The Kennedy Administartion

Ah, love hurts. So I'll turn to game shows. So, I might as well give more praise to Tom Kennedy. In another tape I got, it had 5 episodes of Tom Kennedy The Price is Right. It was a special syndicated half hour edition of the show that ran from 1985-1986. The show had the format of the first few years of the show, 3 pricing games, and the top 2 winners compete in the showcase. I saw Tom's hosting. Man, he can go into any show that someone else had hosted, and could make it great in his own way, and his style would just settle right in comfortably. Yeah, he's no Bob Barker or Drew Carey, but he's good enough. The way he handled it was just great all round. Personally, I scratch my head wondering, why didn't this show last into the 1986-1987 season. I think it should've. Although part of the show was taped during a rough period of the show after Johnny Olson passed away in 1985. It was a good run, which could've (and should've) been longer. Hey, GSN aired it from 1996-1998, so it's not that bad. It beat the other syndicated version that followed a few years later.

Tom's Turn

Well, yesterday I just got some tapes in a giveaway contest. In one of those tapes it contained the France/French Blooper of Password Plus with my 2nd favorite permanent host, Tom Kennedy. I also got a couple other episodes from early in his run. Yes, I thought Allen Ludden was the best host of this series, but Tom was an excellent replacement. He seemed to settle in just fine. Although something happened on that France/French blooper with Dick Martin and Betty White. No human or game show host is perfect, and that was an exception of the best having an occasional screw up. He did really well on the show. He was also the first host I saw host Password Plus when I began watching in 2005 when GSN brought the show back (I started watching Ludden 2 months later when GSN ran it on a Saturday night marathon). There were many memorable moments on this run, such as when his brother Jack Narz hosted an episode of the show, and others. If Allen were still alive, I bet he would say that Tom did a good job succeeding him. I would have to agree with that. Also ironic on an episode when he played when Allen Ludden hosted, Ludden asked him if he would rather be a participant than an emcee. Kennedy said participant. Little did we know about a year and a half later he would be the emcee.

Online Pick of the Week (4/22) - The Object is

Well, here is the first episode of Dick Clark's first hosted game show from 1963. The Object is. This is my online pick for the week. Thank you David Downs for uploading.

Remembering a Legend - Dick Clark

Well, as many know by now, Dick Clark passed away on Wednesday.I do have to say, I loved his work, and loved most of what he did. In 1957 he started out as host of the program American Bandstand. Can't say I really got into the show, but once in a blue moon I would watch a clip on Youtube, and it was enjoyable. Clark did a good job there. Another thing he is well known for is New Year's Rockin Eve which he began in 1972. He did this every New Years Eve (Except 2004 his stroke). After his stroke, he was limited in his appearances. Sometimes it was painful to watch, but he seemed to get better every year, and this last year (2011/2012) he sounded a little better. I do commend him for getting back up and learning to walk and talk again after his stroke. Some people would just give up, but Dick didn't. And yes to other people who tried to do that again, good job too.

But what I knew Dick Clark best at was the Pyramid franchise. Definitely a great emcee there, who was just perfect. And when he did screw up, he always bounced back, like the 1958 moment, and the 1968 moment when he was announcing the car prize, and got the years mixed up. Wow, that was funny. Pyramid is a good He hosted the shows start back in 1973 starting with The $10,000 Pyramid. He continued with the show until 1988. As I said, I loved Dick on this show. It was tough on Wednesday watching some Pyramid and realizing, wow, he's really gone :( Well, I've appreciated him before, and now that he's gone, I appreciate him even more.

R.I.P. Dick. You will be greatly missed.

Online Pick of the Week (4/15) - Password Plus Original Broadcast

Well, with GSN showing the early 1979 episodes of Password Plus once again, for the pick of the week, I choose an original broadcast of a January 1979 episode of the show. Uploaded by David Downs, this episode features Linda Kaye Henning, and Richard Paul. Well, I saw it, it's pretty awesome. Then again, this show had awesome written all over it. Well, see how it plays out. It will be on GSN in a couple weeks from this post (Sunday April 15, 2012).

Password Plus My Online Pick of the Week

BTW, Rich Jeffries, a sub announcer on the show in 1981, and the first announcer of Super Password passed away March 30. R.I.P. GSN also showed a week of him announcing Super Password on April 2-6, with Gary Burghoff and Jamie Farr.

All The Feud's Men, I'm Going to Rate Them Together Again

Well, I saw a certain thread revived on the GSN forums. Well, it was rating of all the Feud hosts, or which version was your favorite. Well, I have my opinions. However, I'll explain them in detail this time.

1. Early Dawson (1976-1981) - Dawson was full of energy, the game was just fun, and at the right pace. He was the best.

2. O'Hurley - This is when I first really watched First-Run. O'Hurley did really good. And the jumping at the buzzer didn't bother me one bit. Nope. Very good choice to replace Karn.

3. Karn (2003-2006) - Karn's last 3 seasons were good. I appreciate them very much now. I used to not like Karn because I used to be an "Older is Better" fanatic, but I love it now.

4. Harvey - A great new host, and has made it a success. If the writers would cut down on the sex questions, this show would be perfect.

5. Later Dawson (1982-1985, 1994-1995) - Dawson seemed to lose his energy, but it was still watchable. Same with his 1994-1995 return. It was OK.

6. Combs - OK who hired this guy? Ray was an awful host. I do understand his tragic ending of his life, but that has NOTHING to do with his hosting. He just sucked at hosting this show. 

7. Anderson/Karn 1st Season - I thought Ray was awful, but Louie was the worst. The format also sucked (which is why I rate Karn's first season here). Louie's voice was also annoying.

8. Roker - Just awkward to watch. Very awful, and yes like Louie, unwatchable.

The Password is..........Kewl

Well, with Password Plus and Super Password back on GSN, I really remembered how much I loved this show. Well, I'll rate how I liked each version, in a countdown style.

4. Original Recipe Password. Yep, the original was my least favorite, but I still enjoyed it. I enjoyed the whole Password franchise very much. The original one could be slow at times, but it was still OK, and Ludden was a great host. Some of the celebrities were cool too. I also enjoyed the Jack Clark guest hosted episodes too.

3. Super Password. Bert did OK as a host. It was fun, and a good revival of Password Plus. Nice mix of the mid 80's game show celebrities. The Ca$hword was a nice touch too.

2. Million Dollar Password. Definetly a good 21st century version, trying the show like the Alphabetics, or Lightning round. And the celebrities were good, this should've had a much longer run.

1. Password Plus. Yep, this is my favorite version of the show. Allen did good coming back into the show. Tom Kennedy was a good succesor. The game was fun and the + was good too. Celebrities great too.