2 Hour Prime Time Special to air 9/30, 9-11PM EDT/PDT

[MrZone]

It delivered….

[shell_game]

Sure I missed Bob and it would be great to see him, but I think it would be a shock to everyone to see him at his current age and current condition even if he could/wanted to appear. It would have made me feel like I aged 40 years in 5 seconds to see that.

I can hear Norm MacDonald: "But it turned out that the 97-year-old and long-time host Bob Barker did not appear on the anniversary special." <turn to stare into camera, a la "or so the Germans would have you believe"> "Because he's ninety-seven years old." <long pause and stare>

[LarryC]

It delivered….

Yes, it sure did.  I was delighted (and kind of surprised) that they showed clips with not just Janice, but Holly and Dian as well. 

Really, the only "let's try to pretend this never happened" moment I saw (and it's minor) was when they showed the opening to the 1972 premiere episode, then cut to Connie winning the IUFB -- being careful not to show that the first prize ever offered was a fur coat. 

Nice to see all the current models on stage together, too.

[GobGlom]

Truly an amazing show. They covered darn near everything they could and was extremely classy about it.
I thought bringing Vanna on as a model was the best tie-back they did.

[JayC]

It was an excellent episode and CBS gave Price the celebration it deserves. Making it two hours as opposed to one and either using a 3 game format or cramming everything in really worked well.

[BillyGr]

Truly an amazing show. They covered darn near everything they could and was extremely classy about it.
I thought bringing Vanna on as a model was the best tie-back they did.

After seeing her on there, I was thinking how surprising it was that, amongst all the suggestions for bringing someone on how all of the group missed that one as an option!

[theamazingracer]

The only thing that was disappointing about this was that one video segment where they made a point of highlighting how the show's been running in other countries since 1973... and then exclusively stuck to HD clips from the last decade that forced them to use both the terrible Australian revival and the one-off Alan Carr special (which technically wasn't even this show?) for the UK version. It's not like they couldn't have used the borders they were using for the Barker clips to showcase Bruce Forsythe or Marco Antonio Regil or Ian Turpie, you know? Bizarre decision.

[Combs]

I think the primetime special was very well done and respectful of the show's 50 year history, particularly the segment dedicated to Bob and especially Drew's comments to Bob. The way he spoke, it felt solemn, like he was very thankful to Bob (for hosting for the first 35 years and for giving Drew a wonderful job to continue), but also regretful that Bob couldn't be there and likely, won't ever get the chance to make a return appearance. It was very honorable and respectful.

I'm also glad they finally allotted a two hour block for a primetime special. I had been thinking of this since the Barker era. (The 25th anniversary special, the 30th anniversary special, etc.) When you only allow for one hour, you can do one of two things. You can use the one hour format (3 games, showcase showdown #1, 3 more games, showcase showdown #2, and showcases) and allow for a minimum of clips or you can use the 30 minute format (3 games, showcases) and allow for a maximum of clips. The two hour block allows for the one hour format with lots of clips, so I'm glad someone finally figured that out. Bravo.

Some have suggested that the original Price Is Right with Bill Cullen should have been acknowledged, but I think the reason it wasn't is because this was a 50th anniversary special, meaning 1972 to 2022. The Cullen edition aired from 1956 to 1965.

Overall, a wonderful special, but I would have added two things.

1.) a mention of Mark Goodson and his contribution to the show. Maybe show some clips of the times he visited the show.

2.) acknowledge the half hour, syndicated, nighttime shows/hosts. Dennis James (1972-1977), Tom Kennedy (1985-1986), and Doug Davidson (1994-1995). This could have been in place of the segment they did with the different editions of TPIR around the world. They could have done a brief explanation, showed a few clips of Dennis, Tom, and Doug and maybe even had a visit from Doug, since Bob was unable to visit.

[PriceFan07]

I always get confused when people get up in arms about not mentioning the Cullen version of the show (or other iterations of the show for that matter). The network version of The Price is Right on CBS daytime is what's celebrating 50 years. I would've been somewhat annoyed to see them waste time talking about TNPiR '94 or Dennis James' version. I didn't particularly like the time spent on the the international versions. Clips of some of the most popular game debuts would've been cool to see.

[Combs]

I always get confused when people get up in arms about not mentioning the Cullen version of the show (or other iterations of the show for that matter). The network version of The Price is Right on CBS daytime is what's celebrating 50 years. I would've been somewhat annoyed to see them waste time talking about TNPiR '94 or Dennis James' version. I didn't particularly like the time spent on the the international versions. Clips of some of the most popular game debuts would've been cool to see.

Who's getting "up in arms"? I wasn't. While it's true that the CBS daytime show is what's celebrating 50 years, it's also true that the Dennis James/Bob Barker, Tom Kennedy, and Doug Davidson syndicated, half hour, nighttime shows are a part of the 50 year history of The Price Is Right. I would have omitted the segment on the international versions of TPIR and replaced it with a brief 2-3 minute segment on the James, Kennedy, and Davidson shows, simply because I think Dennis, Tom, and Doug deserve that respect. My opinion, of course, but I don't think they're a waste of time. Agree to disagree.

[Casey]

Who's getting "up in arms"? I wasn't. While it's true that the CBS daytime show is what's celebrating 50 years, it's also true that the Dennis James/Bob Barker, Tom Kennedy, and Doug Davidson syndicated, half hour, nighttime shows are a part of the 50 year history of The Price Is Right. I would have omitted the segment on the international versions of TPIR and replaced it with a brief 2-3 minute segment on the James, Kennedy, and Davidson shows, simply because I think Dennis, Tom, and Doug deserve that respect. My opinion, of course, but I don't think they're a waste of time. Agree to disagree.

I think the primary decision factor behind this is that only Bob Barker and Drew Carey have hosted the CBS version of the show, and that is what CBS was celebrating. 

(I know Dennis hosted a couple CBS episodes early on when Bob was unable to, but that's but a tiny blip on the timeline of the series on CBS.)

[Combs]

I think the primary decision factor behind this is that only Bob Barker and Drew Carey have hosted the CBS version of the show, and that is what CBS was celebrating. 

(I know Dennis hosted a couple CBS episodes early on when Bob was unable to, but that's but a tiny blip on the timeline of the series on CBS.)

Yes, and while I never expected the syndicated nighttime shows/hosts to be acknowledged, it sure would have been nice if they had.

When the show expanded to one hour in 1975, was there a reason they waited two months into season 4 to make the change? The first permanent one hour show aired November 3, 1975. It seems like they would have wanted to have the first one hour show to kick off the season 4 premiere in early September 1975.

[vnisanian2001]

My thought it was to start off November Sweeps.

[imhomerjay]

Price isn’t “pre-empt your regular primetime series” sweeps programming. It’s a flexible filler on the schedule and gives the regular rotation some rest. And there’s nothing at all wrong with that.

[JT]

When the show expanded to one hour in 1975, was there a reason they waited two months into season 4 to make the change? The first permanent one hour show aired November 3, 1975. It seems like they would have wanted to have the first one hour show to kick off the season 4 premiere in early September 1975.

I believe the week of hour long shows in Sept was a test to see if an hour long game show could work.  Assuming the ratings were decent and they got the green light from CBS, they probably starting taping the regular hour long shows late Sept to debut Nov 75.

EDITED by Steve to fix quoting.