FULL RECAP - TPiR 11/05/2008

[heelsrule1988]

...you mean to tell me that some of you guys were upset over a showcase like that? Please. As a hockey fan, I was proud to see such a great sport shown to people that may not be familiar with it. Even if it was with a team that beat us in OT last month.

BEST CONTESTANT OF THE DAY: Tony
SHOW GRADE: 2

[Briguy]

MOD NOTE: Brian, it's spelled FREMANTLE. With Two 'E's. Here's paper and a pen. Go sit in the corner and start writing that 10,000 times. - JC

Joe:

Fremantle
Fremantle
Fremantle
Fremantle
Fremantle
Fremantle
Fremantle
Fremantle
Fremantle
Fremantle ...

Brian

P.S. — And I'll probably get it wrong before too long again.

[Mallory16]

Pass the Buck just wasn't handled well at all.  No part of it, really.  I can think of at least a couple of possibly decent ways they could have handled the situation, but this wasn't it.  On the other hand, David did win $5000 and a car, so it's not like he was really robbed, but still....

Anyone else wish Melinda were called to come on down?  Anyway, it was certainly not her fault Drew abused the balloon she gave him.  I'm glad Drew's balloon usage was a spur of the moment thing at least, instead of something preplanned, though I'd have rathered he just show the balloon Melinda gave him, and been done with it, instead of using it as a puppet for an extended period.

And you know, I wish I could complain more about the LA Kings showcase, but the problem is, the bar's been set so low lately, that today's showcase didn't seem particularly notable in comparison.  I mean, it was bad, but we've seen worse.

[jj09]

Joe:

Fremantle
Fremantle
Fremantle...

Still wrong dude! It's Fremangle!

Fremangle
Fremangle
Fremangle

There's three, do the rest of the 997 yourself

Seriously, I thought that Mountain Climber guy on the exercise equipment was funny! And Lanisha adoring him like he was real made it even better! The yodel cue did seem out of place, yet, in place since he was there.

[Nick]

I guess "spoiling" the game is all a matter of how you see things. Someone might agree with you, in that the game is only spoiled if the answer leading to the most desirable prize (the car) is revealed. I say, even with the less-desirable prize (the $3,000 cash prize) revealed, it still gave David an advantage ... and he still "got something for nothing."

When I say spoiled, I refer to the game being in a state where it cannot be played.  If the car was revealed, there would have been nothing they could have done to play the game since the car was completely given away.  Under today's circumstances, the game could and did proceed fairly inhibited.

On what grounds?

There are no grounds.

Then why doesn't somebody swallow their pride and do the right thing then?

Because Syd thinks he can do better.

we may never know the whole story surrounding the circumstances of his departure

Oh, we know the circumstances all right.  Syd wanted to change the show.  Roger didn't.  Syd is the executive producer, so he fired Roger to get his own way.  Plain and simple, that's all that it's about.

I try not to focus on Drew Carey or his hosting qualities.

I think you should.  If you did, you would see how he's ruining the show too.

[PriceFan14]

I don't normally make comments in this area of the forums, but today I just had to. The LA Kings showcase, after seeing it on TV, was stupid. Today's showcase made me HATE the green screen. Even the contestant was shaking his head at it! Pass the Buck could've been handled better. They said that #3 fell off, but I didn't see it anywhere's on the floor, in fact, it looked as if it was sitting at the back of the prop (but I could've been seeing things). The balloon thing was 100% dumb. It was a nice balloon, but he overdid it; as he seems to be doing with everything lately. I really hope the quality of the show improves...this is getting ridiculous.

[Nick]

...you mean to tell me that some of you guys were upset over a showcase like that?

Well, yeah, because it sucked; and I don't think we should have to repeat the reasons why.

Please. As a hockey fan, I was proud to see such a great sport shown to people that may not be familiar with it. Even if it was with a team that beat us in OT last month.

I'm pretty sure most Americans and Canadians who watch The Price Is Right are well aware of the existence of the National Hockey League and the sport hockey.

