FULL RECAP - TPiR 03/18/2009

[WarioBarker]

The show...feh. Nice SCSD bonus graphics, but not much else comes to mind. Showcase #1 was directed ENTIRELY at Joel, while the second was redundant for a guy who had already won a relevant One-Bid!

Drew got kind of lost during the first SCSD - Joel got the dollar during the spinoff and at first Drew wasn't going to give the bonus spin. I think someone probably told Drew from off stage...Drew didn't sound like he knew what he was doing.

Yeah, I noticed that - you can tell there's an edit there.

That would have been a better idea in my opinion for the Dodgers showcase...Vin Scully doing the announcing....after all Scully has done both sides of the game show aisle before.

Vin Scully hosted the original NBC It Takes Two from 1969-1970. I can't speak for anything else he may have done.

Usually, if not always, when they offer doughnuts/flowers/whatever for a year they state how much the contestant gets every week/month/something like that. Not the same as a vague amount of groceries.

Might as well just offer a Wal*Mart gift card and see how well contestants are able to bid on that !

You won't let us forget that, will you?
-Daniel

[Nick]

I liked how the opening titles were blue today, if anything, because they looked a lot like the old titles before they began messing with them last season.

Hey!  DiPirro didn't use the jib when Julie was called down.  Awesome!

The introduction to the third One Bid item was very strange.  It came off sounding like he was introducing James Lodi and James McDonald at the items up for bid.

Very nifty to see DiPirro pan the Race Game price tags on the stand.  I only wish Drew had explained the rules properly so he could have gotten a shot of each tag, panning to the next one, as Drew read their prices, just as how Breslow used to do it with Bob.

Wow, I can't believe Drew forgot to give Joel his bonus spin, warranting a very crappy edit.

They way the ring was introduced in Any Number was very nifty.  We haven't had a model up on the Turntable for Any Number since the last time the physical piggy bank was used in the game, have we?

I'm glad Drew didn't burst out into his dance routine in Cliff Hangers while the mountain climber was ascending the mountain.

I was disappointed that DiPirro didn't get a shot of how close the pointer was to the dollar after Dana just missed it on his first spin in the second Showcase Showdown.  I do hope he will be able to make quick, spontaneous shots like that soon.

I had to laugh at how they did so much personalisation towards Joel with the first Showcase and then he passed it.  Yet again why it must stop.

If they're going to get celebrities and sports players on to present prizes, can they at least give them a crash course in appearing realistic on camera so it doesn't sound like they're reading off cue cards?

The LA Dodgers showcase was decent.  Not great by any stretch, but certainly not the horror of the hockey showcase from a few months ago.  It was disappointing that the car offered was a Chevy, though.  I mean, come on.  It needed a Dodge!  You know... Dodgers?  Would've just  fit better ending it with a Dodge.

That's a very good point.  They really should have worked that in somehow.

Why is Gold Bond so expensive, anyway?

You think blending seven intensive moisturisers comes cheap?  Heck, I don't know.

How the heck was the recipe box in Cliff Hangers $17?  It didn't even look $10!  Really, that looked like something you'd get in a cereal box!

You must get really big cereal boxes down south.

[BRB_TheFireball]

Grandy:  That was a tough choice between the back patch and the garlic for the final product under $8.50... though I knew that Sharon would be suckered into picking the evil Gold Bond.

One-Bid #3:  Wow, that's a cool prize.  I'm not a Dodgers fan, but I would love to go on that trip.

Race:  Enough Race Game, Adam!  Dust off Take Two or Shopping Spree!

Any:  Wow, when was the last time that a model physically brought a prize onto the turntable for a pricing game?

Side:  Easy.

SC #1:  Wow, this guy ain't no Big City Personal Chef.  We've got an actual celebrity chef doing the cooking for the lucky winner.

SC #2:  OK, let me repeat this:  I'm not a Dodgers fan, but I want that baseball package.

My showcase bids:
Food/NYC--$15,107
Dodgers/Hybrid--$34,107

[ThereseW]

A fair line-up in games...Any show without the ubiquitous Pick-a-Number is good!

