The Price Is Right

[WMC2006]

Haven't watched Price since taking a curious look-see after Drew Carey first took over but I happened to be home this morning so decided to watch.
-First thing I noticed is that the show seems to be much more fast paced than in Bob Barker's days, or at least versus Barker's last few years when he had slowed down alot.
-The models, for whatever reason, seem to be miked. Apparently, it's important that we can HEAR them say "hello Drew" or say "Congratulations" to the contestants rather than just SEE them mouth the words. Good plan. :
-The host of the Columbian version of Price was in the audience and came up on stage to say hello. Drew tied this in to one of the models who is Columbian and received her US citizenship last year. Waste of time.
-They brought out a "completely refurbished" Bargain Game for the first time. If I'm not mistaken, this game used to be Barker's Bargain Bar which they kept using after Barker left. Not anymore. Must be time to distance themselves from Barker's days.
-I have no real problem with George Gray as announcer but did they really need to replace Rich Fields?? I had read a while back that they wanted someone who had more experience with adlibbing or something or other but George didn't do anything different than any previous announcer other than being shown on camera more than Rod Roddy and Rich Fields were allowed to be in Barker's final years as host.
-Drew still continues to use Barker's closing tag to get their pets spayed or neutered.

 

[w00t]

Drew does that tag line very begrudgingly, like he's just throwing it in there because he has to. I'm wondering if it's in a contract somewhere that it has to be said.

 

[imhomerjay]

Try again. Drew asked Bob if he could continue doing the pets plug--not a "contractual" thing at all.

 

[gregg75]

The only real thing I can see that Drew added to the show is when he tells the last contestant
picked for the bid row "You've only got one shot, so don't blow it." Must be very proud of that
as he seems to relish saying it.

 

[WMC2006]

He also asks every single person, as they are about to spin the Showdown Wheel, if they'd like to say hi to someone. I recall Barker doing that on occasion but not with every single person. I suppose it could be to fill time while the wheel is spinning and we don't have to listen to the blip blip blip but I find all the greetings annoying.

 

[quadraphonic]

It seems like the new Price is Right is more geared toward contestants and viewers having a good time and being "involved," moreso than just rotely playing a game.
Drew seems to like to personalize the show by including more contestant repartee and model input, too. They're not just there as eye candy (okay, maybe they are ), they're people too.

If you were on The Price is Right, wouldn't you want a few seconds to say "Hi" to someone, instead of watching the wheel spin, and hearing blipblipblip? And when are you gonna get to see the Colombian host, or hear that the model got her citizenship, if not on the show?

"Wasted time?" Come on man. Every split second of every tv show can't be geared to every self-centered person in the viewing audience, anyway. As MST3K taught us: "think to yourself, 'It's just a show, I should really just relax.'"

 

[Fenway1912]

Come on guys - THIS was the Price is Right

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVDICy80DXk


Show was done at the old Ziegfeld Theater at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street in Manhattan, New York City as it was impossible to bring large items into 30 Rock.

 

[cd637299]

Come on guys - THIS was the Price is Right

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVDICy80DXk


Show was done at the old Ziegfeld Theater at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street in Manhattan, New York City as it was impossible to bring large items into 30 Rock.

I have wondered why:

(1) ...no original NBC "Price is Right"s are available in color (or at least with the NBC Peacock tag in B&W kinescope), despite the fact that most of these on YouTube were originally produced in color; and

(2) ...this original TPIR was able to dodge the bullet of the late-50s scandals with these high-valued items. I believe that between 1958 & 1963-ish, almost all game shows had paltry prize winnings, so as to not be tagged as "tainted", after the "Twenty-One" Van Doren incident. But that is a thread in itself.

cd

 

[Markxxx]

The REAL "Price is Right" was spoofed on the Flintstones when Barney says "OK, I'll put in my two cents" and the host says, "OK your bid is two cents" ;D

 

[Braves2005]

I often wondered when CBS picked Drew Carey to host The Price Is Right of what their intentions were in picking him over many other people possibly more experienced than him (John O'Hurley (my own personal favorite to have replaced Bob) or Rich Fields or maybe even Wayne Brady).

