FULL RECAP - TPiR 09/26/2008

[howierules86]

(Has anyone accidentally called Drew "Bob" yet?)

I'm pretty sure I remember at least one contestant do that while giving a bid in Contestants' Row.

[temptation1979ga]

I believe a few contestants have referred to Drew as "Bob."

Regarding One bid explanations...

Actually, if you go far enough back, I'm pretty sure it was originally.

If we're talking about the "bid on that in dollars..." explanation, it used to be done before every single one bid, more than "just every show."

[fp2008]

Maybe Stan didn't think she seemed clueless in line. And you never know how someone's going to react to the intensity and pressure of being in that situation. Someone who's watched the show every day for 37 years could be so nervous on getting there that they forgot the most basic things. (Has anyone accidentally called Drew "Bob" yet?)

Especially when the interviews Stan does are usually 30-60 seconds each.

Any Number: I really wanted her to win, but in the end it all came down to a 1/3 shot at winning the car. At least she was a great sport when she lost.

Safe Crackers: Both $870 and $780 were great choices. Could have been either one but she unfortunately lost. It's always nice to see this game played for a car.

MYM: I liked the little chat that Drew and Jana had before the game. Anyways, this game was a cakewalk if you knew the price of the game.

Freeze Frame: Very brutal today. There were about 3 or 4 great choices up there. $7000+ for a Caribbean Cruise. I wasn't expecting that.
Oh wait, this is TPIR we're talking about here.

Cover Up: Very hard as always, it seems. Once again the tens digit is the lowest number up there.

Hi-Lo:  Reasonably easy today. It was obvious if you're an everyday watcher which ones to choose.

Showcase bids:
CAR: $27,469
GEM CAR: $18,495

[The Square]

It was funny to watch Drew frantically corral Earline off of the turntable when she started celebrating on it after the car was revealed. I guess he's still afraid of it after it nearly took his arm off.

I agree that Drew needs to respect the rules at the beginning of the show. Also, I noticed that for the first two games, each time a contestant came up on stage, Drew was focused on the fact that something wasn't won. Earline was under by a dollar, so she doesn't win $500. Douglas was over by $75, so he doesn't win the grill. It puts a damper on the fact that somebody did just win a prize.

[TPIRSteven]

It was nice to see three cars offered in the pricing games today, but it would have been nicer to see at least one of them won.  Oh well, at least Jana won a car in the showcases, despite her
                                                        
(And I thought I garfed it badly in CSS...)

Any Number:  Earline got herself into a tough position in the end, when she was down to a 6, 8, or 9... any one of those could have been right.  At least she didn't get the Piggy Bank.

Safe Crackers:  I had the phones right at $870.  If they had been $780, the car would have been exactly $15,900, and I was pretty sure that wouldn't happen.

Make Your Move:  As others have already said before me, this was an easy setup because the game was obviously $30, which means the other two prices automatically fell into place.  Jana did a good job in my opinion for never having seen the game before.

SCSD1:  Yay!  Another $1,000 winner!  Sooner or later, somebody is going to make the bonus spin worth something...

Freeze Frame:  There were just too many too good options here.  I would have gone with $4,199.  This was obviously set up for a loss -- I don't think very many people would have thought a Caribbean cruise was that expensive.

Cover Up:  The first, second, and last numbers were all pretty obvious, which would have made the game much easier had Benjamon used the "Cover Up" strategy and blown a couple of them on the first try.

Hi Lo:  Noooooo!  Not the Phillips!  I would have lost on the drain cleaner, though.

Showcases:  I liked the variation of the MG-HS cue they used in SC#2.  I don't think I've ever heard it used for any prizes other than exercise equipment.

[Richie]

Guys, I was in the audience for this one---third row in the middle, second seat with my friend Karen sitting in the first seat.  Here's the lowdown on what happened:

Amaya was one of the first four contestants and I made friends with her in line.

