Countdown's charm without Richard

[Jason Larsen]

I was talking to someone quite a while ago and he said, "Countdown has lost all of its charm without Richard, (Whiteley, that is.)

That being said, I would like to give you my rankings of the Countdown hosts throughout the years.

1. Richard Whiteley
2. Des O'Connor
3. Des Lynam

Des Lynam is far from a bad host, but I think he is a better fit for Sports Mastermind.

What do you all think about that? Feel free to let me know your opinion.

[Ralph Gillions]

Well Jason, I would agree with you about the charm of Richard Whitely.
He would irritate me with his bumbling and `faffing` about and his clumsiness with jokes, and yet his charm saved him.
I would easily forgive him for the things which slightly irritated me because he seemed to be a nice, kind and gentle men.
His charm easily outweights his slight irritations.
I thought I would loathe Des O` Connor being presenter because I had never liked anything he ever did before.
But to my surprise I have found him to be surprisingly efficient (with some irritations of course).
I liked Des Lynam. He remained true to himself I thought and didn`t try to adapt himself to a different sort of entertainment. He certainly has a charm.
I am left with the feeling that they have not found a commendable and comfortable presenter to follow Richard Whitely, but this is all subjective of course.
I agree about Richard Whitely`s charm.

[Jason Larsen]

You're not pretending, are you?

[Jennifer Turner]

I never rated Richard Whiteley all that highly when he was alive, but I certainly appreciate him more now in comparison to Des O'Connor. Whiteley was a much more inclusive host, who could appeal across the board, whereas Deso is far too slick and old-fashioned. I suppose Countdown has always been a bit "traditional values", gentlemen play golf, ladies make tea for the vicar, all that sort of thing, but Des O'Connor is so rooted in that, it's like he's determined to alienate everyone under the age of 75. Still, it sells a lot of denture fixative, doesn't it?

[Jason Larsen]

Des O'Connor has found a fountain of youth, no questions asked.

[Michael Wallace]

I think Des O' is awesome, but mostly because he says things that, when you think about it, are rather offensive, and yet you don't notice unless you're paying attention because of how he says them (indeed, I don't believe he is actually trying to be offensive most of the time).

[Jon O'Neill]

I liked Lynam best for the same reason. If an oldie was getting smashed, he didn't try and make it sound like they still had a chance. Which I enjoyed.