[mrbrown2195]

I think you should.  If you did, you would see how he's ruining the show too.

Friend, we know you think he's ruining the show, but as no offense to you, don't you find it a little telling that 9...err... 10 people have decided to block you? I would think that might actually be a record around these parts.

I respect just about everybody's opinions around here, including your own, and as Marc said, this forum is for discussion and debate, but I think you could get your points across and actually have people want to listen by focusing on bigger aspects of the show than "Alakazam", his entrances, and continuing with the "Drew is ruining the show and should be fired" rhetoric day in and day out. People tend to filter (and block) that kind of... stuff... out, and you no longer have a captive audience. This is just meant as friendly "debating" advice.

The showcases were genuinely awful today, and the production values were horrible. There was absolutely no excuse for the revealed space on Pass the Buck, and equally on the number that was visible on Bonkers (and yes, you could definitely see a number, I believe it was a 7 or a 2) - if Roger was still around, the $3K would've been awarded on PTB and I think we might've even had a technical win in Bonkers for "potentially confusing the contestant" (even though he obviously was not confused).

[Kyle]

...Don't you find it a little telling that 9...err... 10 people have decided to block you? I would think that might actually be a record around these parts.

As opposed to your one block. Who'd you piss off? j/k

Speaking as someone from the "willing to try" camp, that Kings showcase was bad. The set-up was pretty awkward ("How'd you like a punch in the face?", specifically), that green-screen use was horribly bungled, and the finale was terrible (what, pray tell, does the boat have to do with hockey, unless you use it to sail to Switzerland).

[BuddyTom]

I think the word that sums up today's show best is "sloppy." Prop malfunctions happen, but how they're handled is what matters. I don't know if they should have re-taped the reveal and changed where the different cards were on the Pass The Buck board after the 3 fell off when the RGC went up. But if they chose to just continue, that wasn't the way to do it. Granted, not many people stop after getting $3,000 but he should have either been given the option or given the money NO MATTER WHAT. Since he DID win $5,000 and a car, I doubt that he's going to complain, but it just feels wrong. Bonkers was less serious, but how many times is Drew going to manhandle the props before things start breaking all over the place?

As for the showcases, yeah the framing on the Switzerland trip's green screen was bad, but the framing has been bad on other shots too. Good ol' Bart being himself... though I'm sure it's much harder to shoot something that isn't actually there. And that hockey showcase was a MESS. "How'd you like a punch in the face?" (!!!) What makes it worse for me is that the idea was actually pretty good, to have members of a sports team present a showcase that includes various things that showcase their team and sport. But the presentation was messy and immature, and having a fight by the boat (which made no sense for the showcase) was just childish.

Purists will probably want my hide for this, but I thought that while unnecessary, having the giant Hans on a stairmaster was actually kind of cute. It's OKAY to be silly from time to time, but when everything in a show is going (to quote Letterman) "gunnysack" then one more thing just cheapens the whole feel.

[goldroadfanatic]

Okay, this show was worse than garbage, it more than complemented it!

I really thought Sandy would take the maximum amount of turns possible in Cover Up, but it was such a shame she was bitten on the last number.

Russell probably is the best Bonkers player in quite some time.  He moved furiously and never looked at the peanut gallery once.  Although, I wonder how one of the numbers managed to slide out.  

I will agree that that Drew balloon animal was just ridiculous.  I mean he could have just showed it off and returned it to the audience member who brought it to the studio, but he kept it for the entire bidding round and held the balloon mic in contestants' faces.

Okay, what on Earth happened to Pass the Buck?!  I mean, this is just proves how shoddy the production levels of the show has reached.  There were better ways to handle the situation, and I think it wasn't right for Drew to give the $3,000 to David as a "gift", it should have not been presented as such.  I think it would have been better to leave it exposed and when it came down to his last pick, he could have picked the $3,000 outright and won it.

