Discussion on Drew Carey's performance as host of Price

[pricefan18]

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 gave would be a 6th slot favorite because of how fast it plays.

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

It's also one of the newer games that could easily fit in both eras completely as it is, prop included except for maybe the price reveals needing to be replaced by old school monitors probably. And that's a definite plus.

[urbanpreppie0004]

'm not saying everyone should be hating on Drew, but why the contempt for Bob and Roger and even their fans, no less?

Because as time has passed fans are realizing that quite a few things Bob and Roger did and let go under the radar weren't ok and that some of roger's harping on the show now is not only unfair...but somewhat hypocritical. He and the production team made some errors in some elements of the show.

Again, I respect Roger, but it's becoming clear that he's not interested in even discussing the things the show has been doing right for the last 10-11 seasons and that in spite of things being slightly different (because at the end of the day they didn't change that much to the average viewer) the show is still a success.

[Casey]

I'm not saying everyone should be hating on Drew, but why the contempt for Bob and Roger and even their fans, no less?

I think the big thing I see is that as time has gone on, Roger has just shown a level of bitterness about the show since his departure that it is distasteful.  I get it - he was fired from the show, and it makes sense that he’s bitter.  But what’s worse I think is the people who run to Roger’s facebook page, knowing full well how he feels and how he’s going to react, and bait him with “look what the show did today OMG!!!!!!” just so they can get him to react.  I love reading the stories about how things were at Goodson-Todman back in the day, but the rest is rather hard to take.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Because as time has passed fans are realizing that quite a few things Bob and Roger did and let go under the radar weren't ok and that some of roger's harping on the show now is not only unfair...but somewhat hypocritical. He and the production team made some errors in some elements of the show.

Again, I respect Roger, but it's becoming clear that he's not interested in even discussing the things the show has been doing right for the last 10-11 seasons and that in spite of things being slightly different (because at the end of the day they didn't change that much to the average viewer) the show is still a success.

It honestly comes down to that. I think Roger turning into this "I did everything right and everything that followed by firing was wrong" person has done a lot of damage to his reputation. The golden years with Marc & John were great times to have access backstage because Roger cared about the fans. However, the fact that he can't accept that the show is not his and the way he did things honestly has made him bitter. I'm sure Mark Goodson would probably have acquiesced to make changes if he were still alive. The show is around in 2020 because of his work, but the show did not revolve around him. The show revolved around Bob. The roving gang of idiots who post on his Facebook page all think the same as him. A lot of us here nowadays don't. It's understandable that things change. Opinions change. I think Mike Richards did a lot to get this show into the 21st century and if you ask sponsors and ratings, he did everything necessary. Could you imagine Season 50 in 2 years and it looked like Season 35?

Bob on the other hand, as we evolve as a society, we look at behaviour like his as sexist, misogynist, etc. Bob, Gene Rayburn, etc, came from the days when society was more accepting of this behaviour. Unlike Gene Rayburn, who was a comedian and always trying to be nice to female contestants. Bob Barker definitely was the more macho man who felt that he would have complete control. A lot of it he managed to keep intact during the years Dorothy Jo was alive. I'm sure part of the reason he did the Miss America and Miss Universe pageants was because of his thing for younger hotter women. After Dorothy Jo died, there was no reason to hold it in anymore. Dorothy Jo knew women saw him as an idol and he took advantage of it. Bob Barker nowadays wouldn't be called a predator, but definitely he'd be one of those looked very badly if the Dian/Holly/Janice/Kathleen stuff was happening nowadays rather than 40 years ago.

[Combs]

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.

I consider myself a Bob Barker purist, but I'm intelligent enough to know that at Barker's age of 96, there's no way of him coming back to host the show again. I knew he wasn't coming back in 2007 and I think most of his fans did too. Most of that talk is probably folks longing for the good old days. They know it's not going to happen, but it's nice to reminisce. I've moved on too which is why you don't see me posting here very often. I love movies (horror and comedy are my favorite genres) and I have a rather large Blu-ray collection as well as DVDs and even some HD DVDs and LaserDiscs. Most of my free time is spent watching movies and commenting about movies and Blu-ray releases on another forum. When I do have the urge to watch a game show, I'll tune in to Buzzr or Youtube or I'll pull my VCR out of the mothballs and watch one of my old VHS tapes with game shows that I taped off of GSN during the golden years (1994-1997) or episodes of TPIR taped off of CBS from 1993 to 2007.

