Bob Barker's last show?

[Braves2005]

Too bad Jeff Foxworthy didn't try out...

As much as I liked Jeff Foxworthy in his sitcom from 1995 to 1997, especially the 2nd season of the show on NBC and him hosting a game show on FOX that takes on questions from 5 year olds that adults could simply answer right in a heartbeat, his type of humor would not really go over on The Price Is Right.

I can hear it now. "You might be a redneck if you play Plinko." "What are you doing up here, you're not a redneck?" "Now that's a redneck car." "Your showcase contains some redneck prizes."

Hope that you are kidding on this one. John O'Hurley would be a perfect addition to The Price Is Right and he can add it to his hosting of the syndicated Family Feud when it returns for a 2nd season with him as host in 2007-2008.

 

[Hamp]

I personally think TPIR will not last when Bob leaves, it just won't be the same. I think CBS is wasting its time by even trying to replace Bob Barker. If you don't have Bob Barker, you don't have a Price Is Right. Mark my words, the show will tank with another host.

 

[ixnay]

Slightly off topic: Whenever I've watched the Range Game on TPIR (when my school, and, later on in life, work, schedule [and my whims] have permitted) Barker always tells the contestant, "Once you stop the range finder, we can't start it again for 72 hours." Does resetting that apparatus really take that long? Literally? ???

Also, how long has Plinko been part of TPIR? It's my favorite pricing game but wasn't there during the late '70s (my HS days) when I started watching TPIR. Plinko was around by the mid-80s so it had to have started during the intervening period.

ixnay

 

[formeraa]

ixnay --

There are at least two websites that have TPIR game details (one of them claims to have listed every game ever played on TPIR). Just google TPIR and you will find them. They have all the answers, plus a whole lot more trivia.

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

Slightly off topic: Whenever I've watched the Range Game on TPIR (when my school, and, later on in life, work, schedule [and my whims] have permitted) Barker always tells the contestant, "Once you stop the range finder, we can't start it again for 72 hours." Does resetting that apparatus really take that long? Literally? ???

No, its just a long-running joke on the show. At other times its been "36 and a half days" or some other outrageous (and funny) joke.

Also, how long has Plinko been part of TPIR? It's my favorite pricing game but wasn't there during the late '70s (my HS days) when I started watching TPIR. Plinko was around by the mid-80s so it had to have started during the intervening period.

ixnay

I believe it premiered in the fall of 1981 (9th season).

 

[jparsons]

"Once you stop the range finder, we can't start it again for 72 hours." Does resetting that apparatus really take that long? Literally?

Only if the guy who stands behind it turning the crank is reallllllllllly slow!

 

[WMC2006]

According to golden-road.net for the Plinko game:

Debut: January 3, 1983; 53rd game to debut.

Plinko was first played for $50,000 (instead of $25,000) on the 25th Anniversary Special in August, 1996. The change carried over to the daytime show a little over two years later, on October 15, 1998.

Plinko’s current, pastel color scheme debuted sometime during Season 19; it may have appeared in late October, on the first shows recorded after the summer taping break. At the same time as this change, the fonts of the game’s money amounts were changed, both on the board and on the sign.

The Plinko sign was not used on Plinko’s debut; instead, a disco ball with “$25,000” circling around it was lowered from the ceiling in front of the audience while Grand Game’s intro music played. Once the sign did debut, it was set in the back of the audience at least through the first week of Season 12 before it was finally moved to its usual location on the Turntable.

The Plinko sign was used for the last time on December 5, 2002. It was retired in favor of a “$50,000” graphic.

Plinko’s intro has had three different harps over the years. The first one, the same one used in Punch a Bunch, was used from the second playing through April of 1995. The second harp debuted on May 3, 1995 and was used for somewhere between one and three years. The third harp, which was in use by January 21, 1998, is still used today.

To keep chips from flying off the board, a solid plexiglass cover was added to the Plinko board in the early ‘90s. During Season 22, probably to make it easier to remove stuck chips, it was replaced with the current cover, which simply places thin barriers over the gaps between the pegs in the board. As of September 20, 2005, there is also a cover over the slots at the bottom of the board.

By the official definition of a “win,” Plinko has never been won.

On a related note, if anyone ever does win Plinko, the clangs and whoops generally associated with huge wins will be played.

The closest Plinko has ever come to being won was on November 30, 1990. The contestant playing that day won $21,000 by putting four chips in $5,000 and one in $1,000. It is not possible to play the game better than that without completely winning.

