes on to the list.
2. Use of the word "dateumentary"

I'd link to it, but I'm too lazy and you all know where his column is anyway.

I have seen the light...NOW I realize why so many GS fans don't like him.

Oh, I don't dislike him. But he's not your average bear.
Say! Still looking forward to those forthcoming (as they have been for darned near four weeks now) remarks on the premiere of The $64,000 Challenge and the demise of Beat The Clock.

I resemble that remark!

He has the right to his opinion as we have the right to ours. To me though, this list reminds me of the pot calling the kettle black. Ever see the Perf's local game show...if you haven't think of a host who comes off like Pat Finn from the Joker's Wild 90 with a voice fit for Hee Haw. I just find it funny that a person who isn't that great of an emcee himself would write about such a topic. He's no Matt Ottinger (no sucking up, I've compared the shows...Matt does a bang up job)

Ah, so you do. Didn't catch that before. It is indeed a fascination to see what he comes up with to make a paragraph or two from his latest word hybrid. I like to call them Bevisms. Sounds better than Stoshettes.

I knew Steve had his own show, but I haven't heard much about it. Where does it air? Does he have episodes available for download?

(Sorry if it's already been discussed before; I'm still kinda new here.)

Yes, but how very, very few of us are...

Head2Head it is (was?) called. The Perf himself linked to a website that showed episodes.

Matt, I'm looking in the mirror...and I'm afraid I'm fast becoming one of the few...anyone have some Rogaine? :)

Ah, thanks. I've also found a couple articles about the show, too; shame I can't find the page that offered downloads, though.

So Perfesser was OK with Dick Martin on Mindreaders?


Hey, dinner at Chasen's ain't a bad perk.

Did Steve filch your pic-a-nic basket too?

Will Suzanne Pleshette be at Chasen's? (A thousand points to whoever gets that reference.)

My biggest boggle upon reading that article would have to be the remarks about Povich. Twenty One was doomed because everyone hates The Maury Povich Show? Who in the world hears him tell a contestant "don't listen to them!" and immediately thinks "aha! That's what he says on the talk show! Boo hiss!"

One of our esteemed members wrote in a blog piece once: "(L)ists are like farts; anyone can make them and they compel comment."

This is no more than when a video game mag does a list of OMG THE TOP 100 GAMES EVAR: write some crap (whether or not you even actually believe it is immaterial), get people talking about you, and take advantage of that to raise your stature as an "expert" to an ignorant media.


If you're reading that as ANYTHING other than the Perfesser manufacturing an opportunity to proselytize (and let me say I love my spell checker for helping me with THAT word) about Good Wholesome Fambly Television, then I'm surprised, because I KNOW you know him better than that.

Maury was OK on Twenty One. Not brilliant, but OK. It's hard for any emcee to look good doing Twenty One because the underlying game is so badly flawed. Among career emcees from the erstwhile era of daytime, Wink might have been no better, no worse.

I'm beginning to wonder how forgetful The Perf is....



While the second one is right, we know the first one is not. Heck, even Graham Elwood (hey, Perf, remember him?!) made fun of Strip Poker on Cram.

Must make correction: Jim Fleming was not a "substitute Today show newscaster" as his Bevness (or Bevnesses, since he tends to refer to himself/selves in the plural) claims, but he was the 'caster on the first show and held the job regularly for about a year until replaced by Frank Blair.
Second correction: Doug Davidson is in his early 50s, not late 40s. He turned 50 in 2004.
Third correction: It was not six, but eight--perhaps nine--weeks into the 1990s NBC run of To Tell The Truth when Lynn Swann "was thrust abruptly" into the moderator's chair.
Fourth correction: Sonny Fox's replacement on The $64,000 Challenge was Ralph Story---not Storey.

I was just giving it a straight-faced reading, to show how it would (and does) read to Joe Q. Gameshowarticlereader.

