Dawson or Combs

[tpirsuperfan99]

I have enjoyed watching the reruns on Buzzr lately, and I love both Richard Dawson and Ray Combs on Family Feud, and these are my 2 favorite Feud hosts, but even though Dawson is great, I like Combs more because it seemed like he had a great time when he was there. My question is, do you feel the same, or different as I do, which host did you like more?

[Off_trak]

Dawson all the way. Combs was fine in the beginning, but I found he ended up a little too arrogant and cocky in the latter half of his tenure.

[geniusinmath]

I like them both but Combs is the one I grew up with.

[Chief-O]

I wouldn't mind Dawson, but I grew up on Combs.

[imhomerjay]

Combs for me. Never liked Dawson’s smarmy schtick.

[Alfonzo]

I grew up on both. While I appreciate Dawson far more than I used to Combs was my favorite because he just made me laugh out loud more and kept the game moving. To this day I think he would have made an excellent host of Price.

[CheckGameMeBob]

I was too young for both but from what I've seen on Youtube, I prefer Combs.  I found him to be more entertaining and I got more laughs watching him than Dawson.

Dawson was a great fit for Match Game, though.

[someguy23475]

Dawson all the way.

I though Combs was OK, but my dad absolutely hated him, saying even Louie Anderson was better. I had to do a double take on that one, as Louie was pathetic and did not care.

My dad died near the end of Karn’s run, so sadly I can’t ask him about O’Hurley or Harvey.

[DRPrice]

Prefer Dawson's laid-back style and interesting quirks.  Used to think Combs was really annoying, now he's tolerable, but too lightweight.

[wink87]

I'm too young to remember Dawson's early run as host, but upon seeing the reruns, I think he did a good job.

Combs was a different kind of host altogether, and I really enjoyed the way he joked around.

Also, Dawson seemed to have a lot of energy early in his run as host that kind of wore off as the years went by.

So with that, I will choose Combs as my favorite.

[Casey]

Tough choice as each was good (and bad) in their own ways. 

I remember the later years of Dawson's run from childhood (though I didn't remember the 400 point rule) but I really remember the Combs run. 

I enjoyed Dawson's sense of humor.  I also enjoyed Combs version - the joke questions in Fast Money and even his shtick with putting on ladies' shoes. 

But both runs struggled near the end.  The lollipop trees on Dawson's version were stupid, and half the time you couldn't understand what he was saying because he mumbled.  The Combs run changed when they gave him the handheld mic.  I never understood that change for one thing, but that seems to me to be when his hosting began to labor.  The earlier years are just easier to watch.  That may be around the same time the opposing families were encouraged to make "strike" sounds when the family was playing and I didn't care for that either.

If I had to pick, I'd pick Dawson.

[DRPrice]

Tough choice as each was good (and bad) in their own ways. 

I remember the later years of Dawson's run from childhood (though I didn't remember the 400 point rule) but I really remember the Combs run. 

I enjoyed Dawson's sense of humor.  I also enjoyed Combs version - the joke questions in Fast Money and even his shtick with putting on ladies' shoes. 

But both runs struggled near the end.  The lollipop trees on Dawson's version were stupid, and half the time you couldn't understand what he was saying because he mumbled.  The Combs run changed when they gave him the handheld mic.  I never understood that change for one thing, but that seems to me to be when his hosting began to labor.  The earlier years are just easier to watch.  That may be around the same time the opposing families were encouraged to make "strike" sounds when the family was playing and I didn't care for that either.

If I had to pick, I'd pick Dawson.

     I thought the lollipop trees were fun and the strike noises made by opposing families (and the audience) were funny.  I didn't think Ray's joke questions in Fast Money or his wearing of women's shoes was very enjoyable, though.

     I do agree with you on Dawson's mumbling (it was especially troublesome when he came back in '94) and Ray's forced hosting.

[Axl]

But both runs struggled near the end.  The lollipop trees on Dawson's version were stupid, and half the time you couldn't understand what he was saying because he mumbled.  The Combs run changed when they gave him the handheld mic.  I never understood that change for one thing, but that seems to me to be when his hosting began to labor.  The earlier years are just easier to watch.  That may be around the same time the opposing families were encouraged to make "strike" sounds when the family was playing and I didn't care for that either.

That's funny, I thought Combs seemed a lot more comfortable once he got the mic.  I assume that's the reason they switched in the first place... like a lot of standup comedians, he didn't quite know what to do with his hands without a mic.

Ray had some annoying little habits in the beginning.  The worst being when a team failed to steal the pot, and Ray would make a point reminding the captain when there was an answer left on the board that had been suggested by a family member.  "If you had listened to Susan, you'd have won the game!"

[William]

I prefer Dawson, but only in the years before 1980. As was pointed out in the recent thread about him, he had the tendency to get tired and bored after a while.

In his first couple of years of Feud, I think his witty and charming performance was amongst the best ever of all game show hosts. I particularly think he hit his peak in 1977 on the earliest nighttime episodes, and he rightfully won an Emmy that year. But after around 1980 or 1981, it was only downhill.

[Teddy]

While it's a close race, I pick Dawson; he was much more enjoyable on the Match Game panel, and as Peter Newkirk on Hogan's Heroes.

OTOH, Combs was enjoyable in his own right, with his energetic personality that made the show fun to watch during his six years as host. If Jonathan Goodson hadn't booted him out, he'd probably still be alive today, as that unceremonious event led to him taking his own life, IIRC.