Game$how Marathon -- Night 1: TPiR (Updated w/Recap)

[Madonna]

All I can say is I hope the heck the next six installments are done better than this one. I was more than a little disappointed myself...

Hole In One: On a positive note, I was pleased to see this be one of the three pricing games.

I was honestly all set to come on here and start griping about the lack of a second putt, but I can see that there WAS a second putt, but they felt the need to edit it out. After all, seeing the three contestants who didn't win their way up on stage eating cotton candy was far more important.

Besides, it wasn't like they didn't have enough time to air the second putt. Ugh.

Does anyone know if Ricki herself tried an inspirational putt?

Plinko: Nice boots, Paige. Where did you get them, Paige? I could use a pair of them... And, uhh.. Uhhh.. Well, I honestly have no idea who you are.

Okay, so giving everyone in the audience a free MP3 player if she got that right was a nice touch..

I'm also a bit disappointed to have a chip got stuck, Ricki had to use the ol' stick, and that got cut out, too.. C'mon, CBS. What's more important: The games, or inane banter? Don't be a sucker, don't be NBC..

Range Game: Brande (who?), this game might've been a little easier in some more sensible shoes...

Showdown: That just made no sense at all. The top score advance, and the second and third place players - regardless of score - would have a spin-off? So you mean that one contestant could've gotten $1.00, the second could've had 95 cents, the third could've had a dime, and the two who had 10 and 95 would've spun-off?! I'm sorry, but there's something very wrong with that picture...

Thank you, Brande (who?) for putting a monkey wrench into THAT by tying Kathy and getting that over with..

I was also going to gripe about the lack of a bonus spin and/or Ricki not bringing it up, but after all the OTHER edits that have been mentioned, I'm just going to assume she DID bring it up and that got cut out as well...

Showcases: A 1966 Mustang? That was evil.. I mean, damned nice cars, but who outside of huge car enthusiasts are going to be able to bid on THAT?

And now my thoughts on some of the people who gave us this, uhh.. special.

Ricki: You know, I didn't go into this with high hopes for her, and Ricki didn't disappoint.. I didn't expect her to be Bob Barker (or even Kennedy, quite frankly, and keep in mind I could do without Kennedy).. But Ricki was way too loud, and it felt like she'd stepped right off the set for her talk show and right into GSM..

I don't despise Ricki Lake (though you could say I am the opposite of a fan of her talk show), but she definitely needs to tone it down in the next six shows. I don't know if she's used to being loud because of her show, or thought she had to scream over the audience, or what.. But you don't need to be so loud, Ricki...

Rich: Last night was a tale of two Rich Fields... Most of the time, he was on and sounding like the Rich we know and love.. But every so often, he sounded a little more like the Rich when he first appeared on the show two years ago: Where he lacked energy, sounded a bit dull, and where I'd picture him with this "Deer in the headlights" look on his face.. Which maybe he DID have on his face - maybe he was wondering what on Earth was going on, or thinking "Bob is going to kill me when he sees this" or something...

Not a terrible performance, but a bit subpar by Rich's recent standards..

Adam Corrolla: Don't worry, Adam. That's how Los Angeles radio listeners react to you, too - by storming away angry, wondering why we got stuck with you instead of someone who's actually funny.

I'm sorry, Adam, but wake up and smell the noise.. You're not funny. You weren't funny on The Man Show or whatever it's called, you're not funny on radio, and you weren't funny last night. Why they felt the need to give us your "reactions" is beyond me - could be the fact you work for CBS radio?

Paige Davis: Nice boots. I could use those in my collection. Really. They're pretty sweet. Uhh.. Who are you, and what do you do again?

Kathy Najimy: That son of yours just ain't right in the head.. What were you and Hank doing when you conceived Bobby, anyway?

Tim Meadows: Who? And SNL is still around?

Lance Bass: Didn't his 15 minutes of fame end back in 1995? And what is he doing out of prison?! Huh? You mean he didn't get sentenced to life in prison for being a member of N'Sync? Well, he should've been!

Brande Roderick: Who?

Leslie Nielsen: Yay! A celebrity I've heard of, and am a fan of - except for Paige's boots, of course. Though, he just seemed so out of it.. Bored? Lost? I don't know.. Maybe they shoud've played the theme for Naked Gun as he came on down?

The set: You know, being a mock-up with a black floor, it looked pretty good.. You could see they put some time and effort into that.. Sure, there were some differences, but you could clearly see they put the time and effort into making things look as accurate as possible..

