FULL RECAP - TPiR 10/10/2008

[Todd]

You know, it would be wonderful if we could see these ratings.

[Cartboy]

Barker's Bargain Bar:  Good job!
IUFB#2:  $10,000 for a ring!?   I don't think I wanna shop where Isabella buys jewelry at!
1/2 Off:  Too bad!   I couldn't believe that Star Trek phone was $70!
More Or Less:  Heartbreaking!   I would've thought more on the lawn mower too.
Check Out:  Boy, that was a close one!  I thought Brittani was going to be too far away.
Pick A Number:  Nice!   I woulda been shocked if 6 would not have been right.
Range Game:  Missed by $49 - ouch!
Showcases:  I was hoping Drew would start with Isabella because I knew she was over and I wanna see a Double Showcase Winner (actually, a bunch of DSWs.).

Pretty good show overall, IMHO.

[SteveGavazzi]

The Price is Right has a new degree of spontaneity that it hasn't had for a long time.  Will there be a few things that don't execute as nicely as we would like?  Of course!  It's all about taking a risk on something new or different and if it ultimately doesn't pull off, we probably won't see it again (purple wheel anyone?).

There's a signficant difference between "spontaneous" and "we never bothered to make sure this showcase made sense."  The latter is what we saw for most of this past week -- and even though they didn't work, there's every indication they haven't gone away.

[mrbrown2195]

You know, it would be wonderful if we could see these ratings.

Don't expect them. I e-mailed the administrator at TVByTheNumbers.com about Price's numbers, which I had not seen published in daytime since Drew's premiere a year ago. I was told that Nielsen typically only reports the soap operas' ratings unless there is a special circumstance to warrant other programming (such as Drew's premiere on Price).

For other programming, such as Price & The View, I was told you typically have to wait for the network to publish something. The only reason we know The View's numbers is because ABC keeps putting out press releases.

[edmojautis]

BBB: Hoped it was an expensive clock, Drew?  IT IS!!!

1/2 off: My choice would've been 6.  Too bad for Nicole.

MoL: A lawn mower that looks expensive would spell trouble in this game and it did. 

Check-Out: After Willying on the Clorox, Brittani barely came out on top. That was close.

Pick #: AGAIN??!! Now I'm starting to miss Double Prices.  Talk about uber-cheap on that cruise. Good win, though.

Range: I would've stopped at around $16,900 and it would've been worse for me. 

Showcases: Just like the pirates showcase, Convoluted, but OK. I also believe Rich should stick with his regular voice on the prize descriptions. Poor Isabella. From a confusing moment with the ring to a poorly  . I just feel sad for her. 

Seeing Drew in the audience before IUFB #5 didn't look that bad. The music however was SOOOOO not needed.

A 2.75 star-show.

[anynumber76]

To me what was wrong with the second showcase was that like with the pirate showcase the other day, it seemed like they were just trying to force a showcase about a prospector onto the show and didn't really care if it made sense.

X gets a square, JayC.  Good call on this one.  I agree 100%.  Forced humor never works.

Also, am I the only one that actually feels bad for Rich that he has to read these showcases in the "silly" voices?  Keep in mind, he's doing exactly as he is being asked.  The copy for the showcase most likely defines that he has to read it in the silly voice (including the prize descriptions - which I agree should be in his normal voice).

Rich is a great announcer and has really come into his own on TPIR.  I really like his voice and think he does a fantastic job.  He does a great job with the "silly" voices too, I just think they are a little demeaning considering his normal voice works so well for the rest of the show - why couldn't it work for the entire showcase?  That Prospector showcase would have worked fine with Rich's normal voice telling the story of the Prospector and the prizes.

[ClockGameJohn]

I must admit that I had forgotten about this episode because someone had e-mailed me back several months ago when it taped.

The instance with Drew in the aisle appeared to be spontaneously added.  Drew was in the audience dancing with females (good guess by "catdogwheel") during the commercial break.  They were apparently ready to start the next act, and he was still in the audience.

The cameras all panned out to the audience and they signaled to start the next act and he just rolled with it.

This is all from an audience member's perspective, but I trust the story line.

[DrLove0378]

I think you all need to look in the toilet and see the number are not in there.  I think they are still #2 or #3 overall in daytime. 