TPIR as it is now doesn't remind me of the same show that I watched at my grandma's house in the 1980s, the same way the modern Family Feud (1999-present) doesn't remind me of the awesome Ray Combs and Richard Dawson years. I guess I'm just old fashioned and like the things I grew up with.

As far as Bob making comments about Samoans, I never perceived those to be derogatory. He was pleading with them not to pick him up and throw him around. I certainly don't think he was making fun of them. He insulted fat people?

[Combs]

Could you imagine Season 50 in 2 years and it looked like Season 35?

I'm not going to suggest that TPIR should still look like it did during season 35, but if it did, would that be such a terrible thing? The reason I say that is because people will watch a game show episode from the 1970s or 1980s (or even the 1950s or 1960s) on Buzzr and be able to have fun and enjoy it without harping on "the old ugly set" so why would a current episode of TPIR with the old set or a current episode of Family Feud with the Combs set be a deal breaker? If you can't fathom watching a new episode with a classic set, it seems like you wouldn't want to watch an old rerun (of any show) on Buzzr because it's outdated. Maybe a lot of folks here don't watch the classics on Buzzr?

[JhayPrice]

All is fine with the current set, but those big G-T asterisks that surround the studio. I think it makes the set way too "over-the-top".

The set would look much better as it is without those giant asterisk light, especially that the panels in between the blue curtains can now change color depending on the theme of an episode.

Additionally, there is completely NO problem that the show will downgrade their set to the look of a classic era. Season 35 had, if not the most, one of the most colorful sets that's attractive and pleasing to the eyes.

Last, it would be better if Drew can minimize  joking around with the prices. Like, "$35 for a grill set?", I'm somehow annoyed with that.

[Roadgeek Adam]

I'm not going to suggest that TPIR should still look like it did during season 35, but if it did, would that be such a terrible thing? The reason I say that is because people will watch a game show episode from the 1970s or 1980s (or even the 1950s or 1960s) on Buzzr and be able to have fun and enjoy it without harping on "the old ugly set" so why would a current episode of TPIR with the old set or a current episode of Family Feud with the Combs set be a deal breaker? If you can't fathom watching a new episode with a classic set, it seems like you wouldn't want to watch an old rerun (of any show) on Buzzr because it's outdated. Maybe a lot of folks here don't watch the classics on Buzzr?

My point is more that if you look at Wheel of Fortune, it has stagnated, badly. Even diehard fans of the show call out how stagnate it has become, no matter how much Harry has tried to get new ideas and modernization. I don't think the ratings would be as high if The Price is Right looked in Season 50 as it did in Season 35 (and I don't mean by set, but by atmosphere, etc.).

[Alfonzo]

I'm not going to suggest that TPIR should still look like it did during season 35, but if it did, would that be such a terrible thing? The reason I say that is because people will watch a game show episode from the 1970s or 1980s (or even the 1950s or 1960s) on Buzzr and be able to have fun and enjoy it without harping on "the old ugly set" so why would a current episode of TPIR with the old set or a current episode of Family Feud with the Combs set be a deal breaker? If you can't fathom watching a new episode with a classic set, it seems like you wouldn't want to watch an old rerun (of any show) on Buzzr because it's outdated. Maybe a lot of folks here don't watch the classics on Buzzr?

Love Buzzr, watch Buzzr all the time (Jack Narz's Concentration is appointment viewing for me.) Doesn't mean that I can't appreciate a few of the modern touches the show added due to updated technology. Take the pricing game Time is Money, a game which, frankly, stunk in its first incarnation is now one of the show's best cash games. The money countdown on the flatscreen enhances it.

I'll also add the new game show revivals on ABC prove that you can have the classic feel of a show and still have modern set design. The two can co-mingle.

[imhomerjay]

The thing is Buzzr (et al) have a very narrow, niche audience. The idea that people aren’t bothered by the old look and therefore the same would be true for current productions is just silly. What form of mass entertainment is presented in the same way with the same look and feel today that it was decades ago?

