The Price is Right: The Barker Era on Pluto TV

[blozier2006]

Here's an interesting idea just off the top of my head.....what if you made the game be like for 5 prizes, the last of which was a car, and the game was the same except you used the prices of the 4 smaller prizes as the options, being able to choose up to 3 to reach the target window for that day. Ie: the combined total of the 4 lesser prizes in a playing could total $12,000 and the car totaled $24,000, and you could have a target window of $19,000-$22,000 you'd have to hit or stay within in order to win all 5. Could be an interesting way to revamp it and make it less of a crapshoot or budget buster due to being too easy. Thoughts anyone?

That entirely misses the point of the game, which was to offer two cars at once (in which case, I suppose you could call Triple Play a logical successor).

[pricefan18]

That entirely misses the point of the game, which was to offer two cars at once (in which case, I suppose you could call Triple Play a logical successor).

I know, but hey, Time is Money got a revamp that was vastly different than the original too, even if still relatively similar. So wouldn't be COMPLETELY unprecedented.

[JediJones]

these contestants are pretty awesome!  Especially Beverly, who might be the nicest contestant I've ever seen.  Maybe one of the nicest people on Planet Earth.  Such a good sport and at least for the most part, way energetic and was smiling throughout her appearances.  Such positive energy!  Her showcase bid was not good at all, but that's pretty much the only error she made.

Beverlie (as she spells it) Peters is more famous as a contestant on Press Your Luck. It was very unusual in that she appeared on camera as a friend of another contestant (Joy) in one episode, and then in later episodes ended up being a contestant herself (winning one day and losing the next). She acted significantly more hyper on PYL than she did on TPIR and her clip ended up being shown in the opening titles for a period of time. Being in the opening titles also meant her face can be seen in the movie The Cable Guy when PYL is shown on a screen. Her episodes are 219 (cameo), 233 and 234, which are easily found on YouTube. I'm taking credit for discovering she appeared on both shows for now as I haven't seen this info posted elsewhere online yet. I'm not sure if her TPIR episode was one of the ones supposedly unseen for 37 years or not.

[JediJones]

I'll amend that a little, I think Beverlie did not appear in episode 219 of PYL. It was her friend Joy who played in that episode and then Joy who had a cameo in one of Beverlie's episodes.

As for the "It's Optional" game, any reason they couldn't offer the contestant their choice of one of the cars if they win? It sure seems like overkill to give the same contestant two cars at once. At any rate, it would still be an easy game. I assume the price of those options would not vary greatly by different model of car so it's one game where you could exactly predict what items would be on the board every time and therefore memorize prices in advance.

I also see Hurdles apparently got retired in 1983. I'm guessing that happened because it just didn't make for as exciting a visual as mountain climber. The pacing is kind of dull because you have to choose all your prices upfront and then wait until the end to watch the entire race.

[JediJones]

I'll also amend my credit for discovering the Beverlie Peters crossover. Hades1981 posted that she was on TPIR and PYL on this forum on July 2, 2006 in the thread "Playing more than one gameshow."

[Spmahn]

I also see Hurdles apparently got retired in 1983. I'm guessing that happened because it just didn't make for as exciting a visual as mountain climber. The pacing is kind of dull because you have to choose all your prices upfront and then wait until the end to watch the entire race.

At the end of this season, there were a number of games that operated on mechanical controls that would frequently fail, you can see it happen frequently here with Squeeze Play. Apparently Bob finally pitched a fit and demanded that these games be made manual or get rid of them, and I guess there was no simple way to make Hurdles operate manually, so it got the axe.

[pricefan18]

At the end of this season, there were a number of games that operated on mechanical controls that would frequently fail, you can see it happen frequently here with Squeeze Play. Apparently Bob finally pitched a fit and demanded that these games be made manual or get rid of them, and I guess there was no simple way to make Hurdles operate manually, so it got the axe.

Interesting, I never knew that other games suffered this, I know Hurdles had suffered from it and it led to its' retirement, but didn't know about others. Was Range Game another that suffered in this? I know in this first batch of 100 shows they've aired/are airing (or the first half of the season basically), that came up a bit as has been discussed. Was that why/did it come up again later? I half wonder if It's Optional fell into this too now that you mention it and led to its' demise too in part.

[SeaBreeze341]

I also see Hurdles apparently got retired in 1983. I'm guessing that happened because it just didn't make for as exciting a visual as mountain climber. The pacing is kind of dull because you have to choose all your prices upfront and then wait until the end to watch the entire race.

As mentioned by Spmahn, Hurdles broke down several times, and that led to its demise.  You'll see that at its finest during the second batch of episodes.  Given that Bob had issues with certain pricings games not working properly to where they should be made manual or else, I wonder if it received the Penny Ante treatment and wasn't retired right away (maybe the decision was made official in early 1987). 