One Bid 1: Only bid $1 if you are the last bidder!  I didn't like Benjamin's first round of bids.

Any Number: Guys and girls, Earline losing the car on the last number has to be blamed on me.  When it came down to the last pick, she actually took my advice on taking the 4 and it ended up on the sofa.  I was like "Oh no, I just cost you a car, Earline---I'm sorry!"  I know it was just based on luck, but I still feel responsible for costing a contestant a car.  I did it to Craig last time on 6/8/2007, I did it to Earline on this taping.  Sorry guys.

One Bid 2: There was an edit there---the bids that you guys just saw---that was the second round of bids.  The first round of bids on the gas grill was pathetic.  $2000, $2500, $2600, $2700.  When they gave their first round of bids, I was like "NO!"  The buzzers went, signaling an overbid, and I can easily spot overbids from a mile away.

Safe Crackers: I was the only lone soul in the Peanut Gallery that said $870.  Everybody else said $780.  Esther listened to the consensus of the Peanut Gallery and got burned.  I really wanted her to win and I felt bad for her not winning.

Make Your Move: That was the only easiest setup here.  Jana went with what we were thinking.

During commercial break, Drew said "Yes a winner finally!" 

SCSD 1: The first time I got to see this---a $1,000 winner on the wheel!  I really wanted Jana to win more.

Freeze Frame: They showed Dave and that was cool.  But the game was HARD.  When Amaya pulled the lever on the $3000 price, we all gave Amaya the business.  I was very disappointed in Amaya.  They actually showed me mouth "NO!" when Amaya pulled the lever at $3110.  Not that I did any better, I picked $5020 and I would have lost.  It was either $4199, $5020 or $7031.

Drew during the commercial break made fun of Amaya and said, "You actually thought that cruise was $3000?"

Cover Up: That was another difficult setup.  Benjamon actually took my advice of taking the 1 as the second number.  The Peanut Gallery riots, which I did NOT like at all.  When Benjamon got the second number right, I was relieved.  I was like "If Bob Barker was still here, he would have made us apologize, and deservedly so!"  My price was $21,520.  I got fooled.  Benjamon lost too.  The Steve Gavazzi theory on the fourth number being a low number happens again.  Drew did say "Is the 5 or the 6 right?"  Yep, it was a legitimate loss in my honest opinion.

Hi Lo: That was yet another difficult setup.  My picks were the Slow Mag, the Dr Scholls, and the drain opener.  I got fooled by the Sleep Pretty and Pink---that fooled everybody else too, especially Kellie. 

Showcases: Jana went a bit too low on her showcase in my honest opinion.  When it came to Kellie---I told her brother to tell her family $17,000.  But he got beat by his older sibling.   Kellie listened to her older sister in the audience and said $22,000.  I was like "NO!"  Other people said "She's over." 

There was a stopdown---when they went back on the air, the production crew forgot to put the ARP cards in the showcase podium holders--so they had to stop tape.

Jana garfed.....Kellie went over....Jana cleaned house! 


This was a great experience.....I met Jana after the show and she was a nice person.

Guys of golden-road.net....feel free to ask me questions.

[Nick]

Maybe Stan didn't think she seemed clueless in line.

Oh, I'm sure he didn't.  I don't believe he would have picked her if he knew she would be asked to bid in Contestants' Row and ask if she was supposed to "go higher or lower."

Someone who's watched the show every day for 37 years could be so nervous on getting there that they forgot the most basic things.

Maybe things like to look at the camera at all times and maybe which stairs to ascend (even though it's marked in front of them) but to forget how the One Bids work?

Valid point, but it's not really supposed to be that tightly controlled. It's supposed to be fun and spontaneous.

Perhaps, but the director isn't wanting "fun and spontaneity" when it comes to doing something they have been instructed to do a certain way.

I would put monitors on stage during the One-Bids so that the CR players can see what each other have bid. I'm not a fan of watching "What did he bid? And what did she bid?" And what's the highest bid?" Other than that, I really don't have a problem with the way it is now.