Were they thinking "Since Bob Barker could hold the college crowd, maybe someone like Drew Carey could come full circle and bring TPIR to a much younger audience."? Or were they thinking of replacing everything that even resembled Bob Barker which basically they have done (the firing of Roger D., the firing of Rich Fields, Fingers Greco's retirement, changing the whole set, removing Bob Barker's name from anything associated with him (not counting his lone appearance in 2009 when Bob was on TPIR to promote his autobiography)).

The firing of Rich Fields spoke volumes of where things stood with Drew and TPIR and that anyone and anything associated with Bob Barker would be gone since it's Drew's show now and he can do whatever he wants to. Drew bringing his improv group of folks producing and announcing may be a clue to this and that Drew wants to be executive producer of TPIR one of these days. He's not like Bill Cullen (which he himself claims to be like) or like Bob Barker. Bill Cullen and Bob Barker were one of a kind when it came to hosting game shows and Drew Carey is not Bill Cullen and/or Bob Barker. He is a stand-up comedian who sadly had a mediocre sitcom of his own that lasted way too long on ABC and his profession lies more in that more than he is hosting a game show no more no less.

 

[Mario500]

I wish production of "The Price is Right" had stopped before resuming five years later with a new host in place (personally I would chosen Marc Summers, the former host of Nickelodeon's "Double Dare", to succeed Bob Barker). In between those five years CBS could have presented past editions of the program or given the rights to broadcast those past editions to the Game Show Network.

If the option involving the Game Show Network had been chosen, CBS could have premiered a couple of new game shows. If the new game shows were to be successful and last for the entire five-year break for "The Price is Right", those programs could have been sold to local TV stations through broadcast syndication.

If any of these ideas had been considered, folks who had been loyal to "The Price is Right" with Bob Barker for years would have been more likely to accept a new version of the show (if done properly and with respect) just like the folks who were loyal to the original version with Bill Cullen, because they had plenty of time between the end of the original version in 1965 and the beginning of the current version in 1972.

Unfortunately it is too late for the ideas to be considered and I had stopped watching "The Price is Right" on a regular basis since the first edition of series 38 (or season 38) in September 2009. I had realized the program was not getting better and getting less formal. Since then I had seen very little of the program and never an entire show.

I believe the owners of the program got they what they wanted for many years: change the program drastically and alienate the folks who had been loyal during Bob Barker's years of hosting. There were signs of these plans during the last decade of Bob Barker's hosting such as the firings of Janice Pennington and Kathleen Bradley and the Hollywood mural on the set of the program. 

 

[imhomerjay]

Five years of repeats on a broadcast network....seriously?

That aside, "we'll shut it down for X years and come back" is simply not reality. You lose the hour, there's zero guarantee of getting it back. The network is going to move on to something else, and only if there's another opening do you get to compete once again with everyone else with an idea to pitch.

Frankly it's irrelevant whether the bulk of the "loyal Barker"-ists accepted a new host. The demographic for the show had reached the point of being "one foot in the grave." Not exactly prime advertiser bait. To CBS's credit, they felt there might be something left in the format, and took a stab at it. Kudos to them for recognizing that this isn't 1985 anymore, and loosening things up.

And the firing of the earlier-administration models...who exactly was the executive producer then? Who wielded nearly absolute power then? Here's a hint--six letters, beginning with B.

 

[ShawnHill1]

Five years of repeats on a broadcast network....seriously?

That aside, "we'll shut it down for X years and come back" is simply not reality. You lose the hour, there's zero guarantee of getting it back. The network is going to move on to something else, and only if there's another opening do you get to compete once again with everyone else with an idea to pitch.

