The Official pentellit vs. Barker Thread

[The_Great_Butler]

It's a little difficult to completely set aside the "pressures of hosting" when one reaches the age of 83. Just because Barker was "all-powerful" doesn't mean that on some level he couldn't have just gotten tired of the daily grind, even as relatively light of a grind it might have been.

I don't think it's totally inconceivable that he noticed the same things we noticed that made it look as if he was slipping toward the end of Season 35. His ego may have prompted him to stay as long as he did, but I don't think it's impossible that his ego also made him realize staying any longer and ruining another part of his legacy wouldn't be a good idea.

Just putting it out there.

[price_authority]

True, that's why I'm trying to sum up all of the claims that appear to have been made and see if anyone can confirm them.  Some of these threads have turned into a game of telephone where assumptions and asides have been building on each other unchallenged.

Right, and as the only people reading this who are familiar with or have access to Barker's contract are not authorized to disclose its terms, we'll never know.

[CBSpromoman]

I don't think it's totally inconceivable that he noticed the same things we noticed that made it look as if he was slipping toward the end of Season 35. His ego may have prompted him to stay as long as he did, but I don't think it's impossible that his ego also made him realize staying any longer and ruining another part of his legacy wouldn't be a good idea.

Also very possible.

[FPGWillyT]

I heard a story back around the time of his announcement that he was retiring that he had wanted to leave at the end of Season 33, but someone convinced him to do two more years so that his total years of TV service would be a nice, round and FAT 50 years. 

Anyone else here that?

[CBSpromoman]

I heard a story back around the time of his announcement that he was retiring that he had wanted to leave at the end of Season 33, but someone convinced him to do two more years so that his total years of TV service would be a nice, round and FAT 50 years. 

I heard that, and I seem to remember hearing that the "someone" was Roger.

[pentellit]

Mostly moved over from the thread about Kathleen's book.

Bob was very hurt over Dorothy Jo's passing, and I'm sure that he was vulnerable and Dian may have wooed and cooed him

Dorothy Jo died in 1981 and it was more than a decade later that Dian pursued him.  Throughout that time Barker was involved in a longterm relationship with Nancy Burnett and was not “vulnerable”.    Barker wanted a little “hanky panky” and got it.  Dian wanted to pose nude in Playboy, which CBS and Mr. Goodson had forbidden.  After she had sex with Barker he arranged permission for her to pose in Playboy.  Both Dian and Barker got what they wanted.

Dian thought that since she didn't get what she wanted, she left and filed a lawsuit. Talk about immature?! I mean, come on now...

Dian didn’t leave, she was fired.

What did Breslow do to Bob that made Bob fire him?

On the subject of Barker and Breslow, I asked around and no one really knows what the exact cause of the problem was between the two men, but they all recall that it seemed to escalate in the early 80s around the time that Barker elevated himself from being the host of the show to being the star of the show.  However Breslow continued to direct Barker just as he always had, like he was talent, as opposed to a “star”, and that irritated Barker.

Also, I thought one of the rumored reasons Holly was fired was because she refused to recount the story of how Marc Breslow was fired the way Bob wanted it to be told.(and the "banned episodes")

http://www.golden-road.net/index.php/topic,14175.msg301641.html#msg301641

[price_authority]

On the subject of Barker and Breslow, I asked around and no one really knows what the exact cause of the problem was between the two men

I know why. They would have had to expand the show into both 33 AND 31 to accomodate both men's egos (Goodson nixed the idea).

All joking aside, I have nothing unkind to say about Marc Breslow.

[ILoveBonusGame]

I don't quite understand...if Bob and Dian were merely trying to use each other for sex, then why did it come to the point that Dian would get fired? Was Bob wanting more and Dian refused? If that is the case, then that must explain the sexual harrassment lawsuit.

[JohnHolder]

Dian wanted to pose nude in Playboy, which CBS and Mr. Goodson had forbidden.  After she had sex with Barker he arranged permission for her to pose in Playboy.

Wasn't that also after Goodson's death?

Seems a little hypocritical, since they hired Janice as a model after she was in Playboy.

[pentellit]

^JohnHolder, the Price models posing nude in magazines only became an issue in 1991 when Dian was campaigning to appear in Playboy.  CBS and Mark Goodson said it was inappropriate at that time for what had become known as a 'family show'.

Determined Dian circumvented Goodson and the network by initiating a sexual relationship with Barker, who simply made a phone call and voila, happy Dian appeared naked in the December '91 issue of Playboy, which hit the stands just before Mark Goodson's death.

I don't quite understand...if Bob and Dian were merely trying to use each other for sex, then why did it come to the point that Dian would get fired? Was Bob wanting more and Dian refused?

Barker suddenly broke off the relationship but according to Dian he later came around again wanting to rekindle the affair but she refused, and Barker fired her.  However, witnesses testified that Dian's abrupt termination actually followed a loud angry argument between she and Barker over a comment she made in USA Today about the important role Barker had played in her posing for Playboy.

[TVC]

...Breslow continued to direct Barker just as he always had, like he was talent, as opposed to a “star”, and that irritated Barker.

Yes, I think Bob's dual role as host and E.P. created a significant point of friction between the two men. While observing tapings in the booth during the early 1980s, more than once I heard Mr. Breslow exclaim, "What is he doing?!" in reference to something Bob said or did that threw off the crew. Also, I recall an afternoon between a rehearsal and a taping when Bob came into the booth to approve a music cue that was to be used when the "Play Along" sign was wheeled onto the stage. Everyone held their tongue until Bob left, then shook their heads and groaned, resenting how on-air talent was nosing into the show's production.

It is a bad idea to allow performers a management role on a show in which they appear. But perhaps Mark Goodson felt he had to agree to this arrangement to retain Bob's services on Price Is Right.

[Axl]

While observing tapings in the booth during the early 1980s, more than once I heard Mr. Breslow exclaim, "What is he doing?!" in reference to something Bob said or did that threw off the crew.

Now you've got me curious, Jim.  Can you remember any specific examples of that?

[price_authority]

It is a bad idea to allow performers a management role on a show in which they appear.

True if the performer is Bob Barker. It never seemed to be a problem for Monty Hall, Jack Barry or Ralph Edwards.

[jimlange]

Or Wink Martindale, Dick Clark, or (to an extent) Chuck Barris. 

[JohnHolder]

True if the performer is Bob Barker. It never seemed to be a problem for Monty Hall, Jack Barry or Ralph Edwards.

All of whom were creators/producers of their shows before they became host.