(Pointless side note: I just checked a different forum wherein someone was mad that their spell checker didn't catch their misspelling of "proselytize" for some reason.)

(I'm also trying desperately not to unearth my "Chris Wylde was almost a good game show host" argument.)

This is a cousin to the quote (sometimes ascribed to John Lennon, but likely from someone else): "Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one."

That aside, for anyone who's upset, start your own competing page -- but rather than using the obvious targets of one-shot hosts who never should have been hired anyway, why not take the long view? For example, Jack Barry's gotten some negative comments here (rightfully, in my opinion) for his stiff manner of hosting.

I actually agree with this. When the portions of Taboo didn't have to rely on Wylde's zaniness, he shows signs of competence. The problem was that his schtick became a crutch on a badly wounded show.

Point of the Day for Mr. Lemon. Povich did the best he could do, and quite frankly, Costas would have been no better as host. Oh, by the way, Chris...I got the results from Maury...you are NOT the father.

Some things to note:

Chris L. was absolutely right. Every time I see one of these "best/worst of all time" lists, I cringe in expectant fear. This is no different. I really didn't expect anything earth shattering from Steve, but he's managed to reach levels of pure dumbassery that I didn't think were possible. This is merely a chance for him to pontificate about how all dating shows are evil, and that we're in Hell itself until boring ol' quiz shows are monopolizing the air waves.

It's easy to say that someone with no prior training is a bad host. That's probably why they weren't given a hosting job before. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing Maury as host again. Not sure of what, but he wasn't execrable, and I doubt among the worst.

One last thing, without a trace of irony, any list of worst hosts that does not include Steve himself is not a complete list. "High School Quiz Bowl" does not need two hosts asking questions. EVER.

Thank you, I'll have that Valium now.

Later today in The Don Howard Commentary:

* Laughing at the elephant who decorated the stage of I've Got A Secret--how this scarred the poor animal for life. No one thought about the elephant's feelings at the time, did they? Dr. Joyce Brothers will be interviewed along with Oprah Winfrey and my mother.
* After a few months, it's time to sound off on The Weather Channel's docuweteorlogame Weekend View hosted by Dao Vu.
* Tribute to Todd Russell (delayed)
* Bert Parks: Did he really always have a smile on his face? We get opinion and perspective from the neighbor of the fifth grade teacher of the brother of his first girlfriend.
* The 500 most exciting game show wins of all time. Some may surprise you.

If I ever have to suspend The Don Howard Commentary, I will announce this grave news in a public forum so I may bear witness to the open weeping.

Great stuff, Don. That deserves a reward. For the day, anyway.

I always seem to mention this in the wake of Beverly bashing, but a great parody site is still up.

The Game Show Convention Centers Around Me

-Jason

I hear the view of Dao Vu is appetizing...and that Stephanie Abrams ain't bad either. Bill Keneely pimps it, does he not?

Don, as we speak, is probably checking out Dao Vu at the Paris Hilton...

Dao doesn't do it for me. Gimme J Lo, Kelly Cass, or Jeanetta Jones. Steph ain't half bad, either.

I remember Dao Vu from when she used to be a reporter here in Alaska years ago.

Anyway, back to the list...where was Rolf Benirschke (first post-Sajak daytime WOF host), Pat Finn, or perhaps one of the worst hosts in recent memory...PATRICK WAYNE???

Jonathan Allen

One thing you get to notice about The Perfesser after reading his site...he is very against all modern types of game shows (docudateries, for example...:) ) and has a HUGE bias toward older quiz and panel shows. As such, I think he picked his list not necessarily based on the HOSTS, but the SHOWS. He hated Strip Poker, and hence Chris Wylde (even though that was our good buddy, Graham Elwood...:) ), he hates daytime trash talk shows, and hence Maury Povich...I could go on, but I think I made my point...:).

