Let's start off with this: Freeze and Pa# shouldn't really be in the same half. Go with a shorter car game if need be, but really, that's not a good way to start off. While, yeah, Joe Plinko doesn't care about lineups, there's a possibility that he cares about how much gameplay happens. Freezy and Number don't allow for that. Speaking of the first half, how in the heck was Gas wiped out today? I'm not expecting a win as people aren't going to know the prices, most likely, but that really had no excuse of not getting at least SOME money on that setup. Ditto PAN, that was absolutely set up to be won. At least Drew didn't harp on "but you won your cameras/$500!" And that is a good thing.
Shell, well, ouch, this was as painful as it gets. Add an image of today's playing next to the GR dictionary next to painful loss. I had a feeling the wok might have been higher (and, oddly, a gut feeling the ball would be under shell 2), so there wouldn't be the chance of that 12K+ in cash won. This is absolutely okay, by me. Drew actually mentioned the cash equivalent bonus, stupid as said bonus may be, at the right time! Fantastic. There was some debate in the chat today whether the hard SP should've been 3rd (like it is in Bonus) or last, as it was. I think that's getting into too petty of complaints, to be honest. I don't mind it discussed, since hey, we're on a Price forum, but, yeah. I personally liked it last, it added some nice drama, AND let Drew mention the bonus line at the right time. Frank is exactly right. I really have zero issue with how Mike (or whoever it was) set this up, with the possible exception of the price of the dining room, which didn't need to be that expensive of a model (for both prize and potential cash). My point stands though, I loved the SP setup and order, but that's me. Gotta give credit where it's due.
Pocket's playing was not too enjoyable, other than a nice shot of the amount quantity table on the lower-right hand side of the prop. Further, Drew was kinda lazy during this segment, at least during the envelope reveals, almost like he knew she had no chance, and there wasn't much energy here. I don't watch nearly as much as I used to, if at all, but is that booing routine new, a one time trick, or a common fallback? That itself was kind of funny, got everyone involved.
SCSD 2 sticks out to me because of Melynda's overtime spin: It just showed how frequently Drew goes to the "Anyone you wanna say hi to?" as a crutch. I mean, he told her that twice. Drew needs a quick second line to use here, which isn't that hard. I mean, what about something as basic as: "Who's out in the audience with you?" Really simple, and would be a nice breath of fresh air.
SC1 was honestly not bad in tying the barbecue theme together, at least for a modern showcase. Tripcase, yeah, sigh there, but hey, I didn't think they'd be able to work Argentina in as well as they did.
SC2, well, really? A trip less than 150 miles from the studio for prize one, and then a rather random Kia Rio for prize 2. How does that relate to rock star, the Rio? Not like they can afford it, but that's a showcase screaming for a Mustang or one of the rare times to pull out a luxury car. Since they're blowing money left and right elsewhere, this naturally wasn't an option. That said, dang, was that Kia loaded on its options or what? Good premise on this showcase, I'll give them that, but the execution was absolutely half-assed and god awful.
Miscellany: Drew, honestly was okay for this show, and by okay, I mean its literal meaning. Nothing great, nothing horrible, although a few different lines with plays on the contestant's name were a kind of welcome change of pace. Let's please do something about contestant mics, the screamers today gave me a mild headache, and really added nothing today. Then again, do they [the contestants mikes] truly ever add anything of substance to the show?
