Author Topic: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.  (Read 30936 times)

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Offline Spmahn

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #60 on: May 17, 2020, 07:30:16 PM »
People joke about that with TPIR, but it largely isn’t true. Look at the people who make up the typical audience, it’s college kids and people in their 30’s and 40’s. It’s rare to see any stereotypical elderly people in Bidder’s Row anymore.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2020, 07:34:46 PM by Spmahn »

Offline urbanpreppie0004

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #61 on: May 17, 2020, 07:53:19 PM »
I think what they will do is run out the new shows as long as they can, then revisit shows from the earlier part of the season or last season. I think by fall, I could see them coming back with either-

-Best of the last few seasons
-social distancing specials; where celebrities or staff play games in house for Zoomed in contestants
-or an adjusted set/setup for the show?

I honestly think they won't go back to Bob's shows...because they're going to hold rearing those for his eventual passing. 

Offline JayC

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #62 on: May 17, 2020, 07:58:34 PM »
If we’re doomed for repeats for the next several months or longer, I at least hope we get some higher effort reruns and not just a random dump of shows from the past 3-5 seasons. Maybe a countdown of the top 100 moments in the shows history, or a series of best of shows highlighting a different pricing game every day and showing the best and worst playings of the game throughout the history of the show. I know it’s a pipe dream to hope that CBS will air a lot of content that predates High Definition but if they mix new stuff together with old stuff it wouldn’t be so bad.
That would be great, but we diehard fans would be the only ones to truly appreciate it. When the reruns do start, it will very likely be from this season and the previous one or two at the most.

I honestly think they won't go back to Bob's shows...because they're going to hold rearing those for his eventual passing. 
Drew's been hosting over 10 years now, there's no way they'd have to go as far back as Bob's episodes. I think even after he passes it would be a long shot to see CBS air any Bob hosted episodes, they would probably just do a clip show in tribute if anything.

Offline urbanpreppie0004

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #63 on: May 17, 2020, 08:04:37 PM »
Quote
Drew's been hosting over 10 years now, there's no way they'd have to go as far back as Bob's episodes. I think even after he passes it would be a long shot to see CBS air any Bob hosted episodes, they would probably just do a clip show in tribute if anything.

I dunno...considering that CBS brought back the classic Sunday night movies and is airing a sing along version of grease tonight...nothing would surprise me anymore.

Offline Superballer

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #64 on: May 17, 2020, 08:42:56 PM »
I think that when Bob does pass on, they will show at least one of his episodes as a tribute. 

Offline imhomerjay

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #65 on: May 18, 2020, 10:48:20 AM »
The Sunday night movie gimmick, even Grease...those are different. They just are. Even digging out vintage Y&R (oh, those shoulder pads...and so much hairspray) is different. They could rerun the past season or two of Price. No need to go back further. People re smart enough to understand the reasons, even if they do recognize them as reruns. There really is no reason to entertain going back any deeper.

And while I get the whole “at home” trend, and it’s been adapted to a heck of a lot, I’m not seeing it being successful in all cases, Price being one of them. Zoom contestants? Meh. Just give me reruns.

Offline Briguy

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #66 on: May 18, 2020, 02:13:58 PM »
When the reruns do start, it will very likely be from this season and the previous one or two at the most.

I tend to agree ... I'd maybe go back to 2017 or so, but that would be about it. It all depends on how the health situation is, various other factors and when taping will be permitted to resume (in, I'd guess, the Bob Barker Studios).

Drew's been hosting over 10 years now, there's no way they'd have to go as far back as Bob's episodes. I think even after he passes it would be a long shot to see CBS air any Bob hosted episodes, they would probably just do a clip show in tribute if anything.

In answer to speculation about what may or may not happen there, the only place you'd be likely to see a Bob Barker-era TPiR marathon upon his passing would probably be on Buzzr.

Brian

Offline LiteBulb88

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #67 on: May 18, 2020, 11:14:45 PM »
Roger just added a 4th possibility to his Facebook page, which is that the show could move to Orlando. Apparently, due to tax breaks, FL is a much cheaper state to film in and there'd be a constant stream of tourists to make up the audience. (Note he still thinks the show consistently uses paid audience members, which it doesn't, at least according to the page I asked last year at the show.) Also, it looks like FL is going to relax COVID-19 restrictions well before CA will.

I highly doubt that's going to happen; TPiR is too much of a Hollywood fixture, plus Drew, George, and entire staff would have to move there, or at least stay there a significant number of nights per year. But it's an interesting thought at least.

