Game shows have been around almost as long as TV itself.
There are all kinds of styles and formats, but for all the variety of potential games,
there is one tried and true constant: the host.
The game show host is usually friendly, upbeat and excels at innocuous banter while explaining
the rules and bringing the contestants along for the ride.
However, it's worth remembering that the host you see on TV is just a persona.
In real life, some of these hosts are as awesome as they are on TV, but others, like the following,
are just awful.
Bob Barker
The unofficial king of daytime game shows, Bob Barker hosted The Price is Right from
1972 to 2007.
And while he's long been associated with the high energy and good times of that show, there
was more going on behind the scenes than most of us realized.
The Price Is Right has a history of using models known as "Barker's Beauties" to showcase
the fabulous prizes.
But in 1994, one of those models, Dian Parkinson, filed a lawsuit against Barker alleging sexual
harassment.
That suit was dropped later when Parkinson said it was taking a toll on her health.
However, this suit was followed by more from model Holly Hallstrom and others.
Barker admitted to having a relationship with Parkinson but claimed it was consensual.
Hallstrom's suit was settled and, though Barker called it frivolous, a court agreed she had
been unfairly fired for gaining weight and for refusing to spread lies about Parkinson
in the media.
The details of the settlement weren't made public, but it's safe to assume the price
was right.
Pat Sajak
Wheel of Fortune has been on TV since 1975, with Pat Sajak hosting since 1981.
While his onscreen chemistry with both Vanna White and the contestants is mostly innocuous
stuff, off screen things have gotten a little contentious.
On Twitter, he has loudly and aggressively espoused his disbelief in the science behind
climate change.
In a since-deleted post from May 2014, he wrote,
"I now believe global warming alarmists are unpatriotic racists knowingly misleading for
their own ends."
How racism factored into this is anyone's guess.
Sajak later tried to backtrack his comment saying it was just meant as a joke, the "racist"
part tossed in to highlight the name-calling directed at those who don't believe in science.
Either way, he's been denying climate change for quite some time.
Chuck Woolery
Back in the '70s and '80s, Chuck Woolery was the quintessential game show host.
From a stint as the original host of Wheel of Fortune to his runs on Love Connection
and Scrabble, he really came across as a good and reliable guy.
Fast-forward to the age of social media, and Woolery began sharing his political opinions
online.
While there's nothing wrong with that, some feel he took things too far with some of his
more outlandish and aggressive views, such as his belief that minorities don't need "civil
rights."
Furthermore, he believes everyone gets discriminated against, citing his own experiences with ageism,
so what's the big deal?
On Twitter, Woolery's comments have garnered him accusations of anti-Semitism and prejudice
against Islam as well, while he has also claimed ignorance of past racism in politics.
Richard Dawson
Few game show hosts are as memorable as Family Feud's Richard Dawson.
He would occasionally make fun of contestants, which is still a staple on the Feud over 40
years later.
He also had a penchant for locking lips with almost every single woman who appeared on
the show, which likely wouldn't fly these days.
But despite all that, he was charming and funny and seemed like a likeable enough guy.
But that was on camera.
Behind the scenes, rumors of Dawson's behavior were a little less than complimentary.
The book Television Game Show Hosts details how Dawson's ego began to grow as the show
blew up.
He would clash with producers over whether contestant answers qualified, and he'd tell
long stories that ate up screen time and jokes that needed to be edited out.
He'd get angry when light bulbs were burned out.
At one point he even forbade a show producer from coming on set and hired his own daughter-in-law
to fill the role.
In a number of ways, he became the parody of a game show host he ended up playing in
the movie The Running Man.
Steve Harvey
As charming and fun as Steve Harvey can be on camera as the host of Family Feud, he's
no stranger to controversy behind the scenes.
A staff email Harvey sent to the crew of his daytime talk show was leaked to the press,
and it demonstrated the level of control Harvey expects to have over his employees.
Variety reprinted the message, and it includes instructions like,
"My security team will stop everyone from standing at my door who have the intent to
see me or speak to me."
Harvey has also joked on his show about how women would never want to date Asian men.
Other highlights of his least respectable views range from blatant sexism to homophobia
to his belief that atheists have no morality.
Survey says: Steve Harvey isn't as nice as he plays on TV.
"You know, if a guy is after one thing, it's better to go for shallow, unintelligent women."
Ben Stein
Most people know Ben Stein from one of two places: Ferris Bueller's Day Off or as the
host of Win Ben Stein's Money.
But he has actually been in law and politics for years, including stints as a speechwriter
for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
That said, he is also known for having some pretty questionable ideas.
Stein made a documentary called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed that was critical
of evolution.
It goes so far as to portray anyone who supports evolution as un-American, and it also links
evolution to eugenics and the Nazi party.
The Anti-Defamation League actually released a statement denouncing the film for its misappropriation
of the Holocaust.
Stein also once wrote a defense of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a French politician who has
been accused of numerous sexual assaults.
Stein's defense rested on the idea that Strauss-Kahn was either too important to sexually assault
someone, or that it's just not a thing people like him do.
Yes, if we've learned anything in our modern era, it's that rich, powerful men never use
that power to harass women.