I don't bother watching the show anymore, but since these producers do well with Halloween and April Fools, I'll still tune in for those. I just have to remind myself that this episode is in no way about The Price is Right.
I was initially confused by the whole 10,000th thing, but once I saw the bit with the boom mic and the TV being knocked over, I pretty much figured out that the theme of the episode would be "sight gags." The effect of the gags is diminished when you call the viewers' attention to them, though. The boom mic would have been funnier if they hadn't zoomed out at the beginning to make sure we saw the entire microphone. And the TV being knocked over would have looked more spontaneous if they hadn't immediately cut to a perfectly-framed shot of it on the ground.
That sums up the contradictory nature behind a lot of the gags in this episode: they were being presented as these spontaneous events, but they were shot so carefully and thoroughly, the viewers at home were hit over the head with how "crazy" everything was.
I thought that the funniest gags were the ones that didn't call your attention to them, like Drew's sleeve ripping at Freeze Frame and the camera flying in front of George's head before the third item up for bids. The things like crashing the car in Lucky $even and especially the Balance Game gag came across as trying too hard.
With the constant reminders about the 10,000th something, I was expecting some kind of payoff at the end. Being told that there never was a 10,000th something was kind of a letdown. April Fools on me, I guess, but I wonder if the general audience will be as forgiving. Personally, I think clemsonfight's solution in this thread would have been a much more satisfying conclusion.
It's difficult to use this episode to judge Drew's hosting abilities, since his primary duties throughout the hour were to react to the chaos surrounding him. I will point out that he's still asking every single contestant to say hello to people while the wheel is spinning, and it's still very boring.
I was pleased to see that the first four games were all winnable, especially Double Prices and Balance Game. And Lucky $even only had one really difficult number in the price. Have the producers finally learned that it's more fun to watch contestants win?
Not everything succeeded, but the effort was there and it was an interesting way to tweak the show. I think the thing that bothered me this year as opposed to 2009 is that it felt like the pricing games took a backseat to all of the sight gags. And the contestants took a backseat to everything else. At least we got to see their faces and learn their names this year. Again, I have to remind myself that the producers had no intention of trying to be like The Price is Right today.
I maintain that the talents of these producers would be better suited for a show other than The Price is Right... they do well with these outside-the-box episodes, but nothing presented today would give me any desire to watch a regular episode of their show.