I find that these guests they are having in the showcases, just brings the whole showcase to a halt.  I liked it when the showcaes moved along with one prize after the other building up to a climax.  Now they seem to come to a screeching halt while we see some person (who we usually don't know) talk awkwardly about something they are going to do.

I realize that this is one of those things they are trying to do to jazz up the show...but nevertheless, I don't like it.

[yabbaguy]

Some other thoughts:

-there was a very weird blue line running down my screen while the opening catchphrases were on screen. (I watched HD.) I think they accidentally added a text box border or something, did anyone else get that?

-I agree... the celeb stuff is not coming off as nicely as it should be, the Dodgers players during the OB and the guest chef were kinda stumbling. The latter was doing better, but tripped over himself several times. To me, that's not a valid reason to completely scrap guest-oriented/theme-oriented shows entirely.

-Is there any way we can ask/petition Price staff and see how/if they're reacting to this undervariety of pricing games? I remember someone making a brief mention to Roger's nice little list of Xs next to the pricing games, with it getting an X each time it wasn't played. Once a game had enough Xs, it was time to truck it out. (Double Prices probably had as few as 5, while Golden Road could take many more Xs before it was due up.) Correct me if details are inaccurate.

Is such a system being used still?

[JokerFan]

I had to laugh at how they did so much personalisation towards Joel with the first Showcase and then he passed it.  Yet again why it must stop.

Also, Drew has started mentioning that both contestants should pay attention because the first Showcase could belong to either one of them.  It's even more amusing when Drew says that and then the Showcase is personalized.

[Casey]

-Is there any way we can ask/petition Price staff and see how/if they're reacting to this undervariety of pricing games? I remember someone making a brief mention to Roger's nice little list of Xs next to the pricing games, with it getting an X each time it wasn't played. Once a game had enough Xs, it was time to truck it out. (Double Prices probably had as few as 5, while Golden Road could take many more Xs before it was due up.) Correct me if details are inaccurate.

Is such a system being used still?

Purely speculation on my part (and opinion too), but given the trouble Drew was having with explaining and hosting games back a few months, perhaps they are trying to let him get very comfortable with a subset and then gradually adding them back in.  Seems like Drew's been much better with the games he knows well (and much better generally lately with DiPirro directing)... I realize they did do this last season when he started, but clearly he needed more time to get all the games down.

[sesasheep]

True, I think Drew is slowly beginning to get some of the harder games to explain and that is why we are slowly starting to see them return.

After Joel won $1000 and they cut to the audience i was sure we were going to have a tech win of $25,000. However drew caught his mistake and recoverd.

I am still wondering what made sc 1 so much. I put the groceries at $5,000 and the trip at $4,000 which leaves $21,000? for the range and the chef. Something was way overpriced, however I cant figure out what

Good show overall

8.75/10

[godard]

Yup, kind of a boring show, but the showcases show the good and bad of celebrity guests:

The bad: A celebrity chef nobody has heard of, talking way too long and sounding like an infomercial, and looking more like a self-promoter than a real prize.

The good: The Dodgers, mostly recognizable names, reading their cues with some energy (and even bouncing around the winner like he scored the winning run).

Even for a Phillies fan, that was exciting to me.

Loved the irony of Dana winning a trip to the former home of the Dodgers before their vile owner moved them out of Brooklyn.

[gamefro]

Caught this episode on TV today instead of online.

I wasn't too impressed with the lineup today.  Every single game today seems to be one that has been played extensively this season...when Side By Side comes up as the only major surprise (I was predicting Squeeze Play or Double Prices), there's definitely something wrong.  I love Race Game, but it really needs a rest in deference to some of the other 4+ prize games.

Definite edit in the first showdown...Drew forgot about the $1.00 bonus possibility during spinoffs.  In his defense, I can't think of a time where he's encountered that before, so he may not have been clear on those rules.

The showcases weren't too bad though, given the fact that each one was next to impossible to price without some major guesses.  The Dodgers weren't all that bad at all; they just needed to be a bit more comfortable reading (same with the chef).  Not nearly as bad as it could have been, like the Kings showcase earlier this season.  And ditto to whoever said a DODGE should have been offered with the Dodgers showcase.

