Discussion on Drew Carey's performance as host of Price

[Torgo]

Unwatchable.  For a guy who hosted an improv show, he’s got zero skills in that department.
He still doesn’t know how to quickly and concisely explain many games, even after ten years of “rehearsals.”
It’s been a very long time since I’ve watched Drew or visited here, and now that Price is Right is fully on board as an abortion provider, I doubt I shall return or watch ever again. 
But who cares?  What’s one less life—  here, or in the audience,  or in its father’s arms? Who cares?

Oh look, the show did something he disagreed with and showed his bravery by posting here, using strong language such as "abortion provider" and threatening to stop watching the show.

This fandom. I bet he'll keep his eyes on this thread though, because he's totally over the show. Totally.

[JhayPrice]

After 12 years of hosting, we can just say that after such a long time doing the show, he had improved his skills, and look at him now, he's very well-fitted with the show. He loves the crowd, he genuinely wants the contestants to win. Those are just some examples of Drew's great changes after some time doing Price, plus Drew being fit allowed him to move around during the games and stuff... Great job Drew!

[gamesurf]

Price at least has been open to showcasing those on both sides of the political spectrum during Drew's Tenure, given they had Jenny McCarthy who was/is associated with Autism Speaks...definitely can't say they haven't had equal time offered as it were.

Calling the two "equal time" and representing "both sides of the political spectrum" is utterly ridiculous.

They wanted a celebrity who wanted to play for a divisive charity, they approved a celebrity with a divisive charity. That's the only way the situations are comparable.

[Roadgeek Adam]

I assume he's mad that Julie Bowen and RuPaul both had Planned Parenthood as their charity when they went on the show.

Personally, I think that makes them heroes, but to each his own.

You should've seen Roger's festival of idiots on Facebook when it comes to that.

Regardless, Drew's fine. He's not a trained game show host. (Most people aren't born to be a game show host. Most came from radio, other television or film.) He has come a far way from the nervous wreck in Season 36. The show and him are now intertwined. He's happy. He has fun.

Heaven knows I'd rather have Drew than Bob being a smug asshat every time.

[PatrickRox80]

We're well past the time of saying it would be hard for anybody to replace someone who hosted Price for 35 years. That said, when I got back into watching the show last year, I must say Drew has improved a lot. Major props to him for keeping the weight off because he looks a lot more at ease, too.

Heaven knows I'd rather have Drew than Bob being a smug asshat every time.

And to the people who claim that Bob's era wasn't political when he hosted, he made some derogatory comments about the ERA, on the air no less. Even if he may have been joking, he wouldn't get away with that today.

[pricefan18]

And to the people who claim that Bob's era wasn't political when he hosted, he made some derogatory comments about the ERA, on the air no less. Even if he may have been joking, he wouldn't get away with that today.

What was said, and when? Am curious about that. He also couldn't get away with some of the stuff with women, both as contestants and models both on terms of on camera, that he did then in this Me Too era. That wasn't political per se but....it was surely a sign of the times that existed in his era at the very least.

[Alfonzo]

What was said, and when? Am curious about that. He also couldn't get away with some of the stuff with women, both as contestants and models both on terms of on camera, that he did then in this Me Too era. That wasn't political per se but....it was surely a sign of the times that existed in his era at the very least.

I recall seeing a playing of Trader Bob in which a writing pad was one of the prizes. One of the female staffers had written a pro-ERA message on the pad which Bob immediately tore up and said "We're all male chauvinist pigs here!"

Oh, and Bob practically forcing some contestants to kiss him? Good luck with that nowadays.

[blozier2006]

Bob... said "We're all male chauvinist pigs here!"

Never were truer words spoken, as all the lawsuits would later bear out

[Alfonzo]

Never were truer words spoken, as all the lawsuits would later bear out

Joking or not, there was some foreshadowing in that comment. 

[pricefan18]

I recall seeing a playing of Trader Bob in which a writing pad was one of the prizes. One of the female staffers had written a pro-ERA message on the pad which Bob immediately tore up and said "We're all male chauvinist pigs here!"