Your reasoning behind its retirement is fair enough, however.  I don't know how much longer it would have lasted had it not been for those common malfunctions.

Personally, I came to love Hurdles and was saddened when it didn't show up on Price is Right anymore.  That being said, Cliff Hangers had it beat in terms of gameplay and a more graphic set.  The former is similar to Trader Bob in that a contestant would be done immediately upon his or her first mistake (That didn't help).  Whereas the latter was great because you could strategize, make a mistake on all three small prizes, and still do well.

As mentioned, issues with one of, if not the largest game prop on TPIR led to the decision to retire it.  What possibly made the decision easier was the fact that you'd have zero margin for error.  It was a nice game, but it looks like the game took up too much time with the grocery product selection.  Then the fear of losing early meant that all the time it took to bring that game out + the product selection only to possibly lose right away probably would not have bonded well in terms of the pricing game still being in rotation today

[LFAT since diapers]

It is remarkable how good these look. I have not seen another videotape program that originated in 480i brought to this level of resolution, shows like All in the Family and Good Times being my reference.

Any hope of them going through the earlier stuff and eliminating the fur episodes? Lots more of Johnny and Holly back there.

[JediJones]

Anitra Ford would be the main attraction of the "fur era" for me. I'd recommend they find enough "fur-less" episodes featuring Anitra and market it as a "Best of Anitra" block.

[TVC]

I'd recommend they find enough "fur-less" episodes featuring Anitra and market it as a "Best of Anitra" block.

Yes, I’d much enjoy seeing 1970s episodes in the mix. The 1974-76 years were the show’s finest in my view.

[MSTieScott]

Any hope of them going through the earlier stuff and eliminating the fur episodes? Lots more of Johnny and Holly back there.

I'd guess that it's unlikely. It seems probable that the channel chose season 11 because it's the furthest back they could go without worrying about furs -- if true, then it means they don't want to have to deal with skipping over a lot of episodes.

Every episode has to be viewed beforehand to make sure nothing slips through that the channel shouldn't be airing. With these season 11 episodes, even if something out of the ordinary happens -- like Bob reciting his childhood address on air -- once the offending bit of material is removed, the channel is still left with an airable episode. But if a significant fraction of episodes are skipped because they contain furs, that's a lot of money wasted on screening episodes the channel can't air. It's much more cost effective to stick with the '80s episodes the channel knows it'll be able to use.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've finally had some time to enjoy the channel. I echo all of the good things said about it -- the video quality is amazing, and I love that everything that can be left in is being left in. The only bad thing is that I'd estimate I've watched about one-fourth of the available episodes, but I'm already at the point where when I check out the channel, I frequently hit an episode I've already seen, which makes me leave.

The reason it keeps happening, I assume, is because when I do check out the channel, it's at about the same time in the morning on any given day. Because the channel is rotating through 100 episodes, at 24 episodes per day, that means the same episodes will keep airing in approximately the same time slots every time. If the channel eventually adds more episodes to the rotation, I hope it's in a quantity that's less close to being a multiple of 24.

[SeaBreeze341]

To be semi-honest. If we get to 2022, and we're still talking about how Pluto has only aired TPIR from September 1982 - February 1983, I'll be okay with it.  Of course I would love it if they added a couple batches of episodes (two sets of 100 episodes).  The next 100 would features February 1983 to September 1983 (Season 12), and the following would be exclusive to Season 12, from late 1983 to early 1984.  If that happens to be the max for 2021, I would not have a problem with it.

As mentioned, I'm just glad that Pluto is airing the episodes.  Even though I've seen them all, I occasionally rewatch some of the ones that have aired several times.  IMO, Season 11 is underrated, and quite hilarious.  So many great moments from the contestants to the recurring showcase skits, and from the gameplay and overall show to the interaction with Bob and Johnny.  It's really a great thing; totally worth it!

[SteveGavazzi]

I'd forgotten how much fun the Showcase used to be.  With things like A Trip Down Main Street, The Price Is Right Department Store, and all those skits, you really never knew what they were gonna do next.  I know skits are a pipe dream, but I'd love to at least see some of the recurring themes come back.

Speaking of the Showcase, unless I've just totally missed it, they don't seem to have introduced Train Depot yet, which really surprises me.  Also surprising, given that I never remember it not being around, is that they don't seem to have started using the Tugboat.  I can't imagine we're all that far from seeing it, but I'm really curious now about when it'll finally show up.

[RatRace10]

I like the skits where the models actually get to talk! I never knew that was a thing.