Does Anyone Still Miss Rich?

[rodroddyfan]

Me and another member always think that Mike does tell george in his earpiece to be over the top, just to provide comedy. it is just sad that this day in age, it seems that MR seems to care more about the comedy aspect versus actual gameplay.  That is just my opinion.

[CheckGameMeBob]

Yes, I still miss Rich.  I felt his voice was much better suited for the show and had a more fun feel to it than George.  Yes, he did go a little overboard sometimes, but it was in no way a deal-breaker for me.

I've tried warming up to George for a long time, but I just can't do it.  He's a square peg in a round hole sitting in that announcer's chair, and I'm not a fan of his voice either. 

I think that Rich got hosed by Mike (especially with those drewcases,) and that's a damn shame. 

[therealcu2010]

Do I miss Rich? Not in the slightest. Aside from a couple of seasons in which he was actually competent and serviceable, he was pretty awful for the most part.

Not that George is any better!

[Casey]

Me and another member always think that Mike does tell george in his earpiece to be over the top, just to provide comedy. it is just sad that this day in age, it seems that MR seems to care more about the comedy aspect versus actual gameplay.  That is just my opinion.

So your opinion has no basis in fact - just what you and someone else think happens, and then you form a conclusion based upon nothing on what you think Mike's motivation is.  It's an interesting way to reach a conclusion. 

I must watch a very different version of TPIR from the rest of you apparently, because aside from a few quips that George makes when throwing to a prize description because Drew isn't particular adept at that, I don't see him doing a whole lot different than other announcers have done. 

[RedWing512]

So your opinion has no basis in fact - just what you and someone else think happens, and then you form a conclusion based upon nothing on what you think Mike's motivation is.  It's an interesting way to reach a conclusion. 

I must watch a very different version of TPIR from the rest of you apparently, because aside from a few quips that George makes when throwing to a prize description because Drew isn't particular adept at that, I don't see him doing a whole lot different than other announcers have done.

Agreed--George sounds just fine to me. Granted, he's no Johnny Olsen or Rod Roddy. But he does his job fine.

And as an addendum, I've gone back on YouTube and watched some old episodes with Rich, and my God, he was terrible. He never had the voice for an announcer, had issues with enunciation, and was terribly over-enthusiastic. And this is coming from someone who was horribly disappointed when he was let go.

Makes me wonder if some of the sentimentality with Rich stems from him being part of the old guard.

[Prizes]

Agreed--George sounds just fine to me. Granted, he's no Johnny Olsen or Rod Roddy. But he does his job fine.

And as an addendum, I've gone back on YouTube and watched some old episodes with Rich, and my God, he was terrible. He never had the voice for an announcer, had issues with enunciation, and was terribly over-enthusiastic. And this is coming from someone who was horribly disappointed when he was let go.

Makes me wonder if some of the sentimentality with Rich stems from him being part of the old guard.

I really hate saying something along the lines of a simple 'I agree!' but this post shares my thoughts REALLY darn well. It's to the point where I genuinely prefer George to a material degree of an average sample of Rich's work and have done so for some time. If I'm watching an old show where Rich is announcing with some of the folks on here, then the first thing we do is to see just how out of control he screams "HERE IT COMES!" because of just how cringeworthy his call of that line got, far too often.

Although, I guess we slightly differ in our reaction to Rich's firing. My thoughts were back then a case of curiosity, rather than being disappointed since I saw him as pretty replacable given his degree of skill in his position.

The old guard is something interesting, honestly, became a fan back then, can still enjoy the old show just to see times gone by for a fascinating compare/contrast, but I really enjoy the current direction and the way it's been done these days too. Perhaps this explains our opinion on George on our ends for a similar, yet different (perhaps opposite?) reason?

[therealcu2010]

Me and another member always think that Mike does tell george in his earpiece to be over the top, just to provide comedy. it is just sad that this day in age, it seems that MR seems to care more about the comedy aspect versus actual gameplay.  That is just my opinion.

So your opinion has no basis in fact - just what you and someone else think happens, and then you form a conclusion based upon nothing on what you think Mike's motivation is.  It's an interesting way to reach a conclusion. 

Based solely on my observations while watching the show since Rich was terminated, it did seem for a while that they were going out of their way to try to force more comedy into the show. They seemed to realize pretty quickly that it wasn't working, and that they'd be far better off just letting it happen as opposed to try to force it, especially since most of their attempts to force it just came off as cringe-worthy.

For what it's worth, I think George does a far better job calling contestants down than Rich ever did!

Also:

I deeply wish for Randy West to come back, as he is probably the closest we are going to get to a Johnny Olsen or Rod Roddy.

FTFY

[Nick]

Rich... never had the voice for an announcer, had issues with enunciation, and was terribly over-enthusiastic. And this is coming from someone who was horribly disappointed when he was let go.

Fair comment, but to give Rich some credit, he is a trained broadcaster, which George is not.  I say the following as one who worked for about a decade in small-market radio: There's a proper way to read copy.  Rich could read copy in a fairly competent manner.  He unfortunately allowed too much enthusiasm to slip in much of the time.  George cannot read copy.  He follows a very "stereotypical game show announcer" pattern and spins all kinds of emphasis on unimportant words and phrases (Granted, he reads a lot of badly-written generic copy handed down from the higher-ups, but a good announcer can keep you from focusing on how badly bad copy is written).

Makes me wonder if some of the sentimentality with Rich stems from him being part of the old guard.

I'd say that's part of it, and part of it that, while he never posted here, he was a proclaimed fan of this site.  He also showed, in his early days with a show, quite a bit of respect for those who preceded him.  Of course, given how things turned, it makes one wonder how legitimate his respect was; or if there was still too much child in fulfilling a "childhood dream."