There was a time when the season premiere was a special show, a real special show, not a gimmicky "Wedding Shower Appreciation"-style show that has been prevalent in the past couple of seasons. I miss those days. If it wasn't for the "42 Years" signage around the set, this could have passed for a mid-season budget-saving show, because nothing says "Let's start the season off with a bang!' like playing Money Game first, am I right? Much better than playing 3 Strikes, Triple Play or Golden Road... or even Pay the Rent...
I'll be curious to see what the reaction will be to the new light box, but, for my money, it's too busy - those rotating Pricedown dollars (which appear FAR too frequently in the newer set designs and on-screen graphics, in my opinion) come off as very distracting and the smaller light patterns inside the box itself pale in comparison to the traditional light box. However, I do like the new logo introduction - far more spiffy looking than the previous one. However, I'm undecided if I like it appearing right at the top of the show... after 41 seasons of just panning the audience, it's sort of strange to have the logo on-screen right at the outset. I would suggest starting the opening shot tight on one of the Price logos around the audience and then pulling back into a sweep of the audience - might look better.
Today's contestants were a good bunch, lots of enthusiasm there which is always good to see. Too bad the games they played were nothing to write home about. As I said, Money Game has no business (in my view) opening up the season. Any Number, in honor of the 42nd year, should have started the show off, not shuffled off in the second half and it was too bad that neither car game was won today. It's in the Bag was also pretty tricky, I don't think I would have fared any better playing it. Do the Math is a neat enough concept, but, I'm still unsold on the reveal for the game, so, I'll reserve final judgment until I see how a loss is handled. Coming or Going was handled well, but, Secret "X" is a bit of a downer to play on the season premiere - the win is hinged too much on a random chance for it to be reliably exciting for a season premiere show, which is an overarching problem with this episode - it's the first show of the year, start it off with a bang, lots of winners, easier setups, more enjoyable games, not just something that looks and plays like any old show. Aside from the 40th season premiere, I feel like this is one aspect of the show the current staff doesn't really have a firm grasp on.
Danielle, the new model, seems like a decent addition to the cast of models. She's quite pretty and seemed to have the modelling knack.
The Emmy callbacks started to get a little tiresome. It was neat that they incorporated the statue into the opening shot, but, to keep inserting it and referencing it all over the show was a bit of overkill, in my view. The current administration won an Emmy and they're obviously very proud of it, but, to keep harping on it throughout the show came off somewhat as the show seeking validation (which, you would think that the winning of the Emmy would be validation enough). True, during the Barker years, there would sometimes be reference in some special set designs and host introductions to previous Emmy wins, but, I seem to recall them being more subtle and not repeatedly hammered home of "Look, look! We won an Emmy! Look!"
So, overall, a disappointing start to what is hopefully a good season.
