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

[Marc]

I'm not sure if Joe wishes to do a recap for tonight's GSM -- Joe, feel free to edit this inital post.  Otherwise, let the discussion start!  I'll be back tomorrow to post my thoughts.

Marc


(Thanks, Marc. I had a meeting to attend to tonight, but I indicated elsewhere I'd do a recap so here goes...)

GAME$HOW MARATHON - LEG 1: THE PRICE IS RIGHT

Hosted by Ricki Lake

Participants (in order of calldown):
PAIGE DAVIS ("Trading Spaces")
KATHY NAJIMY ("King Of The Hill")
TIM MEADOWS ("Saturday Night Live")
LANCE BASS ('NSYNC)
BRANDE RODERICK ("Baywatch")
LESLIE NIELSEN ("Police Squad", "Airplane")

Announcer/Narrator: Rich Fields

Models for the night: Lanisha Cole, Rachel Reynolds and Shane Stirling
(Look closely at the credits! Finally, some well-earned respect around the office!)

First, the overall rules: Tonight's leg, TPiR, will consist of three pricing games, 
followed by the Showdown, and then the Showcases. The Showcase winner will advance to 
the G$M semifinals, and their winnings will be awarded to a home viewer who correctly 
answered a TPiR-related trivia question (see cbs.com). The remaining five return 
tomorrow for the second leg. Because there are some rule modifications those will be 
disclosed where applicable.

The set itself is a slightly smaller version of the big doors and turntable area. 
"Contestants' Row" is actually a four-person podium with the actual bid displays. 
Audience seating is stadium-style.

A number of celebrities are "in the audience" to give the impression that they may be 
called to play (though the actual roster has been long known). Among them: Betty 
White, George Foreman, Kathy Griffin, Bruce Vilanch, and Adam Carrolla - some of which 
will be around for Match Game. (Actually, I believe this part of things was added in 
post)

The show opens with a montage of clips from Price's past, a goodly lot from the Janice 
and Anitra era, a juicy bit of Cullen, a few fallers at the wheel, and the usual
gotta-haves: tube top lady, fainting lady, chasing lady AND, o' course, Vanna.
Then, Rich launches into the opening calldown (with a reference to "CBS
Television City", yet) and out comes Ricki as the G$M set peels away to reveal
the recreation of the Price doors. From there, a little chat with the First
Four and it's on to the first Item of the night. We pick things up there...


First Four lineup: left to right
Handoff: Lanisha


1  Funtek USA Spaceball Trampoline Game (R&S)
DAVIS 800   NAJIMY 1500   MEADOWS 1100   BASS 1201   ($2695)   

Kathy Najimy, playing for Girls' Best Friend, plays HOLE IN ONE for a Cadillac XLR
(L)($77,295)

(2) (Life Savers) Roll Candy (single)    $ .85
(5) (Santa Fe) Salsa                      2.69
(6) (Simple Green) All Purpose Cleaner    5.39
(1) (Tide) Detergent                     >8.99<
(4) Theragesic Gel                        3.99
(3) Citracal Supplement                  

Kathy's Putt from Line 4: pushed right.   LOSS


Note that ths was "old school" Hole In One as Kathy was not given a
second putt. Further, Ricki didn't take the customary "Inspiration Putt."

BTW: Whose idea was it to dress Rachel and Shane as school girls? Hideous.
I imagine they were both glad to get out of those outfits pronto.

Meanwhile, a running gag: Brande is called on down, and Adam looks a
bit p-d-o-d.

2  Ridgeway Baker Street Grandfather Clock (R)
+Davis *4000   RODERICK 3000   +Meadows 3500   +Bass 3800   ($4725)

Paige Davis, playing for Donate Life, prepare thyself. IT'S $100,000 PL!NKO!!!

Free Chip                                   (6)   100L  
(Pro Pots) Slow Cooker     7/2   2  $12  *  (5)   500R
(Presto) Salad Shooter     2/6   2   46
250 pc Poker Chip Set      3/0   0   50  *  (4)  1000R   Total
Dell DJ Diddy MP3 Player   5/9   9   99  *  (2)   500L   $2100   LOSS


Added incentive to win the last item: every member of the audience walks 
away with one of those MP3 players, courtesy of the house. Paige "fainted"
when she heard that news.

Running Gag, part two: Leslie gets called, a "disgusted" Carolla bolts.
3  highbrowfurniture.com Bubble Chair (L)
NIELSEN 500   Roderick 2600   +Meadows 1500   +Bass 501   ($2795)

Brande Roderick, playing for the City of Hope, plays RACE GAME

                               1st    2nd    3rd    Prices
Roland HPI7 Digital Piano     6495   2999  >6495<      WIN
Broyhill Sofa                 2999   6495   2999    ($1125)
Cotton Candy Cart             1125   1408  >1408<      WIN
Bowflex TC5300 Treadclimber   1408   1125   1125    ( 2999)
                      RIGHT    [1]    [1]    [2]
                  TIME LEFT    :35    :10    :00      LOSS

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!). As 
to the chair, what if they had hoisted the chair with Lanisha still in it?

