FULL RECAP - TPiR 12/15/2008

[Todd]

The second showcase reminded me of the ones they did last year.  A solid theme, interesting visuals, and decent writing.  Do I dare say it...I bet Drew did not write that one!

*sigh*.

[rob79]

Whoa!!!! Nice game lineup today that's for sure. Seeing Check Out for a car was a nice treat and oh yeah, Bonkers last was a treat as well.

Drew's entrance today was the most moronic thing i've ever seen.

Speaking of Bonkers, it has been a loooooooonnnngggggggg time since it's been played last, but I do know it has shown up last a couple of times (with Bob, today was its first time in the anchor position with Drew).

Any Number was just flat out played badly. Andrew didn't give any thought it seemed to the digits he picked. At least he didn't win the piggy bank. Speaking of which Drew, why did you have to make it sound like the end of the world when he won the sofa?!? It could have been a lot worse--he could have won the piggy bank.

Matthew played Check Out pretty decently. I honestly thought he was gonna win when it came down to the Zicam because I thought it was of the $6.99 variety. It turned out what at first seemed to be a good underpricing on the face cleanseer it what did Matthew in. Tough setup, but played fairly well despite a loss.

Seeing the GP and SP is pretty cool but seeing them 5th and 6th would have been better.

That first showcase today flat out stank. The second was good--had a nice theme, the prizes tied in and overall it was executed pretty well in my opinion--which can't be said that often nowadays.

[mikebev25]

Thoughts:
Amazing lineup. Check Out for a car really stood out. Sure wasn't expecting to see Bonkers last and it was nice to see Range and X again. However, it seems like the car games are 1st and 4th every show. We need to mix it up a little.

Any #: It seemed he was shouting out random numbers and wasn't really trying to get the 2nd car digit. Odd price though.
ME: Pretty easy.
Range: That price seemed awfully low on the range.
Check Out: I had never seen that master lock thing, so it was difficult. The total was higher than I thought it'd be though.
X: First of all, the game CANNOT be shown in the mirror like that. In the game itself, somewhat tricky small prizes, but a well-executed win.
Bonkers: Not to brag, but I would have won on the first attempt too. Seems like we broke a long losing streak with that game.

SC1=FAIL. I've said this before and I'll say it again. If you want to put Rich in the showcases, by all means go ahead, but NOT in that fashion.
SC2: Much better. Well done. These are the kind we need more of.

I am kind of liking Drew's entrances lately. I think they are quite interesting and unexpected. It's a decent change from the ordinary.

[SolairWright]

Here's the rundown on the show's episodes:

Any Number: He should have gone with 0, but a sofa's better than the piggy bank.
Most Expensive: That was a good playing there and I knew she won.
Range Game: Seems like the audience (and I) were wrong. I was nervous she missed it.
Check-Out: This was a very difficult setup right there and was I right. I came within $2.45 when I played along.
Secret X: Nervous that the contestant lost on one of the prizes and then would've lost altogether.
Bonkers: That win was very quick and I didn't expect that to happen.
Showcases: First was okay in terms of writing, but the second was completely silly in terms of appearance. I was literally laughing *at* the showcase!

Not a bad show. Had Andrew G. went with the audience and the Check-Out setup wasn't completely evil, it would've been a perfect show.

[BRB_TheFireball]

Any:  I'm not sure who wrote Rich's copy for this segment, but there is no such thing as a Ford Civic.  Nonetheless, that Civic was sure loaded up today.  I didn't think that Civics could break $20,000.

ME:  Yay!  Half-Off cue! Easy win.

Range:  Kathy has definitely been taking some cues from Roger.  The trailer price was only $30 more than the starting highmark.  But Jennifer successfully stopped the Fingers.

Check-Out:  Yay!  Check-Out for a car! I'm not sure who wrote Rich's copy for this segment, but that was not a sedan.  Well, Kathy threw out another Dob-inspired setup.. and this time, she won.  WTF kind of a grocery item is a luggage lock, anyway?  Given the impossibility of this setup, Matthew did better than I expected.  I actually thought he was gonna be way too high.

