Remembering Bill Rafferty

Sorry, I've been rather slow in doing updates on this blog. But this one I feel needs to be posted. Well, earlier today, after a disappointment, I found a thread title on the GSN Buzz, indicating that Bill Rafferty had passed away. His family did confirm it on his facebook page.

This actually came as a total shock. I didn't even know he wasn't doing well. And only 68, I mean, yeah it's older than some, but compared to others, it's still pretty young. Not to mention he's the youngest of the Card Sharks hosts (not counting that 2001 for obvious reasons). I'm still kind of shocked, but as I've said, when your time here on earth is done, it's done, and I'll accept that, even if it seems unreal.

Rafferty got his start on Real People. Can't say I know much about that, but he did play on Family Feud with Richard Dawson. Here's a link from his appearance. He also hosted a show called Every Second Counts. And a pilot called Run For the Money, which didn't sell.

What won me over though of his hosting was Card Sharks. He hosted the nighttime version that debuted in September 1986. This man fit perfectly with it, making the whole 1986-1989 era mean something. Sorry Eubanks wasn't the best fit. I mean he did fine, but Rafferty mastered it right away. His version of Card Sharks was my 2nd favorite out of all of them. Rafferty was always calm, cool, and collective, and very funny.  Recently I watched an episode of Tattletales emcee week, where there was a question where Mark Goodson looked for qualities in a host. Those qualities were, 1. Sense of Humor, 2. Cool organizational head 3. Glib Tongue. Rafferty fit all of those on this show. Of course, his version only lasted 1 season, or 195 episodes. Should've lasted longer.

Another thing he did was a revival of the popular game show Blockbusters. In January 1987 his version of the show debuted. It did eliminate the 2 vs. 1 concept, but the show was still OK. Yeah, I preferred Cullen's version, but Rafferty's was very watchable, and he made it good. I enjoyed watching it. I first discorvered it in 2005, and thought, hm, this is OK. Not as good as that one guy with the glasses, but I can watch this. Like Card Sharks it too was cancelled. It ended May 1, 1987. He also played as a celebrity on Super Password in March 1987. The entire week is on YouTube.

Rafferty is very underrated. I think he is the most underrated host of all time. Both of his shows deserved better. We will miss you.

R.I.P. Bill Rafferty
June 17, 1944-August 11, 2012