SHOWDOWN

The Procedure: usual rules except the top score advances, the others go
into round 2 - unless two people tie with the top score. (Ricki originally
said "top two advance", which I thought would be the rule in the first place).

$ 2,695   Najimy     35 + 20   .55   Through to Showcase Round
  7,056   Davis       5 +  5   .10
 10,698   Roderick   55 stay   .55   Through to Showcase Round

SHOWCASE ROUND
Brande has the honor. Winner advances to the G$M semifinals.

SC1-Roderick   WHAT'S IN AND WHAT'S OUT
BID   $25,000   O.W. Lee Patio Set (R)
PRICE    43,668   Bull Power Cube BBQ Island (S)
DIFF   -18,668   Jacuzzi J365 Hot Tub (L)
TOTAL   $54,366   Sea-Doo Sportster Boat (R)
      Trip to Sydney, Australia (6n; Last Minute Travel.com)(S)

SC2-Najimy   TIME MACHINE
BID   $81,000   Deutsch Wurlitzer One More Time CD Jukebox (S)
PRICE    62,160   (Namco) Ms. Pac Man/Galaga Video Arcade Game (L)
DIFF      OVER   1966 Ford Mustang (V8, AT, Mirror, 8-Track)(R)
      2006 Ford Mustang GT (Std., AT, Interior, AirBag, Stereo)

Tonight's Pricing Games (not that it really matters): 0 for 3
Total Winnings: $64,117

Leg 2 Tomorrow: - LET'S MAKE A DEAL with Brandi Sherwood as Carol Merrill
and Rich Fields as Jay Stewart. From here results will be posted to "Out In Left Field".

[Alfonzo]

It's official: Celebrity TPiR STINKS!!!!!!

The pacing of the show was wayyyy to slow! Too much yak, yak, yak and silly celebrity banter for my taste. Some of the celebs looked bored and uninterested, and their enthusiasm seemed fake. Didn't help that I didn't even know who some of those "celebrities" were (Who the heck was Brande, anyways?!)!

Ricki didn't do too shabby as a host, though.

What I DID like were the use of some old school camera angles (The scroll of the price tags in Race Game and the classic contestant shot on the Big Wheel) and the use of some different music cues in some of the pricing games.

One quick question: Why only one put in Hole in One?

Sorry if I sound overly-negative, but I'm just saying how I feel. I'm sure the other posters will have more positive thoughts on the show. Personally, I didn't care too much for it, but I hope the other specials are better.

[Jordanar18]

I didn't have very high expectations for this, so I wasn't disappointed.  I didn't really enjoy the show at all.  The only thing I did enjoy though was the intro, when they showed a lot of classic TPiR clips.

Some very weird things happened tonight that would never happen on the daytime show:

- Only one Hole in One putt
- Vintage car being offered
- XLR in a game in which the price doesn't matter
- $6495 prize in Race Game (especially when the other prizes are so much less expensive)
- $99 SP in Plinko (possible but not likely)

Anyone notice that Rich was much louder than usual?

[heelsrule1988]

Wasn't really that spectacular to me, to be honest. Maybe it's because I'm used to TPIR the way we know and love it, so it disappointed me to see it in a much different way.

I don't know why they didn't use the "...or two" part of Hole In One; it's not like they didn't have enough time.

The shots of the Big Wheel were kind of annoying. When the wheel's spinning, I want a still shot of it, so I can have an idea of where it'll land.

About the showcase... HOLY COW. Talk about impossible. I can't wait to see how you guys did with those. My bids were way off... $36,200 on Brande's showcase, and $44,400 on Kathy's.

I must say, though- the highlight of the show for me was seeing Shane, Rachel, and Lanisha as hot as ever. Wow. Those Britney Spears outfits (as Lance Bass put it) were awesome, and when I saw those two-piece swimsuits, man. Too bad they don't do that on the daytime show.

So, to sum it all up, I think the other shows will actually be more fun to watch than tonight's. We're hardcore TPIR fans, so we're used to it the normal way. If it's not, it makes it weird.

Alfonzo wrote:


On quick question: Why only one put in Hole in One?

Per Invision:
Here's the screwed up part...SHE DID GET A SECOND PUTT. I was present at the taping for this, and I distinctly remember seeing Lake walk over to the sign, and (as the audience yelled "or TWO!"), pushed the magic button, and gave Kathy her second shot, which she missed.

You know what that means? It means they EDITED OUT THE SECOND SHOT.

As for my thoughts on it, I was dissapointed with it. I liked the clips montage but the rest I didn't care for so much. Why the break before Hole in One too? That was really awkward, also no inspiration putt before the game either.

I hated the whole thing in Plinko too. I thought it was stupid and overly cheesy.

And why even have a showcase showdown with just 3 games? That made no sense at all. If they were gonna do just 3, don't do a showdown at all, just have the top 2 players in the showcases like the old version did.

As far as Ricki goes, she was ok. She seemed more of a contestant then a host at times though.

[heelsrule1988]

They edited that out?! Wow... that's lame. Really lame. Like I said, they had enough time for it.

[Alfonzo]

Very lame. I would have rather them edited out more of that blasted chatter than that second putt!

