FULL RECAP - TPiR 01/20/2010

[Wayoshi]

While Steve is right about Drew at the end, I'll give him a pass today - that was arguably the most painful OB of the Drew era, and obviously Drew is not ready to exactly host in those extremely rare circumstances. We're getting there.

And can we get a luxury car won??? OMG. Today Greco made sure there would be a GOTC on 1, and then Jeff goes for it...ugh

[WooWho]

Hi everybody, this is Joshua from today's show!  I'm in a bit of a hurry and can't post a detailed account right now, but once I get time I'll be replying to most everything...including my "cheesy" loss in Grand Game.

[elskunkoman]

Well Lucky seven was a forced loss anyway because of the 5 being the first number after the 2 and the last digit being 9. Only 2 games won today I hope tomorrow goes better meaning more wins at least 3, 4, or maybe 5.

[Kev347]

Today was seemingly one of those days where Drew was just there for the paycheck. After doing a great job interacting with the contestants yesterday, he went through the motions today. He did, like Steve pointed out, host Shell Game the best he ever has (please continue to build up the reveal that way!), but the rest was just there, and Card Game (quit mumbling!) and the showcase were just bad. Drew, I know that the fact that he bid on the Porsche by such a small amount is painful, but Joshua won. Celebrate that! Also, from hosting 101: Whenever the first two digits of the contestant's bid are the same as the first two digits of the ARP of the showcase...build up the DSW. Yes, it's painful, but you can console him after, so do what you need to do first.

And aside from Shell Game and the Porsche, there was nothing remarkable about today's episode (I am no longer surprised or shocked by -89 endings in Lucky $even, or by Double Prices being played for two prizes).. Well, aside from the fact that the first showcase was the most ridiculously unpriceable showcase we've ever had, and that's saying something after the last two seasons. I could tell that they were REALLY trying to have the Porsche won by having the 1st showcase be very easy to GOTC, but still, that's one of those prizes that, as cool as it sounds, you should probably scrap it. (I mean I'd certainly love access to a private jet for 5 hours...but I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to price it, and therein lies the problem). Still, the great Shell Game segment made this show a bit above average in my mind.

Timings:
Grand Game (5) - 4:12
Lucky $even (4.5) - 4:36
Double Prices (3) - 2:53
Shell Game (6) - 5:35
One Right Price (3.5) - 3:01
Card Game  (5)- 4:00
Total time (27): 24:17

[catdogwheel]

Cameron really seemed like an ungreatful contestant. I mean when he saw the car he looked truly disappointed! Thankfully he lost.

[Joe_Capitano]

I wasn't too pleased with the way the show ended, outcome notwithstanding. For one, as stated by others here, Drew should have said Joshua had won. By now Drew should be able to handle that.

Second, someone should keep all those people from rushing home base. That area should be off limits. Drew should be able to close the show without having to work around a mob of people what really should remain in the Peanut Gallery to begin with. If there's going to be any congratulating, let the winner meet his peeps at stage level - and as I have said before, no more than two or three pre-designated people should be allowed up. No large groups.

Meanwhile...

Hi everybody, this is Joshua from today's show!... I'll be replying to most everything...including my "cheesy" loss in Grand Game.

Welcome to the funny farm here. When you return expect to see a nice little swirly thing under your name.

[sideshowPA]

Hi everybody, this is Joshua from today's show!  I'm in a bit of a hurry and can't post a detailed account right now, but once I get time I'll be replying to most everything...including my "cheesy" loss in Grand Game.

Congratulations Joshua.  I'll ask the question on everybody's mind:  did you keep the jet flight, and what will you do with it?

[catdogwheel]

Today's show really wasn't that great.

Josh, I felt you were energetic and did really well in Grand Game, but once you picked the Cheese Whiz I knew you were doomed! I know this because for one thing I work at a grocery store, so I know the prices of some things. Plus I've had to buy it for my mom when she makes some things. And Cheese Whiz is one that can shock you when you see how much it is! Same goes for that McCormick cinnamon.

Awesome to see Shell Game and awesome to see it won. Thank goodness everything after her first chip didn't matter. Oh yeah and I knew she had won before Drew even started the reveal, you know how? Watch the video again, if you want to. When Drew sat his microphone on the table and then started rattling the shells, you could hear it was either under 2 or 3.

Showcases-  The reveal for the Porsche showcase was just terrible. Definetely one of Drew's downfalls as a host. To me it was probably even worse than the "EXACTA" showcase last season. But hey, at least the contestant made an awesome bid unlike most, even if he went over by a mere $100. Most people low-ball their bids in these kinds of showcases that have super-expensive cars, or even trips.

Completely off topic, That's a funny avatar sideshowPA!

[chad1m]

I don't watch every day because of school and whatnot, so I don't know if this has been noted before, but did anyone else notice that the cue used during the Las Vegas trip & $1,000 prize in showcase two sounded just like the Think Fast [/i]theme? Kalehoff must be getting lazy in his old age, but I still loved it!

[SpunkyMunky]

Hi everybody, this is Joshua from today's show!  I'm in a bit of a hurry and can't post a detailed account right now, but once I get time I'll be replying to most everything...including my "cheesy" loss in Grand Game.