Look in the toilet again... "It IS a number!  Number 2, get it?" -- Sean Connery 

I watched the show on Innertube, and the showcase round just.... sucked.  That fake voice Rich was forced to do kinda ruined it for me...  I'm thinking that if they stray too far from the way things used to be (probably too late already), TPiR will be circling the drain before we know it.  I think I read on an earlier thread that eventually, there was to be no resemblance to Barker's TPiR... though that could be just a rumor.

Oh, and I could do without those lead-ins in the prize copy, too... "Here's something every kitchen could use...", etc.  That's been going on all season. 

I suppose Liberty Medical, The Scooter Store and Colonial Penn will keep the show afloat, by continuing to buy up tons of commercial space...  which brings to mind an interesting question:  when you take out the commercials, how many minutes of actual program are we watching?

[Joe_Capitano]

About 38 minutes, more or less.

[gamefro]

Still a couple days behind on watching episodes....



Opening:  I gotta agree with Nick: Drew not being behind the door when it opened again is getting old... 

Bargain Bar:  Great hosting of the game today by Drew.  I was a bit worried when the grill came around at $1500 difference, cause they seem to often have the bargains at $1000 and $1500.

One-Bid #2:  $10,000??

Half Off:  The phone didn't fool me (I remembered it from last season)...

More or Less:  ...but the mower did.

One-Bid #4:  Drew starting this segment in the audience...interesting twist.  CGJ indicated that it was a spontaneous occurrance during the taping.  I thought it was kinda neat.  (More on this later.)

Check Out:  I thought Brittani did herself in with the $5.99 cleanser bid...Talk about a narrow win!  Shoddy camera work during this segment though.

One-Bid #5:  The commercial bumpers really aren't all that necessary.

Pick A Number:  Its great that Isabella won her trip.  So far this season, it seems that PAN is beating out Double Prices in the 'overplayed quickie' contest...

Range Game:  It's always cool to see non-car games played for a car.  I just wish we'd see more SP/Car games (or SP games in general).  Just by feel of how long the rangefinder had been moving, I thought Sean was too quick to stop.

Showcase round:  As with the previous episode, I don't think the MDS cue really works for daytime.  The bumper itself isn't really necessary.

Showcase #1:  This one started out okay, but then turned awkward in transitioning between the coolers and the boat (not to mention the doors opened too early).  Way too much talk in between there...and suggesting TPIR has "lost its touch" was weird.  This line might've worked better had it been incorporated into some kind of skit.  Although, because of how the coolers were mentioned before, this was one instance where the prize recap actually wasn't that awkward.

Showcase #2:  Just like the priate showcase, this just didn't sit well with me.  I thought this one was executed just a little better.  I thought they tied in the prizes okay (but the line setting up the car was way too obvious).  One extra line at the beginning of this skit giving the prospector theme some kind of purpose would have made it a bit better.  I don't mind too much Rich reading the prize copy in a goofy voice, but using his normal voice for the prizes does seem like it would work better IMHO.  Although, we are seeing that Rich is doing pretty well with these crazy voice showcases.  ...anyway, what was Isabella thinking???

Ending:  I liked this audience bumper shot much better to me than the other one.  Maybe because it didn't have (MDS) music.

Overall, I enjoyed this show.  There's still things that they're doing that irk me, but these things aren't enough to make me lose interest yet.  I just wish that they'd take some of what we're saying here to heart.


Other general comments:

Openings:  I was one who found Drew's "door gag" funny at first.  I understand why some of the "traditionalists" around here believe Drew shouldn't be doing this.  At the same time, some of the gags have been amusing.  Maybe if Drew scaled this bit back to once or twice a week, it would go over better with everybody.  At least that way, it would be much more spontaneous.  Heck, I even have some thoughts on some good door gags...but I don't want to see one every day.

Commercial bumpers are a needless waste of time that could otherwise be used for contestant interaction ...

Agreed.  At least they're not several second commercial intros/outros that spoil the gameplay of the upcoming segments, a la Fox gameshows.

Although, I had the thought today that they could combine the commercial bumper's audience sweep shot with Drew's in-audience toss to Rich.  It might be a good way to be a bit spontaneous and show some great crowd energy at the same time.  I wouldn't press for this on a daily basis, but it would work well on days where there's a very enthusiastic crowd.  I'd put this before One-bid #5, as a way to start off the second half of the show.