[Mr. Matté]

Eh... wasn't too thrilled with what came about, but certainly a not-too-bad way of spending an hour in front of the TV.

I wasn't expecting Ricki to be Barker-like, but she seemed "too loud."  Perhaps if she tones it down a bit for the next 6 shows, I'll have a change of opinion.

There seemed to be a lot of editing, similar to DOND in its first week of shows.  Chopping up sentences, even Rich's parts were heavy on the edits.  Speaking of editing, a poster on the Invision boards, who happened to be in the audience for the show, said that there was a second putt in Hole in One, but she still missed.  Also mentioned was that a Plinko chip got stuck but that was edited as well.

The way the rules for the Showdown was pretty confusing.  I thought I heard that there would be a spin-off if the last girl (can't remember her name) beat both Paige and the first spinner.  Also, what would have happened if two contestants had gone over?


There were some things I liked; for example, the 5-minute tribute to Price mentioning Bill Cullen's version, and the current version; they brought back the Contestant Arrow for the Showdown (Yay!   ), and of course the Beauties!  

Had Price not have been on the air at the time this was made, it would probably seem a lot better.  The only reason me and others didn't like it so much is because we're still seeing the "good" version of the show every day.  The other shows, however, will be more enjoyable because those shows haven't been on the air (save for GSN reruns) in such a long time.

My rating out of 10: 7.1-ish.

[COINBOYNYC]

I thought the show was terrible.  I'm not particularly a fan of "Icky" Ricki Lake, and I agree there was too much celebrity banter.  Leslie Nielsen seemed particularly out of it, and Kathy Najimi didn't appear to know what she was doing half the time.  (An $81,000 bid on the Showcase?)

I'm not usually home that early, but one of the reasons I wanted to make it my business to be home in time to see this was because I was curious to see how a non-Barker Price Is Right would be.  It's been two hours since the show aired, but I haven't formulated a definitive opinion yet; I'm sure my aforementioned dislike of Icky Ricki is a factor.

I did appreciate her showing respect to Bob by including his "spay and neuter" line at the end.

But I have to say that "Gameshow Marathon" will not be appointment viewing for me.

[TheBigAK]

Did you see Adam Corolla stand up after the third contestant came on down.  My thoughts exactly.  

This was just not very good.

Now I thought Paige was truly excited to spin the big wheel.

Ricky looked excited to host, but I thought she tried too hard.  It will be interesting to see how she does the other shows.

[bhall96992]

I, too, thought it was extremely slow. If they wanted to, they could have fit an entire show in, I felt. They could have used the quick games like Double Prices, Freeze Frame, Bonus Game, and Check Game.
Hole in One-It felt very odd to see only one putt. Was it just me or did they miss the last prize on that one?
Plinko-Fully expected it, although I'm not a big fan of it. I was suprised to see the 100k.
Race Game-$6495. What's up with that? I did not like seeing this game.
I did like putting the 66 Mustang in there, though. Fully restored, it can be worth a good amount.
One last thing, Ricki was ok. The hardcore gameshow fans like us will nitpick and find faults with her on all these games, I think. I also liked the tribute to Bob with the spayed and nuetered bit. It felt odd having her do it, but it only felt right having it there, because he's done it so long.

[Jordan7]

It was alright. I mean Ricki didn't do that bad. I missed Hole in One, and turned on the TV right when Rich was describing the first small prize in Plinko. I liked how they bumped the $10,000 slot up to $20,000. Then Race Game was quite a surprise. $6495, like that will ever be used again in Race Game. I can't believe Brande put $6495 on the sofa too.

Then, during the showcase, it was funny that she asked if the trip to Australia was by boat. And as for the showcase showdown, I liked the high angle view. It was nice to see the split-view of the contestant and the wheel during the showcase showdown again, like they did in the old days. I'm looking forward to tomorrow night, and by what I could see, it appears that the lovely Brandi will be the model on Let's Make a Deal.

[rcbought]

I think the problem was they were trying to fit a half hour worth of show into an hour of time.  I thought it was way to slow for my liking.  My brother nearly threw a fit when Ricki went to commercial after showing the car but before hole in one was played.

I thought race game was easy.  I would have mixed up the computer and table at first but then would have switched them first.

From the sounds of it. The winner of the first showcase showdown would have gone on for sure if there was a clear winner.  Then a spinoff between the two losers.  

One last comment.  a 66 mustang?  now that is a FR showcase

[urbanpreppie0004]

Posts like some of theses are exactly why some of us don't post anymore. People take TPIR way too seriously and just look for all the nitcpicking.

It's not going to be perfect guys. It's a celebrity one-off special.

Frankly, I enjoyed it for what it was.

[Alfonzo]

That's not very fair, urbanpreppie. Just because an opinion isn't overly-positive doesn't mean it can't be expressed. At least I gave a reason why I didn't care for the show. Keep in mind, I watched with an open-mind. I was hoping this show might change my opinion of a celebrity PiR. It didn't.

We may all be PiR fans, but sometimes our opinions aren't always going to be sunshine and roses. You'll just have to deal with that.

However, I will say that I'm glad that you enjoyed the show.