On the Davidson version, Plinko used a different set of slot values than on the daytime show – the $100 slots were replaced with $2500. It is also believed that on the game’s first Davidson playing only, the slot distribution was $100, $500, 0, $5000, 0, $5000, 0, $500, $100. It is interesting to note that if this pattern had been used on the daytime show, there is a contestant in Season 24 who would have won the game.

In addition to the above-mentioned changes, the Davidson version also used the “higher or lower” format for small prize pricing, since they wanted to use three-digit prices in the game. Also, the Plinko sign was placed in the back of the audience, because the show had no Turntable, and the sting from The Cats was replaced with the intro cue for It’s in the Bag.

The version of Plinko’s logo seen on the game’s board has considerably different dimensions than the version seen on the sign and the small prize podiums. The latter version is somewhat “squished,” for lack of a better term, and the i’s fallen dot is more in front of the letter than next to it; this has led some people to mistakenly believe that the game’s name is spelled “Pl!nko”.

 

[WMC2006]

And since someone mentioned the Range Game (again, from Golden-Road.net):

Debut: April 3, 1973; 12th game to debut.

The current Range Game board debuted in 1976.

The rangerfinder has almost always been $150 long (on a $600 scale), but very early in the game’s life, it was only $50. When the game proved next to impossible to win that way, they quickly increased it to $100 and then again to the familiar $150. The James version even used a $200 rangefinder, covering 1/3 of the scale, for a brief period!

If the rangefinder reaches the top of the scale, it automatically stops.

Since the rangefinder is manually operated, it moves about an extra $2 up the scale after the contestant hits the button. That may not seem significant at first glance, but it’s actually caused a couple of people to lose the game who perhaps shouldn’t have. In close cases such as this, the determination of the game’s outcome is made by Bob or Roger.

Sometime between late 1984 and October, 1985, the diagonal stripes on the Range Game board were changed from red to gold; this change definitely occurred while Johnny was still alive. After this change, but still before Johnny died, the game’s original button and rangefinder holder were replaced with the current ones.

Range Game’s first button had the word “STOP” written on it in white capital letters.

The Item up for Bids offered immediately before the first playing of Range Game was a range. It’s hard to say whether this was done on purpose; if it was, the joke was probably lost on the viewers, as the pricing games’ names were generally not being used on the air at the time.

Although a separate rangefinder prop was built for the Davidson version’s Showcase, its pilot episode used the actual Range Game board (with a few modifications). A clip of this can be seen in TNPIR’94’s opening.

 

[searadiofreak]

What a pro. Remember his syndicated "Truth or Consequences"? Fine TV. Have to admire someone who kept doing his craft well into his elder years, and still doing it quite well. So long, Bob!

 

[formeraa]

I grew up watching "Truth or Consequences" in the late 60's and early 70's. What a great show! Bob Barker RULES!

 

[Yeziknoradio]

I personally think TPIR will not last when Bob leaves, it just won't be the same. I think CBS is wasting its time by even trying to replace Bob Barker. If you don't have Bob Barker, you don't have a Price Is Right. Mark my words, the show will tank with another host.

The show will do just fine.

There were those who believed that the show would tank when Rod passed away, but people don't tune out thinking "Yuck...what kind of voice over is that?"

 

[imhomerjay]

Had boards like this existed in 1972, the Cullen fans would have been loudly prtesting that trying to revive the show with anyone other than Bill would be pure folly, and the idea of carnival-style games instead of the more sedate original version...pure rubbish, destined to fail in 13 weeks.

 

[formeraa]

I just wish that they would bring back "Match Game" and pair it with TPIR once again.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

I just wish that they would bring back "Match Game" and pair it with TPIR once again.

Match game, Hollywood Squares or *Any* gameshow that grants excuse to have tv stars from that same network, or movie company that that tv network owns or works with, is a very smart idea.

This way, a gameshow can be both enterataining, and (intentional or not) a major compliment to the network.

It's the whole "Thank-you for watching right now, don't forget about later..." thing, and I believe it's smart!

This may very well be why Match game should also consider a 7pm or 7:30 return, with *anyone* on the pannel that is also going to be in the 8pm show.
(respectfully, the same can be done if a soap star is present for the daytime viewing, and the show can air *after* TPIR instead, leading into that soap...)

 

[searadiofreak]

True, and surprising this doesn't happen much anymore. Perhaps because most game shows are syndicated and not affiliated with any particular network. Plus, I think the fad of celebs on game shows is currently not in fashion. Real people, reality tv...But if history repeats itself, and it usually does, this will come back in the near future. (Tonight, Deal or No Deal brought on pro wrestlers...not exactly the same concept, but maybe a signal we are headed back to celebs on game shows!)