Frankly it's irrelevant whether the bulk of the "loyal Barker"-ists accepted a new host. The demographic for the show had reached the point of being "one foot in the grave." Not exactly prime advertiser bait. To CBS's credit, they felt there might be something left in the format, and took a stab at it. Kudos to them for recognizing that this isn't 1985 anymore, and loosening things up.

And the firing of the earlier-administration models...who exactly was the executive producer then? Who wielded nearly absolute power then? Here's a hint--six letters, beginning with B.

I agree...it wouldn't make sense to shut the show down for a five-year period (or any extendened length of time, for that matter), especially when the show continues to be a ratings-winner. I've been watching TPIR as long as I can remember, and I actually liked that they're freshing things up while staying within the true spirit of what the show's about. And it's certainly some truth about losing that hour, and at a point of time where the networks are giving time back to their stations, it's going to be a lot of "kicking and screaming" to get those said hours back.

 

[Joe_Capitano]

I have wondered why:

(1) ...no original NBC "Price is Right"s are available in color (or at least with the NBC Peacock tag in B&W kinescope), despite the fact that most of these on YouTube were originally produced in color; and (snip!)

Simple. Unless it was a very special show, or the producers had deep enough pockets to take custody of the tape(s), anything recorded on videotape usually got erased so the tape could be reused.

Who knew there would even be a GSN back then?

 

[Mario500]

And the firing of the earlier-administration models...who exactly was the executive producer then? Who wielded nearly absolute power then? Here's a hint--six letters, beginning with B.

I believe the owners of the program at Pearson Television (now Fremantle Media) had the final decision in who stays or goes. Having Bob Barker as executive producer (a titled he gained when the program was still owned by Mark Goodson Productions) shielded them from criticism.

 

[Darth_vader]

Yup, who knew? Videotape was still too new (read: expensive) back then to shoot a programme once and put the tapes away for posterity, like they do to-day, so they'd erase and record over them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiping

Needless to say, a LOT of early television history has been lost to a practice that was once considered "standard operating procedure"...

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Were they thinking "Since Bob Barker could hold the college crowd, maybe someone like Drew Carey could come full circle and bring TPIR to a much younger audience."?

If that thought was the case, then as has been discussed on the Worst Commercials thread on the Classic TV board--WHY has TPIR's commercial load been slanted heavily toward the older audience in recent years (Scooter Stores, Medicare, Hoveround, etc.)?

 

[imhomerjay]

And the firing of the earlier-administration models...who exactly was the executive producer then? Who wielded nearly absolute power then? Here's a hint--six letters, beginning with B.

I believe the owners of the program at Pearson Television (now Fremantle Media) had the final decision in who stays or goes. Having Bob Barker as executive producer (a titled he gained when the program was still owned by Mark Goodson Productions) shielded them from criticism.

Beware people with a bridge to sell.

Were they thinking "Since Bob Barker could hold the college crowd, maybe someone like Drew Carey could come full circle and bring TPIR to a much younger audience."?

If that thought was the case, then as has been discussed on the Worst Commercials thread on the Classic TV board--WHY has TPIR's commercial load been slanted heavily toward the older audience in recent years (Scooter Stores, Medicare, Hoveround, etc.)?

That began loooong before Carey showed up. They're trying to turn around a heck of a big ship, and even if it can be successful, it will take a long time.

 

[quadraphonic]

Were they thinking "Since Bob Barker could hold the college crowd, maybe someone like Drew Carey could come full circle and bring TPIR to a much younger audience."?

If that thought was the case, then as has been discussed on the Worst Commercials thread on the Classic TV board--WHY has TPIR's commercial load been slanted heavily toward the older audience in recent years (Scooter Stores, Medicare, Hoveround, etc.)?

Most shows I see outside of prime time have a heavy medical-oriented commercial load, in one way or another.

 

[KeyTimes950]

First of all, as to removing every reference to Bob Barker, I do believe the show is produced in "The Bob Barker Studio."

Second, Drew Carey is a host but not a center of attention. He seems very comfortable letting others shine, both in the cast and among those who "come on down."

Then again, I found Barker almost unwatchable toward the end.