How would you rate Rich Fields as a game show announcer? Here is your chance to make your opinion known.

He sounds like Bob Hilton on steroids, after a 4 pack of Red-Bull.

I should let you write the poll responses from now on :-)

I personally find Rich's voice somewhat obnoxious, and he obviously doesn't have that good a voice to raise without it sounding like he's screaming.

I was hoping for Randy West, even Art Sanders, to become announcer. Hell, I probably would've sufficed with Burton Richardson (I know many will disagree with me) or Paul Boland. Rich just doesn't really have the pipes for Price. Maybe another show.

I think if he'd tone it down a little, he'd be fine.

Rich has two speeds, fast and off. He needs to develop a better range of excitment...to me, that's too evident during the GSM.

He seems like a nice guy, and in his pre show warmup, he talks with great admiration of how Johnny Olsen gave him his first shot 'auditioning' for TPIR 25 years ago, but it's like he's been given the keys to the Cadillac, and all he has is his learner's permit.

That said, he's a lucky bastard. If I knew they were looking for a weather personality to try announcing, I'Da sent a resume.

Beg pardon?

Apparently Rich reads the board. Who knew? :)

Rich tells this story during his warm-up. He sat in the audience twenty-five years ago, and when Johnny O. asked if there were any questions from the audience, Rich asked if he could try his hand at announcing, so Johnny let him yell "Come on down!"

Wow.

So does Gilbert Gottfried and his family.

Between CBS and Fremantle, I think this kind of market research is easily worth five large.

I recently went back and watched some late season 32 episodes, and I actually thought Rich sounded a lot better back then - he sounded enthusiastic without screaming everything at the top of his lungs, and he didn't sound as nasally either. And the same goes for his recent work on the non-TPiR episodes of GSM. So it's clear that he's capable of being a good announcer (albeit not quite as good as Randy West would've been) when he actually shows control of his voice. He's just gotten into a rut on TPiR where he doesn't seem to care how he sounds, and I guess the producers don't either.



Nah, that's Paul Boland. :)

Hell, when I was in the audience for Super Password 19 years ago, and I had mentioned that I worked in radio, Gene Wood let me say the opening spiel (It's Password...It's Super Password!!!) during a shooting break.

But unlike Rich, I don't claim that as my "big break", or any break for that matter.

Maybe I didn't tell it right, but Rich didn't take this as a serious "big break" from the way he told the story. He told it in a vein of "here's an interesting thing about me..."

One thing is everyones assuming he's being loud and "screaming" of his own choosing. It's entirely possible that this is the sound they want and he's doing what he's being told.

It's no longer an audience of housewives politely clapping. The crowd is loud, possibly obnixious, and there could be a producer there telling Rich to fit in with the level of excitment the audience puts out these days.

Bob Barker was interviewed by radio hosts Don and Mike a few months ago and he was highly complimentary of the work Rich is doing. I think you're hearing what the "suits" want.

The audiences were just as loud with Rod Roddy doing the show, yet Rod didn't use an exaggerated, over-the-top delivery which sounds more like a caricature of a game show announcer.


Yeah, right. "Rich, we're after that 'Bob Hilton on steroids after a four-pack of Red Bull' sound."


What else is Barker going to say during a radio interview? "My new announcer sucks"?

While I will admit that Rich was better earlier on, I'm not about to say he's a horrible announcer by any means (give that to distinction to Daniel Rosen or Roger Rose). He's a solid guy, after all over 25 years in the business in credible markets have to prove something right? He's a good copy reader which is vital for Price. He has plenty of energy (okay, we may want the producers to switch him to decaf every other show to keep him balanced). He has the timing down well. And, while he may not have gained the following of Rod Roddy or Johnny O., fact of the matter is a lot of fans of the show seem to like him. Those ingredients seemingly imply that Rich will probably be here to stay for awhile.

It's a shame that aside from a select couple of individuals who post here and have announced either/or the CBS or stage versions, it's tough to truly gauge and fully grasp just how difficult Rich's job is. From the sidelines, I can obviously imply that announcing Price has to be the most active and verbose voiceover/announcing job in television. Page after page of copy, being mindful of timing issues, keeping the audience in it as a warm-up personality, and so much more...a combination guaranteed to make you say...WOW! What you thought I was gonna say Whew?

Now you should know better than anyone how heavily produced every aspect of tv is these days, especially with new talent. There's not an announcer/host/talent anywhere that hasn't been told, even the smallest amount, how to do his job buy a producer.