I'll definitely agree with you that Mr. You WIIIIIINNNNNN and Benirshke probably deserve to be on a list for worst game show hosts, but I'm not too sure about Pat Finn. Yeah; there have definitely been better, but I certainly didn't mind him. I don't know about you, but I was clamoring for him once J.D. Roberto came around...:).

Anyway, those are my two cents. You can pretty much treat them like The Perfesser's list...:)

Anthony

Well, I do know that Steve-o was a big fan of "Street Smarts", which was a modern type of show that had roots in the traditional game format and owed a lot to shows like "All About Faces" and "Hollywood's Talking"; in noting his disdain for Chris Wylde, the Prof gave major props to Frank Nicotero for putting his own act on the back burner and drawing out the contestants.

I do agree that Benirschke should have been on the Prof's list. So too should have been Wayne.

We all seem to be in agreement that Mr. Beverly's list is nothing more than whole cloth, and as such not worth anything. How does one go about a list of worst game show hosts of all time? Hosts that have been on the list of 'worst ever' might be bad merely because the format was bad, or the producer didn't help them to learn the format, or how to enunciate properly. With a better format, some of those people might be stars.

Shhh, Rolf-haters...you may awaken the savage beast known as Joe Raygor...the only Rolfamaniac, brothers. (4 hours of WrestleMania has gotten to my head...)

I've been thinking about this myself, and, you're right: some hosts just got stuck with awful formats, but, otherwise, would've been excellent (ex. Cullen, Bill...:) ). Anyway, here are a few criteria I thought of that should be satisfied before labeling someone as a "bad host:"

1. The format has promise, but the host's execution of that format makes it seem horrible. (ex. Benirschke, Rolf)

2. The host makes the show centered around him/herself when that is definitely not the focus of the game. (ex. Wylde, Chris)

3. The format is good and the host is okay, but the host shows no signs of improvement after a significant amount of time on the air. (ex. Karn, Richard)

Perhaps you can all think of better examples...or even better criteria than what I have! Please feel free to do so...:)

Anthony

I don't think I've ever seen Frank Nicotero when he wasn't SHOUTING.

Travis has a good point. Nipsey Russell may have seemed lost at the helm of Your Number's Up (at least on the episode I have), but let's face it; that show was really complicated to begin with. He probably would've done better with a simpler format.



Great point. I can think of a few other examples for this; I thought "Make The Grade" was OK with Lew Schnieder as the host, but it was pretty much unwatchable when that bore Robb Edward Morris took over. Crosswits '86 was a very well-done show, but David Sparks seemed so uncomfortable as host it's tough to watch him.

And let's not forget John Davidson with "The $100,000 Pyramid"...

Or talking like a goofball.
And I can't stand it when someone is addressing a guy and a gal or a group of gals and calls 'em guys.
I also want to smack anyone who pronounces the T in the word "often".
Do you say fasTen? You don't.

I'm going to be unpopular.

Does anyone else have a problem with Bert Convy? I've been watching a lot of Super Password lately, and while he's not the worst I've seen, the show just constantly keeps getting away from him, and he seems soooooo bumbly. I really liked him on Tattletales--it seemed to be made for him. However, I would've hated to see him host a show like Match Game... what a train wreck that would've been.

A lot of these same problems I had with Convy I had even moreso with Davidson. John, however, should have never hosted a show.

Brandon Brooks

It's been a while since I've seen Davidson host, outside of clips on "Most Outrageous" specials, his trying to be funny got a little obnoxious. I'm thinking of the April Fools stunt where a contestant was thrown off the platform, and he has this deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. Not so much trying to be funny, but something about him just looking so lost that irks me.

That, and the "Things That Are Stiff" moment on $100K Pyramid, when he yells from the sidelines, "Are we still on?"

I knew someone who worked for a few years on Squares. That look was 100% genuine. He had NO damn idea what was going on most of the time.

To his credit...he almost hid it. He was more watchable than a lot of hosts I can think of.

Which may be the number one trait of a bad host - he makes a fair show unwatchable.

