Short & Sweet: Which star would you name as the ultimate MVP of a specific celebrity-driven game show?


You can use different celebs for different eras/incarnations of a show (i.e. Password/Password Plus/Super Password/$1M Password).


To start: Soupy Sales on the syndicated What's My Line series.

Others???

Betty White: All incarnations of Password.

Billy Crystal: The $20,000 Pyramid.

John O' Hurley: Donny Osmond's Pyramid.

Richard Dawson: Match Game '7X.

Carol Wayne-Celebrity Sweepstakes.
Paul Lynde-H'wood Squares.
Richard Dawson-Match Game.

Of course Betty White-Passwords and Pyramids. Even in the 2000s she showed she's still got it.

William Shatner is the direct polar opposite of my above statement. ;-)

Approves

Approves, part II

Ryan :)

I'll give you Betty White on all the Passwords, but the Pyramids have too many good celebrities to be sure. You could do a whole lot worse than Adrienne Barbeau, Soupy Sales, Bill Cullen or Shelley Smith.

'Cause if you win, you get to hug them!

Martha Smith and Mary Cadorette not bad players, either.

Carol Burnett in the "not married to the host" category on Password.

Agree with all of the above, plus these:

Password - all versions, Betty White, though Carol Burnett and Elizabeth Montgomery are close behind
Pyramid - JoAnne Worley (female), Soupy Sales (male)
Rhyme and Reason - Nipsey Russell
WML - Arlene Francis
TTTT - Kitty Carlisle
IGAS - Bill Cullen (natch)
TNTS - Joan Alexander - who we lost recently

I'm sure the contestants who got paired up with Shatner agree.

To say nothing of Markie Post.

Among the male contingent of Pyramid; I'd have to say Billy Crystal, Michael J. Fox, Earl Holliman, Charles Siebert, LeVar Burton, and David Graf. (Although Henry Polic II is the most entertaining, if you ask me.)

Here's another from Hollywood Squares: Robert Fuller. According to Peter's book, Robert was the best "bluffer." (and outside of the Misters Lynde, Weaver, and Cox; my fave male "Square!")

Cordially,
Tammy

You can not say you list is finished until you include Nipsey Russell.

Speaking of which, on Monday's airing of the $25,000 Pyramid, Dick went to the audience to see if anyone had a better clue for "PEOPLE WHO WEAR MAKE-UP:. After a couple of clues were mentioned, Nipsey shouted out a clue. Was Nipsey about to tape some episodes for the Pyramid, or was in just in the audience as a fan (probably the former).

I'll politely disagree, and raise your Arlene Francis with Dorothy Kilgallen. For a panel show to work, the game has to be taken seriously (see Paula Poundstone, TTTT2K) and lord, did DK take it seriously.

To my mind, however, the best panel ever was the three-C lineup of the Garry Moore TTTT. If Dorothy or Arlene was the MVP of WML, Carlisle, Cass and Cullen were the Murderers Row of TTTT.

And if I don't stop using initials soon, somebody send me to the Blockbusters Treatment Center.

or at least neck and neck with Peter Lawford
On P+, my choice for the "not married to the host" category is Joanna Gleason.

Of course, Richard Dawson for MG for obvious reasons. Almost every player picked him for the head-to-head Super Match & got matched most of the time.

Betty White was & STILL is Password's MVP though I'll give the M$P nod to Aisha Tyler.

As for HSq, Paul Lynde was great in his own right, but George Gobel wasn't that bad either. He gets my "Top Banana" award for some of the best zingers he made.

I'll take Vicki Lawrence for Pyramid, thank you very much.

No Amy Jo Johnson?

He'll take her for other things. Not necessarily game-show related.

For me, on Pyramidan honorable mention, if not MVP goes out to Barry Jenner (Lt. Murtaugh on Family Matters). I know he won the contestant $100,000 on at least two occasions.