And if Bob Barker didn't care for his performance he didn't need to bring up what a nice job he was doing. He could have left the whole topic alone. Sometimes what you don't say is as telling as what you do.

IMO, the ONLY "interesting" thing about Rich is how he got the job as announcer to begin with. Period.

No, in my experience, this pretty much proves nothing.

Talking? As I've said before, and with all due respect to Randy, not a terribly difficult vocation.

No, but I'll certainly add a "wow." of my own.

Bob's gonna say what he thinks will promote the show the best, with no regard to whether or not he believes it. If he thinks that commenting favorably about his announced will get more people to watch the show, then I imagine he would have absolutely no problem smiling at the Morning Zoo monkey and lying through his teeth.

I'm amazed that I seem to be the only one here who thinks that Rich is neither God's nor Satan's gift to game show announcing. (And before anyone says "I don't believe in either," you know what I mean and are free to substitute accordingly.)

Having met Rich in person, and knowing Randy through a mutual acquaintance as well as via this forum, I like and respect both of them. Call me a diplomat (or a wuss -- same thing ;-), but that's how I feel.

No, I agree with you. I simply think he's mediocre, and that there were some shenanigains around how he got the gig.

He doesn't offend me, he just very obviously wasn't the best applicant.

Actually, judging from the poll results, you and Chris L. are far from the only ones. :)



And I'm in a similar mold. I met Rich at last year's Congreff (while he was working the TPiR taping I attended a year earlier I did not take the opportunity to introduce myself), and I broke bread with Randy (and Chris C.) prior to attending said taping a year earlier. So count me among the wusses. :)

Doug

LOL...although his work on Flamingo Fortune (the mid-90s FL Lottery GS) may have factored in somewhat.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

Please share with us the dirt on how Rich got his job (keeping in mind that we have rules against libel on this board).

Again, having worked with several of the TPIR production people probably before you were born, I can't imagine any of them saying "Give us that cheesy caricature-of-a-game-show-announcer" sound. For one thing, they weren't getting it from Rod Roddy, so why would they require it of his successor?

If he would ditch the shouting and the exaggerated inflection it would be a tremendous improvement, and the poll results back this up.

I am not sure if shouting is Rich Fields style, or is the shouting a result of the direction he is given by Fremantle Media or more likely CBS brass. It seems like the show is being told to go a' la Emeril, and "Kick it up a notch!"

As an irregular viewer of the show because of work and other considerations, I tend to see the changes in a big way when I watch TPiR. My general opinion of more recent shows is that they can replace any text they flash across the screen, such as "Bob Barker Studio" or "Fabulous Prizes", and replace them with "HYPE! HYPE!! HYPE!!!" The game is still solid. Bob just impresses me more and more each year he goes on. But the show has taken on more of a circus atmosphere to me. Perhaps if Bob retires, they'll make a big splash, and hire Star Jones to host the show. <ducking huge tomatoes>

Do elaborate on this. The man keeps making more and more gameplay errors as he gets older, then he covers by throwing up his hands, invoking EP fiat, and screaming "The contestant wins anyhow!" Then everyone cheers 'cuz something was given away and everyone forgets that it wouldn't have happened if the host did his job properly.

So I'm honestly interested in hearing what's impressive about that.

Me, too. His being over the top doesn't bother me as much as his voice has no personality to it. He doesn't bring anything to the table.

I agree. I don't think Rich is perfect -- hell, I find things pretty much every day that I wish he'd do differently. At the same time, though, I like him, and with two years' hindsight, I honestly can't say any longer that I'm disappointed they hired him.

Randy, your ability to keep quiet impresses me on this one. I'm sure you're reading every comment.

It's an unbelievably difficult job and your comment is VERY insulting to anyone who reads any copy, or does any voice work at all for a living. I have over 15 years experience speaking in live TV, and VO's, and the fact is well over 90% of the people who try out for ANY sort of talent work fail miserably at it. Honestly this is where I'm not even going to justify the comment with any further reaction.

Yeah, um, having done it myself, I'm not gonna worry about whether or not you're insulted by that statement, and since I know Randy isn't, I'm pretty confident in standing by it.

I'm not saying, when taken as a whole, that it's an easy job. However, saying "A NEW CAR!!!" in such a way as to not cause wincing by your audience, that isolated action, that isn't difficult.

