This episode would have been remarkably different if Bob had hosted it. I saw in it the potential for it to be a really fantastic show if Bob was hosting, but Drew and everything associated with him made this undeniably the worst episode of The Price Is Right that I have ever seen in nineteen years of watching the show.
First, Drew's entrance: he already pulled the "running in" gag before, and it wasn't even funny the first time. How many more times is he going to try this ridiculous gag? Next, he was way too excited with Hector, then too bummed out after two losses that he was being maniacal by Eazy az 1 2 3 with promising Mark he could play the piano at the end of the show (which in and of itself was neat, but the circumstances that brought it about were less than desirable).
If there was one light amongst this darkness today, it was seeing Lucky $even fifth. I know Roger began breaking it out of the first half last season, but having missed most of last season, it was a real treat for me to see it in the second half.
Wow, HI LO had a tough setup. I don't know if anybody would have picked the marinade before the Gold Bond.
Speaking of the Gold Bond, what was with the bizarre pan upwards Bart did on the Gold Bond?
I do not understand why Drew proclaims any spin on 50¢ or higher to be a "risky move." Yes, numbers alone, the odds are stacked against you, but it is very unusual that anybody wins with such a low score. Heck, I'd advise spinning on 65¢, but at the very least, Drew should not make it sound like there's a big risk of going with such low first spins.
It did not feel like watching The Price Is Right during the Showcases. The first Showcase was undeniably the worst rhyming gag they ever tried to pull. I would have easily settled for a "prizes revealed as we have fun with whatever word" Showcase before enduing something like that again.
Now, the second Showcase... I plead with people, look aside from the fact that Rich appeared on camera in the Showcase to see all the flaws that was with this Showcase, if you can even call it that. For thirty-six years, Showcases were always done as narratives. That was the first element lacking from this, so it didn't fit the Showcase format. Unlike the other Rich appearance Showcase, this didn't even have any type of a loose narrative attached to it. None whatsoever was present. Second, because of this, they had to resort to on-screen graphics to explain what the heck was going on, but no reason was ever given to why it was going on. Even a starter of, "This Showcase features me, Rich Fields, describing prizes in the most challenging ways." A statement like that alone would have made a world of difference. Third, the antics took away from what Showcases are really about: prizes. How many of you really had your attention focused on the prizes during the descriptions? More than likely, your eyes were geared towards the window with Rich. Antonia herself had to ask about the second prize again. Fourth, the entire execution was just plain terrible. Again, you have a great idea, but the way it was done was asinine. Having Rich describe prizes under challenging conditions could be made into a great Showcase, but in one breath, on his head, and sucking helium of all things, were not ways to make it work. All it made me say was, "This is too weird." Lastly, underneath all that, there was... nothing. Exactly that. No cues or anything were played, adding increasingly more to the awkwardness of this entire debacle. I had seen the clip and knew this atrocity was coming, but I did not expect it to be this soon. If they've kooked up this garbage now, what else is waiting in the can? I honestly may turn off the show if they ever do such a atrocious display ever again. This is why we, at the very least, need Roger back with the show.
And on top of all of that, Rich signing off on helium also sounded atrocious.
I do not want people slamming me of being extremely negative on Drew or anybody else since I have said nearly nothing positive about this episode. Guys, stop defending Drew and look what's happening to the show. It's being cut from its thirty-six year old roots slowly, and it's been a very painful process to someone who has had this show near and dear to him his entire life. This isn't a matter of whether or not you think change to the show is good or not. This is a matter of the show not being what it has been for thirty-six years. Today's second Showcase was hardly comparable to something of the Wolpert era. There is a far cry between the creative Showcases of the '70s and what they're trying to do now, and I wish people would stop making it sound like the same thing because it simply is not.
