TPiR Recap - 10/27/2020 (TPiR at Night: Season 49 Preview 1: Essential Workers)

[EvilChameleon]

They should change the yellow podium to a different color since it was hard to see the bids on there.

Glad I'm not the only one who thought so.

Good episode, happy to have the show back!

[FPGWillyT]

I’m glad that there are some of you who still find enjoyment from watching, and yes I have been away for some time now for many of the reasons accentuated by the “new” format.  It would take someone who has been there to see/hear the “changes”.  The “come on ins” were laughable.  Even after Drew stated there was no audience, they still felt the need to add in “canned” reactions.

And Drew, you gotta dye those facials.  Duff the scruff.

[Roadgeek Adam]

It’s 40SP. 39SP aired on May 11th in Primetime

It has been confirmed this is 39SP. 40 was the previous one.

[MSTieScott]

Microphone Handoff: N/A (due to COVID-19)

Seems like it would be easier to just delete that line this season.

A curious game lineup, to be sure. Timings may have changed over the past seven years, but by my calculations, those games came in one minute shorter than an average daytime episode. And I don't think Pick a Number was a substitute, because even if a car game broke at the last second, Money Game should always be at the ready.

Maybe they wanted to short-time the show so there would be enough time to acknowledge the occupations of all six onstage contestants? Grand Game had room to breathe -- I'm guessing that game usually feels more edited than it did tonight?

The contestants... felt like the contestants you see on every other game show that thoroughly interviews and selects its contestants well before the day of taping. I don't know whether they were actually coached to perform some wacky, personalized dance move as they came on down, but it sure seemed coached.

It made sense for there to be dots on the floor so Drew and the contestants knew where to stand to be properly distanced during Cliff Hangers and Bargain Game. So why was there only a dot for Drew during Grand Game and Pick a Number? That outstretched arm thing is going to get tiresome really fast if they do it all season.

Did Pick a Number get new number "tiles" sometime in the past seven years? The typeface looked just slightly thinner to my eyes than it used to be. What's that? That's an unreasonably detailed question to ask? Never mind.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Seems like it would be easier to just delete that line this season.

I'm just going to leave it like that.... If I delete it entirely, I might forget it for when it returns.

[TPIRfan#9821]

Did Pick a Number get new number "tiles" sometime in the past seven years? The typeface looked just slightly thinner to my eyes than it used to be. What's that? That's an unreasonably detailed question to ask? Never mind.

Where on the internet are you again? The place that keeps unreasonable detail about TPiR?

Key: This Episode | 6/7/2019 (S47) | 12/29/2017 (S46) | 5/15/2017  (S45) | 6/17/2016 (S44)



It is apparent that the inside of the 4 has more space S46+ I couldn't find good video of the first PAN playing of S46, so for the sake of effort, I'd guess they changed it when they automated the reveal.

[Off_trak]

When and why did Cliff Hangers get the stones at the base of prop "chiseled" off? It's a lot flatter down  there now, and I only happened to notice because Drew occasionally would rest his foot on it.

I know primetime is timed longer than daytime, or maybe it was the lack of background noise, but there seemed to be a need of more conversation, or some more interaction. Felt a little flat, and Drew seemed a bit lost at points without direct/physical interaction. And I'm guessing no more license plates for car winners now?

Kinda surprised they didn't go the same route as WoF, and have some sorta handle/slipcover for spinning the Wheel.

[Chelsea]

So this is actually the first first-run Price I've gotten to see in a while and first timetime show in eons:

Just wanted to say as someone that adores the Davidson version (as well as several other games that they were used on), the "flashback moments" intro was an absolute hoot, and unexpected delight.  I think it works super well for Price in general and want to see it permanently.  Dunno if that's new for the season with the Covid changes or if it's been used on other primetime episodes but I love it and hope it gets adopted full time for daytime.

Also, CBS All Access has a TRT of 42:55, which puts it as just under 5 minutes longer than the daytime version.  I never really realized how cut down and rushed the daytime version was feeling, but all of the extra moments for Drew to just talk and be cordial and contestants to react and things to just slow down a half step?  IT was *refreshing*.  I think the commercial/program time mix is the single biggest thing working against broadcast TV in 2020 and seeing Price suddenly have five minutes more of content time was just....more of that.

Always a fan of the show doing new things so seeing it adapt to the post-Covid reality is interesting and by-and-large I think they pulled it off

[b_masters8]

One thing I really enjoyed about it is seeing the winning podium's color flash, and the TPIR symbol on front with flowing lights (did anyone notice that?).