Well, thank Glub for small miracles.

This was the first time I actually voted on these boards. I went with those that think Rich is just good enought on TPIR. Granted, he wasn't the best of the bunch, but it's all we have to go on for a while. I'll admit, he does bring excitement to the show probably even more so than Rod ever did. Certainly he's not Johnny O., but he has a style all his own wich I think the producers are aiming for these days.

I gotta find the aircheck I have of him when he was a DJ on oldies station KODJ in Los Angeles (c. 1989). I want to see how his shouting today on TPIR matches up with his shouting back then.

(To those who lived outside of So. CA, KODJ "sounded" just like a Top 40/CHR teeny bopper FM station you'd hear in the 80's and 90's, except they played oldies and not new stuff. Actually, it was a good concept, but short-lived, IIRC.)

[quote name='clemon79' date='Jun 25 2006, 11:10 PM' post='122509']
[quote name='tjhornikel' post='122508' date='Jun 25 2006, 07:53 PM']
Bob just impresses me more and more each year he goes on.
[/quote]
Do elaborate on this.

[quote name='clemon79' date='Jun 25 2006, 11:10 PM' post='122509']
[quote name='tjhornikel' post='122508' date='Jun 25 2006, 07:53 PM']
Bob just impresses me more and more each year he goes on.
[/quote]
Do elaborate on this.

Did I not elaborate enough, Chris? Let me try that one again...

Again, I am an infrequent viewer these days. But, in the shows I have seen, Bob has done a very good job of using his skills. Example: He cleverly jokes about his hearing loss whenever he mishears a contestant's response. Isn't that the sign of a good host? When they are not "perfect", they can still keep the show going on in an entertaining way, while ensuring the contestant has a good time while winning?

No, you didn't, which is why I asked.

Well, you're entitled to your opinion. But what you see as "using his skills", I see as "covering up that he can't do the stinkin' job anymore."

Far be it from me to defend Bob Barker, but unless you've been in the studio during a taping you don't know what he's up against. It is beyond loud in there -- it is DEAFENING. I've seen people on the crew plug their ears with their fingers during the warm-up, the din is so bad.

While it is true that Bob has made more mistakes in recent years, 1) your comments imply it happens regularly, when actually, it happens maybe a handful of times in a season, and 2) I think "he can't do the stinkin' job anymore" is grossly exagerated.

Well, your opinion. Personally, I would like to see a graph of the number of game-breaking mistakes he makes in a season over time. I KNOW there's someone over at G-R.net who has copious stats to that end. ;)

Its amazing to me that after all this time, you guys still find joy in bashing Rich Fields. And no, I am not the one person who thinks he is the best ever, but do feel he has done a great job, and feel he was the best choice for TPIR. Another poll on his popularity???? C'mon.... what purpose does this serve? The majority of you are still sore that your buddy, and a frequent poster on this board .....did not get the job. Fair enough. But after Rich has proven to be a decent and strong announcer, why do you continue to hate him so much? He is doing a decent job, regardless of your personal feelings. Try and be objective. Personally,I can't stand Randy West's announcing style and feel he is the one that is like a cartoon character announcer. No offense to Randy personally, but that is my opinion. He had equal chance at the job, perhaps even more of a chance as he knew the producres going in etc. Obviously ... they did not think he was the best choice. The same goes for the folks that cast the GSM gig. He lost that to Rich as well. So how can he be as bad as you all say? I am so tired of all the hinting around at how he got the job, being somehow shady??? Yet no one comes through with any evidence of any such thing. So...put up or shut up! Tell us this secret, unfair way, he got the job, once and for all, or stop the unfair rumors. Its unfortunate that people can spread lies like that, without any proof. Face it! Rich was the better choice, and the majority of the viewing audience agrees. Bob loves the job he is doing. But you guys don't like Bob either do you. Hmm, must be a pattern of disdain for anyone with talent. How can you guys not think Barker, at 82, is not the king of game show host. Give it a rest already people! I have been coming here and visiting this site for a long time, quietly watching all the post. I have ignored most of this type of thing. But you know.. its Truly amazing how so many people talk out of both sides of their mouths on this subject. Yes, I am a Rich Fields fan. And sadly....a lot of you have "pretended" to be.

First post out of the gate, and this guy serves us this?

Thanks for posting , Rich.

(If this is actually a troll, I apologize to the group in advance.)