Offline Spmahn

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #68 on: May 18, 2020, 11:19:08 PM »
(Note he still thinks the show consistently uses paid audience members, which it doesn't, at least according to the page I asked last year at the show.)

Believe me, I live in Connecticut and have stood outside in line in the dead of winter with 100 other people for tapings of Jerry Springer and Maury, and we weren’t compensated with so much as a slice of pizza. TPIR will never in a million years have to resort to a paid audience. On what planet could anyone possibly believe that would be a thing?

Offline gamesurf

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #69 on: May 19, 2020, 12:11:39 AM »
They have travelled before—only a few hours up I-15 instead of across the country, and with six games instead of 75—and it sounds like it was a huge cluster.

It wouldn’t be impossible, but it would come with its own set of growing pains. It could be done if they absolutely NEED to fulfill an order for more episodes. But I wouldn’t expect them to do it as a stopgap for a few months and then switch back to LA. It would be a long haul, all-season option.

I’m bracing for a long season of reruns.
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Offline SteveGavazzi

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #70 on: May 19, 2020, 12:28:03 AM »
I think what they will do is run out the new shows as long as they can

For the record, that's not very long at this point -- there are currently only 11 shows in the can.
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Offline Mr. Weatherman

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #71 on: May 19, 2020, 09:30:55 AM »
CBS has a clear dilemma here.  If I’m an advertiser, I would *probably* rather spend my sponsorship dollars on a show producing first-run episodes vs a show airing repeats that a meaningful faction of the viewing audience will notice and subsequently not be interested in viewing (and even casual viewers will know the shows aren’t new if they pay even the slightest bit of attention to what’s going on in the world).  If programs like Today and The View are churning out new episodes, then that’s where I’d be inclined to spend a more significant portion of my money.  Even with the consideration that CBS won’t be spending money on the production itself, Drew Carey still needs to be paid, and I’m not sure the ad dollars vs lack of production costs will even out.  I’d say CBS still comes up significantly short.  I’m not an expert, and we have folks here who are much more knowledgeable of how network advertising works than I am, but it seems logical to me that CBS doesn’t win if Price enters an extended period without first run shows.  Maybe I’m wrong.

OK, so what are the alternatives?  I would bet five golden Plinko chips we will not see tapings at Television City at any point this summer.  Maybe shows like James Corden’s can tape without an audience, but California’s restrictions — barring any changes — won’t allow a show like Price to film with any sort of audience for at least the next few months, and once they can, it’s doubtful they can do so with a full audience.

So short of airing repeats for weeks/months, what else can CBS and, by a lesser extent, Fremantle do to get Price back on the air as quickly as possible with new episodes?

The show can’t go on the road in a practical manner with all 70+ pricing games, set, et al. requiring extensive efforts to be transported — and then finding a facility to both act as a studio and house everything required for the production.  However, the show doesn’t necessarily have to have every pricing game to function, and certain set pieces like the big doors and turntable can be recreated (think the 30th Anniversary Special) without having to go all-out with flashing lights and LED screens to help maintain cost efficiency.  We also have the live stage show’s Big Wheel that is made for transportation, and I’m sure there are other things I can point to if I sat down and really thought it through.

Short of California doing a ‘180’ and allowing larger crowds to gather this summer, the only option that would allow for new first run episodes to begin airing as soon as September is to take the show on the road.  It certainly won’t look the same.  Not all pricing games can be included, and you might even have to go as far as shortening the show to a half hour temporarily if it makes more sense (maybe pair it with a half hour edition of LMAD and fill that show’s time slot with something else?).  And then, of course, Fremantle has to agree to it, your host and production staff have to be on board, etc.  And even more-so than that, the state the show is being filmed at has to be fairly relaxed with restrictions and maintaining low virus case numbers.  The given studio may still have to have some sort of social distancing restrictions in place (wild idea: what if the show is taped at an outdoor venue?), and the crowd size would likely have to be less than that of a typical show.  But it would be creative, and in fact more people might actually tune in just because it’s different. 

I think road shows are logistically possible.  Is it something CBS would actually do?  Probably not, but I can’t imagine the idea isn’t being floated around.  They have an entire fall lineup to fill with few answers on how to fill it properly, and I’m sure other shows will move production out of California temporarily to get episodes on the air.  They kind of have to.  If done right, The Price is Right can be among them.