The good:

Rich
The set
The 1966 Mustang (that was a pretty nice car and unique idea, if not evil)
Giving everyone MP3 players
Playing Hole In One
Seating the six celebrities who'll be on Match Game in with the rest of the crowd, complete with nametags
The classic video footage
Paige's boots

The bad:

Ricki being a little TOO boisterous
Not knowing who some of these celebrities were
The editing

The ugly:

Lance Bass
Adam Corrolla

The just plain weird:

Leslie Nielsen (Everyone loves you, Leslie.. Have a little more fun next time, please!)
The Showcase Showdown rules

My score: 6.5/10. Not horrible, but I was hoping for a bit better.. Hopefully they'll learn a few things from the first show - see what worked, what didn't work, and improve from here...

Having the pages carry guns and keep Lance and Adam away would help, too.

[BRB_TheFireball]

One-Bid #1 - Girls on trampolines!    An appropriate first prize given that Adam Carolla was in the audience.  And this is something you'll never see on the real TPIR--a contestants row without the stick microphones and all of the players wearing clip-ons.

PG #1 -    Putt-Putt for a Cadillac?  They'd never do that on the MDS!  I regret to say that I would've been one line behind Kathy.  I had candy, salsa, cleaner, pain relief, detergent, calcium.  And I do not like the idea of not playing "Hole in Two".

One-Bid #2 - Am I the only one here that thought everybody had overbid on that clock?

PG #2 - Celebrities + Plinko = $2,100 Stinko

One-Bid #3 -    Is this the first time anybody has been so POd about not getting called down that they left in disgust?

PG #3 - Hearing "Starcrossed" and Rich begin with "A wonderful array of prizes!" at the beginning of Race Game almost led me to believe that we we're gonna play Credit Card!        And I don't know what Brande was thinking by putting $6,495 on the sofa.

Showcases - One thing never changes:  Celebrity or not, a player is gonna overbid on a Mustang showcase.

My bids - FRBS:  $35,700.  Mustangs:  $45,000.

[shellgame69]

Things I liked: The Split screen shot of the wheel!
Opening Montages.
1966 Mustang.

The so-so things: Ricki hosting style, was a bit too loud sometimes, but did a nice job overall.

The absolutely terrible things:
Edits: Absolutely sloppy and evident everywhere, particularly Hole in One.

Plinko Segment: Not surprised to see it show up, but that scene with Paige and audience going crazy looked contrived.  Hey isn't that like the mess that's happening to DOND?

Brande Roderick was HOT!  And I was glad Race game showed up, but that playing was pathetic.  Walking in this game is bad, but looking to the audience while walking?  C"MON!

Showcases: I knew Kathy was way over on the Mustangs.  I would have said $47,900.  Brande was way off on the boat.

The camera angles were very distracting, particularly the showcase showdown.

s...l...o..w p...a...c...i...n...g (I know, just did that to demostrate how slow the pacing was)and the celebrities chatter fest was annoying and loud!

Overall: I agree with the majority, not the best show to start the series, so lets see if LMAD game goes a lot better tonight.  Grade: D

[Ferdy9338]

I'd been looking forward to this for a while...

I was already expecting this to look a bit rough, seeing as how almost no backstage TPiR people were involved in it. I figured it would be like a bunch of kids breaking into the studio while Bob's asleep and playing with his toys and games.

The opening was nice. The mini-documentary on TPiR's history was awesome. It's great to see "Uncle Bill" Cullen get some love, too. I would love to see some of those old shows again (I finally got GSN on cable 4 years after they stopped showing it.). And of course the big set reveal was sweet.

I actually was expecting a regular 6-game show. And despite the interminable celeb banter at the beginning, I didn't realize it was gonna be a 3 game format until it was time for the Showcase Showdown.

IUFB#1: Rachel and Shane in the Britney outfits...LOL that was wierd. I always think of the Man Show's old "Girls on trampolines" segment when they give one away. Maybe they were appealing to Adam Carolla a bit.

Hole in One (But not Two): Apparently Kathy's recovering from a broken toe, and had to step cafefully. I totally forgot about the Tide. I remembered it after she picked the Simple Green, and I thought she'd blown it then. I was shocked that the Tide turned out to be $8.99, and instead she blew it on the Theragesic which I thought was more.

