VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

audio'connell

I hear tell there is another board on broadcasting in the blogosphere and from that is a recent video of everyone's favorite Don Pardo at a dinner announcing his retirement from Saturday Night Live, noting the May 16th show (their season finale) would be his last.

I don't begrudge him one minute of retirement and I wish him all the best but I kinda feel like when I was a kid and I packed away some of the toys I played with when I was littler. I knew the time had come but I still really didn't want to part with them.

But as compliments go for Don Pardo or any announcers, I guess that a pretty nice one...no one is supposed to notice us, after all.

Here's Don's dinner announcement clip
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todd ellis · Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 6:23 am Post subject:

couldn't have said it better, peter. yet another thing that won't be as good as it once was on SNL.

... soooooo, when are the auditions?
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bobsouer · Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 7:36 am Post subject:

Peter,

If true, it's sad news indeed.
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bobbinbeamo · Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 7:49 am Post subject:

Don's a classic announcer, and wore it proudly. I grew up listening to him announce all sorts of game shows, and loved his humor as SNL's announcer for so long. So long, Don.
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Bruce · Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 8:44 am Post subject:

May we all be happily employed doing something we love into our 91st year.

Have fun, Don!

B
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jasbart · Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 2:55 pm Post subject:

I knew he was getting up there in years, but had no idea he was 91!

I remember seeing him guest on Dinah Shore's afternoon talk show back in the mid-70's, and every time he spoke Dinah totally cracked up. Not because of anything he said, just because it was that delightful voice!

Jim
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Eddie Eagle · M&M Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 2393

Thanks for sharing that with us Peter!

Lee Gordon · Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 1:03 am Post subject:

Pardo celebrated his 90th (or was it his 91st) birthday on the air on Saturday Night Live. They brought him on stage at the end of the show when the cast normally takes its bow. And I think they had a cake.

I remeber Pardo as the announcer on the original Price Is Right with Bill Cullen back in the 50s. I'm sure I didn't realize it at the time, but he was probably the first person to inspire me to become a voice overist.
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:52 pm Post subject:

The illustrious Mr. Pardo was one of three great voices who inspired me (although I didn't realize it at the time) to get into the biz. Don was first. Then, a few years later, came Peter Thomas who, approaching 85, sounds barely different today than he did narrating the Travelers Insurance Company exhibit ('The Triumph of Man') at the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York. Then came Gary Owens. I wasn't aware of Gary's radio roots before seeing him on 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In' starting in 1968.

While I never had an opportunity to meet Don or Gary, I was extremely lucky to have actually wound up working with Peter on one occasion; directing him (if that's even possible) in a narration for a job being produced by the production house I worked for at the time. And, although we didn't actually work together (simultaneously), I provided the voice of a kidnapper in a 2007 episode of 'Forensic Files,' narrated by Peter.

As a tribute, I suppose, to Don, I've been able to muster a pretty fair impersonation of him. What's that they say about imitation being the highest form of flattery?

Don is one of only THREE people (Milton Berle and Bob Hope, the others) who had been given lifetime contracts with NBC. All three joined the network before television was born. Visiting NBC in New York, one can still hear the famous voices echoing in the grand art deco granite and marble lobby of the 1930s.

Mr. Pardo, you ROCK.
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Mike Cain · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:44 pm Post subject:

When I first came to NBC there were 11 full time announcers and now there are none.
I had privilege of working with Don on a daily basis. In the early days at NBC before automation he would sit in the 5th floor booth of Switching Central and be on stand by just in case there was a special announcement or breaking news.I would on occasion sit in with him and he would talk about the old days. On Saturday when there was a live SNL you would find him on the 8th floor in the stairwell rehearsing the show open. He said the acoustics were great in the stairwell.
I remember a story Don told me about the time he was called to do a VO they wanted someone who could do Don Pardo. He auditioned and was told he didn't get the spot. When he said I am Don Pardo he was told he didn't sound like him. Go Figure.
This is an end of an era there are no more NBC announcers. Howard Reig and Fred Facey are gone, and now Don. The stairwell will never echo their voices again.
Enjoy the time you have now Don. You will be missed.
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James Lorenz · Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 8:08 am Post subject:

Thanks for sharing that. SNL will truly never be the same.
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