Yeah, I'm 6 nights late watching this episode for various reasons. That said, I walked away from the TV with one of the weirdest feelings I've ever had after watching an episode of TPIR.
Why, you ask...?
I certainly remembered Larry's first appearance.
So do I,
because I was in the audience the day he appeared as a contestant back in May 1999! (That was the first taping I ever attended, in fact...) What are the odds? I have better odds (statistically, at least) of becoming a contestant myself than I do of being in the audience with someone who gets called up to be on an anniversary show. That's always the way, isn't it?!
...Larry still remains energetic and did good on the newest game!
Double Cross: Larry is still fun to watch after his "You're Bob, I'm Larry" moment from back in '99.
Larry is the definition of redemption on The Price is Right. He won a stemware collection worth $736 in Any Number on his first appearance in 1999, but he lost the showcase showdown. Today, he won Double Cross, the showcase showdown, and the showcase, including a new car to make up for the truck he didn't win 13 years ago...
The fact that I was in the audience the day Larry made his first appearance biases me, of course; it never occurred to me that so many other LFaT remember him (though, really, how
could you forget him?). The only hint I would ever have is that I do recall seeing a clip of his 1999 appearance on Access Hollywood or some similar show fairly recently.
Larry also redeemed himself in the Showcase Showdown in another sense,
goldroadfanatic; IIRC, he didn't get the Big Wheel all the way around on his first attempt back in 1999 (though I may have to check on that...).
Larry was something else. I think he might have been the most cumbersome contestant Drew has had to deal with. He was all over the place in his original appearance because Bob was old. Since Drew is young he was all over him!
Larry's energy level was no different when we were outside waiting in line before the show when he appeared in 1999. I remember turning to the person next to me and saying, "He's going to get called to 'Come on Down'; you watch". Little did I know...
...Also, he played the first pricing game to debut on his previous appearance and played the most recent pricing game to debut today.
I'm not sure if anyone has pointed this out yet, but Larry is probably the only contestant who played the oldest game on the show on his first appearance, and the newest game on the show at the time of his second appearance. I just thought that was interesting.
That occurred to me as well, though
goldroadfanatic beat us both to the punch,
CROCODILE!In other news, I enjoyed this special quite a bit. I'm going to bed now, feeling just a bit weirded out by all that coinky-dink stuff!
JBK