Ray Combs

Why did Family Feud pick him to pick up where Richard Dawson left off? He was so dull. Short too.

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by Anonymousreply 64April 27, 2018 11:55 PM

And now he's all dead and everything.

by Anonymousreply 1April 26, 2018 2:00 AM

Exactly. The bitch is dead, so who gives a fuck?

by Anonymousreply 2April 26, 2018 2:04 AM

He hung himself. He had mental issues.

by Anonymousreply 3April 26, 2018 2:23 AM

Only on Data Lounge could a man 20 years dead be criticized for being too dull for Family Feud.

by Anonymousreply 4April 26, 2018 2:32 AM

They knew in the '90s, manhandling all the female contestants (like Richard Dawson did) wouldn't fly, so they went for the blandest replacement host imaginable.

Enter Roy Combs.

by Anonymousreply 5April 26, 2018 2:35 AM

He was a Mormon for pete's sake, how much more bland can you get? Yes r6, overall he was a nice man, too nice for the viper's nest that is Hollywood.

by Anonymousreply 7April 26, 2018 2:45 AM

Combs was cute, funny, and charming as fuck. I would take him a billion times over that ugly, Ebonics-speaking, mustachioed baboon who hosts now.

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by Anonymousreply 8April 26, 2018 2:58 AM

There was a E True Hollywood Story about Family Feud. The ratings with Dawson were down and the Dawson version was thought to have run its course by the mid 80s. They brought in Combs when the show was restarted in the late 80s but ratings by and large didn’t click with him. When they brought Dawson back to host it was the beginning of the end for Combs. He couldn’t find suitable work and ended up killing himself. Sad he had a wife and a few young kids.

by Anonymousreply 9April 26, 2018 3:04 AM

i watch his old family feud shows alot, but not dawson: he sounds like a old drunk dirty pee stained perv. yuk

combs is cute/funny/smart...

by Anonymousreply 10April 26, 2018 3:06 AM

[quote]Combs was cute, funny, and charming as fuck. I would take him a billion times over that ugly, Ebonics-speaking, mustachioed baboon who hosts now.

*bloop blop bleep*! Stupid wannabe Nazi 4chan /Reddit bot in Cheetos and Mountain Dew-stained underwear typing from parents' basement reporting for duty! *bleep bleep boop*

by Anonymousreply 11April 26, 2018 4:16 AM

Lol at the racist who prefers Roy fucking Combs.

by Anonymousreply 12April 26, 2018 4:27 AM

[quote] On June 1, 1996, police were called to Combs's home at 1318 Sonora Avenue in Glendale, California over reports of a disturbance. Combs had reportedly destroyed most of the inside of his home, and had also been banging his head against the walls. Shortly after police arrived, Combs's estranged wife Debbie arrived and informed them that Combs was suicidal, and had spent the previous week in the hospital for a suicide attempt. He was involuntarily admitted to the psychiatric ward of the Glendale Adventist Medical Center by the police, and placed on a 72-hour mental observation hold.[8] Early the next morning, he hanged himself in a closet via a noose made out of sheets.[2]

by Anonymousreply 13April 26, 2018 4:34 AM

It all went downhill when a gay themed answer popped up on the board, and he said something to the effect of, 'You know, I'm just a regular guy, and I never thought that in America, something like this would be accepted.'

Then he got canned, his next reboot of Family Feud themed show tanked, and whatever mental problems he had led to his suicide.

Everything you read about his suicide, which is tragic in and of itself [and I use that expression because I hate it], neglects to mention the comment he made re: the gays, which was a big catalyst.

by Anonymousreply 14April 26, 2018 9:41 AM

[quote] Only on Data Lounge could a man 20 years dead be criticized for being too dull for Family Feud.

This comment and this thread is why I come to Data Lounge.

by Anonymousreply 15April 26, 2018 9:57 AM

His house in Glendale was meh. LA experts, tell us about Glendale in the 1980s and 1990s vs. today.

by Anonymousreply 16April 26, 2018 10:48 AM

"100 people surveyed, top 5 anwers on the board."

"Name something you do when your television career goes in the toilet."

*ding*ding* - "Kill yourself!"

"Let's see 'kill yourself'!

*ding* - "Number one!"

by Anonymousreply 18April 26, 2018 4:02 PM

In looking for the homophobic comments R14 was talking about, I found this about Combs's son, a guy who... trains comedians, I guess?

[quote]“I know you all think you’re comics. Let’s see a show of hands, how many of you have made more than $500 in your lives from doing comedy?” No hands. “I know you all have your little notebooks and your same five minutes you do every night all over town.” This was Ray Combs Jr. welcoming us to the Saturday afternoon open mic known as the Woodshed. “I’m going to go after you,” he said. And he wasn’t bluffing.

[quote]Bespectacled comics got up on stage to do their routines only to have Ray tear them to shreds — call them ugly, unfunny, sad. He used shockingly racist and homophobic language, said what he’d like to do to the anatomy of two female performers, and ended the show by exposing his own.

