I don't really know what to think here -- I'm scared to be optimistic, but these last couple days, the show has really felt like The Price Is Right again. I hope it continues, because for the first time in months, I don't feel like I'm watching the show just out of habit -- I'm watching it because it's fun again. I also hope that if this
was more than a fluke, that it happened a good while back...because these shows were taped way out of order, and once January comes, we won't even be
close to their tapedates yet.
But really, Drew
does seem to be hosting much better all of a sudden. He's certainly not perfect, but he's acting much more like he was at the end of last season, just before our little corner of the world went to hell in a handbasket. He's allowing contestants to shine through, he's actually varying his routine at the Big Wheel, and he even did a decent job today handling the double overbid. The guy we've seen the last couple days isn't the "deranged clown," if you will, that we've been watching for most of the last three months; he's the guy who I really thought, given the proper training, could eventually evolve into the next Bob Barker.
(...I wonder if they still have the deranged clown mask. Not that that has anything to do with this episode, of course.)
The lineup today was decent. I still think they're using the 1/4 car combo way too often, but at least they put an interesting, longer game fifth today to make everything balance out. (Actually, seeing Eazy az 1 2 3 fifth is just cool in general.) It
was weird, though, to see Freeze Frame and Pick-a-Number in the same episode. Does anyone know if that's ever been done before?
Any Number was awesome. That was one of the most exciting comebacks I've ever seen.
I really don't understand how Claire lost Freeze Frame. She seemed to be the only person in the studio who didn't know what the price was.
The first showcase today was really cool...and Train Depot is always neat, even though I'm not crazy about what they've done to its script.
I thought it was interesting that almost(?) every prize backdrop today was a snow-covered forest. It's certainly not what you expect to see behind a set of surfboards!
I liked how instead of going into the audience after the double ovebid, Drew took the two contestants over to meet the Rich and the Beauties at the Train Depot set. That was sort of neat.
I'm getting sick of Any Number. Doesn't matter if it's schedule shuffling, but can someone play it in the second half for once?
Any Number was just played fifth two weeks ago.
And what has happened to all the other multi-prize games? I can't remember the last time I've seen Danger Price and the like.
That's an interesting observation -- in the last 12 shows, they've only done one multiprizer (specifically, Race Game).