[AcesAces]

Overall, I would say they are doing the best they can with it.  Pretty good games in the first half of the show.  I agree with some of you guys, seemed like the Pick a Number choice as the last game was weird.  Always hated that game. 

Definitely will be interesting to see how contestants handle some of these games without any audience help.  Like someone else said, Cliffhangers was a disaster because he wasn't able to get any help and obviously wasn't aware of the unwritten price rule.  Glad to at least see some form of Price again!

[JT]

I didn't know how I would feel about the show with no audience but I think they pulled it off and I like how they were transparent about all the changes that needed to be made.  Once the daytime shows come back 5x/week I wonder if it will change how positive most of us are feeling.  What I don't miss is all the High-Fiving that used to happen when a contestant came on down - talk about the need for hand sanitizer!  And I don't miss Drew shaking everyone's hand every two minutes because he doesn't know what else to do.  Yes it was obvious he couldn't read the far left name tags - maybe they will have a cue card for him but I agree the names should be on the readouts and then replaced with the bid as  you go through the line.  And I was surprised that with all the changes and seeing less "people" that George didn't get a bit more airtime.  They could have accommodated that.  Finally, was anyone else worried the first contestant would hit the red button in Cover Up during the game?

[urbanpreppie0004]

The contestants... felt like the contestants you see on every other game show that thoroughly interviews and selects its contestants well before the day of taping. I don't know whether they were actually coached to perform some wacky, personalized dance move as they came on down, but it sure seemed coached.

I feel like right now, that's ok. I actually got a kick out of the personalized dances and stuff because it just seemed like everyone was just so...happy to be there and its cool to see that right now.

I also enjoyed the adjusted intro- i hope that the clips change each day? Please?

I liked how this one felt more "special" than the last nighttime shows with slightly inflated budgets and prizes.

I don't get why people are so "drew needs to shave that beard" or "he needs to dye it." Let him alone.

Edit: I also liked how the show explained the precautions they're taking with COVID. Its addressing the awkwardness head on.

[COINBOYNYC]

I don't know whether they were actually coached to perform some wacky, personalized dance move as they came on down, but it sure seemed coached.

Totally agree.  That was the part of the show I hated the most.  It's one thing for an excited contestant to run to their podium once they're called/introduced, but the moves and the dances and everything?  Feh.  And if being physically able to do a wacky dance move as you come on down is going to be a prerequisite for being considered to be a contestant, it puts another nail in the coffin of the concept that, theoretically, anybody could be a contestant.

Also, as a side note, there was one aspect of Drew's appearance that I just couldn't stand.  I hate it when people wear shirts that are buttoned all the way to the top if they're not wearing a tie.  I can't explain why; I just don't like that look.  If Drew doesn't want to wear a tie, that's fine - just open the top button.

[TPIRighteous]

I never really realized how cut down and rushed the daytime version was feeling, but all of the extra moments for Drew to just talk and be cordial and contestants to react and things to just slow down a half step?  IT was *refreshing*.  I think the commercial/program time mix is the single biggest thing working against broadcast TV in 2020 and seeing Price suddenly have five minutes more of content time was just....more of that.

I agree 100%. The daytime show is cut into tiny little pieces to save a second here, two seconds there, and it's jarring. Drew has greatly improved his interactions with the contestants, but he usually doesn't have any time for it. I haven't been to a taping since Season 43, but when I was there everything flowed so smoothly. It got me thinking that the show could be so much better if it had a 1 hour 5 minute timeslot, or if we could just go back to 1990s commercial times. The extra time to actually talk to the contestants and get to know them a bit made a huge difference in the watchability.

Unrelated point: I noticed Drew was having a hard time reading people's nametags from further away. It feels like he could use either some off-screen help, or maybe even names on the one-bid podiums.

[PunchABunchFan]

I agree that the way the winning contestants came out of CR felt coached.

I wonder if part of it was because they needed to walk a specific route to stay 6 feet away from all camera operators, etc.

Also, could the little "dance" that each seemed to do be coached to them as a necessity of having to swing cameras around and get positioned for the PG, as well as potentially setting up the PG itself (assuming they don't want it in the shot with Drew during the one-bids)?  Normally, the contestant is high fiving people and coming up stairs, which gives camera operators and stagehands more time to make these changes, but when the contestants are just walking forward, there is much less time to make these changes without a stopdown.

I agree that they look silly, but I'm just wondering if there isn't a production reason for the little dance numbers.  I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of those who have been to more tapings than myself (just one and back in the Barker era) or have worked on the show (Scott).