Michael Burger (born June 10, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, game show host and television presenter.

Game shows

Burger was hired by

Reg Grundy Productions Reg Grundy Organisation (founded as Reg Grundy Enterprises, later known as both Reg Grundy Productions and Grundy Television and known informally as Grundy's) was an Australian-based multinational mass media company, primarily involved in tele ...

to host a pilot for a show called ''Matchmates'' in 1985. The show, which was taped at NBC's Burbank Studios and intended to air on the network's daytime schedule, did not sell. Approximately four years later, in March 1989, Burger was picked to host '' Straight to the Heart'', an adult-themed dating game show that ran in syndication with co-host (and soap opera actress) Barbara Lee Alexander (now

Barbara Niven Barbara Lee Niven (née Bucholz; born February 26, 1953) is an American actress, writer and producer, best known for her performances in Hallmark and Lifetime movies, and for television roles in ''Pensacola: Wings of Gold'', ''One Life to Live'' ...

) until September 1989. Then in September 1991, he was picked to host ''Personals'', another adult-themed dating game show that ran on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

' late night schedule until December 1992. Burger also hosted '' Man O' Man'' based on a German game show format of the same name as a one-hour special for UPN in 1995. In 1996, Burger was called upon to replace

Ray Combs Raymond Neil Combs Jr. (April 3, 1956 – June 2, 1996) was an American actor, comedian and game show host. Combs began his professional career in the late 1970s. His popularity on the stand-up circuit led to him being signed as the second host o ...

as the host of The Family Channel's ''

Family Challenge ''Family Challenge'' is an American game show that aired on The Family Channel from October 2, 1995 to September 7, 1997, lasting for two seasons. Reruns aired on Game Show Network from April 3 to September 25, 1999. The show was created by co ...

'', a position that became open after Combs' departure from the series and (later) suicide. Following the cancellation of that series in 1997, Burger was hired to host a new version of ''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelist ...

'', which premiered in 1998 and ran for one season. Burger later had a stint hosting the live stage show ''

The Price Is Right Live! ''The Price Is Right LIVE!'' is a staged production show based on the television game show '' The Price Is Right''. The live stage shows were originally held at Caesars Entertainment casinos, as well as the Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Connecti ...

'' and also served as the play-by-play commentator on the short-lived series ''

Iron Chef USA is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle bui ...

''.

Other shows

In 1994, Burger and Maty Monfort were hired by ABC to host a new daytime series to replace their long running program '' The Home Show''. Premiering on April 11, 1994, '' Mike and Maty'' aired for just over two years and ended on June 7, 1996. After the show's cancellation, Burger replaced

Chuck Woolery Charles Herbert Woolery (born March 16, 1941) is an American game show host, talk show host, and musician. He has had long-running tenures hosting several game shows. Woolery was the original host of ''Wheel of Fortune'' (1975–1981), the orig ...

Cristina Ferrare Cynthia Cristina Ferrare (born 1950) is an American former fashion model, actress, author and talk-show host. She had lead roles in several films in the late-1960s and early-1970s, including the comedy '' The Impossible Years'' and the Western f ...

's co-host on ''

The Home and Family Show ''Home & Family'' (formerly ''The Home and Family Show'') is an American daytime talk show. The series originally premiered on April 1, 1996, on The Family Channel, and was dropped by the network immediately prior to its 1998 relaunch as the Fox ...

'' on the Family Channel and stayed on until its 1998 cancellation. Since then, he's acted in other television shows such as ''

Less than Perfect ''Less than Perfect'' is an American television sitcom created by Terri Minsky and starring Sara Rue and Sherri Shepherd which originally aired on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 20, 2006. It follows Claude (Rue), who works at a television netw ...

'', ''

8 Simple Rules ''8 Simple Rules'' (originally ''8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter'') is an American sitcom television series originally starring John Ritter and Katey Sagal as middle-class parents Paul and Cate Hennessy, raising their three chi ...

'', ''

Shasta McNasty ''Shasta McNasty'' (later retitled ''Shasta'') is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from October 5, 1999, to August 1, 2000. The show was created by Jeff Eastin and produced by Eastin and Neal H. Moritz. The show starred Carmine Giovinazzo, ...

'', and ''

American Dreams ''American Dreams'' is an American drama television series that ran on NBC for three seasons & 61 episodes, from September 29, 2002, to March 30, 2005. The show tells the story of the Pryor family of Philadelphia during the mid-1960s, with many ...

''. Burger was the warmup comedian for the original

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cla ...

sitcom ''

Hot in Cleveland ''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White. The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's highe ...

'' until its series finale in 2015.

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burger, Michael 1957 births American game show hosts Living people