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Bob Barker: Drew Carey Not As "Exciting" As He Was On "TPIR"

Wow, what a comment. Drew Carey is more of an "everyday guy". More like us; whereas Barker was the "star" of the show and the benchmark for game show hosts. Notice in the intro it is "your HOST" not "STAR OF". On the TPIR website Carey mentioned that he preferred not being called "the star". Was Johnny Olson better tha Rich Fields? Probably, however, Fields is pretty darn good. Is anyone ever going to be better than Johnny Carson? Times do change and the greats of the past become less relevant, sadly.
 
I'm not sure I agree with Bob. If Bob really was trying to get excited, we couldn't see it the last ten or so years he hosted.
 
Bob was lively as to give a reason to watch the show. Drew makes me change the channel because he is bland and flat in his presentation.
 
Some people preferred Bob, and some prefer Drew.

Personally I preferred Bob, and I just can't watch the show in its current form. Bob Barker WAS The Price is Right.
 
Drew brings some qualities, but tends to overexplain the games and lacks general charisma. Barker had the experience of 50+ years as a host, and it showed. When Bob wanted drama, he found it, real or not. That is the difference. Bob had the experience, Drew does not. The show may be bigger than the host, however, so it may not matter.
 
I'm not a big fan of either of them, but I do think Drew tends
to talk in a monotone too much, which loses me.

Slightly off-topic: Steve Beverly, on his website the other day,
was talking about the firing of Rich Fields; seems the producers
want a stand-up comedian as announcer. Beverly was decrying
the fact that it already seems that only stand-up comedians can
get hosting jobs, and now that's being extended to the announcers.
In the same column he again stated his preference for Todd Newton
as host of "TPIR." But, he reasons, the use of comedians is to bring
in a younger audience (the average age of "TPIR"'s audience is 63);
however, it has resulted in his worst nightmare: five years from now,
Conan O'Brien is hosting "Jeopardy!".
 
DToTheJ said:
I bet if Drew Carey brought the same "excitement" as he did in this expletive-filled recalling of a contestant's "Showcase Showdown" triumph, I bet ol' Bob might change his tune!

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/bl...1408-Weather_Guys_and_The_Price_is_Right_.php
(scroll to bottom)
Click to expand...

The recollection was sad and unnecessary for its negative perspective and its speech enhancements. I truly doubt this will help Bob Barker's perspective.

I stopped watching "The Price is Right" during the previous TV season after realizing there is no hope in the program restoring the quality and professionalism it had before all the changes made since Bob Barker retired. The program should have ended after his retirement because these changes were bound to happen as long as the program was owned by Fremantle Media, which had to wait until the host's retirement to put these plans in action.
 
bpatrick said:
But, he reasons, the use of comedians is to bring in a younger audience (the average age of "TPIR"'s audience is 63); however, it has resulted in his worst nightmare: five years from now, Conan O'Brien is hosting "Jeopardy!".
Click to expand...

A few semi-random thoughts:

1. 63? That's a bit young for CBS, isn't it? ;D

2. How is any network going to bring in a younger audience for daytime programming? Most folks of the age that CBS is looking for are working (or looking for work, given this economy).

3. Whether it's Drew Carey, Conan O'Brien, or even Pauly Shore (perish the thought of him getting a game-show gig!), these middle-aged comics won't bring a younger audience. They might bring in a few 40- or 50-somethings, but not younger. Of course, that is "young" for CBS.

4. Bill Cullen was the best host TPIR ever had. Unfortunately, he's no longer with us (he'd be 90 if he was, which would qualify him for a spot on 60 Minutes. ;D )
 
When Bob retired, I could have sworn he said he gave one piece of advice to Drew: "Host the show the way you want to do it." So that is exactly what Drew has done. Now Bob wants to criticize him? Bad move on his part (and this comes from a pretty big Barker fan).

