Favorite announcer

No contest. Jim was easily the best of those who auditioned.

^ I'm actually kinda glad that when Rich filled in, we got Mellow Rich and not Screechy Rich. His shrieking "HERE IT CAAAAAHMS!!!!!" still haunts my nightmares. Reminded me of Conan's old announcer, Joel Godard, who at least had the excuse of being gratingly over-the-top on PURPOSE.

Jim is an excellent fit for the show in my opinion. He has a somewhat similar style to both Jack and Charlie, but it's clear that he's doing his own thing and is incredibly comfortable in the role. I remember going "wow, now who is THIS guy?!" on the first episode where he filled in, and being impressed right out of the gate.

^ I thought Joe was terrible. He was almost Daniel Rosen levels of unenthusiastic.

I think Angie was asking who we would've picked in general, not just of those who auditioned (and even then I'm not really sure Wheel was actually giving anybody except Jim any consideration, given how little everybody else got compared to him). If that's the case, and I couldn't pick Jim, I probably would've gone with Randy West -- experience in the business, knows his stuff, has plenty of connections, and was a good friend of Charlie's. Plus, from what I've read, he does a spot-on Johnny Olson impression.


See, though, mellow probably wasn't the best route to go since I thought Rich sounded just plain bored whereas he was mellow but energetic on Flamingo Fortune and his early seasons of Price.

Heck, if he'd gone closer to the "screechy" route for a Bonus Round win, I wouldn't have minded near as much since it would've been justified (it's a big win, so you gotta deliver that announcement with gusto!)...but he delivered that $100,000 announcement like it was just "Oh, hey, you won $100,000. Great job."

When I heard Rich was auditioning to be announcer on Wheel, I was very excited. He had a lot of enthusiasm while announcing on The Price is Right, especially when he told a contestant that he or she "would be playing for a brand new CAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

When Rich started auditioning, however, my heart sank right away because he showed very few if any signs of enthusiasm. If he was enthusiastic, he would've been terrific in my opinion.

Jim, on the other hand, showed a lot of enthusiasm. Every time you see him on the show, he's smiling from ear to ear. Furthermore, just like Pat and Vanna before they became host and hostess on the show, Jim wasn't really well known to the nation (I didn't know him before) before he started being the show's announcer. In fact, that's one of the reasons why the show has done so well. So, I think he's my favorite in the post-O'Donnell era. WooWho is right by saying Jim is the Jack Clark for the 21st century.

Even so, Charlie O'Donnell will always be my favorite announcer for Wheel. I was very lucky to talk to him when the show came to Chicago back in the spring of 2002. Very little of the void that was left when O'Donnell passed away can be filled in, especially when it comes to his irreplaceable voice.

I agree with you, GermanName. I tend to think of Jim as not a replacement per se, but a long-term fill-in for Charlie.

I initially was pulling for Rich in the beginning, but after hearing him a few times, I just felt he wasn't what Wheel needed. No one will ever be able to replace Charlie, but Jim was a perfect choice. He does a great job!

I was not a big fan of Jim in the beginning. I missed Charlie's drawn out THOOOOOOOOOOOOOUSAND on a bonus round win. Obviously Charlie can't be replaced but if anybody could've stepped up to the plate I would've thought it to be Rich Fields. He did have TPiR background and all he would've had to do was tone it down a bit and he would've been golden. Look at his Plinko intros, that would've been perfect. I wonder how they told him to read it because during that time they were just voicing over Charlie's voice which I thought was a little jacked up.

Well, they were doing that, but they were also taping new shows. Rich sounded just as dull in the studio as he did in post-production. As for the last part of this sentence...understatement.


It's been well-established that Jim is in the studio, although personally I thought all the announcing began to feel the same around Season 26 or so. I think the problem is that Jim announces from a cubicle, rather than out in the open (for instance, as was the case from 1987-89 at Burbank, at a desk-type area in front of the audience).