TPIR Recap - 09/23/15 (Decades Week Day 3: 1990s)

[Mr. Weatherman]

^I've noticed it, but I figure they left it out due to time constraints, which I believe is why they did away with it in the first place.

There's also the possibility that they're intentionally leaving certain things out because they may remind people just how much better certain aspects of the show used to be (ex: playing only a handful of the old cues rather than loading up the entire show with them). They're giving us a bite of the old pie, and it tastes amazing, but they're holding the majority of the pie back because it doesn't go well with the new pie they've been baking over the past few years.

[Schfifty]

Something else that's been missing that I thought would have a chance of being resurrected (for at least the 70's-90's shows): the classic mid-show bumper. But I guess I'm more surprised that no one else has mentioned it (at least in the threads/posts I've read) more than I am by the lack of its appearance.

You must be talking about the "Stay tuned for more pricing games coming up on the second half..." bit, correct? If so, yeah, I hadn't really wondered why it hasn't appeared this week, and I'm guessing because some people didn't think it was important enough to revitalize for this week. It's one of those old staples that wasn't very notable, I suppose.

Although PayingTheRent does mention time constraints, so maybe it wouldn't surprise that many people for its lack of appearance. (By the way, that pie analogy is great. )

[SteveGavazzi]

I really don't have the words to express how much I've been loving the new Turntable this week.  It's a nice change from the seemingly omnipresent squares, and even though it's shaped so drastically differently, it really has been able to evoke the memory of the old walls every day.

Also, even if it only lasts a week, it's really awesome having the opening titles back.  I about died when I saw, "Surprises!" "Prizes!" "All Sizes!" today.

I think everyone knows I don't care for the graphics they've been using in Cover Up for the past few years, but what they did with them today was just about perfect.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd see the show acknowledging Bump again.

Elliot...uh...didn't exactly seem with it during Line em Up.  I don't think I've ever seen someone forget to finish the price before.

Push Over was about as easy as I've ever seen it today.

Did Adam remind anybody else of Zach Galifianakis?

Do we know if those DVD sets were actually part of the second showcase?  It seems goofy to show them if they weren't included in the package, but they never actually got prize plugs.

Speaking of the second showcase...I know it wasn't the most frequently-used piece ever, but I really miss the cue they played while George was holding the Beanie Baby.

IitB: Had Adam switched his last two groceries, he would've won the $16K.

Except he wouldn't, because that's wrong.

Oh, and if I had a way to do it, I'd insert a video here of me singing Happy Birthday to You.  Because, y'know, that's legal now.

Does Triple Play require an audience entrance?

No, it doesn't.

[GameShowKid]

George introduced it as an update over the old flip phones of the 90s (although I think of flip phones more as 2000s), and he's been describing certain items all week as things that are upgrades over what people used in that decade.  To me it's pretty clever.

I can see that. I would have gone another route: offering something that was actually around in the 1990s but has been upgraded for today (especially for the first item). Or maybe a prize that was typically offered on Price back then (grandfather clock perhaps? )

[Timotheus]

I think everyone knows I don't care for the graphics they've been using in Cover Up for the past few years, but what they did with them today was just about perfect.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd see the show acknowledging Bump again.

I checked the FAQ to see if there was anything else they could've used in its place, and I was surprised that the only other game retired in the 90s was Give or Keep, which as far as I know never had a proper logo. A surprisingly stable decade!

In case anyone wanted them for posterity, I see that Qwizx put up the Cover Up logos here: http://www.qwizx.com/pics/retpgs.jpg

It seems rare that the show acknowledges that there are games they don't play anymore, period. What are some other notable instances?

[Alfonzo]

Bob mentioned on air about a contestant that asked about Hurdles. He told the contestant that game hasn't been played since 1983.

[SuperSweeper]

What about the contestant who wanted to play Professor Price?   

[JayC]

When the current Time is Money debuted last season, Drew did acknowledge the fact that there was a slightly different version of the game on the show in the past that hadn't been played for a while.

[ThatDonGuy]

It seems rare that the show acknowledges that there are games they don't play anymore, period. What are some other notable instances?

When they brought back both Bargain Game and Check Game, Drew mentioned that they had been retired, then redesigned and brought back.  I can't remember how long it had been since Barker's Bargain Bar had been played, but I remember Drew mentioning when Check Game came back that it had not been played in a number of years (four, I think he said).

[asd2001]

^I've noticed it, but I figure they left it out due to time constraints, which I believe is why they did away with it in the first place.

It was due to time constraints (or at least that's what I've read here.) Given how much even more rushed the show seems now, and all of the edits, I can certainly understand not bringing this back.

There's also the possibility that they're intentionally leaving certain things out because they may remind people just how much better certain aspects of the show used to be (ex: playing only a handful of the old cues rather than loading up the entire show with them). They're giving us a bite of the old pie, and it tastes amazing, but they're holding the majority of the pie back because it doesn't go well with the new pie they've been baking over the past few years.

That's as good of an analogy as I've ever seen, and very true.

Speaking of Rod, have we had so much as even a clip of him announcing this week? He isn't featured in the clip montage they've been showing at the beginning of each show.

It's incredibly sad, especially when you consider that he has had the longest tenure of any TPIR announcer to date. Even Rich was featured during the 2000's episode (in the clip of Drew's first show). And I mean that with absolutely no disrespect towards Rich.

This sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I almost wonder if Rod's family (or whoever officially represents him, if such a person/persons even exist for a deceased individual) no longer wants him officially associated with the show, for whatever reason.

[asd2001]

The Timeline indicates that the practice of using a prerecorded version of the previous light border began in Season 36. I'm guessing they aren't using it now because it was never shot in 16:9 -- it was 4:3 only (or so I assume).

Correction: Per a post from PayingTheRent (in the thread about the 2000's episode), there was a HD version of the Season 36 light border (used starting with the 2nd Million Dollar Spectacular in March 2008).  However, it had multi-colored G/T asterisks next to the bulbs, making it look (IMHO) quite a bit different than the light border we know and love.

Clip:

[goldroadfanatic]

It's incredibly sad, especially when you consider that he has had the longest tenure of any TPIR announcer to date. Even Rich was featured during the 2000's episode (in the clip of Drew's first show). And I mean that with absolutely no disrespect towards Rich.

This sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I almost wonder if Rod's family (or whoever officially represents him, if such a person/persons even exist for a deceased individual) no longer wants him officially associated with the show, for whatever reason.

I'd argue that the show is finally giving Rod his due. We had someone last season wear a shirt that paid tribute to Rod (and Drew and George mentioned it on the air). Also, the show's official YouTube page uploaded old clips where Rod's voice was heard.  In contrast to the late Barker era, whenever the show did old clips from the time he was announcer, they would leave out Rod's voice (such as the "Come on down!" blooper reel).

I would very much like to have cilps or pictures of Rod as a tribute to him, like they did with Johnny on the 25th Anniversary Special, but I don't know if that will happen given current time constraints.

[rn]

I'd argue that the show is finally giving Rod his due. We had someone last season wear a shirt that paid tribute to Rod (and Drew and George mentioned it on the air). Also, the show's official YouTube page uploaded old clips where Rod's voice was heard. 

And in the facebook game, they have used one clip with him announcing a prize from 2003.

[catdogwheel]

I loved that Drew entered through the audience, but I wish they would've played a game that would've required him to do an audience entrance. And with that being said, maybe hopefully they'll have Drew do it this way every so often to help create some variety to the beginning of the show.