I thought it was just old school Holey until I read about the edit. If it's true, then it's inexcusable (although the sign still read "In One" when Ricki tossed it to commercial). If the second put was cut out, I wonder if some doofball thought..."oh she missed both, what's the point of airing both?" and cut it out. I disliked that commercial break right between the car reveal and the game, too.

IUFB#2: I thought they'd all overbid on the clock. I thought it was about $2500.

Pl!nko!: This is where I actually got shocked about the basketball shaped slow-cooker being $12. Either way, that was quite a brain-fart, thinking that it could cost $70 or $80 (in the 5/31/06 daytime show's playing). The $46 salad shooter also suprised me, and I've seen that one too!

Paige was lots of fun in this game, with her playing for the Mp3 player bonus at the end of the SP section being hilarious. The "9" was the obvious choice there.

IUFB#3 Adam Carolla "storms" out. LOL old Letterman gag. I thought it was odd to bring a chair down from the ceiling. Nice and different, really. Leslie Nielsen actually echoed my sentiments when he asked Brande "You bid what??". I thought the chair was about $899 myself.

Race Game: I'd never seen Race Game without the lower end of the "R" and "A" unobscured before. Kind of a rough outing, though...$6497 for a sofa? Aye. The Steadicam shots were pretty cool, though.

Showcase Showdown: Oh boy. That was one whacked playing of the Big Wheel due to the confusing rules. On the flip side, ALL HAIL THE TRIANGLE SHOT! I can't even remember when that was last used. That made it fun.

Showcases: Five prize showcases? Wow. A vintage car offered along with a new one? Double wow. I bid $40,000 on Brande's showcase, and $48,000 on Kathy's.

Overall, this was a neat little one-off special. There were some pretty good moments as well as some PAINFULLY bad ones. The editing was bad both sound and videowise, especially in regards to Rich's announcing. And the banter too way too much time that could've been used for a full Hole in One game. Ricki did OK as the host. She missed a few things like the $500 perfect bonus in Holey (with the flag sitting up there), I wonder if she was only going to explain them if the situation actually arose. The celebrities were typical B-list. I'm not sure A-listers would be that much better, though.

So now the kids had their fun, they can put away Bob's toys and go home. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the G$M's. I love seeing these classics get some prime-time love, although I'd hoped to see Password in there. Oh well, hopefully it'll have the same effect the UK version had, and lead to a revival of one of the defunct shows on there.

[Franc]

Ok, time for my 2 cents!

I have to admit that at times, I regretted not having internet at home, because I would have loved to see some of the reactions on the chat room!

First the opening sequence was awesome, with the old TPIR clips. And also, the reveal of the TPIR set was just awesome (although , am I the only one who noticed the left panel didn't move away on cue?).

I admit the girls on the tramp was too much, but we have to understand it's primetime, they try to get as much people watching. The average male viewer who happen to stumble on CBS at that exact moment when the models were jumping will probably stick around to see if there will be more ...

Hole In One : I was actually at the gym when I saw that part, and the first thing I thought was "Wait, did I miss one?". But when I got home and watched the tape, I couldn't beleive it!

Plinko!: Giving away an MP3 player to everyone if Paige got the price right was a great twist. Given that this ain't the Real Price Is Right, it's a great thing! That being said ... am I the only one who could see that on an MDS?

Oh, and since no one mentionned it. I know this is celebrity PIR and all ... but, Paige, do you really think the Peanuts Gallery knows more than you where you should drop the chip ?!?!?

Race Game : Horribly played! Don't look at the crowd when you play any timed game! But then again, Celebrity Price Is Right !

SCSD : The Arrow is back ! That should definitaly be brought back on the daytime show! I also thought that the aerial cam shot was awesome! Could be great for a MDS. But granted, the rules were WAY too confusing!

Was I the only one who thinks that Ricki actually tried to emulate Bob when saying "A nickel!"?

Showcases : Lots of prizes. The 2 Mustang's were cool! My bids were $33000 for Brande's showcase, and $60000 for Kathy's.

I must admit, I'm not a fan of Ricki Lake, but she looked like she did her homework. She knew the rules of the games (except maybe for the SCSD, but then again, I don't think no one did, or does at the moment), and explained them well! She might have been more cheerful, but then again, I'll forgive that given her lack of gameshow hosting experience.

In the "bad" section, I will say the sound was horrible. Watching at the gym, I thought maybe it was my headphones, but when I watched it at home, I realised that it really was the sound. I also agree that there were too much edits, and not too subtle ones, mind you!