I don't like to see the contestants ask what another has bid, and to solve that problem, I would have the audience not create as much noise as they do so the bidders can hear each other and the host.  It worked in the '80s.  It would work today.

[SteveGavazzi]

You know, the whole show seemed weak today...and I think it was because Drew allowed it to be that way.  He doesn't seem to be able or even willing sometimes to create the energy that can be needed to have fun with a show where not a whole lot is won.  Bob was a master of that -- one of my favorite shows of Season 29 had every game lost except for Barker's Bargain Bar -- and I think Drew needs to learn to roll with the punches instead of counting on wins to keep things exciting.

Drew made a potentially disastrous blunder in Cover Up today, too.  At the end of Benjamon's second turn, when he's supposed to ask if any new numbers were right, he asked if the price was right.  The buzzer went off, and it turned out that "no" was the answer to both questions -- but I have to wonder what would have happened if there had been one number correct and Drew had still opened the price.

Drew wasn't the one that started doing this, Bob did it quite often as a matter of fact. I remember he always did it in one breath.

Drew's instructions during the first Item up for Bids today were nothing like anything Bob ever did.  To call them similar is absurd.

I got a real sense of "They've been doing this for thirty-seven years, and they still make me explain this junk" sense out of how Drew said it today.

Exactly.

[JohnHolder]

Oh, I'm sure he didn't.  I don't believe he would have picked her if he knew she would be asked to bid in Contestants' Row and ask if she was supposed to "go higher or lower."

I'm sure you're right. Stan's book has an interesting passage about how difficult it is to correctly predict, from people's behavior on line, who'll be a good contestant and who'll be a dud.

Perhaps, but the director isn't wanting "fun and spontaneity" when it comes to doing something they have been instructed to do a certain way.

It's more realistic to expect the show's technical personnel to adjust to contestant quirks/unpredictability/not following the rules than it is to expect every contestant to remember exactly how to do what they're supposed to do. These folks have just been called down on what seems to them to be the spur of the moment. My only experience as a game show contestant (see photo at left) involved knowing two and a half weeks ahead of time that I was going to be a contestant, having practice time at home, and getting four hours of prep from the contestant coordinators on the morning of tape day. (They reminded us that Y is a consonant.) If someone had picked me out of the audience and said, "Go play Wheel of Fortune right now!" I probably would have stammered, jumped, babbled and acted like an idiot every bit as much as some of the people we're talking about.

I don't like to see the contestants ask what another has bid, and to solve that problem, I would have the audience not create as much noise as they do so the bidders can hear each other and the host.  It worked in the '80s.  It would work today.

Again, I think monitors onstage would be a more practical and realistic solution.

John

[whinbaby]

Game #5 (#6,926)

Showcase #1
temptation1979ga Systems Soda Fountain - $9,000
- Speaking of GA Systems, the company's products made the very first TPIR appearance on Double Bullseye's only airable episode, which was 36 years ago Sunday.  Therefore, we will consider GA Systems a series-long provider of prizes on The Price is Right, and guess where it was...the showcases.  In the 1970s, a soda fountain was often found in pricing games as well as showcases.  In the 2000s, it only appears in showcases.  36 years do fly by fast.
TV - $3,198
Chrysler 300 - $26,635

Showcase #2
Treadmill - $1,299
Home Gym/LCD TV combo - $5,294
Pilates Machine - $699
GEM - $10,090

Total show prize value:  $147,421 (24 prizes)

Your Modeling Scorecard for September 26, 2008
Daily Records
High:  $100,082 (Shane Stirling, 2003)
Low:  $10,925 (Pennelope Jimenez, 2003)

Rachel Reynolds
September 26
Total dollars:  $32,120
($11,440 won, $20,680 lost)
Total prizes:  11 (5-6)
Cars, Trips: 0, 1