Wheel has reached the point I didn’t even realize the episodes airing recently were from past seasons—it all looks and feels so much the same that it’s trapped in time. That’s where Price was by the time Barker retired. Shaking off the rust took time and experimentation, and the result has been as good as anyone could reasonably expect.

[SilverFirePrime]

Shaking off the rust took time and experimentation, and the result has been as good as anyone could reasonably expect.

I agree and while I think she show has found its groove again, things were very rough for a while. Changing hosts caused growing pains, and changing exec producers brought an entirely different set of growing pains.   Individually, it would have been difficult enough. Combined, even the best shows would have had trainwreck episodes.

My biggest gripe I have with today's show isn't even in the control of Adam or Drew. Price simply doesn't have the broadcast time it once did.  This is why we see more quickies, why the prize descriptions are so fast, why Drew flies through the games.  If there was another 4-6 minutes per show you could take the time to build up tension before reveals, and have more interesting contestant interactions.  Those helped dull the frustration of the 0/6 and 1/6 shows with evil setups and facepalm-worthy decisions by the contestants.   It's not like Drew is incapable of interesting interactions.  Today's reveal in Bonus Game proved he can do a good tension build.   

[gamesurf]

Love Buzzr, watch Buzzr all the time (Jack Narz's Concentration is appointment viewing for me.) Doesn't mean that I can't appreciate a few of the modern touches the show added due to updated technology. Take the pricing game Time is Money, a game which, frankly, stunk in its first incarnation is now one of the show's best cash games. The money countdown on the flatscreen enhances it.

Speaking of Time is Money--I think that Roger's take on that was a prime example of being pretty unfair. Somebody asked what he thought about it, and he said something like "the gameplay makes no sense and is counterproductive--you're losing money as you go on! The big prize should be in play until the end of the game!"

Come on, Roger. First, Plinko is by far the most popular game. Second, what's the point of having a game called "Time is Money" if a faster time does not equal more money?

[imhomerjay]

How to say this—that complaint is just petty, bitter BS.

And to an earlier point, a few more minutes would be great. But such is the world we live in. Gotta play the hand you’re dealt. 

[Alfonzo]

Speaking of Time is Money--I think that Roger's take on that was a prime example of being pretty unfair. Somebody asked what he thought about it, and he said something like "the gameplay makes no sense and is counterproductive--you're losing money as you go on! The big prize should be in play until the end of the game!"

Come on, Roger. First, Plinko is by far the most popular game. Second, what's the point of having a game called "Time is Money" if a faster time does not equal more money?

Wow! Sounds like Roger was a bit jelly that the new crew was able to make a game work that the old crew couldn't!

[wpghi5]

It honestly comes down to that. I think Roger turning into this "I did everything right and everything that followed by firing was wrong" person has done a lot of damage to his reputation. The golden years with Marc & John were great times to have access backstage because Roger cared about the fans. However, the fact that he can't accept that the show is not his and the way he did things honestly has made him bitter. I'm sure Mark Goodson would probably have acquiesced to make changes if he were still alive. The show is around in 2020 because of his work, but the show did not revolve around him. The show revolved around Bob. The roving gang of idiots who post on his Facebook page all think the same as him. A lot of us here nowadays don't. It's understandable that things change. Opinions change. I think Mike Richards did a lot to get this show into the 21st century and if you ask sponsors and ratings, he did everything necessary. Could you imagine Season 50 in 2 years and it looked like Season 35?

Bob on the other hand, as we evolve as a society, we look at behaviour like his as sexist, misogynist, etc. Bob, Gene Rayburn, etc, came from the days when society was more accepting of this behaviour. Unlike Gene Rayburn, who was a comedian and always trying to be nice to female contestants. Bob Barker definitely was the more macho man who felt that he would have complete control. A lot of it he managed to keep intact during the years Dorothy Jo was alive. I'm sure part of the reason he did the Miss America and Miss Universe pageants was because of his thing for younger hotter women. After Dorothy Jo died, there was no reason to hold it in anymore. Dorothy Jo knew women saw him as an idol and he took advantage of it. Bob Barker nowadays wouldn't be called a predator, but definitely he'd be one of those looked very badly if the Dian/Holly/Janice/Kathleen stuff was happening nowadays rather than 40 years ago.

Just a correction there it was Miss USA not Miss America. Lol.