TPiR Recap - 9/20/2010 Early Show (Season 39 Premiere)

[Off_trak]

Does the Wheel seem like it's...I don't have a word for it...but I guess "tighter" to anyone else? It seems like when it slows down much faster.

The Wheel is capable of being tightened, mainly because it becomes "loose" after so many X number of spins.

[GoldenBulldog]

I still can't believe that a Ford Mustang Showcase--that's been infamous for not being as high as some people have bid for years--can ever top $40,000.  Granted, I would NEVER buy a pool table that's $9,995, but I'm digressing. 

All in all, I thought Pay the Rent was a great addition that might be around for a while, but my burning question is "will it receive as much play time as Plinko or G-R?"  As far as the announcing goes, J.D.'s not as bad as we all thought he would be; I can understand that he does sound a little slow at times, but he does a very capable job.  As for Drew...wow, he has changed so much over the years, and I have a good--no, a GRRReat (gotta get that outta the way, ya know)--feeling that this could be Drew's best season at the helm.  Who knows what the future might hold?  Here's to another great season of overbids, close calls, painful losses, big wins, DSWs, contestant fails--here's to a brand-new era at "The Price is Right!"

[coulsonc]

The issue with the shout-outs at the wheel is that the focus is only on the contestant. The millions of us watching at home don't know Aunt Ida, Me Maw, and Cousin Earnest... and thus do not care. The "focus on the contestant" isn't about making him/her happy.  In an audience participation game show, the contestants are props. It's about "using" the contestant to provide entertainment value for the home viewer. Bob understood that and manipulated it masterfully. Drew doesn't get it. He shifts abruptly from trying to be a stand-up comedian to providing the contestants with qualty customer service. He doesn't have the magical method of finding the entertainment value in the contestants and extracting it for the viewers.

Whatever happened to "the focus should be on the contestant!" I'm not saying that you ever said that, but the show will never win. We will always complain that we put either too much or not enough focus on the contestants...

[Macsen]

Bob did that for a while. Then the commercial announcements overtook the "free time". It was played down considerably much after season 25, and virtually nonexistent after season 30. Drew probably could be as funny, if not funnier, than Bob if not for the reduction in actual playing time.

But that's a discussion for The Talk is Right.

[tjo4]

I was a big fan of PTR and its reveal. What an exciting way to start a show. Of course, the energy went down from there. There was no way the cat food was going to be $11, so I was surprised to see the contestant go for the $100k.

I loved how Gwendolyn spoke once last season, but I could really do without anyone speaking out of place. The occasional 'good luck' is fine, but some of this is forced. It was tough listening to JD's remarks out of turn. This is really modeled off LMAD.

[MrPlinko]

How many shows is JD scheduled to do before they go to the other announcers?

“Let’s offer a huge prize that we can’t possibly afford to give away and then make it completely impossible to win”. That seems to be the M.O. of the powers that be at TPIR these days. Pay the Rent has been discussed to death already in Talk Is Right, but today’s playing is a textbook example of how counterintuitive the game is. The same approach that would have won the contestant $10,000 would almost certainly lose anyone $100,000. By making the game intentionally deceptive, they guarantee that they will never actually have to give the money away. The same thing happened in the showcase today. Porsche Boxters are only worth about $55,000 fully loaded. This means that in order for that showcase to breach near 80, they had to include a near $25,000 entertainment center/TV package. No one would possibly guess that a TV package would cost that much so then again they guarantee they don’t have to give away the Porsche. It is getting really irritating to see this so blatantly on display again in the beginning of season 39.

I agree with this quote,

The games have becomes more difficult to win since Roger's departure, for sure!

Joe

[Bobby McBride]

The last number in Lucky $even was 7, BTW.