After 5 shows
Total dollars:  $371,573
($164,067 won, $207,506 lost)
Total prizes:  46 (28-18)
Cars, Trips: 5, 7 (2-3, 4-3)

Brandi Sherwood
September 26
Total dollars:  $53,646
($12,615 won, $41,031 lost)
Total prizes:  8 (5-3)
Cars, Trips: 1, 1

After 5 shows
Total dollars:  $308,731
($130,302 won, $178,429 lost)
Total prizes:  39 (25-14)
Cars, Trips: 6, 7 (3-3, 4-3)

Tamiko Nash
September 26
Total dollars:  $87,000
($32,749 won, $54,251 lost)
Total prizes:  9 (5-4)
Cars, Trips: 2, 1

After 5 shows
Total dollars:  $516,799
($139,269 won, $377,530 lost)
Total prizes:  42 (28-14)
Cars, Trips: 10, 3 (2-8, 2-1)

[Nick]

It's more realistic to expect the show's technical personnel to adjust to contestant quirks/unpredictability/not following the rules than it is to expect every contestant to remember exactly how to do what they're supposed to do.

Absolutely, and that is what separates the Marc Breslows from the Bart Eskanders.  If contestants turned their head away from the camera and the shot lost its appeal, Marc would quickly cut to something else pleasing to the eye, like a flashing price or the contestant's friends in the audience.  Bart simply just doesn't directly with that kind of competency, which would make contestants who simply just looked at the camera and ascended the correct stairs much more pleasing.

Again, I think monitors onstage would be a more practical and realistic solution.

I really don't see the practicality, because you have to get someone to haul them on and off before and after each One Bid, and somehow keep them from becoming some sort of obstruction or obstacle for Drew and the contestant heading towards a pricing game, whereas toned down noise, something the show has worked with before, is not only much more easily feasible but much more practical.

[fp2008]

Or just replace the one-bid displays all together with LCD displays with little screens behind them saying what each contestant bid. Please no flames from anyone, it's just a suggestion to solve an annoyance.

[rob79]

You know, the whole show seemed weak today...and I think it was because Drew allowed it to be that way.  He doesn't seem to be able or even willing sometimes to create the energy that can be needed to have fun with a show where not a whole lot is won.  Bob was a master of that -- one of my favorite shows of Season 29 had every game lost except for Barker's Bargain Bar -- and I think Drew needs to learn to roll with the punches instead of counting on wins to keep things exciting.

I agree. He started out okay at the beginning of Any Number but from the middle of it on things went downhill. I don't understand why either because Drew has shown that he can be outstanding at times. This inconsistency is maddening. If a lot of games are won-Drew is great, but if not much is won he's (for lack of a better term) lackluster. Bob could make a winless show feel like it was a perfect show because of the energy that was there. It seems to me at times that Drew just doesn't care or doesn't even try to at times, and that's a shame because he has the potential to be great-we've seen flashes of it, but it comes down to eliminating bad habits such as depending on wins and losses to dictate the mood/energy of the show.

[woohookitty]

Y'know out of 5 shows this week we only saw 2 SP games and those were Plinko and Half Off. 

I believe that's the trend. From what they said when they let Roger go, they want Drew to have more time to be himself. Well that's going to mean shorter pricing games, ergo fewer SP or grocery games. That'd be my guess anyway

Am I the only one wondering if next it'll be the TPiR game in a foreign language? Man they are using every permutation they can. "It's the Price is Right game for the Chinese XBox!"

[PriceForever]

 It seems to me at times that Drew just doesn't care or doesn't even try to at times, and that's a shame because he has the potential to be great-we've seen flashes of it, but it comes down to eliminating bad habits such as depending on wins and losses to dictate the mood/energy of the show.

It drives me nuts that Drew does this.  Most of the time he doesn't create any excitement in a game... he just stand there and does little.  Usually, the only time he adds energy to the show is when there is a big win.

Price Is Right should be exciting all the time...win or lose!