[quote]Its amazing to me that after all this time, you guys still find joy in bashing Rich Fields.[/quote] I find no joy in it. I will point out that his announcing style is sub-par and needs improvement.

[quote]And no, I am not the one person who thinks he is the best ever, but do feel he has done a great job, and feel he was the best choice for TPIR. [/quote] Incorrect.

[quote]Another poll on his popularity???? C'mon.... what purpose does this serve? [/quote] I was unaware there was more than one. The poll allows us to discuss why we don't care for Rich, as opposed to abject bashing.

[quote]But after Rich has proven to be a decent and strong announcer, [/quote] That's incorrect too.

[quote]why do you continue to hate him so much? [/quote] I don't hate him. I'm merely saddened that the show went the wrong way.

[quote]He is doing a decent job, regardless of your personal feelings. [/quote]That is incorrect. Three down, seven to go, and on to Mr. Cerf.

[quote]Personally,I can't stand Randy West's announcing style and feel he is the one that is like a cartoon character announcer. [/quote]That's a first. You're certainly allowed to that, but you are the first person I've ever seen who had Thing One bad to say about Randy.

[quote]He had equal chance at the job, perhaps even more of a chance as he knew the producres going in etc. Obviously ... they did not think he was the best choice. [/quote]Incorrect. The "best choice" and "our choice" are clearly two different things.

[quote]The same goes for the folks that cast the GSM gig. He lost that to Rich as well. [/quote]I was unaware Randy was even up for the GSM gig, since he's out doing the TPIR Live thing.

[quote]So how can he be as bad as you all say? [/quote]Have you even heard an episode of TPIR? QED.

[quote]I am so tired of all the hinting around at how he got the job, being somehow shady??? Yet no one comes through with any evidence of any such thing. So...put up or shut up! [/quote]That's easy for you to say, since there's no way any of us could know with any degree of certainty, since we're not on the TPIR staff.

[quote]Face it! Rich was the better choice, and the majority of the viewing audience agrees. Bob loves the job he is doing. [/quote]Pardon me while I have a minute-long laugh.

[quote]But you guys don't like Bob either do you. [/quote]Not a whit, no. And that's in terms of Bob as a person and as a presenter. I do approve of the spay/neuter and saving of animals, but that's about it.

[quote]Hmm, must be a pattern of disdain for anyone with talent. [/quote]Yawn, another misplaced ad hominem.

[quote]How can you guys not think Barker, at 82, is not the king of game show host. [/quote]Because he goes through the motions every day, content to cash his paycheck, rather than out of concern for the show?

[quote]But you know.. its Truly amazing how so many people talk out of both sides of their mouths on this subject. Yes, I am a Rich Fields fan. And sadly....a lot of you have "pretended" to be.[/quote]I can assure you I've been single-minded in my beliefs on the TPIR subject, and I don't pretend to be a Fields Fanatic.

No one "hates" Rich Fields. A number of people here dislike his announcing style on TPIR and GSM, and that's what this thread is all about.


This is the first poll we have ever had since we have been with this web host.


You've taken a poll of the TPIR audience, have you?


Yeah, I'd like to hear this supposedly underhanded way that Fields got his job.

Bob Barker is a superb game show emcee, no question about it. Speaking in the abstract, if (and this is a big "if") the allegations in various lawsuits are true, I have major problems with an employer who fires people because they wouldn't perjure themselves for him in a deposition.

Seconded.

[quote name='Playpal' date='Jun 28 2006, 04:08 PM' post='122702']
Its amazing to me that after all this time, you guys still find joy in bashing Rich Fields.[/quote]

I don't "find joy" in "bashing" Rich. The question was brought up, so I chimed in with what I consider to be constructive criticism.

[quote]And no, I am not the one person who thinks he is the best ever, but do feel he has done a great job, and feel he was the best choice for TPIR. Another poll on his popularity???? C'mon.... what purpose does this serve?[/quote]

I don't know exactly what Chris's intention was in starting this thread, but all I can say is that perhaps one or more of the TPTB will read this thread, and maybe, just maybe, they'll help him work on the bad habits that a number of us thinks he has.

[quote]The majority of you are still sore that your buddy, and a frequent poster on this board .....did not get the job. Fair enough.[/quote]

I can't speak for others on this board, but my feeling that Randy should've gotten the job have little if anything to do with the fact that he posts at a message board where I mostly lurk.

