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Game Show Host: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Hi gang! Pop Quiz here! We ask several historical questions to our players, then act flabbergasted at their overwhelming ignorance!"''
The visible front end of any [[Game Show]]. This is the person who moderates the show and actually runs the game; s/he also enforces the rules (though s/he usually has to defer to off-screen officials for any close judgment calls), engages in small talk with the guests, and keeps the mood light and fun.
Game Show Hosts are [[Acceptable Targets|popular butts of jokes]] in fiction. This may have something to do with their need to maintain a jovial atmosphere as previously stated, even when contestants are losing, which might make them seem aloof; or maybe they just come across as slimy and slick, like common depictions of a [[Honest John's Dealership|used car salesman]]. For whatever reason, fictional game show hosts are often presented as smarmy, obnoxious, untrustworthy opportunists who seem to revel in the misfortune of contestants (a [[Dead Unicorn Trope]] of course). Also, since quiz show hosts know, by necessity, the answer to each question, they tend to come off as condescending — perhaps unintentionally, but nonetheless. They also tend to be almost [[Always Male|exclusively male]]; women on a game show's staff are more likely to be [[Lovely Assistant
There has been a recent (not new) trend, at least for high-profile American programs, to cast has-been D-listers as Game Show Hosts.
* [[Bill Cullen]], the original host of ''[[The Price Is Right]]'', ''[[Blockbusters]]'', and many other shows.
* Bob Barker of ''[[Truth or Consequences]]'' and ''The Price Is Right'', probably the most famous game show host in history.
* A close second might be Alex Trebek of ''[[Jeopardy!]]'', ''[[High Rollers]]'', ''[[Concentration|Classic Concentration]]'', and ''[[Double Dare (1976 TV Show)|Double Dare]]''.
* [[Bruce Forsyth]], the British host who gives a new meaning to the term "Brucie Bonus".
* Gene Rayburn of ''[[Match Game]]''.
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* The ''Buzz!'' series of party video games features Jason Donovan as a stereotypical Game Show Host.
* The various sarcastic voice-over hosts of the ''[[You Don't Know Jack]]'' series, most notably Cookie.
** The short-lived live-action game show version on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] featured Paul Reubens as Troy Stevens, a parody of a normal Game Show Host.
* Marc Summers of Nickelodeon's ''[[Double Dare (1986 TV Show)||Double Dare]]''. Ironic, in that Summers has obsessive-compulsive disorder, yet hosted a show that reveled in getting everyone messy.
* Dick Clark of the various ''[[Pyramid]]'' shows.
** Donny Osmond of the most recent revival.
* Jim Lange of ''The Dating Game'', ''[[Bullseye
* Tom Kennedy of ''You Don't Say!'', ''[[Split Second (TV series)|Split Second]]'', ''Name That Tune'', and ''[[Body Language (TV series)|Body Language]]''.
* His brother, Jack Narz, of ''[[Now You See It]]'' and the syndicated ''[[Concentration]]''.
* Howie Mandel on ''[[Deal or No Deal]]''.
* Lynne Thigpen on ''[[Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?]]?'' and its successor series, ''[[Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?]]?'', though she wasn't the quizmaster.
* [[Jack Barry]] on ''[[
* Allen Ludden on ''General Electric College Bowl'' and ''[[Password]]''.
* Jeff Probst of ''[[Jeopardy!|Rock & Roll Jeopardy!]]'' and ''[[Survivor]]''.
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* Bill Rafferty of the late-1980s editions of ''Card Sharks'' and ''Blockbusters''.
* Guy Smiley, a [[Muppet]] performed by [[Jim Henson]] on ''[[Sesame Street]]''.
* Damon Killian, host of ''[[The Running Man (film)|The Running Man]]'' in the 1987 film, played by Richard Dawson! (In the [[The Running Man (novel)|original Stephen King book]], his name is Dan Killian and he's the producer rather than the host. In the movie, he's the show's host and creator.)
* Mike Terry, host and play-by-play announcer of ''The Prize of Peril'' in [https://web.archive.org/web/20051224121656/http://arthurwendover.com/arthurs/sheckley/prizep10.html the short story of the same name] by Robert Sheckley (written in 1958).
* Mr. Wink, the host of the Japanese game show in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo", voiced by [[George Takei]].
* In one episode of ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', an American game show host named "Bing Baxter" supplies the voice for Lister's Confidence-made-flesh. Which show Mr. Baxter hosted is never revealed.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Game Show Tropes]]
[[Category:
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