Purely speculation on my part (and opinion too), but given the trouble Drew was having with explaining and hosting games back a few months, perhaps they are trying to let him get very comfortable with a subset and then gradually adding them back in.  Seems like Drew's been much better with the games he knows well (and much better generally lately with DiPirro directing)... I realize they did do this last season when he started, but clearly he needed more time to get all the games down.

The flaw I find in that argument is that many games that Drew already hosted pretty well are the ones that have been overplayed the past few months.  If they really wanted Drew to get more comfortable with rules to some games, you'd think they would bump up the play frequency of some of the less-familiar games.

[thewhammy_2000]

Money Game: "Hint, hint."

Grand Game: Whether it's $9.12 or $9.56, the Gold Bond lotion strikes again.

One Bid 3: Oh, this was some sort of plot to pick someone with a Dodgers cap...

Race Game: I think I was a little brain-chilled myself. After the first try, I didn't know what to do...

Showcase Showdown 1: It happens. Ya get so excited that someone gets a dollar on the last spin and the Showdown is over; but some of us know we still have a bonus spin to go.

Any Number: Okay, Sandra got the four numbers for the car. The simple tries would be the 5 and 0 first. I would have NEVER tried 3 nor 4. It would be 0, 5, 2, 1, then 4.

Cliff Hangers: Well played. Kinda better than I would have done.

One Bid 6: "Oh, Patricia got 1-ousted twice in a row!"

The Miami trip on the screen: They are not going to play Double Prices with a closed door, would they?

Side by Side: They did with this game. I was going to immediately say 7240 because of the ending 0, but then I thought that may be too much for a trip like that.

Showcases: Groceries for a year? I'd go on a sweep every week at Jewel and Wal-Mart. I love to eat as much as Joel does to want to keep the Showcase. And I would've DEFINITELY kept that Showcase, whether the next Showcase had a car or not. All during that Dodgers Showcase, I was thinking about that moment when David Letterman walked into the $20,000 Pyramid set with that Dodgers jacket. Ah, if only someone would do that around my area, there would be a mob.

[Joe_Capitano]

Baseball fan or not a baseball fan...

Vin Scully hosted the original NBC It Takes Two from 1969-1970. I can't speak for anything else he may have done.

That presumes you have never ever heard Mr. Scully call a baseball game in your life, Dodgers or otherwise. He would have been perfect for this showcase if (1) he were available, and (B) someone had thought of it.

[SolairWright]

I had no problems with the lineup, though I would've made a few changes.

Money Game stays as it is, Grand Game should've been It's In the Bag, Race Game becomes Take Two, Any Number stays, Cliff Hangers should've been Bonus Game, and Side by Side is kept.

Anyhow, here's how I thought they did today:

Money Game: Very well played, and I thought he'd end up with money at the end because any of those numbers looked like it went to the back of the car.

Grand Game: I should have either stopped or gone with the IcyHot patch.

Race Game: It's getting a bit excessive now Adam. Why not Credit Card, Take Two, or Shopping Spree?

Any Number: Another tough setup, but I'd rather have the watch than that piggy bank.

Cliff Hangers: Nicely played, and the mountain climber didn't go crashing like the last time this game was played. (namely, it was on the first prize_

Side by Side: Another nicely played game. I thought it would've cost more, but I stopped myself from saying $7,240 was the right answer.

[plinkowin2010]

I think the show should go back to doing the showcases the way they were done during the barker era.

I vote that Fingers should write the showcases. Fingers has been with the show and is familar with some of the showcase skits, Like...
TPIR department store, The four seasons showcase, TPIR warehouse, the first bank of price, etc.

[yabbaguy]

>isucgv: The "hard to learn" theory is interesting, but for games like Credit Card and Shopping Spree, they should be obvious rules. Take Two... say the same, IMO.

Triple Play could be a budget issue. That's understandable... but this is easy to manipulate into a wipeout, should it be needed.

Shell Game... eh... maybe. If we're going off your theory, the most forgettable part is the $500 bonus at the end (and seeing as Drew nearly forgot the fine print in the spinoff rules, that could be), but to me, it seems like something that's still easy to learn.