[quote]But after Rich has proven to be a decent and strong announcer, why do you continue to hate him so much?[/quote]

First off, I don't have anything personal against Rich. And it's only your opinion that he's a "decent and strong announcer" - I don't think he's absolutely terrible, but after hearing some of his early TPiR performances and hearing his recent work on GSM, I think that he's currently not announcing at his full potential on TPiR. I also think there are others (not just Randy) that would have done a better job.

[quote]He is doing a decent job, regardless of your personal feelings.[/quote]

Someone could just as easily say "He is doing a terrible job, regardless of your personal feelings." What makes you think that your opinion holds more weight than anyone else's?

[quote]Try and be objective.[/quote]

Go back and read most of the posts in this thread, and you'll find that we ARE being objective. You seem to be the one who can't deal with the fact that people are criticizing your beloved Rich.

[quote]Personally,I can't stand Randy West's announcing style and feel he is the one that is like a cartoon character announcer. No offense to Randy personally, but that is my opinion.[/quote]

If that's your opinion, fine, but just because other people disagree with it doesn't mean that they're biased or that they think there's some kind of conspiracy. I could understand where you're coming from with the "cartoon character" comment, as his announcing does have a certain wackiness to it. But that's just his personality showing through, and I think that style is easier on the ears and more well-suited to the show than Rich's nasally screaming.

[quote]He had equal chance at the job, perhaps even more of a chance as he knew the producres going in etc. Obviously ... they did not think he was the best choice. The same goes for the folks that cast the GSM gig. He lost that to Rich as well. So how can he be as bad as you all say? I am so tired of all the hinting around at how he got the job, being somehow shady??? Yet no one comes through with any evidence of any such thing. So...put up or shut up! Tell us this secret, unfair way, he got the job, once and for all, or stop the unfair rumors. Its unfortunate that people can spread lies like that, without any proof. Face it![/quote]

I don't see anyone "spreading lies" in this thread. I do remember hearing some buzz about how his looks may have had something to do with why he was hired, but I've taken that with a grain of salt.

[quote]Rich was the better choice, and the majority of the viewing audience agrees.[/quote]

Proof?

[quote]Bob loves the job he is doing. But you guys don't like Bob either do you. Hmm, must be a pattern of disdain for anyone with talent. How can you guys not think Barker, at 82, is not the king of game show host.[/quote]

I was unaware that being 82 automatically made you "the king of game show host[s]". He may have hosted the show for over three decades, but that doesn't mean that he's beneath criticism. I do think that Bob gets a bit too much flack from some people over his hosting (his behind-the-scenes antics are another issue), but I don't think he's this perfect, untouchable hosting deity either.

[quote]Give it a rest already people! I have been coming here and visiting this site for a long time, quietly watching all the post. I have ignored most of this type of thing. But you know.. its Truly amazing how so many people talk out of both sides of their mouths on this subject. Yes, I am a Rich Fields fan. And sadly....a lot of you have "pretended" to be.[/quote]

Um...what?

[quote name='TLEberle' date='Jun 28 2006, 05:40 PM' post='122706']
I was unaware Randy was even up for the GSM gig, since he's out doing the TPIR Live thing.[/quote]

FWIW, Randy said that he was the in-studio announcer on the LMaD episode.

There are some of us who like Rich Fields and Randy West...

Exsqueeze me, Mr. Pal. In one sentence you say that Randy flat out lost the GSM job to Rich. Yet 2 sentences later, you're asking for evidence on how Rich "allegedly" got the TPiR gig.

Where is *your* evidence that proves that Randy actually lost the GSM gig to Rich, or if even Randy had even thrown his hat into the ring for the job to begin with???

Not to be defending or bashing either person, I believe that Mr. West's plate is/was pretty full when the GSM gig was going on, what with doing announcing gigs at Harrahs, and perhaps some involvement with the DoND shows left to tape for the season and the travel time between all of his gigs. Meanwhile, Mr. Fields was doing TPIR announcing (if TPiR was not on vacation break by then), and thus pretty much hanging around Beverly & Fairfax when GSM was looking for an announcer across the lot.

In other words, Randy probably has/had more in his Day Planner that Rich does/did (That should tell you something right there).

The way you spin news to one side of the spectrum, you might have a long career ahead of you at CNN!
(ObGame Shows -- CNN now occupies the building where Goodson/Todman was once a tenant at 6430 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood)