The Price is Right's Newest Game: Double Cross

On Friday, viewers of The Price is Right saw a debut of a new pricing game, Double Cross.

Remembering Game Show Pioneer Bob Stewart

On Friday, the television world lost a true legend. Bob Stewart, the creator and producer of game shows such as The Price is Right, Password, To Tell The Truth, and Pyramid, has passed away at the age of 91.

TPIR: Rich Fields Out

It’s been announced earlier today that Rich Fields will be replaced with a new announcer this upcoming season. On-air auditions similar to what happened after Johnny Olson and Rod Roddy passed away will take place this fall.

I’d say that while I wasn’t a huge fan of Rich’s actual announcing, I did enjoy his chemistry with Drew Carey very much. I found it much more enjoyable than his interactions with Bob. With Bob Barker, it seemed way too much like Rich was looking up to this superior being, but when he was with Drew it was like two pals; the host and his sidekick having a good time. The odd thing about it is that I found that his voice during the early part of his tenure was better. It’s almost like listening to two different people when hearing him announce anything when comparing, say 2005 to today.

All I can say now is that I hope they find someone good to take over. No Daniel Rosen’s, please.

TPIR: Rat Race

I think this is a pretty good game. The set up is really nice. The race track looks slick and flashy
enough but not too flashy. I've disliked the way some recent color sets with some games have looked, like Clock Game during the last years of the Barker-era set, because the neon colors really didn't flow. But looks wise, everything fits here.

As for the most important part, the game itself, the competition element with the rats reminds me just a tad bit of Hurdles; which I loved while seeing it played during classic reruns. It’s a shame that one didn’t work properly enough. The good thing though is that with the way this game is built, we shouldn’t have this kind of problem. Definitely one of the better newer pricing games.

Online Pick of the Week (2/19): The Price Is Right

The pick this week is The Price is Right… but not a version of the show that most everyone will remember. The original version (which is actually not the one that started in 1972) actually began in 1956 on NBC and was hosted by Bill Cullen.

Some may be turned off by the fact that there are only four contestants that stay for the whole show, but I don’t find this a problem at all. It lacks much of what the current version has, like for instance, no Plinko or Showcase Showdown to be had here, but it’s still a lot of fun. I think Bill’s interaction with the players, and the magnificent prizes alone truly make up for it. There were things as extravagant as a house and an airplane on some episodes. And there were plenty of cars, too. I also loved some of the guest hosts that appeared, including Merv Griffin and Arlene Francis.

Good series, and it’s a shame that there are such ridiculous standards set by CBS so that no version of this show period could air on GSN due to fear of “over saturation.” I think it’d be a nice addition to the schedule at any point, but it could especially do a little wonders now with such a limited amount of classics on the schedule. Seriously, one airing in the overnight hours, at say, 3 AM, isn’t going to kill the ratings for Drew’s version. What I did see was that four episodes of the show managed to make themselves available on the Best of The Price Is Right DVD set that came out a couple years back from BCI. It’d be great if we’d see more episodes of this version that way. Maybe the Mill Creek company could make it happen sometime in the distant future.

The Price is Right with Bill Cullen... my online pick of the week!

TPiR: Nielson Survey

I would have posted this entry last week, but after I wrote it I couldn't find a working link any longer on the CBS site. But there’s a survey around which comes from the people at Nielson and asks what you think about The Price is Right at its current state. The questions are very precise and cover how the survey taker would feel about Drew Carey, Rich Fields, the models, the importance of the pricing games, the prizes, etc. It also allows you to give your own statements on whether or not the show has improved over the past year.

Two things come to mind. First, I’m not sure if other CBS daytime shows are having these (and considering what The Young & The Restless has apparently turned to, It’d be nice seeing survey answers for that show), but I can’t help but wish As The World Turns and Guiding Light had similar surveys. Unlike with focus groups (which some soaps like Another World were known for using), the actual fans could have taken them and they could have tried to help save both shows.

Secondly, this is also how GSN’s survey released nearly at the same time should have gone. GSN right now seems too invested in reality -- reality and "branching out into a different direction" -- something that’s already failed for them before and is failing for them now. The programming heads just don’t seem to have learned any lessons.

TPiR: Season 38 Premiere: Review

Since there really aren’t any major changes to the show game play wise, I will simply comment on the minor changes.

I really am enjoying most of the new set changes. The one-bid score displays look really nice. Updated for the modern conveniences, while continuing to sport the classic look of which the show is known. Same with the turntable and the main stage where the pricing games are played. A few of the new camera angles remind me of something: I know a few friends who have seen the show in person, and the one thing that they all say is how small the set is in actuality compared to what is seen on television. And these new shots during the closed-captioned bumpers and so forth really seem to resemble that fact. The only real problem I have with the set is with the showcase podiums. The color scheme matches, but they’re a little thin for my tastes and the score readouts are a bit hard to read. The latter issue could easily be fixed by making the readout background darker.

I think Drew so far this season is doing a really decent job. I am confident that things will not turn the way things did close to around this time last fall, where the intended comedy overpowered the show itself. Luckily things for the most part turned around relatively quickly after.

Here’s to another season of Price!

Online Pick of the Week (8/28): Other FAIL Moments

After seeing Ken Basin lose over $475,000 on Millionaire this week, it just got my mind going to some other moments in game show world which left you wondering what in the world were these people thinking when they made the decisions they’ve made.

The first pick from Wheel of Fortune is probably the most memorable with hardcore game show fans, and not likely the average viewer as it is never been shown in clip retrospectives and this episode is really not rerun either. And what cruel irony with the puzzle here as well. I’m sure there was much agonized feeling along with that defeat for Terry at this point. Did the nerves get to her? It’s certainly a possibility. The cameras, the lights, can easily get to a contestant and get the best of them, understandably so. But sadly, in the end, it cost her $62,000.

Here are a couple of other moments that just genuinely makes you wonder “what where they THINKING?“ From my own personal collection, here is an example of how NOT to play the grand game on The Price Is Right. It’s something that I can’t help but think. But most medicinal/health products will screw you over every time in playing this game. It’s probably come from all my years of watching the show, but I’ve learned that it’s best to try to avoid those like the plague. Another classic moment comes from the Dawson version of Family Feud, where a woman struggles to come up with an answer for a question, well, besides tires.

What were they thinking?

Online Pick of the Week (7/31): The Nighttime Price Is Right

The pick this week goes to a little something called The Nighttime Price Is Right. In case some of you were not aware, yes, before Drew came along there were other hosts of Price, not just Bill Cullen in the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s, but there were a couple in the 1970’s and 80’s even!

And in regards to those nighttime hosts, I really thought Tom Kennedy (who hosted from 1985-86) did the best job. I think he did so, despite him saying otherwise. I think he even did better than Bob Barker. It’s an interesting thing for me, as until about 5 years ago, I had not seen anyone else besides Bob Barker host a 1972+ version of the show that modeled the CBS era. I was impressed with Tom right off the bat. He had a really good time hosting, a great rapport with the contestants, and had the right amount of energy. This was also the first time I had ever seen Tom host anything and knowing that he did so well on this show made me confident that I’d like him in anything else.

I’m so-so about Dennis James, who hosted from 1972-77. When the show first started in 1972, judging from his 6th episode, he was great, did well with the show and the contestants too. And after listening to the 1973-75 episodes at J-Shea’s site, he did well here too. So he got off to a good start. However, after seeing a couple episodes from later in the run, things had changed and he seemed as though he were on auto-pilot. I wonder what could have happened.

As for one newer version that did not model the CBS format much, I really did not care for the Doug Davidson’s version in 1994. Didn’t like it when I was 8 years old and I don’t like it today in seeing episodes of it now.

The clip chosen is a segment featuring the game Switcheroo, in which something pretty rare happens! I won’t spoil it if you have not seen it yet. Switcheroo on The Nighttime Price Is Right with Tom Kennedy, my online pick of the week!

Online Pick of the Week: The Price Is Right

After all that’s been happening in the television world lately with news of Guiding Light being cancelled, knowing that Supernatural will end next year, ER ending, and even What’s My Line? and Card Sharks being removed from GSN; just all of it. Anything that’s either been disappointing, upsetting, saddening, or deemed negative in any way; I just needed something positive and light to enjoy, and to take my mind off of it all for a bit. So herein lies my online pick of the week for the week of March 30-April 3: this year’s Price is Right April Fools show.

This had to have been one of the most awesome and funny shows I have ever seen of Price. And seeing it again, I'm enjoying it just as much as I did when I first watched it. It was handled perfectly, from the Bill Cullen mention in the opening, the Come on Down’s in foreign languages, Drew with the Groucho glasses, the Match Game theme music, the odd wheel sound effects, right along to Kathy Kinney modeling the prizes as Mimi.

This season of the show seems to have gone through a rather bumpy ride; from the retired pricing games to the atmosphere that was too laid back even for my tastes. But since the end of December, the show in my eyes seems to be picking up much more again. Instances like the disappointing pie-throwing showcase show that comedy does not always bode well, especially when it just seems unprepared and random, but I enjoyed the April Fool’s showcase very much. This was just the right instance to take a beloved show and add some silliness just for fun’s sake. And Drew is back to the way he was before this past fall.

The 2009 Price is Right April Fool’s episode, my online pick of the week!

Best Game Show Moments of 2008

It’s truly hard to have just one, so I’ve come up with four! My picks for best game show moments in the year 2008!

I’d definitely say my favorite moment this year game show wise was Betty White’s appearance on Million Dollar Password. I must be a real sentimental person, especially for ranking this as #1, not only because it was a pure treat to see her play on both episodes, but also because seeing the clip of Betty and Allen on the original Password just really tugged at the heartstrings!

Another great moment I’d say would be the million dollar win on Wheel of Fortune. As I’ve said before, I’m tired of the gimmicky things this show pulls, but there’s something about the million dollar wedge. Yes, the show should tone the glamour down, I’ll always think that. But with the million dollar wedge, I like how the contestant really has to work for it and earn it. And that’s exactly what Michelle did back in October! It was EARNED and her reaction was just priceless. It was all about the emotion.

A third one for me would be yet another million dollar win -- this time with contestant Cynthia on The Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular back in April, when playing Clock Game. Again, just like Michelle’s win, it was about the emotion. Emotion that wasn’t forced out and unnecessarily overdrawn by ridiculous commercial tosses and “missions.” The emotion in that moment was raw and real, like how it should be on a game show.

Another memorable and great moment for me had to be seeing contestant Dorothy play on the daytime Price is Right again after 37 years. In 1972, she won the Grocery Game and made it to the showcase. It’s unfortunate that she didn’t do too well in 2008, but it was still a treat to see her.

Here’s hoping for more memorable and great moments in 2009!

TPIR: 37th Season Premiere

The first day of fall marked the season premiere of America’s longest-running daytime game show. Price’s 37th season got off to a pretty exciting start with Most Expensive. Heartbreaking loss though.

As reported this summer, we got a new pricing game, Gas Money! I really like the concept behind it. With the name and everything, it really marks our current time period. And not only do you get a car if you win the game, but you also win up to $10,000!

As I probably said before, I didn’t have a digital TV converter box before this season so I’m finally seeing the show in widescreen now and I must say, it’s another really interesting experience. I don’t have an HDTV and even I can tell how even better the show looks with the HD cameras. And speaking of looks… the set this season is pretty good in my opinion. Pretty much the Million Dollar Spectacular set brought to daytime, sans the black floor, also as reported earlier this summer. I do like the new big wheel design. Though I’m really not looking forward to seeing the purple coloring with that. I like how the show looks modern enough without being too modern.

I’m looking forward very much to the rest of the season and I’m glad that small changes were made without the show losing its feel.

TPIR: Happy Anniversary, Price

September 4th, 2008 marks the anniversary of the longest running daytime game show. None other than The Price Is Right.

The show has gone through a lot over the past 37 years. Set changes, model changes, expanding to a full hour, different announcers, Bob Barker’s retirement, Drew Carey‘s arrival. And now the show is about to undergo some more changes for the new season. Here are the facts:

A lot of them do sound pretty good. I love the fact that the show will be in HD this season. I’ve just recently bought a converter box so I can have a digital signal for the local channels, and I’ve noticed how much clearer things look, even with an analog TV. The show will also bring the million dollar set to daytime, with the exception of the floor remaining white.

As far as the pricing games go, 3-Strikes’ first digit in the pricing game is given for free, and all 3 strikes are being added back to the bag. One other thing is that the game isn’t played entirely for luxury cars anymore, which means we’ll probably see this game more in the rotation. Check Game’s winning range has been updated from $5,000-$6,000 to $7,000-$8,000. Punch-A-Bunch’s top prize is now $25,000. There will be a single $25,000 slip replacing the two $10,000 ones. However, out of all the changes and additions being made, I think I’m most looking forward to the addition of the new pricing game, Gas Money.

The Big Wheel has been updated with new fonts and color schemes to match the turntables and the doors. The font changes, while minor, could take a tiny bit to get used to, but I do love the idea of having a more a color-coordinated set.

The rumors about the format changes and other major set changes at the time of Roger Dobkowitz’s removal have since been proven false. There are still six pricing games, two showcase showdowns, etc. Drew Carey is still the host and Rich Fields is still the announcer.

TPIR: Drew's Nighttime Debut

Drew was in pretty much fine form to me as usual, even though this time he was a bit under the weather. Nice tux!

The contestants were really fun to watch. It seems as though they like to save the most energetic people for the special shows. Plinko was rather a disappointment. Though it's not the first time that there's been bad luck with that game during the nighttime shows. I also like how they tried to incorporate different ways for the contestants to possibly win one million dollars. And it finally paid off! It seemed before that the prime time version could never do it but it finally happened last week!

The set was great. I wouldn’t want to see the black floor and all the shiny stuff during the day, but on special episodes it works and the confetti was a nice touch. The only thing I didn't care much for was the ending. Contestant Adam won $1,153,908. I was kind of hoping that the ending would have been a bit jazzier. But if any problems I had were minor, that is a good sign.

I'm definitely looking forward to more Million Dollar Spectacular shows. Keep 'em coming, CBS!

More Details About The Best of The Price Is Right DVD Release

More details have arisen recently about the new Price Is Right DVD release coming March 25th.

We should be getting four Bill Cullen era shows, Bob Barker’s first show, several 1970’s episodes and Bob’s final week.

I have to say two things I was pleasantly surprised to hear about, one being that there would be any Cullen shows. I love that era so much and I’ll be buying this set for those episodes alone. I was also surprised to hear that the first show should be included, which considering the fact that Bob wishes that his earlier episodes that featured furs as prizes were to never be rerun, that was something to hear. The restriction didn’t really start to bother me until I realized that several pricing games debuted on episodes with furs, one example being Clock Game. I think most people realize that Bob didn’t become an animal activist until the 1980’s, so watching fur episodes from before that shouldn’t make people suddenly think he was some sort of hypocrite on that matter.

I was hoping that we’d see more episodes from the 1980’s or maybe some from the Tom Kennedy era. And I have to admit that while I had the inkling we’d see Bob’s last show, I didn’t think they’d put on the whole final week. But this set still looks promising and I love the 1970's era of the series.

Since there were no real problems reported with the All-Star Family Feud set, BCI seems to have fixed whatever disc problem they had with the Match Game set. I was so excited to get my best of Match Game DVD set only to test out disc 4 and realize that it didn’t work. The picture pixilated and the sound failed and so did the photo gallery. I was so furious since I had this problem with two new sets. A lot of other people had this issue too. I’m glad this problem was taken care of.

Here’s hoping to a good DVD set. Cheers to game shows being released on DVD! Whoo-hoo!

TPIR: How Drew's Doing

I realized that I did an entry back in October about The Price Is Right's 36th season premiere, but I also just noticed I never really gave much of a later review for how I think Drew is doing so far on the show.

I’ve enjoyed a lot of Drew’s other work over the years. For one, The Drew Carey Show, and secondly, Whose Line Is It Anyway. When I first heard that he was going to be the new host of Price, I really wasn’t as skeptical as I was when other host’s names popped up across forums. Drew’s name was never one that made me go “ehh… Drew would be good on the show IF--.” I’ll elaborate.

Todd Newton -- I was a Todd Newton supporter initially, but I'm kind of glad he didn't get picked the more I think about it. I liked him on Hollywood Showdown, but his job on Whammy!: The All-New Press Your Luck was an entirely different story. To me he was way too hyper, and WAY too loud, just like the revival itself was, and acted like the stereotypical game show host which I could not stand. Hollywood Showdown was different; I thought he was good on there. The volume was just right. It was like night and day. So in other words, “Todd Newton would be perfect IF he didn’t act like the stereotypical game show host.”

John O’Hurley -- John O'Hurley would be perfect IF he didn't start some annoying thing like jump at the losing horns like he did with the Feud 'try again' buzzer last season.” I think he’s capable of being a good host, and I enjoy him more than Richard Karn and without a single doubt more than Louie Anderson, but I’m so glad to see that jumping went away. I can see him developing traditions on this show that I find unfavorable.

This never occurred with Drew. And when I saw him on The Power of 10 and not leaving Whose Line out of my mind, I was convinced that he’d make a good game show host.

And I’ve been loving him on the show more and more everyday. For one, I like how he says “Hi, how are you doing, welcome to the show,” etc. to the contestants when it’s Item Up For Bids time. I also really like how happy he is on the show and how he uses his own sense of humor. And there are the phrases too. Some of them being “Shazam” for Double Prices, “Making friends, are we?” for someone bidding one dollar higher than the last person, and my personal favorite, “Alakazam!” during Half-Off. As I mentioned in the past, I love how he's not pretty much close to shouting at the contestants to hurry up every few minutes. I'm not saying that with Bob, the show was never fun, but I do find that there’s such an abundance of joy on the show now. To me, more than before than in the past several years. I always make an effort to try to at least watch if I can’t tape as often as possible.

Of course Drew’s making some mistakes or will make a few more in the near future. One of the biggest reasons I love a lot of the game show hosts that I do is because of the fact that they simply weren’t perfect, knew they weren’t perfect, and didn’t try to be. And anyone who’s ever watched the show before Drew came along (especially in the last 5 or so years) would know that Bob was never perfect all the time on this show either. And then there’s the fact that Drew has had about 80 pricing games to work with in his start. When Price was first revived in 1972, by the end of the taping of week one, there were only five, that’s right, FIVE pricing games, which consisted of the following: Any Number, Double Prices, Grocery Game, Bullseye (I), and Bonus Game. So I think it’s only fair that I give Drew the chance to learn a few pricing games at a time.

There is one thing that really frustrates me though. I’m pretty much more than willing to accept other people’s opinions about why they don’t like Drew himself as a host even if I don‘t agree with them, but there’s one thing I simply do not understand. I don’t get how some people say they don’t like Drew and they just seem to blame the man for everything. It’s not Drew’s fault that the contestants are obnoxious. It’s not Drew’s fault that you don’t like the new version of the theme music. It’s not Drew’s fault that you don’t like the new camera angles for the “come on down” portion of the show. And it’s not Drew’s fault that you don’t like the new set. Other people are responsible for making those changes. If you dislike Drew as a host, then you don’t like his “Alakazam’s” during Half-Off, his banter with Rich, his laugh, or his handling of the contestants, or anything that Drew does. If you don’t like the man on this show, I honestly think that some folks should at least try to be fair and at least blame him for something that HE does.

The Price Is Right: Drew Carey’s big debut!

Today marked a new era in television history, with the airing of the first show ever of new Price is Right host, Drew Carey.

I have to say that while I thought he was a little bit stiff at times and could have explained the rules better, he still managed to do an acceptable job. Drew did seem like he was having fun and was really nice with the contestants. I loved it when he said "The idea is not to hurt the yodel man" to the contestant playing Cliffhangers. I have to commend him though for his banter with the staff, and while I did respect most of Bob Barker's hosting abilities, one thing of his I could not stand was in the past several years that he constantly hurried the contestants every five minutes and really not in a pleasant way, even though sometimes a few of them deserved it. I think that hearing that often got grating though and I'm glad that is no longer happening. And the one time Drew did need to hurry someone, he was rather polite.

I'm not going to criticize Drew completely and with such full vigor this early though. I mean, come on, let's be fair. The viewing audience has been accustomed to Bob's hosting style on Price for 35 years. This is an extremely early show of Drew's that was taped and his first show that aired on television. I won't mind at all giving him a bit more time, a month at least. At least he's being himself and he's not being overly loud and acting as if he were the stereotypical Mr. Game Show.

As far as minor things go… I must say that I am loving the new set. I absolutely hated the cyan/pink scheme from the last several years of the Barker era. I thought it was pretty ugly especially with the glitter, and while I thought the colorful doors that were added in season 35 looked really nice and bright, at the same time, they did not match the turntable and game podiums.

I knew after watching a preview clip on YouTube that the “Come on Down” music arrangement was re-orchestrated, so I wasn’t surprised about that. But I was a little shocked at hearing the new main theme on the air. I have to admit that this is one thing that I would not have altered, but at the same time I have to give the person who made the decision to change it credit for just re-orchestrating it to make it more sound more modern, and not just taking the easy way out by just choosing to change it completely and replace it with some modern-esque techno garbage that repeats itself every few notes.

This is a rather minor thing to nitpick about, but I have to say I’m disappointed that the “Mark Goodson television production” spiel is now replaced with “A Fremantle Media production.” The MGP mention is one of the things that help kept the retro feeling of the show, and I must say that the Fremantle version just makes this practice redundant now since we’ll see their logo again in a few seconds.

As far as Drew goes, he is really in a no-win situation. First of all, you’re going to have a group of Price fans who are not even going to give this man a chance regardless whether or not he’s doing a decent job and won‘t even watch (and I admit, years ago I would have easily been a big part of this group). And secondly, Drew is also trying to be himself, and some other folks will be saying “Well, he’s not handling One Away the same way Bob did” and are expecting the man to be a Bob Barker clone. Now I agree that finally seeing a new host on the air is a pretty big shock and it’s going to take a little getting used to some of the new surroundings. But I advise people who are still uneasy to give the guy more than one chance. It really could have been much worse. Fremantle could have done what they’ve done to other game shows in the recent past (Match Game and Card Sharks immediately come to mind), and could have turned the show into a complete disaster and trash the previous eras' legacies by trying to modernize them. This is a real early show of Drew’s and the first one the viewing audience saw. I’m pretty confident he’ll get better as time goes by. I urge people to please try and be patient.