I heard that the LA Kings showcase would be a bit controversial, but the fight and them throwing one of their players into the boat with one of the models looking like she didn't know what the heck to do then was just bad.  Also, we got one of the players' bare backs on camera and other than the few wardrobe malfunctions that happened over the years, is this a first for TPIR?

[SteveGavazzi]

My God.  This show has become a joke.

Why can't Drew just walk through the doors briskly and energetically at the top of the show the way Bob did every day for 35 years?  That was always one of the highlights of the show, seeing him make his grand entrance...now it's just, "Well, what the hell's he gonna do this time?"

Why was the treadmill being modeled by the giant mountain climber?  And why did they think it was a good idea to accompany it with On the Franches Mountains?  And why do I get a sinking feeling we haven't seen the last of that stupid thing?  It was sort of funny once, but if they keep using it, it's just going to get annoying -- an attempt to liven up a part of the proceedings that was only boring in Drew's mind to begin with.

What the heck was up with Pass the Buck?  There is no way that should have been handled the incredibly awkward way that it was.  David should have been allowed to pick #3 any time during the game that he wanted -- or not even pick it at all if he so wished.  He could have saved it as an insurance marker of sorts in case his second pick was a Lose Everything.  This is just more proof of why the show needs a real producer like Roger in charge of it instead of people who've just had the title stuck after their names.

The hockey showcase was...um...wow.  Somebody's gonna have to explain to me how it's a good idea to ask a contestant, with no warning, "How about a punch in the face?" because I certainly don't see it.  The brawl actually could have been funny if there'd been some solid writing leading up to it, but there wasn't any writing leading up to it -- it just happened, and then Rich randomly started describing a prize as if everything were normal.  The trip display was bizarre, too -- the green screen was swinging, and the video on it was fluctuating for no apparent reason (at least to the eye of the average viewer)!  They really need to let Stan start writing these things again -- when he was in charge, the writing always flowed logically, and prizes frequently ended up looking like they made sense together even when they really didn't.  That never happens anymore -- with Drew writing them, they're just a garbled mess.

Incidentally, has anyone noticed that both times so far this season that Drew went out of his way to emphasize how great the Showcase would be at the end of the second Showcase Showdown, we ended up seeing one of the worst showcases in Price Is Right history?

If Drew's making a point of saying on the air that he likes to start the show with a win, how does it make any sense to institute a policy of starting every episode with a car game or a cash game?

And this is obviously the least of my worries today...but dang, Danger Price just doesn't sound right without Big Banana Remix.

Pass the Buck screwup is a hard one, cause i dont know what i would do in that situation if i was host.

The correct answer is, "Look over and see what Roger says."

The pass the buck thing...
If this was me...producing the show...i would have walked out on stage and polietly asked Drew for the mic.
Apologized to the contesant,fans in the studio and and home,for the mess,revealed where the car and five grand were anyway and said on the air i`m sorry and i quit.
End of story.

Oh, come on.  That's totally absurd.  The number got stuck on the Race Game Curtain.  Accidents happen.

[goldroadfanatic]

I think you should.  If you did, you would see how he's ruining the show too.

Do you really want everyone around here to see Drew the way you do?  I mean, sure I do like Drew as a host, but at the same time, I can see where he does need a lot of work, such as his entrances, game reveals, or writing copy for Rich, but it's perfectly all right for someone to like Drew.

For the most part, we agree the show is in danger, and some here feel that Drew's hosting abilities are part of what is causing the show to be on thin ice right now.  But as mrbrown has said, there are ways to express your dissatisfaction with the show, and saying "Drew, please stop doing (insert item here)" all the time in the recap thread is really not the way to do it.  People will more than likely just pass you buy or not take you seriously.

[Kyle]

Why can't Drew just walk through the doors briskly and energetically at the top of the show the way Bob did every day for 35 years?  

Or like he did last season?

[Casey]

Frankly, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about with the partially seen number on Bonkers.  The part you could see (it was a 7) was exactly the same as the "wrong" number in the playing.  The 5 was the reverse side of the 7, not able to be seen from the contestants vantage point (or anyone else's).