Hi Joshua. I too would have chosen the Cheez Whiz and stayed away from the bandages. Ah well, it looks like you won a nice TV set at the beginning, and congrats on winning your Showcase! 

[PIR85]

I am so far behind on watching shows... finally due to rare circumstances I actually got to watch a full episode at home today!!

I must say that I thought most of the show was downright abysmal today.  Contrary to the majority opinion around here, I specifically didn't like the way Shell Game was handled.  For one thing, the inflection in his voice indicated that he didn't care if the ball was under the first or second pick.  Also, why bring up the $500 bonus after the second pick, and not the third?  And laying the cash on the table only to take it back makes you look pretty ridiculous.  He did a good-considering-it-was-Drew buildup for the third pick, but bouncing the ball on the table such that it flies off to the other part of the stage does not look professional and it came off as pure silliness to me.  

Nice to see The Price is Right train for the onebid!

I knew a special car was coming per Drew's twitter yesterday.  I have no clue how to price a Porsche, but I thought he had underbid... shows you how well I can price these glamorous prizes.

I was saying the bandages the whole time for Grand Game... and I would have won today.  Welcome to the boards, Joshua!

DiPirro's one "fail" is his use of (at times) three cameras for a calldown.  At least with Bart there were two, and he would use the first one followed by the second one all the way through.  DiPirro likes to jump between all three cameras (the jib plus two pedcams) several times, which is his biggest directing fail.  But, there are quite a few other things that more than make up for it.

Speaking of calldowns, at the opening, why does the pan camera not snap-zoom into the contestant anymore?  After panning the audience, the contestant stands up and the camera points that direction and has a very slow zoom in that area.  Sometimes it's even hard to tell which person is supposed to be coming on down.  Mark this down as directing fail #2  (although this practice started before DiPirro was hired).

I know I'm a music cue nerd, but c'mon... was there even one 1983-or-older cue played today?  Heck, was there even a '94 cue now that I think about it?  That is disgusting.  And, yes, most of your Joe Plinkos notice these are gone, and yes, most find that quite unfavorable.

[GameShowKid]

I know I'm a music cue nerd, but c'mon... was there even one 1983-or-older cue played today?  Heck, was there even a '94 cue now that I think about it?  That is disgusting.

I've noticed this in general for a while and mentioned it a few days ago. The older cues could at least be shuffled in with the new; that's the way it's been done in the past. Well, maybe I shouldn't bring up the past.

[Teddy]

(See original post)
That's all

Hey, don't forget the accompanying sound effect to go with it: MRRRRRRRRP!

[WooWho]

Whew...OK.  Now that I'm here...a detailed account!

First order of business to everyone's questions: I gave up that trip.  No way am I paying taxes on $25,000 airfare.  And while I'm at it, I'm getting the cash equivalent for everything in my Showcase except the chair, which I'm keeping (these dorm room chairs I'm sitting in suck big time).  And, of course, the TV, which incidentally arrived last Monday--just in time for the new semester!  (Of course, wanting to keep the ultimate secret, I haven't even taken it out of the box yet, but come this weekend...)

I kinda cheated and saw Grand Game behind the GPT even before it was lifted, so I was immediately thinking, "OK, I'll pick off the hard ones first and leave an obvious one to give me the easy $10K."  With that setup, no way was that happening.

As far as the last product goes...honestly, I had no idea the bandages were even there until Drew flipped the card down showing the price of the cheese.  And RIGHT before he did, I thought, "Oh, no, that's not the right one..."

Hey...at least I knew to stay away from the motor oil!  (IIRC, it was a little over $6...$6.39, I want to say?)

Cameron told me after he sat down next to me that, for the last number, he had "4, 5, 9" lodged into his brain and couldn't figure out which one he wanted to pick.  So, he turned to the crowd...and we all know what happened there.

(He also really wanted to swap One-Bid prizes with me after the show...)

Two funny things happened in Shell Game that were edited out: Drew messed around with the shells before the game, even picking some up (and inadvertently revealing the ball in the process).  He suddenly realizes, "Oh, jeez, I wasn't supposed to do that, was I?"  So they spin the game back around and it proceeded as usual, save for one instance where that blow dryer just wouldn't stand up straight.  And Tyra told everybody backstage that she was just married about a week before the taping, and she was so happy to have won that furniture.

The Showcases...oh, jeez.  Call it (if I may coin a new term here) "overphobia", but I figured the phone, desk, computer, chair, and service were around $5,000 total.  That trip, at least to me, couldn't have been more than $15,000, so I was originally thinking to bid around 18-20K.  Why I lowered it to what I bid...don't ask.  Chalk it up to overphobia.

So when they were setting up before the reveal, they left the desk on stage.  With my bid, there was no way I could've won, so I thought Jeff had  ed.  But of course, now we know what happened there...and man, I felt so terrible for him.

Overall, my energy level was hyped up much higher than it usually is (simply because I was so freakin' NERVOUS!), and I kinda feel bad for having won that Showcase the way I did, but I wouldn't trade that experience for the world.  Drew and Rich were so nice to me, and luck really was on my side.

[SteveGavazzi]

And while I'm at it, I'm getting the cash equivalent for everything in my Showcase except the chair

How?  Unless something's changed since Roger was fired (and if it has, it just reinforces how little of a clue these people have about controlling the budget) or the prizes for whatever reason became unavailable, you can't do that.