Jimmy Carter is the Gene Rayburn of presidents.
Who is Gene Rayburn ?
It’s true! It’s a little known fact that Gene Rayburn also signed the SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty.
The proto-Alex Trebek
Then he went on to The Match Game
See the video of Al Yankovic’s “I Lost on Jeopardy”. Or “Airplane II”
[smacks head hard]
Sorry – Art Fleming was the proto-Trebek.
But Gene was the Match Game host, both in the 1960s, and after the show got re-incarnated in bawdier form in the 1970s.
Huron is the Gene Rayburn of Great Lakes.
This thread is the Gene Rayburn of the Straight Dope Message Board.
ETA: I have no fucking idea what this thread is supposed to be about or why anyone or anything would be called “the Gene Rayburn of” anything else; it seems completely arbitrary and senseless, hence my entry.
Given that, does the OP still stand?
It just lets me know that Art Flemming is the Gene Rayburn of proto-Trebeks.
What’s wrong with Gene Rayburn? Second only to Bill Cullen as the hardest working man on TV (even though he’s dead).
Absolutely nothing. What makes you think something’s wrong with him?
Gene Rayburn is the Gene Rayburn of hard working men.
It’s possible I mis-interpreted the OP: Jimmy Carter always gets crap for being a lackluster President. But Gene Rayburn always kicked ass.
That’s the beauty of Rayburn. He’s like a [blank] that you can interpret however you see fit.
His long, skinny mic. His witty banter. His horse teeth. His work ethic. His ability to wrangle drunk 70s-era celebrities while hosting a game show. His lean, lithe legs. His notoriously filthy mind. His heartbreaking absence from the Game Show Host Hall of Fame. His congestive heart failure. His 56-year marriage. His Croatian roots.
And with that: Neptune is the Gene Rayburn of the gas giants.
Dr. Leonard McCoy is the Gene Rayburn of the Enterprise crew.
Now you’re talkin’.
Hadji is the Gene Rayburn of Jonny Quest.
(I’m exhausted, time for lunch)
Gene Rayburn was also the host of several radio shows, the announcer on Steve Allen’s original Tonight Show and replaced Dick Van Dyke in the original Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie.
Meaning that Gene Rayburn was the Gene Rayburn of versatility.
NowJack Lesoulie, he was the Gene Rayburn of sidekicks.
Gene designed that skinny microphone himself, apparently.
Martian Manhunter is the Gene Rayburn of the Justice League, and Dream Girl is the GR of the Legion.
Stephen Harper is the Gene Rayburn of the G8.
Hal Briston is the Gene Rayburn of the Dope.
The letter “K” is the the Gene Rayburn of the alphabet.
That Gene Rayburn… can’t even remember the punchlines to his own jokes.
Gene Rayburn is the Gene Rayburn of Gene Rayburn.
That’s all I’ve got.
No, wait, one more: Skinny microphones are the Gene Rayburn of microphones.
That sucks, too. Let’s face it, this thread is awful.