James Brolin or Jonathan Frakes?
Who do you prefer?
I personally preferred Jonathan.
The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not a man.
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I'm with the majority...and irl I don't know anyone who prefers Brolin either...but personally, I don't dislike his hosting at all. He did it with a certain enticing eeriness, and had an appropriate voice, as well as some great quotes and moments and props of his own. He also told two stories very nicely. I imagine that if he'd also hosted the second through fourth seasons, I wouldn't have criticized his work or wished for something better. (Hey, we wouldn't have someone else's with whom to compare it!) I'm sure that I'd still love the show at least 95% as much as I do now...even though Jonathan undoubtedly added to its existing greatness considerably. Either way, I LOVED the hosts' intros, set-ups, questions, recaps, and answers. They contributed to the show's uniqueness and memorability.
It's just that Frakes kind of WAS the show. He REALLY made it his own, and you tend to think of his voice, his face, his set (so lush and lovely and enchanting in its dark, creepy way; it made a more perfect home for the show than Brolin's also-effective barren greyish one, which felt mysterious, yet simply lacked the same effect), his silly little puns and clever quips, his wit, his sly, playful attitude and cunning grin--everything. Not to mention that Brolin got the first season only, which was shorter than the rest, and Frakes did the other three. Plus...Frakes is just an awesome, funny guy! He's such a trickster with those fictional stories! And I always say "Jonathan Corn Frakes" now instead of "Cornflakes," because I can be just as corny and goofy as him. ;)
I think Brolin did a fine job in the way that seemed right to him...Frakes took it a step further and brought that really special quality to his hosting and to the show itself. Not having had him or anyone else to compare with or draw from, I can't blame Brolin for just doing it his way, and not doing a bad job at all...not even in comparison with Frakes. His "strange truth" tagline (which they basically abandoned after the first 6 eps) was good, and he did very well with narrating and with telling the stories that weren't actually acted out. The first series is way more than sufficiently creepy, awesome, and interesting. Unless they had a severe time constraint, the director probably would have asked Brolin to redo it if he was unhappy with the way he was working. ;) Still, I don't know what prompted the host switch or why the first season was only half the length of the subsequent three. Sure glad they doubled them!!
I simply find Frakes MORE engaging and energetic overall.
flowerpowershare