One-Bid #5:  Well, we had a real-life drummer earlier this year... and now we have a real-life guitarist demonstrating the prize.  I wonder if Drew noticed that Mike was wearing a Pirates cap.  I know that they're not in the same division (or even league) as the Indians, but Pittsburgh could still be considered a rival sports city of Cleveland. 

Bonky:  Wow, Bonkers in the 6-hole for the first time since May 4, 2005!  And an exacta to boot!  Nice to see a cupcake Bonkers setup actually produce a win.  BTW, is it just me or has Bonkers been getting a lot of playing time this season?

Showcases:  When was the last time both contestants in the showcases had the same first name?

SC #1:  *palms to face*

SC #2:  Nice camerawork and evil Rich voice in this showcase.  More than makes up for the sucky first showcase.

My showcase bids:
Harley--$17,707
Boat--$31,107

[catdogwheel]

How much longer are we going to see Drew enter through door #2 on something?

apparently not much longer. I was reading over at the cbs.com Price forums that these entrances should be done with as soon as this coming Thursday.

[JokerFan]

Had Andrew G. went with the audience and the Check-Out setup wasn't completely evil, it would've been a perfect show.

Any Number was not won, so even if Andrew won Check Out, it still wouldn't be a perfect show.

[Joe_Capitano]

...these entrances should be done with as soon as this coming Thursday.

Make that "will." The six shows starting Thursday (minus Christmas day) were all taped the first week of this month.

[Mallory16]

There's obviously some contestant psychology I don't understand, and I'm hoping someone here might understand this line of thinking:  in Range Game, if Jennifer thought the trailer was $12,000, then why did she hit the button almost the instant $12,000 got into the red range, instead of waiting for $12,000 to be in the middle?  That seemingly would've made more sense.

(And yes, she would have lost had she done that.  That's not my point.)

It would do them well to curb back on offering cars in the fourth slot and playing non-regular car games for cars as the single car game of a half of the show.

I can't agree that there have been too many non-car games for cars on two-car days.  There's darn good reason for doing such:  it allows for longer non-car games to actually see the light of day.  I think it's a fair trade-off.

X: First of all, the game CANNOT be shown in the mirror like that.

It's actually happened in the past, though I also suppose, in years past, you had to look really, really hard for it.

[mrbrown2195]

The second showcase reminded me of the ones they did last year.  A solid theme, interesting visuals, and decent writing.  Do I dare say it...I bet Drew did not write that one!

Of course not. Drew can't be associated with anything positive 'round these parts! 

[trapperm]

Well, that could be a safe bet.

[SteveGavazzi]

Any Number was impressive -- although not in any kind of a good way!

Matthew played Check-Out pretty well.  I was surprised that he made decent bids on the lock and the Zicam, only to be done in by the pore cleanser.

Bonkers sixth was a neat surprise.  That hasn't happened too many times.

I think this is the first time in about five years that the Top Winner and the Runner-Up have had the same name, isn't it?  (Not that that's really important -- but it's unusual enough to be interesting.)

I really can't stand these showcases that consist of nothing but Rich making an ass of himself.

The second showcase today, however, was good.  It felt like something we'd have seen in the Roger/Stan/Adam days.  The directing was...um...well, bad, but the theme was solid, and Rich's voice was great.  The only bad thing (...well, besides the directing) was the potential they wasted with the first showcase, which could easily have been done as "Everything You Need to Become a Superhero."  Still, though, props to Drew for putting together a good presentation for a change.

So now we know why the new trip "skin" is on tomorrow and Thursday's shows, but the old one is on Wednesday's -- they're using both of them.  Duh.

[UniquePerspective]

So now we know why the new trip "skin" is on tomorrow and Thursday's shows, but the old one is on Wednesday's -- they're using both of them.  Duh.

I'm assuming this is sarcasm, but I genuinely am not sure I know the real reason. What is it?

[heelsrule1988]

Although it wasn't his idea, Andrew's shirt (the one with the Exorcist reference) is one of best I've seen. Very clever.

BEST CONTESTANT OF THE DAY: Andrew (the Secret X player)
SHOW GRADE: 3

[SteveGavazzi]

I'm assuming this is sarcasm, but I genuinely am not sure I know the real reason. What is it?

No, I'm being completely serious -- I'd been puzzling over that for a couple weeks, and then this show airs and presents a perfectly logical explanation that I hadn't even thought of.