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Top 10 TV Entertainers of All Time
02/01/05 | Rightliner.com

Posted on 02/01/2005 7:05:59 AM PST by Rightliner.com

Top 10 TV Entertainers of all Time


In light of Johnny's recent passing, I started thinking of how big an entertainer he truly was. There have been few TV people that even approach his league of "big time", however I have managed to compile what I think are the greatest 10 TV Entertainers of all time. Keep in mind this is not a list of MY favorite entertainers of all time, but an objective view.

This is no mathematical formula, but I did consider their lasting value, longevity on the air (including re-runs), and just a general feeling for them.

Without furhter "adue" here they are....

10. Regis Philbin
9. Michael Jordan
8. Bob Barker
7. Andy Griffith
6. Oprah
5. Lucille Ball
4. Jerry Seinfield
3. David Letterman
2. JohnnyCarson
1. Bob Hope


There ya have it.... I think I'm right, but did I miss anybody?

compliments of Rightliner.com


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Music/Entertainment; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: johnnycarson
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To: mhking

Too young (and too few reruns) to fully appreciate Steve Allen or Jack Webb, but I can't really argue with the other 8. Also on my short list would be Ed Sullivan (again, too little experience to fully appreciate him).


21 posted on 02/01/2005 7:34:08 AM PST by steveegg (The secret goal of lieberals - to ensure that no future generation can possibly equal theirs.)
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To: steveegg
Also on my short list would be Ed Sullivan (again, too little experience to fully appreciate him).

Agreed; he slipped my mind as I made the list.

22 posted on 02/01/2005 7:35:26 AM PST by mhking (Do not mess with dragons, for thou art crunchy & good with ketchup...)
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To: steveegg
Steve Allen was a very versatile fellow. An accomplished author of quite a number of books, decent musician and songwriter/composer, as well as a talented performer. A true entertainment Renaissance Man.
23 posted on 02/01/2005 7:36:02 AM PST by chimera
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To: An Old Marine

You are correct about that. But I think the criteria here is ranking entertainers whose primary medium was television. (Which is the same reason Michael Jordan shouldn't be on such a list.)


24 posted on 02/01/2005 7:36:04 AM PST by Semolina Pilchard
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To: dakine
Bob Newhart...

I'd put Bob just below that 10, most likely at about 12 or 13.

25 posted on 02/01/2005 7:36:21 AM PST by mhking (Do not mess with dragons, for thou art crunchy & good with ketchup...)
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To: Rightliner.com

26 posted on 02/01/2005 7:36:44 AM PST by theFIRMbss
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Comment #27 Removed by Moderator

To: Motherbear
You're right. Especially now, thanks to "Curb Your Enthusiasm," that we all know that Larry David was the real brain behind the "Seinfeld" show.
28 posted on 02/01/2005 7:39:22 AM PST by Semolina Pilchard
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Comment #29 Removed by Moderator

To: mhking
Agreed; he slipped my mind as I made the list.

Too many great entertainers, too few spots on the list :-)

30 posted on 02/01/2005 7:40:16 AM PST by steveegg (The secret goal of lieberals - to ensure that no future generation can possibly equal theirs.)
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To: theFIRMbss
Good call with Ernie K.


31 posted on 02/01/2005 7:40:20 AM PST by Pharmboy (The American Military: The World's Greatest Force for Freedom)
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To: mhking

I would pick Jack Benny over Dick Van Dyke any day of the week... *g


32 posted on 02/01/2005 7:40:36 AM PST by NCjim
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To: BikerNYC

Yeah!

Carol Burnett!


33 posted on 02/01/2005 7:41:10 AM PST by najida (Never explain--your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.)
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To: acad1228; Petronski

Also she and her sweater also seem to do the weather or at least the tempeture as well


34 posted on 02/01/2005 7:43:13 AM PST by al baby (she stuned my little beeber)
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Comment #35 Removed by Moderator

To: Pharmboy
>Good call with Ernie Kovacs

I meant to put up
a link in case younger folks
never heard of him:

Ernie Kovacs, a creative and iconoclastic comedian, pioneered the use of special effects photography in television comedy. On the 50th anniversary of the beginning of television in 1989, People Weekly recognized him as one of television's top 25 stars of all time. During the 1950s, Kovacs' brilliant use of video comedy demonstrated the unique possibilities of television decades before similar techniques became popular on Rowan and Martin's Laugh In and the various David Letterman shows. His live shows were characterized by ad-libbed routines, enormous flexibility with the TV camera, experimentation with video effects, complete informality while on camera, and a permissiveness that expanded studio boundaries by allowing viewers to see activity beyond the set.

His routines frequently parodied other programs and introduced imaginative Kovacsian characters such as the magician Natzoh Hepplewhite, Professor Bernie Cosnowski, and Mr. Question Man, who resembled Johnny Carson's Carnac the Magnificent. The best known of his creations was the Nairobi Trio, three ape instrumentalists playing "Solfeggio" in a deadpan manner like mechanical monkeys. The high point come when the percussionist turned jerkily to the conductor and bopped him on the head with a xylophone hammer.

36 posted on 02/01/2005 7:44:16 AM PST by theFIRMbss
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To: mhking

Not bad, Cosby was about 12th on my list.


37 posted on 02/01/2005 7:44:50 AM PST by Rightliner.com
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To: Motherbear

Michael Landon, your right - huge TV star


38 posted on 02/01/2005 7:46:28 AM PST by Rightliner.com
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To: Rightliner.com

Sammy Davis Jr.?


39 posted on 02/01/2005 7:48:40 AM PST by gopwinsin04
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To: theFIRMbss

Ernie would definitely be in the top 15, he sadly left us too soon to go into the top 10.


40 posted on 02/01/2005 7:52:39 AM PST by mhking (Do not mess with dragons, for thou art crunchy & good with ketchup...)
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