Oh man, even for the 80's that's bad lol. I wonder how that went over with the female staffers then.

[urbanpreppie0004]

What kills me about some of the more rabid parts of the fanbase is just how much glossing over of Bob's misdeeds they do- even going as far of accusing Janice, Kathleen, Holly and Dian (to a lesser extent) for "trying to take Bob down."

[Combs]

I'm surprised by the amount of disdain for Bob and Roger. Granted, I don't post or even visit very much, but I've been around golden-road.net long before Drew became the host and the vast majority of people here used to respect and admire Bob and Roger. There were folks here that visited the show often and were given backstage tours to take photos of the set, props, studio, and such. I don't know what happened, but this isn't the same golden-road.net from 2007 and earlier. I'm not saying everyone should be hating on Drew, but why the contempt for Bob and Roger and even their fans, no less?

[tpiradam]

Don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed most of Bob's tenure of hosting. What I don't like is how there are people out there who even after how many years now are still Bob Barker purists. Those who believe he should be brought out of retirement to 'rescue' the show and Roger be brought back to his original position. While it's fine to have those feelings (Drew isn't everyone's cup of tea) it takes it to a whole 'nother level when it becomes an insult fest towards Drew, George, or anything the show is in it's current state. Many of us have moved on and accepted the show as it is now which may make it easier to look back and see that Bob was not perfect as many once believed. One major difference I see between Bob and Drew's hosting was Bob always referred to TPIR as 'HIS' show. It was his thing and if anything or anyone got in the way he'd do away with it regardless of how others felt (fur, models, foreign cars, etc...). He was beloved and he knew it. He could fire anyone, make cracks towards women, overweight people, Samoans, whoever, and people would still love him.

[gamesurf]

I'm surprised by the amount of disdain for Bob and Roger. Granted, I don't post or even visit very much, but I've been around golden-road.net long before Drew became the host and the vast majority of people here used to respect and admire Bob and Roger. There were folks here that visited the show often and were given backstage tours to take photos of the set, props, studio, and such. I don't know what happened, but this isn't the same golden-road.net from 2007 and earlier. I'm not saying everyone should be hating on Drew, but why the contempt for Bob and Roger and even their fans, no less?

Hindsight history. There were plenty of weirdness on in Drew's tenure; at the time wasn't clear if they would be able to work those issues out, and the only point of comparison then was "Bob & Roger's show." And it's tempting and addicting to play backseat producer

Season 36, Drew was pretty green and Bob was still fresh in everybody's memory. Season 37 was a trainwreck. In the wake of Roger's firing, it seemed like there was a revolving door of production regime change, they experimented with a bunch of stuff that didn't work, and the on-air product was not fun to watch at all. And to top it all off, the Perfect Bid incident burned most of the remaining goodwill between the show's production staff & members of the board.

12 years later, they've worked out most of those kinks, without trying to emulate Bob or Roger too closely. Drew's hosting is better, setups are better, they've settled on a consistent tone, LFaTs are still getting picked and even if they're not giving us personal backstage tours there's at least water under the bridge.

Survivorship bias also plays a part. The board mostly discusses the current show, and you're not likely going to remain active here for 12 years if you still think everything about the modern show sucks. There's still a few vocal purists--they just congregate on Roger's Facebook page instead of here. So you're left with two self-segregated tribes.

I totally respect Roger for his tenure on the show. I'm glad he's willing to interact with fans on his Facebook page and I love hearing old war stories from "the old days". But it's also obvious that he only sees the current show through jade-colored glasses, and he's not going to offer a compliment even when a compliment is due. I don't trust him to give a fair view of the current show, and I've kind of tuned him out.

[Alfonzo]

One example I thought of Roger being petty was him dismissing Vend-O-Price as simply "A game that does not work." Why not?! It's a rather quick grocery game and it actually makes you think outside the box a little bit. If Roger was still around I guarantee that game would be a 6th slot favorite because of how fast it plays.

Now, if he wanted to diss Pay the Rent, have at it!