I also agree with KeithE4 about the younger audience aspect. This show will never have a younger audience if it stays in daytime. The only way to bring in a new crowd is by moving it to primetime or syndication - and incorporating some kind of texting element to it.
 
you can only get so excited about revealing the actual suggested retail price of Jiffy Pop or Glade Plug-Ins
 
radioguy555 said:
This show will never have a younger audience if it stays in daytime. The only way to bring in a new crowd is by moving it to primetime or syndication - and incorporating some kind of texting element to it.
Click to expand...

Prime time is out of the question, and two syndicated versions (one a virtual clone, one a modified version) both fell flat. They are where they are for now, and thus far there's been some uptick in younger (not 18-22 year olds here, more like "moms" instead of "grandmoms").
 
It does sound like a paparazzo saw an elderly man loading his car with clothes, asked him a question, and cherrypicked the heck out of it for something "exciting." I hope the paparazzo didn't manhandle Bob Barker and his stuff before he manhandled his words.
 
Steve Beverly also suggests that with a stand-up comic as
host, and "TPIR" looking for a stand-up comic as announcer,
they go all the way and hire Kathy Griffin as a model. :)

BTW, there's a little more to his nightmare: five years from now,
Brad Garrett is hosting "Wheel Of Fortune".
 
imhomerjay said:
radioguy555 said:
The only way to bring in a new crowd is by moving it to primetime...
Click to expand...
Prime time is out of the question, and two syndicated versions (one a virtual clone, one a modified version) both fell flat.
Click to expand...

People forget (or choose to, anyway) that "The Price is Right" had a brief run in primetime on CBS during the summer in the latter half of the 1980's. That, too, fell flat.
 
I watched Bob's quote and didn't think he was being critical.

That said.....I don't know how people like Drew get passed the smoke-filled comedy clubs. He has all the personality of a dead halibut.

What happened to all those ex-DJ's who hosted all manner of TV shows? Do people like Howie and Drew just work cheaper? By a LOT???
 
KeithE4 said:
bpatrick said:
But, he reasons, the use of comedians is to bring in a younger audience (the average age of "TPIR"'s audience is 63); however, it has resulted in his worst nightmare: five years from now, Conan O'Brien is hosting "Jeopardy!".
Click to expand...
...

2. How is any network going to bring in a younger audience for daytime programming? Most folks of the age that CBS is looking for are working (or looking for work, given this economy).

3. Whether it's Drew Carey, Conan O'Brien, or even Pauly Shore (perish the thought of him getting a game-show gig!), these middle-aged comics won't bring a younger audience. They might bring in a few 40- or 50-somethings, but not younger. Of course, that is "young" for CBS.
Click to expand...

I really wonder if some of you have watched the show lately. 'Of course' the boomer viewers are skewing that average age quote. Yet for TV tapings, the audience is reliably one-third to one-half filled with a mix of college or graduate students and military members. And given what we know about how advertisers roll in media buying, it was inevitable that producers would try to build up the under 50 audience however possible. Even in a 500-channel MTV-YouTube-iPhone world, TPIR has still maintained some level of popularity amongst adults of all ages.

Unless 'of course' you're saying that only homes and domiciles have working daytime television sets, and that no TV entertainment at all can be found in offices, waiting rooms, gyms, dorms, student union buildings, malls, shopping centers, restaurants, coffee houses, pubs, or food courts...
 
DToTheJ said:
imhomerjay said:
radioguy555 said:
The only way to bring in a new crowd is by moving it to primetime...
Click to expand...
Prime time is out of the question, and two syndicated versions (one a virtual clone, one a modified version) both fell flat.
Click to expand...

People forget (or choose to, anyway) that "The Price is Right" had a brief run in primetime on CBS during the summer in the latter half of the 1980's. That, too, fell flat.
Click to expand...

That was in August and September 1986, but IIRC I think it was intended as a series of six specials--however, CBS scheduled the TPIR specials on Thursdays up against NBC's one-two punch of "Cosby Show" and "Family Ties."

Also don't forget the prime-time TPIR's (the million dollar spectaculars) that began in 2002 (first with the 30th anniversary special in Vegas, then the series of six special military and emergency responder shows that summer--as 9-11 was still a fresh memory).
 
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