History Main / GameShowHost

* Silvio Santos, founder and owner of Creator/{{SBT}} and a LongRunner. He's like you put Cullen, the appearance of Dennis James and the ageless appearance/voice formerly held by Dick Clark into a blender and it came out Brazilian- and the added bonus of a unique microphone style from at least 1974. You name it, he's probably been involved with it, ever since about 1961...and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRoC3tyTHAs this montage]] shows just '''40''' of them.

Game Show Hosts are 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 [[HonestJohnsDealership 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 DeadUnicornTrope, of course). Also, since quiz show hosts know, by necessity, the answer to each question (at least in theory; there are some game shows, like ''Series/FamilyFeud'' and ''Series/CardSharks'', that don't list the answers on the card), they tend to come off as condescending — perhaps unintentionally, but nonetheless. They also tend to be almost [[AlwaysMale exclusively male]]; [[MenActWomenAre women on a game show's staff are more likely to be]] {{lovely assistant}}s.

Game Show Hosts are [[AcceptableTargets 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 [[HonestJohnsDealership 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 DeadUnicornTrope, of course). Also, since quiz show hosts know, by necessity, the answer to each question (at least in theory; there are some game shows, like ''Series/FamilyFeud'' and ''Series/CardSharks'', that don't list the answers on the card), they tend to come off as condescending — perhaps unintentionally, but nonetheless. They also tend to be almost [[AlwaysMale exclusively male]]; [[MenActWomenAre women on a game show's staff are more likely to be]] {{lovely assistant}}s.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', the magic mirror presents Lord Farquaad with his potential princess mates using the format of ''Series/TheDatingGame''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' has Chris, who is a sadistic gamemaster who loves thinking up new challenges to torture the contestants with.

* The [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] series has a few of these, including Chuck Quizmo in ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' and Game Guy in ''VideoGame/MarioParty 3''.

* JD Roth of Series/FunHouse (hosted at age 19, making him the youngest game show host) and Series/{{Endurance}}

* In one episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'', 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. (Ironically, the part was played by Craig Ferguson, who currently hosts ''Series/CelebrityNameGame'')

* Guy Smiley[[note]][[StageName real name Bernie Leiderkranz]][[/note]], a {{Muppet}} performed by Creator/JimHenson on ''Series/SesameStreet''. Others included Sonny Friendly.

* Creator/MontyHall and Creator/WayneBrady of ''Series/LetsMakeADeal''; the former also hosted the 1979-80 revival of ''Series/BeatTheClock'' and the 1986-87 revival of ''Series/SplitSecond'' (which he also produced).

* Tom Kennedy of ''You Don't Say!'', ''Series/SplitSecond'', ''Name That Tune'', and ''Series/BodyLanguage''.

* Monty Hall and Creator/WayneBrady of ''Series/LetsMakeADeal''; the former also hosted the 1979-80 revival of ''Series/BeatTheClock'' and the 1986-87 revival of ''Series/SplitSecond'' (which he also produced).

** Also John Davidson (1986-1989) and Tom Bergeron (1998-2004) for the various revivals. Sha-Na-Na's Jon "Bowzer" Bauman hosted the ''Squares'' portion of the trainwreck that was the ''Series/TheMatchGameHollywoodSquaresHour'', and Peter Rosenberg hosted ''Hip Hop Squares''.

** And Louie Anderson (1999-2002), Richard Karn (2002-2006), John O'Hurley (2006-2010), and Steve Harvey (2010-present).
** Al Roker hosted a one-season ''Celebrity Family Feud'' SpinOff during the summer of 2008.

* The ''Buzz!'' series of party video games features Jason Donovan as a stereotypical Game Show Host.

* Creator/JackBarry on ''Series/TwentyOne'', ''Series/TheJokersWild'' and the syndicated run of ''Series/BreakTheBank''.

Game Show Hosts are [[AcceptableTargets 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 [[HonestJohnsDealership 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 DeadUnicornTrope, of course). Also, since quiz show hosts know, by necessity, the answer to each question (at least in theory; there are some game shows, like ''Series/FamilyFeud'' and ''Series/CardSharks'', that don't list the answers on the card), they tend to come off as condescending — perhaps unintentionally, but nonetheless. They also tend to be almost [[AlwaysMale exclusively male]]; women on a game show's staff are more likely to be {{lovely assistant}}s.

* JD Roth of Series/FunHouse (hosted at age 19, making him the youngest game show host) and Series/Endurance

* Creator/BruceForsyth, the British host who gives a new meaning to the term "Brucie Bonus". His most famous game shows are ''Series/TheGenerationGame'', ''[[CardSharks Play Your Cards Right]]'', and ''Series/ThePriceIsRight''.

* Chuck Woolery, original host of ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' and ''LoveConnection''; also ''Series/{{Scrabble}}'', ''Series/TheDatingGame'' and ''Series/{{Lingo}}''.

* Creator/JoeRogan of ''FearFactor''.

* Geoff Edwards of ''[[TreasureHuntUS (The New) Treasure Hunt]]'', ''Series/{{Starcade}}'', ''Series/PlayThePercentages'' and ''[[Series/ChainReaction The New Chain Reaction]]''.

* Silvio Santos, founder and owner of {{SBT}} and a LongRunner. He's like you put Cullen, the appearance of Dennis James and the ageless appearance/voice formerly held by Dick Clark into a blender and it came out Brazilian- and the added bonus of a unique microphone style from at least 1974. You name it, he's probably been involved with it, ever since about 1961...and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRoC3tyTHAs this montage]] shows just '''40''' of them.

* Richard Whiteley hosted the British show ''{{Countdown}}'' for a whopping 23 years (1982-2005) right up until his death. His was the first face to be seen on Creator/Channel4, as Countdown was the first programme to be shown on that channel.

** His brother, Jack Narz, of ''NowYouSeeIt'' and the syndicated runs of ''Series/BeatTheClock'' (he also served as the announcer of Monty Hall's version) and ''{{Series/Concentration}}''.

* A close second might be Creator/AlexTrebek of ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'', ''HighRollers'', ''[[{{Series/Concentration}} Classic Concentration]]'', and ''Series/DoubleDare1976''.

* Creator/BruceForsyth, the British host who gives a new meaning to the term "Brucie Bonus". His most famous game shows are ''The Generation Game'', ''[[CardSharks Play Your Cards Right]]'', and ''Series/ThePriceIsRight''.