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by Anonymousreply 19April 26, 2018 4:11 PM

According to the surprisingly salacious E! True Hollywood Story episode about Family Feud, the task of firing Combs fell to Jonathan Goodson, the new chairman of Goodson Television Productions following the death of his father. Combs was told his contract would not be renewed before he was done shooting episodes for the season. Like a pro, he finished them out. Not so professional, however, was how Combs handled himself on air during the taping of his last episode.

After a contestant in the final round got straight zeroes with his lackluster responses, Combs darkly quipped, "You know, I've done this show for six years and this could be the first time that I ever had a person who actually got no points, and I think it's a damn fine way to go out. Thought I was a loser until you walked up here, and you made me feel like a man." Combs waved goodbye to viewers and instead of hanging around chatting with players as the credits rolled, walked right off the set and out of the studio.

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by Anonymousreply 20April 26, 2018 4:14 PM

If Combs was fired for being homophobic it was apparently well before the final episode. Also, there was no second reboot of FF with Combs. I think R14 is confused.

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by Anonymousreply 21April 26, 2018 4:17 PM

Ray, to me, always seemed angry on the show as if he were pissed to be there, pissed to be so short, pissed to have to deal with the contestants. I remember one family with a clearly gay late teens son and Ray was downright hostile to the guy.

I never cared for him. I much preferred the drunken, nicotine-stained, pervy elan of Dickie Dawson who actually seemed to like the job and the simpletons on the how.

by Anonymousreply 22April 26, 2018 6:11 PM

OP is the reason he killed himself.

by Anonymousreply 23April 27, 2018 12:04 AM

Racist, Racist! Racist!!!!!!

I have yet to meet a black person who has one single nice thing to say about Steve Harvey R11.

But don't you crackers think that means that YOU can criticize him! Right Nene? Bloop?

by Anonymousreply 24April 27, 2018 12:14 AM

Those sweaters he wore though. OMG fucking ugly.

by Anonymousreply 25April 27, 2018 12:22 AM

R24 Best to just block these brain-dead fuckers. It is open season on every group on DL. If you don't know that GTFO.

by Anonymousreply 26April 27, 2018 1:47 AM

Who would have thought a Ray Combs thread would turn ugly?

by Anonymousreply 27April 27, 2018 1:50 AM

Steve Harvey is ugly in every room or mirror he is in. In fact, no one is uglier.

by Anonymousreply 28April 27, 2018 1:55 AM

Ray was actually my favorite FF host (although John O'Hurley was a close second). Teddy-bear cute, were there any shirtless Ray pics?

by Anonymousreply 29April 27, 2018 1:57 AM

[quote]Ray, to me, always seemed angry on the show as if he were pissed to be there, pissed to be so short, pissed to have to deal with the contestants.

Are you sure you’re not confusing him with Pat Sajak?

by Anonymousreply 30April 27, 2018 2:02 AM

I really loved Richard Dawson. He was extremely intelligent. Maybe a narcissist, maybe a lecher, maybe a jerk, but a very very smart man. And I don't know why - I probably shouldn't have - but I liked the way he talked to the families, kissed the women, acted like the gladhanded uncle who always entertains you at the family reunion.

Still.... Married to poor Diana Dors and sued her for custody of their two boys. I have a feeling she didn't deserve that and he was just vindictive. And he behaved like an ass on Match Game towards the end - I think it's when they stopped letting the contestants pick who they wanted to do final match with for the money - oh something like that. I got the feeling the cool kids up-top, Brett and Charles Nelson, didn't like him.

And still.... I liked him. For that matter, I liked Ray Combs but he was a bit dumb - and I didn't watch as often so I didn't know about the homophobia. Asshole. He had a lot of rage inside. He could be pretty good with quick jibes (I think) but he was a pale imitation of the Dick I loved. Nobody else has held my interest - Steve Harvey or whoever it is, though I like the SNL version.

by Anonymousreply 31April 27, 2018 2:05 AM

Wikipedia ends his entry with this paragraph:

Combs was deeply in debt at the time of his death; only after his suicide did his widow, Debbie, learn of his desperate financial difficulties. At the height of his career, he earned close to $1 million per year, but reportedly had trouble managing his money. In addition to his two failed comedy clubs in Hamilton, Combs owed $100,000 in back taxes, $150,000 in loans and credit cards, and had a $470,000 mortgage. The bank foreclosed on the family's Glendale home, and Debbie was forced to sell off some of her husband's autographed photos and celebrity caricatures. A benefit held at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood netted $10,000 for the family. Johnny Carson, who had given Combs his first break in show business, sent Debbie a check for $25,000, writing to her: "I hope this will ease the burden".[11]

Very nice of Carson.

by Anonymousreply 32April 27, 2018 2:05 AM

You can tell R30 has sucked a lot of dicks. She is just so funny and impressed with herself.

by Anonymousreply 34April 27, 2018 2:07 AM

Hanging oneself in a closet is very telling.