Interesting - no mention of Wally Bruner, who I thought was OK but miscast - he would have worked for the more formal Daly-era WML? but didn't really work with the WML-IGAS hybrid Gil Fates put in syndication. Larry Blyden worked much better in that role.

I got on 5 minutes ago. Your mileage may vary.
My, her legs are smooth.

One thing about game shows that I think we tend to forget is that they were designed to be viewed by women, not men. Bert Convy and John Davidson had superficial appeal to women, not men. So a person who seemed to be a bad host may be just what a woman wants. Most game shows aired in the daytime because the audience during the housewife era was exclusively female. The folks who ran these shows didn't mind if men watched, but they were more concerned about appealing to women. When housewives became extinct, daytime game shows too went the way of the dinosaur.

Our forum consists almost exclusively of people to whom the genre is not specifically directed.

...which doesn't make Davidson any more of an utterly incompetent nincompoop.

Being successful and being competent are two different things.

With that logic, why are soap operas still on?

With Convy, it's a matter of giving him the right format. Password is just too brainy for him (which was made abundantly clear on last week's P+ when he played it). I'd say it's a credit to his hosting skill that he wasn't worse and that the show lasted as long as it did.

Allen Ludden wouldn't have been his best on "Tattletales" either. And I thought John Davidson wasn't bad on the Squares, just everything else he hosted. With Squares, he'd been on the panel long enough to see how Peter did it.

A quick question--was Gene Rayburn considered for P+ after Allen left? (Or Super Password for that matter?) He was funny enough and smart enough.

Except he couldn't remember the rules to his own game. How many times did he try to award the square that would win the game by default on a wrong answer, only to correct himself halfway through because someone hissed in his IFB that he couldn't do that? You could make a drinking game out of "Circle gets the...um, we can't put that there, you have to earn that yourself! Ha ha!" You'd think after a thousand or so he would have gotten it.

Not in our shop. I never once heard an emcee's potential appeal to a female audience discussed. Part of that stems from the fact that our producers who came from New York still had one foot in the '50s and produced their shows as if they were in prime time. After Jerry Chester lobbied the FCC to adopt the Prime Access rule, they turned out to be right, as many shows popped up at 7:30. If you're looking to put on emcees who appeal specifically to a female audience, you don't put on Allen Ludden, Gene Rayburn or Dennis James (a female audience under age 60, that is).


No.

You can have rights to that...I have dibs on the Super Password Drinking Game.

If Bert says "and if you're ready to gooooooooo" - down 1 drink
If Gene Wood knows the Super Password before Bert does - down 1 drink
If a more capable game show host is one of the celebs - down 2 drinks
If Patrick Wayne is one of the celebs - do as Bill Murray forced Chevy Chase to do in "Caddyshack", that's right CANNONBALL!

The Super Password Drinking Game from Wilfred Brimley Games.

Uh, yeah.

Soaps are important enough for working women to tape (or watch Soap Net). Game shows are not.

Remember Lin Bolen? When she took over NBC daytime, out went Bob Clayton, Art Fleming and Joe Garagiola and in came Geoff Edwards, Chuck Woolery and Alex Trebek.

As far as why Allen, Gene, Dennis and even our hero Bill Cullen were worked for as long as they did was that they had been on TV since the '50's and back then they were young.:) Mostly they were good hosts, though and the comfort factor with viewers was strong.

When you look at the games that still exist from the '50s and '60s, most had a man playing against a woman. Starting in the '70s and lasting until about the late '80s or so, you had mostly women contestants on certain shows (Match Game, Pyramid, Password, etc.) I always wondered why that was...did men all of a sudden stop trying out as often for these shows, or did the producers realize their biggest audience in the daytime were housewives, and wanted to have more people that perhaps they could relate to?

I'm pretty sure Brendan told me once that when he tried out for Pyramid, there seemed to be just as many men there as women - yet the show featured at 80% women contestants.