Johnny Olson Announces for MG-HS Hour

When Gene Wood was not available to announce, Johnny Olson takes over his duties, here are the samples of him of what he does best.

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[DesiluTrek]

makes me wonder which day of the week this ep was taped for. johnny sounds a little slurred, as if it were an "after-dinner" taping ;-) still great reads, of course, just not typical johnny o great.

[mrmatchgame]

I agree, he just didn't have his heart in it.

[Nick Wells]

Do you have some samples of rich Jeffries announcing this show? I mention this because he also subbed for Gene Wood.

[mrmatchgame]

No I don't

[ClassicTVLover]

The show was underrated!. This would have sparkled if Peter Marshall hosted the HS segment. The theme is my all time fav, too. The set what pretty advanced for mid 80's considering technology for the time. Gene Wood, Johnny O, all great announcers and there are none currently who have honed their craft to their perfection. FYI: Notice the camera work in the star entrances - very well done tracking "moving targets" - you rarely see shots like that one shows today! Thanks for posting this clip.

[DesiluTrek]

Haha, love hearing during the closing that classic cheesy NBC "whistling" audience sweetener. They seemed to use that on every game show during that period!

[Tina Marie]

AMEN to that!!! : )

[Matthew Kaiser]

I think Johnny was "slowing down" a bit in the last year of his life. Here he is, a guy in his mid 70s, and he's running around the audience getting them excited during warmups. It was not at all lack of enthusiasm, it was just being tired.

[JeopardyandWheelFan]

Of course, Johnny wasn't the only sub for Gene. Rich Jeffries and Bob Hilton also filled in for Gene on occasion.

[DarthTaz]

I'd have to say the best thing that came out of the MG/HQ Hour was the theme for Johnny O, Rod Roddy, Rich Fields and George Grey can say "Not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 BRAND NEW CARS!"

[Callie Ray.]

Well, Match Game was a part of Goodson before they got absorbed into Freemantle Media and Hollywood Squares, at the time, was a part of Filmways before they reorganized into Orion Television, now part of MGM.

[leftycanuck1970]

I would love to see the entire episode.

[T-Bone Hubbard]

Well just so ya know, when Erin Moran aka Joanie Cunningham appeared on the show, Happy Days was in its 11th and FINAL Season on abc Primetime

I think that the contestant should've picked Erin since she had the BIG 30

[Dan Barker]

Was this from 1983 or 1984?

[smpage09]

I think this was a great show, and not a too far fetched idea. A Rayburn/Marshall pairing would've been more ideal. Bauman is not as horrible as a lot of people made him out to be, clearly they lacked chemistry, but I think Bauman did a fair job as a match game panelist (not as the host of HS). Also, even though its an hour long show, the HS portion seemed so rush. Loved the set, but it looked just too expansive especially during the MG segment. Its like they were in outer space or something.

[Tina Marie]

Johnny O will always be my favorite announcer, probably till the end of my days.