Amazingly enough, despite the dire predictions of some of the more obsessive bunch, the world kept spinning when Drew walked through the doors, just like when Doug Davidson or Tom Kennedy (or heck, even Rikki Lake) did.
Overall, the show went quite well, I thought. Yes, he seemed a little stiff in some places (and say what you want about Doug Davidson’s version, he had the games down pat from day one). On the flip side, Drew’s humor seemed more genuine, albeit a touch sharper, than Bob’s in recent years. Anyone who does what Bob did for 35 years deserves the utmost respect, but to be fair, in the past few seasons, Bob seemed “phonier” than for most of his run. I don’t want to dwell on that point—it could be age, or simply the fatigue of handing out refrigerators and dune buggies for the better part of two generations. He seemed genuinely enthused for the winning contestants, and his slight tweaks to the way he explained the rules to various games showed that he’s finding his own style. (The reference to Barker’s Bargain Bar being named after the show’s founder, Ezekiel Barker was one of his better throwaway lines.)
The redesign was good as far as it went, and the refreshed music cues were good. Overall, though, I still would have advocated for a more substantial redesign of the set, a la the 1994 version. The retro look is interesting, and a nice change from the balloons & stars motifs of recent years. The turntable portion of the set looks noticeably better. The one element that looks worse is the showcase podiums—that weird reflecting metal pattern is on the gaudy side.
Honestly, the most jarring change in watching the show beginning to end (and this is meant as a compliment that the transition overall was smooth) was hearing Rich Fields say “…speaking for The Price is Right, a Freemantle Media production.” Farewell to the last vestige of Mark Goodson’s name on the show.
Seeing a close-up of an HD logo on the corner of one of the cameras reminded me that I’ve wondered if there are plans to go HD someday. Jeopardy and Wheel look very good in HD; Price could be interesting to see that way.
The show is in good hands, now it’s up to viewers to decide if they can get over the “Bob didn’t do it that way” attitudes and learn to appreciate what someone else can bring to a venerable format.
And for heaven’s sake, it still beats The View.
