# Who has hosted the greatest number of different game shows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2018, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663 "2018-02-12T02:12:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/1 "2018-02-12T02:12:22Z")
I know that Alex Trebek has hosted the greatest number of game show episodes, but who has hosted the greatest number of different game shows? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/2 "2018-02-12T02:13:12Z")
Off the top of my head–Bill Cullen. I shall now go do some research. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/3 "2018-02-12T03:00:38Z")
Here’s the [Wikipedia entry for Mr. Cullen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cullen); you be the judge. This may be a rarity: I would watch game shows just for BC. There was something about his persona that pulled me right in. On the flip side, I quit watching “Jeopardy” a long time ago because I can’t stand Trebek. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/4 "2018-02-12T17:46:24Z")
Cullen is probably the winner, but [Wink Martindale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wink_Martindale) would be near the top. [Chuck Woolery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Woolery) would be up there too. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/5 "2018-02-12T17:56:18Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Cullen is probably the winner, but [Wink Martindale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wink_Martindale) would be near the top. [Chuck Woolery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Woolery) would be up there too. [Rocker Chuck Woolery](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy8gkv3e0fM) did game shows, too? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/6 "2018-02-12T18:36:35Z")
Even before Bill Cullen, there was [Dennis James](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0416424/). Of course it gets fuzzy in the early years, because sometimes the titles of host/master of ceremonies/announcer were thrown around interchangeably. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/7 "2018-02-12T19:17:47Z")
[According to Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_show_hosts), Wink Martindale has at least 14 (and maybe more if one differentiates between slightly altered titles of the same show). I watched a lot of \*Tic Tac Dough \*back in the day. Bill Cullen has at least 13, and Tom Kennedy has at least 10. Cullen really did have a great demeanor – I liked his shows. Trebek has 11 to his credit, although his first was a high school quiz show in Canada. There are several hosts from the United Kingdom who appear to have upwards of 20 shows (I’m not very familiar with them). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/8 "2018-02-12T21:48:16Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > Trebek has 11 to his credit, although his first was a high school quiz show in Canada. Hey, don’t be dissing _Reach for the Top_. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/9 "2018-02-12T23:34:24Z")
Another fan of Mr. Cullen here. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/10 "2018-02-13T00:45:14Z")
My first thought was Wink Martindale, too. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/11 "2018-02-13T01:34:06Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > Bill Cullen has at least 13, . Wikipedia lists at least 18 for Cullen, and looking at IMDB he may have had up to 23. (He may have guest hosted more for a number of episodes.) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/12 "2018-02-13T01:37:00Z")
didn’t pete tomarken h of press your luck fame have several himself ? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/13 "2018-02-13T02:10:23Z")
Going by the lists in [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_show_hosts) Wikipedia entry, Mike Bongiorno (italy) has hosted the most with 19. Davina McCall and Graham Norton both tie for the most in the UK with 15 each (and 14 each for shows which have their own Wikipedia pages) and Wink Martindale has the most in the US at 14. If that entry is updated with the info from Bill Cullen’s Wikipedia entry mentioned by Colibri, Cullen will have the most in the US at 18, or 16, if fill-in host doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/14 "2018-02-13T04:18:51Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Wikipedia lists at least 18 for Cullen, and looking at IMDB he may have had up to 23. (He may have guest hosted more for a number of episodes.) Wow. I hadn’t read Bill Cullen’s individual Wikipedia listing. For the many, many hours that I saw him on television in the 1970s and '80s, I sure didn’t know that he had some aimbulatory difficulties. The Mel Brooks story is pretty funny, and I’m glad Cullen took it that way. Wink Martindale was always an affable, Everyman host – but Cullen was a steady guide who seemed happy to let the players and celebrities be themselves. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/15 "2018-02-14T00:21:20Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > Wow. I hadn’t read Bill Cullen’s individual Wikipedia listing. For the many, many hours that I saw him on television in the 1970s and '80s, I sure didn’t know that he had some aimbulatory difficulties. The Mel Brooks story is pretty funny, and I’m glad Cullen took it that way. > > Wink Martindale was always an affable, Everyman host – but Cullen was a steady guide who seemed happy to let the players and celebrities be themselves. Well stated, **GU**. For a man with physical infirmities, he was…EVERYWHERE! The fact that TV producers at the time would make such accommodations for him just leaves me speechless; it also speaks heavily to his talent as a host/panel member. I can’t imagine him being any better if he’d dodged the polio affliction. Probably the reverse. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-hosted-the-greatest-number-of-different-game-shows/808663/16 "2018-02-14T01:21:29Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > didn’t pete tomarken h of press your luck fame have several himself ? He lost them all when the last one turned out to be a whammy.