The alternative, of course, is to air repeats.  Here’s one significant problem with that: all of your Season 48 episodes worth airing a second time will be exhausted this summer unless the decision is made to go ahead with mixing in older episodes, which I don’t really see happening.  If they go the route of repeats in the fall, just how far back are we going?  Will George re-dub some of his lines to remove mentions of automobile model years?  There is also the consideration that some vehicles the show has offered have been either updated or discontinued (RIP Chevy Cruze), and some viewers may pick up on that — same with smartphones from a few years ago (“It’s the brand new, state-of-the-art iPhone 6s!”).  Those certain nuances will date each episode, potentially negating efforts to ‘trick’ the audience into thinking what they are watching is ‘new’.

We have a mess on our hands here, but the enthusiast in me can’t wait to see how it plays out.  Regardless of what happens, Gavazzi will have his hands full with the timeline. 🤓
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Offline imhomerjay

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #72 on: May 19, 2020, 10:44:56 AM »
I'd be shocked if all kinds of ideas aren't batted around. That's the job of the folks at CBS and Fremantle. But once the ideas are laid out, the realities have to come into play. And those realities are challenging at best. They just are.

CBS's daytime schedule now consists of 90 minutes of old soap operas, of which at least B&B supposedly has alerted the cast and crew (take the rumors with a shaker of salt) that they're looking at ways to potentially restart production. But they can do that a la Neighbors from Australia. OK, so maybe they can get both soaps back up in some fashion this summer. Let's say a six week lead time to get back on the air. So maybe by fall that problem is solved. The Talk is already in home mode and could go back to an audience-less environment for however long it's needed. Not ideal, but that show is basically the least of CBS's issues.

The game shows happen to be the bigger challenge. Do you try to take both on the road? Just one? Where? At what cost (whatever the actual dollar amount is, let's just go with "enormous"). Without looking at a P&L, my educated guess is there's no way that becomes cost effective. I.e., the money you gain (or don't lose), if any, from running new episodes is drowned by the costs. And other questions come into play--what is the contractual obligation for paying for the current studio space? Is there any provision for something like this? Is there insurance in place?

Then there's the lead time vs what happens to viewers. With states opening up more workplaces, though not crowds at event venues, the audience will begin the decline. How long and how close to previous levels that goes remains to be seen. But what we saw in March and April will inevitably be an aberration. The question is how much.

Ad buyers will follow the audience. They'll buy reruns of Mr. Ed if that's where their target audience is. Lots of questions there, too. There will be big advertising cutbacks. There already are across meidia. The question is who and how much. Price had made some good progress getting "younger" brands thanks to younger viewers (alongside those tiresome Colonial Penn spots, but progress is progress). The bigger danger is less that those brands move towards CBS This Morning or even the soaps if they're back, but that they pull out of the market entirely, either to conserve cash or because they're broke. A brand like JC Penny was still running advertising up until this began; I'm wagering you'll see little to no national branding from them post chapter 11, with whatever smaller store portfolio they have left. Until consumer dollars flow, advertising dollars are going to dry up.

No media outlet is in good shape with this right now. The saving grace, such as it is, for daytime is that primetime is a bigger headache for all the major networks. NBC may be in the best daytime shape with only one show outside of Today; CBS can probably muddle through with game show reruns and hopes for the soaps to do something. ABC is somewhere in the middle, able to keep running that midday news hour in some fashion, and the View from home/without an audience.

Offline Spmahn

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #73 on: May 19, 2020, 11:14:29 AM »
I think whatever decision is made will largely depend on the ratings of the reruns. Clearly we’re going to get at least a month or two worth of repeats, at that point of the ratings stay relatively stable then they’ll continue with those until it’s safe to tape again. For repeats, I think the best strategy at least initially would be to go back maybe one or two seasons and avoid anything recent that might still be lingering in viewers recollection. Get George to record some new overdubs to make them slightly more evergreen and literally no one would notice. If they aired a random episode from 2018, other than the car models and maybe slightly out of date electronics, I guarantee you absolutely no one but maybe the top 10% of serious followers on this board would even notice the difference.

Offline imhomerjay

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Re: Will The Price be Right?: The Possible Future of the Show.
« Reply #74 on: May 19, 2020, 02:48:53 PM »
Honestly, I don't believe the ratings of reruns will tip the scales. There would be the normal summer changes anyway, so you're talking into the fall before you have a meaningful sample size. If you're thinking of a major change, that needs to be planned well in advance; otherwise, you put your chips on waiting until you can tape again in some quasi-"normal" circumstance. And normal is a really relative term. And you hope for the best and adjust when that time comes.

Very true no one would notice. And many won't care/won't hold it against the show, because they're capable of recognizing the circumstances for what they are.