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

I just wish that they would bring back "Match Game" and pair it with TPIR once again.

Match game, Hollywood Squares or *Any* gameshow that grants excuse to have tv stars from that same network, or movie company that that tv network owns or works with, is a very smart idea.

This way, a gameshow can be both enterataining, and (intentional or not) a major compliment to the network.

It's the whole "Thank-you for watching right now, don't forget about later..." thing, and I believe it's smart!

This may very well be why Match game should also consider a 7pm or 7:30 return, with *anyone* on the pannel that is also going to be in the 8pm show.
(respectfully, the same can be done if a soap star is present for the daytime viewing, and the show can air *after* TPIR instead, leading into that soap...)

Another thing to take into account is chemistry between the host and the panel. Gene Rayburn had great chemistry with his Match Game counterparts. Unfortunately the two revivals (helmed by Ross Shafer in 1990 and Michael Burger in 1998) failed, primarily because there was no chemistry between host and panel (or panel and panel).

Peter Marshall had great chemistry with his stars on the original Hollywood Squares and the chemistry and banter between Tom Bergeron and Whoopi Goldberg on the most recent Squares revival was top notch...until Whoopi left and Tom had no one to play off, resulting in the slow decline of the ratings (and eventual cancellation).

One of the problems, I believe, with panel gameshows (and modified panel gameshows like MG and HS), and those gameshows featuring celebrities (ie: the recent revival of Pyramid), is the lack of talent. Yeah, there are celebrities...but more often than not, the hot "celebrities" are (a) famous for being famous, and therefore have no "tie-in" to a tv or movie (nothing to promote other than themselves) (b) over-priced and aren't booked or (c) complete idiots. The celebrities that know how to play these games well have low Q-ratings and are deemed "undesirable" (read: to old) because they won't bring the audience in.

During this summer's "Gameshow Marathon" the worst was the Match Game portion. I'm sorry, but not every joke and non-sequitor needs to be scripted and timed. Kathy Griffin is truly funny...unless she scripted and timed, then her jokes fall flat because she simply ends up mugging for the camera and the laugh. That's not comedy, that's reading jokes off a cue-card to the (not so) pleasing sounds of a laugh-track.

The original Match Game and Hollywood Squares worked not because they were timed to the last second, but because they were allowed to flow. If you didn't make it to the bonus round in thirty minutes, oh well, it was carried over to the next day. The entertainment of the show mattered more than the game play. One of the funniest episodes of the recent HS revival was the ep where the contestants had to keep choosing Gilbert Godfried because they kept believing his bluffs. It ended up taking almost the entire episode to play one round. If that had been cut half-way through just to get in another round of play, it wouldn't have been near as funny.

Anyway, I don't think the panel gameshows (modified or not) will be making a come-back anytime soon unless the quality of the celebrities becomes better and the writers and producers quit trying to "make it funny" and allow it to "be funny."

 

[formeraa]

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the Gameshow Marathon last summer. :'(

However, I agree that MG worked because the stars were truly funny. As I watched some of the old episodes on GSN, I realized that even (a much younger) Bob Barker on MG was very funny. He was often the "straight man" to everyone else's jokes.

Scripting jokes just doesn't work. It comes off like Ellen at the Oscars...forced and not funny most of the time. Miss America used to be great when the late Bert Parks was the host -- he managed to be himself and everyone loved him. Then, a consultant got a "better" idea...

 

[Ultimajock]

However, I agree that MG worked because the stars were truly funny. As I watched some of the old episodes on GSN, I realized that even (a much younger) Bob Barker on MG was very funny. He was often the "straight man" to everyone else's jokes.

...unfortunately, I don't think there are enough naturally witty celebrities left to make the cut necessary for any revivals of celebrity-based games. I suspect the only such shows that could work upon a revival today would be "TattleTales," because the occasional awkwardness of marriage itself is as universal a trait as it was in the '70s, and "Password," which is still used as an educational tool in some locales. The pool for interesting talk show guests is stretched so thin nowadays that, unlike the time of Paar, Griffin, Carson, Cavett and Snyder, the main attraction isn't how fascinating the guests are, it's how the guests set up a situation by which the host can score a punchline in response. With Gene Rayburn and Peter Marshall, both were stage actors who could improvise alongside George Gobel or Richard Dawson. The most recent revivals of "Match Game," "To Tell the Truth" and "Hollywood Squares" should establish to all that the celebrity personality show in general is in danger of extinction...