When TV "booth announcers" got wimpy.

I think I remember it happening as cable TV began to become popular, and I think it may have been The Disney Channel that started it.

Back in the early days of TV, from the '50s through the '70s, when you heard an announcer say: "This is CBS", or "...tomorrow on ABC", you could always count on a voice with (as they say in the trade, and forgive the crudeness), balls. Heavy, with gravitas, even pompous. Guys like Bill Baldwin, Dick Tufeld, Bart La Rue. Big booming voices.

They were all over commercials and promos too.

Then came The Disney Channel, and when I first heard their announcer I was appalled . The guy sounded really "wimpy." High-pitched, young-sounding, like a kindergarten teacher talking to his class. It probably made sense for the demographics of the channel.

BUT - the trend spread. I just heard an announcer for the Hallmark Channel who sounded exactly like that, and I hear that wimpy tone just about everywhere.

I miss the big-voiced guys of the past.

Harry

 

I miss this as well. I love watching films from the 1950s and 1960s because of the way people talked. Strangely enough, I like the booming voice of the man on time service(sounds like HAL from 2001 A Space Odyssey). The big, booming voice has disappeared from radio and television. Carson Daly and Ryan Seacrest are the norm these days.. I have a high-pitched, young voice though :/

 

The guy who does Dave Letterman's prime-time promos used to sound absolutely fey, before somebody apparently forced him to take some testosterone. He sounded like somebody's idea of a non-threatening corporate shill, until they put some eyebrows on him. I still can't listen to more than a second of his 5-second promo reads, though.

Oh by the way...anybody recognize the promo/sweeper voice on Ariel Stream?




Now playing on http://www.arielstream.com/]Ariel Stream[/URL]: Miriam Stockley - Perfect Day

 

My idea of a real TV announcer is Ernie Anderson ("The Voice of ABC" in the 1970s and 1980s):



Ernie was the greatest. He could be a nightmare in the studio to deal with (sometimes), but he absolutely had god-given talent as a voice-over artist.

 

On some movie trailers and such, there's always the narrators who overcompensate in the macho image department with one of the two voices a lady I knew called "yuppie gravel" or "action flick tough guy."

 

Because broadcasting has to be inclusive and not exclusive a whole range of unsuitable vox are now used in order not to threaten listeners
Once there was an elite of fab accents and delivery,all disposed of,and replaced with feeble,everyday voices.
Now we endure some painful regional and overproduced female tones all for the sake of equality not quality
Nothing in tele is live any more,voices pre recorded and spun in from some server,its all machines.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0soAxikCPy8



Oooh! like the new reply box

 

Everything is so generic now and there is nothing to get excited about on TV, there are no breaks anymore to even show bumpers one thing runs into another. I miss Bumpers like the one here.


I watch that and no mater what mood I'm in, it instantly changes to "To f**K yeah, time for some mother f****G Raiders of the Lost Ark."

 

That is exciting! Time to get the popcorn ready!

 

Who was (maybe still is) the VoiceOver guy with the deep raspy voice. A few years ago he was quite popular. I remember seeing him on Dateline and was really shocked how arrogant he seemed. Maybe it was just that interview. He was really full of himself


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

The Sam Elliotts of this world are an endangered species.

 

Voice over guys I'd like to see-
James Earl Jones
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Christopher Walken
Al Pacino

 

One of the "last" Don Pardo age 94

 

Oh, you mean the late, great Don LaFontaine. Incredible announcer. "In a world..." "ONE man..."



5000 trailers!

 

I never got to work with Don LaFontaine, but I did get to record Hal Douglas quite a few times, and he's just as memorable:

 

Don't think it was him, he has a more classic voice.

 

The guy on Bravo's promos is the worst. I grab the remote every time I hear him yelling in that echo chamber.

 

Ernie Anderson was originally from Cleveland and he was a GOD in my world of voiceovers! The late Don LaFontaine was also one of the all-time greats. I personally was never a fan of Gary Owens style, as it seemed a bit "over the top", but perfect for the campy "Laugh-In".

I'm 100% serious here, but I have worked locally in radio for the past 30 plus years and I can do a fairly mean Ernie Anderson voiceover myself, along with sounding like myself (no Ernie or Don, mind you, but worthy of having a microphone shoved in front of my mouth with a fresh piece of copy) and I would L-O-V-E the chance to do it for a network or some other similar situation. Vidiot is in the business, as are many other members here and I'm being very honest in asking that if any of you have ANY connections, that you could possibly (and privately), help me open some doors with, I'd be very grateful?

 

My life-long pipe dream was to be the guy who said, "This is...CBS"

 

Is that Marc Elliot? I got to engineer him at a live remote during one of my radio stations' jock reunion weekends. It was an honor.




Now playing on http://www.arielstream.com/]Ariel Stream[/URL]: Howard Jones - Look At You Now

 

My two best early on air guys were Ed Williams, host of the "Maiden Voyage" Jazz program (WLIB) and former CBS Booth Announcer, Tom Hair. Both of whom I worked with back in the day.

 

In the early 1960s, Ernie hosted a TV show in Cleveland called "Shock Theater". Ghoulardi was his stage name on that show. He was one of the most famous people in Northeastern Ohio among a certain age group (namely, us teenagers). God bless him. He was one of the funniest and most talented individuals ever to grace a television show.

 

I remember Tom Jones' show"Ladies and Gentlemen...........This is.....................TOM JONES!!!!!!!!"
That guy had a voice.

 

Listening to those in-famous out takes of an Ernie Anderson ABC TV vocal session,
I got to agree with what someone said, after he left the studio, "There goes one angry man".

Great talent, none the less.

 

Seriously - go seek out In A World..., starring/written/directed by Lake Bell. Movie about movie voiceover people. She's probably gonna be the next Sarah Polly.




Now playing on Ariel Stream: Afro Celt Sound System - Amber