I remember my sister always saying how much he creeped her out. She said "he always asks the female contestants if he can wear their shoes". Apparently, he was always prancing around the stage in contestant's high heeled shoes?

by Anonymousreply 35April 27, 2018 2:26 AM

I actually really liked Combs but after reading this thread, he really had a dark side; didn't know about the homophobia.

by Anonymousreply 36April 27, 2018 2:38 AM

Ray’s crowning achievement.

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by Anonymousreply 37April 27, 2018 2:46 AM

Didn't the fat guy from Home Improvement also do Family Feud?

by Anonymousreply 38April 27, 2018 2:52 AM

Richard Karn? I believe he did.

by Anonymousreply 39April 27, 2018 3:10 AM

That's him. Jack Radcliffe wannabe.

by Anonymousreply 40April 27, 2018 3:12 AM

The slovenly Louis Anderson had the gig for three years. I can't think of anyone who was less suited to be a game show host. It was kind of bizarre. It's like he needed an oxygen tank just to get through the fast money round.

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by Anonymousreply 41April 27, 2018 3:13 AM

Why are we forgetting Louie Anderson? Actually how would you rank all the hosts? We need a poll.

by Anonymousreply 42April 27, 2018 3:13 AM

You guys are right, I forgot about Louie Anderson. And it was bizarre. For some reason it had me at the end of my seat.

by Anonymousreply 43April 27, 2018 3:19 AM

I despise John O'Hurley.

My ranking: 1 Dawson; 2 Anderson; 3 Combs; 4 Harvey; 5 Richard Karn though I never saw him; 5 Shithead O'Hurley.

by Anonymousreply 44April 27, 2018 3:19 AM

MADtv used to skewer Anderson pretty well.

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by Anonymousreply 45April 27, 2018 3:24 AM

My ranking: 1) Combs 2) O'Hurley 3) Dawson 4) Harvey 5) Karn and 6) the horrible Anderson.

by Anonymousreply 46April 27, 2018 3:25 AM

Why did Dawson always kiss female contestants on the mouth? Creepy.

by Anonymousreply 49April 27, 2018 3:52 AM

So the homophobia kind of reveals a self-loather, no? My feeling about Combs has always been a closet case.

by Anonymousreply 50April 27, 2018 6:55 AM

Ray I think really WAS angry at being forced to finish the season knowing he was already fired. That was an asshole thing to do to him.

by Anonymousreply 51April 27, 2018 7:01 AM

R51 You mean psychotically angry, like the revolting cunts here on DL or normal person angry?

by Anonymousreply 52April 27, 2018 7:09 AM

R32 I still don't know what to think of Carson after all these years. He could be such a cold bastard, and then you hear stories like that (and that's not the first one ).

What sayeth Datalounge?

Speaking of late night hosts, I really loved Dawson for the most part, but I've watched a ton of repeats and he constantly used David Letterman as the punchline in some pretty lame jokes (I love Letterman ). Wtf was that about?

by Anonymousreply 53April 27, 2018 8:06 AM

I loved Richard Dawson. He's really the only one I can watch. I loved him as a kid and I still watch it on one of the old game show networks.

by Anonymousreply 54April 27, 2018 1:21 PM

r53, never heard of a Dawson-Letterman connection. What kind of jokes would he say about Letterman? That must have been before Letterman became a household name, no?

by Anonymousreply 55April 27, 2018 4:02 PM

Letterman briefly hosted a game show that flopped.

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by Anonymousreply 56April 27, 2018 4:15 PM

They knew he was a time bomb and were hoping he'd pull the trigger on air and that would lead to a massive increase in ratings.

by Anonymousreply 57April 27, 2018 4:18 PM

Dawson was also a guest host for Johnny Carson and was considered to be a contender as Johnny's eventual replacement, so Dawson may have been upset when failed game show host Letterman turned into successful night show host Letterman.

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by Anonymousreply 58April 27, 2018 4:19 PM

R53 here, it was in the very early 80s, when Letterman had his show pre-late nite that lasted about a year. So no reason to be jealous just yet. But he was never a punchline either (he was always very funny) so the jokes always fall flat. Maybe because the show was kind of a flop? Idk.

by Anonymousreply 59April 27, 2018 4:37 PM

I'm not old enough to really remember, but maybe Letterman's game show flop in 1977 and the talk show flop of 1980 made him a joke? I have a vague memory of people assuming his late night show would crash and burn.

In trying to find a connection between Dawson and Letterman, I discovered Combs and Letterman had been friends. They both started out in Indianapolis.

by Anonymousreply 60April 27, 2018 4:55 PM

[quote]They knew he was a time bomb and were hoping he'd pull the trigger on air and that would lead to a massive increase in ratings.

You do realize that these shows are taped in advance, don't you?

by Anonymousreply 61April 27, 2018 10:51 PM

Ray was hot as fuck. I don't know how many times I masturbated to him on Family Feud.

by Anonymousreply 62April 27, 2018 11:00 PM

He was also in Overboard playing a sexy cop.

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by Anonymousreply 63April 27, 2018 11:02 PM

[quote]He was also in Overboard playing a sexy cop.

I guess he wasn't available for the remake.

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by Anonymousreply 64April 27, 2018 11:55 PM

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