But in all, I think we all knew we weren't watching the Price Is Right, but merely a sample, a highlight of it! I agree with the one who said that had TPIR been off the air, it would have been great to see, but I did enjoy it, and should there be a second season of GSM next year, and they play TPIR again, I'll gladly watch as well!

Final score : 8.9 / 10 !!!

[JRR4]

Which props were real and which were replicas?  I thought plinko looked about 7/8 scale.

[JasonA1]

CBS.com can vouch for Plinko and the wheel being the genuine articles, and given the appearance of it all, I'm willing to bet everything was the genuine article on this show.

-Jason

[Jordanar18]

I don't think contestants' row was the real one, as the numbers were a little darker than usual.  But I think the showcase podiums were the real ones.

[ILoveBonusGame]

TVC, I totally agree. There had to have been two tracks playing simultaneously not during Race Game, but also during the come on down segments. I suppose if one wanted to see nostalgia in that, watch the premiere episode of Price after Bob walks out of the big doors, or the "stand up" segment of the second episode of Price.

[SteveGavazzi]

nasnut67 wrote:
I can pinpoint the rules for the showcase showdown and they come from over the seas in GERMANY!  That was DER PRISS IST HEISS showcase showdown rules.

With all due respect, I doubt Der Preis Ist Heiss's SCSD rules were so completely screwed up.  I challenge you to reconcile Ricki's two explanations with one another.

[Gerald78]

Can't add alot to the above comments, but a few things:'

Rikki was OK, she needs to tone it down though  I wish Mr. Neilson had gotten onstage - that could have been interesting

Agree with everyone that the editing/sound could have been done a lot better.  

I was disappointed that there wasn't a classic turntable game played but it looks they didn't incorporate a turntable into the set.

The old SS was used for the Showdown....hurray!!

Great showcases - Wouldn't it be fun if they'd try to give away the two Mustangs on the daytime show.

I'll have to look at my tape again....did we get to hear Rod during the opening montogue?

Overall, could've been better, but could have been a LOT worse too.  Grade: B-

[Agent_Almeida]

I would've liked it a little more if they did do the full six games and do it with Bob.

Mind you I didn't mind Paige getting up there.

As for the rest of the marathon... well... we'll see what my mood is...

[backbiter]

Wow! I had to TIVO the show and just got finished watching it. I'm not going to rehash the above comments. I agree with 99% percent of them. But when it was over, all I could think of was this. I always thought that SNL skit of Celebrity Jeopardy was just a parody. But I was wrong. Celebrities really are that stupid! I'd rather be tortured in an Icelandic hostel, than watch that again. Horrible!

[Mallory16]

If they had done the showcase showdown in a more normal way, by just putting the top two scores in the showcase, why are so many people worried about "what if two people went over"?  That wouldn't have happened, just like not all three people can go over on the actual show.  If they took the top two scores, then if the first contestant went over, they could've just automatically sent the last two spinners to the showcase, each getting only one spin, so there could not have been two people going over.  Simple, really, and it would've been a heck of a lot simpler than whatever they were doing!

[MSTieScott]

Joe_Capitano wrote:
They shot the game action with the steadicam, and it seems to work quite nicely.
Too bad it's not in the budget for real TPiR (or, maybe we're better off for it!).

I vote for "better off for it." That shot of the trampoline made me seasick. I can imagine it working in Beat the Clock, but on what other game show is a hand-held camera necessary?

actual_retail_tice wrote:
As for the charities, do they win those prizes, or (hopefully) the cash equivalent?

In the opening, Rich said that the charity of the winner of Family Feud will receive $100,000 cash. Don't know what the other five charities get.

catdogwheel wrote:
Ricki should've asked about the celebrity charities when they won an IUFB.

But then you'd have three charities that wouldn't get mentioned at all.

JRR4 wrote:
Which props were real and which were replicas?  I thought plinko looked about 7/8 scale.

All of the pricing games and the big wheel were the real props. The showcase displays were from daytime. The One Bid displays were the real ones sitting on a custom stand. The turntable façade and the big doors were built for the special.

And I still maintain that those newly-built big doors were nearly, if not exactly, the same size. Plinko looks like it would barely fit underneath them, just like daytime. And when the grandfather clock was pushed out directly in front of the doors for the One Bid, the relative size looked right. It's just that the space behind the doors was incredibly cramped. Between that and there being only two doors, is stage 33 wider than 46?

Fun fact: They also had Cliff Hangers waiting in the wings in case something went wrong during one of the pricing games.