It's rare that HSGN will do two consecutive game show posts since the focus is also on sports. But on Thursday, two game show host have the same birthday. They are Monty Hall and Regis Philbin.
If you plan to celebrate their birthdays, you better look for a cake that can hold 180 candles. Hall is now 95 and Philbin turned 85. Here's a look back at their hosting careers.
First up is Hall, best known for one of TV's classic game shows Let's Make a Deal. But before he started making deals in 1963, he came to New York from Canada and began his hosting career filling in for Warren Hull on the original Strike it Rich and for Jack Barry on the scandal tainted game Twenty One. He also had a one season stint as the analyst on New York Rangers radio broadcasts alongside the late Jim Gordon. He did only home games until he hit pay dirt in 1960 when he replaced Jack Narz on the first game show produced by Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley Video Village. The show was a larger than life board game that was originally produced in New York until CBS moved the show to California and Hall has stayed there ever since.
After CBS cancelled Video Village in 1962 (it would be the last morning game show CBS would air for 10 years), Hall had his biggest success when he co-created and hosted Let's Make a Deal that debuted on December 30, 1963. The show would be a big hit and would run on NBC until 1968, then moved to ABC after contract negotiations broke down with NBC. It became a bigger success on ABC, leading into The Newlywed Game and also had a couple of prime time runs that also delivered outstanding ratings. The show ran until July 1976 but Hall would also host three revivals, the last aired in 1990 when he replaced Bob Hilton who was fired due to low ratings. He also serves as a consultant on the current version that's hosted by Wayne Brady.
Hall, along with his partner Stefan Hatos, also produced another hit Split Second, hosted by Tom Kennedy. The fast paced game show where Kennedy told contestants to "look at the board" ran for three years on ABC. Hall hosted a short-lived revival in the 1986-87 season.
As for Philbin, he began his hosting career with one of the worst game shows to air in 1975, The Neighbors. The show featured five femal neighbors who answered questions about how they knew each other. It was not interesting at all and it perished from ABC after 13 weeks. Philbin went on to another unsuccessful show, Almost Anything Goes, serving as a sideline reporter. Based on the British show It's a Knockout, it wasn't a knockout in the ratings.
Philbin became an icon when he became the host of a game show that was popular in Great Britain but made it's debut in the USA in 1999. The show was Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It was ABC's first prime time game show since Let's Make a Deal, The Newlywed Game and The Reel Game left the network in 1971. The show became a big summer hit and returned to prime time the following season. The network version ran until 2002 then entered syndication hosted by Meredith Vieira, Cedric the Entertainer, Terry Crews and currently Chris Harrison.
But it was Philbin who made the prime time show a hit with his pleasant personalty and his sense of humor that put the hot seat contestant at ease that also earned him a Daytime Emmy Award in 2001. He also made famous one of the most famous catch phrases in game show history "Is that your final answer?'
So Happy Birthday to Hall and Philbin. And that's our final answer.
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