Any thoughts on the first-season episodes that Pluto is now showing?

[LarryC]

So far they've aired six episodes.  It's fascinating to see the show evolve in its early days.

Bullseye I (almost impossible to win) got jettisoned pretty quickly.  Last night we saw its replacement -- Clock Game -- and the contestant rocked it.

Lots of the nifty Marc Breslow trademarks are already in place: turntable spinning away after Grocery Game (and other games), lights dimming in the audience during IUFBs, interesting camera angles.

I keep thinking how the 1974 music package, if it had existed yet, would have buyoed up these early shows.

Hope everyone else is enjoying these episodes too.  Maybe it's a sign we'll get more '70s episodes, eventually.

[C8]

I've said it before that I find it a bit hard to watch them. Logistically, Barker moves a lot slower and more deliberately through the games. Which, of course, he had to. There was a chance that a new viewer could be tuning in and needed to get caught up. I think the show feels too compressed in the half hour format and the game variety isn't there, meaning binging gets to be a bit old. And I honestly don't think Barker would hit his stride for quite a while yet. Right now he's much too peppy and injects his energy in the wrong places.

That's not to say these shows are bad. The show is still on after 52 years after all! The show had to start somewhere, so I guess my tl;dr is this is Price in its infancy and we have half a century's knowledge of what is to come to realize that much better things are on the horizon.

[LarryC]

I've said it before that I find it a bit hard to watch them. Logistically, Barker moves a lot slower and more deliberately through the games. Which, of course, he had to. There was a chance that a new viewer could be tuning in and needed to get caught up. I think the show feels too compressed in the half hour format and the game variety isn't there, meaning binging gets to be a bit old. And I honestly don't think Barker would hit his stride for quite a while yet. Right now he's much too peppy and injects his energy in the wrong places.

That's not to say these shows are bad. The show is still on after 52 years after all! The show had to start somewhere, so I guess my tl;dr is this is Price in its infancy and we have half a century's knowledge of what is to come to realize that much better things are on the horizon.

I agree.  Are these the best episodes that TPiR ever produced?  Of course not.  But they're fun to watch, especially in their pristine cleaned-up state.

For me, it's refreshing to watch contestants that know how to act civilized, and not entitled.  (OK, some of them are too sedate.)

[Nick]

The thing that stands out to me is the video clip they posted of the first double overbid, and as the credits roll, the Turntable spins.  I know this was a thing in the early weeks to have the Turntable spin just as a show, and I can see why it was abandoned, but it's just so cool.

I think the show feels too compressed in the half hour format and the game variety isn't there, meaning binging gets to be a bit old.

"Binging" was not the way anybody would have been watching these when they were originally produced.

As for the game variety, it's the first weeks of the show.  The money wasn't there for a lot of game props, and it shows.  I chalk it up to the fact we've seen a vastly different show in the years since.  When the show debuted, The Price Is Right was remembered as a game with bidding the entire show, not a show with a flashy set with many moving parts.  We have to see the early Price for how the viewing audience then saw it.

As for feeling compressed, I disagree.  I love the half-hour format.  The Showcase Showdown doesn't add much to the show in terms of excitement or variety.  It ran so long in the '70s with the wheel spinning much more loosely than it does nowadays, and just watching the wheel spin is pretty dull (but that was much better than now, where it's just treated as a throwaway for every contestant to say "hi" to someone).  Kudos for Price for having done what no other game show of that era could do, which was go to an hour beyond simply doubling an episode and introducing an element (the Big Wheel) that's become iconic, but the half hour format has great pacing, and I love the "reward" element of being the top winner or runner up of the day getting you to the Showcase.

[C8]

"Binging" was not the way anybody would have been watching these when they were originally produced.

As for the game variety, it's the first weeks of the show.  The money wasn't there for a lot of game props, and it shows.  I chalk it up to the fact we've seen a vastly different show in the years since.  When the show debuted, The Price Is Right was remembered as a game with bidding the entire show, not a show with a flashy set with many moving parts.  We have to see the early Price for how the viewing audience then saw it.

I think I admitted all that in my original response.

As for feeling compressed, I disagree.  I love the half-hour format.  The Showcase Showdown doesn't add much to the show in terms of excitement or variety.

Boy that's an opinion right there. We will very much have to agree to disagree on that.

[SuperSweeper]

The thing that stands out to me is the video clip they posted of the first double overbid, and as the credits roll, the Turntable spins.  I know this was a thing in the early weeks to have the Turntable spin just as a show, and I can see why it was abandoned, but it's just so cool.

"Binging" was not the way anybody would have been watching these when they were originally produced.

As for the game variety, it's the first weeks of the show.  The money wasn't there for a lot of game props, and it shows.  I chalk it up to the fact we've seen a vastly different show in the years since.  When the show debuted, The Price Is Right was remembered as a game with bidding the entire show, not a show with a flashy set with many moving parts.  We have to see the early Price for how the viewing audience then saw it.

As for feeling compressed, I disagree.  I love the half-hour format.  The Showcase Showdown doesn't add much to the show in terms of excitement or variety.  It ran so long in the '70s with the wheel spinning much more loosely than it does nowadays, and just watching the wheel spin is pretty dull (but that was much better than now, where it's just treated as a throwaway for every contestant to say "hi" to someone).  Kudos for Price for having done what no other game show of that era could do, which was go to an hour beyond simply doubling an episode and introducing an element (the Big Wheel) that's become iconic, but the half hour format has great pacing, and I love the "reward" element of being the top winner or runner up of the day getting you to the Showcase.

The problem with the TW/RU format is that it was often impossible for the third onstage contestant to make it to the Showcase, even if they won their pricing game. This was especially true in the first two years or so, when the third slot was almost exclusively reserved for quickies (which usually offered a much cheaper prize/prize package than the car and fee games). I understand rewarding big winners, but it seemed totally unfair to the third onstage contestant, especially if it was someone who was called sixth (therefore never having any chance of winning their way up to play game 1 or 2).

[C8]

Sorry for the multiple posts but one more thought occurred to me.

This is slightly off the Pluto topic but is an interesting point of comparison none-the-less. I had said that Barker wouldn't hit his stride until years later. What is interesting to me, looking at 1972, is that Dennis James hit his stride right out of the gate and watching early James episodes is a ton of fun. The problem is (from the episodes I've seen), by the time Dennis' run ended, he seemed to be me to be unable to keep up with how the show was changing. He didn't grow, evolve, or modify his approach as the show grew. What was energetic and vibrant in fall '72 was rushed and pushy (IMO) in spring '76 (and if some of Bob's 80's sexism is bothersome now, believe me when I say some of the things that come out of Dennis' mouth will truly take you for a ride). Barker grew and evolved with the show and to me it's very much why Bob took over the nighttime show rather than Dennis taking over in daytime (or Dennis being renewed to keep going at night).

[Nick]

I think I admitted all that in my original response.

I wasn't saying you didn't.

Boy that's an opinion right there. We will very much have to agree to disagree on that.

My biggest beef with the Showcase Showdown is that it is not pricing based but was an element entirely designed to capitalize on the growing popularity of Wheel of Fortune (though credit to Price for being the successful victor on that one, as far as an hourlong expansion and daytime audience are concerned).  If you had a pricing-based Showcase Showdown, I could get more into that; but just watching a wheel spin for 2-5 minutes is not that exciting in and of itself; and this is clearly evident nowadays in that the Showcase Showdowns are barely 3 minutes each and the first thing Drew does as soon as a contestant spins is the, "Wanna' say hi to anyone?" routine.  Nobody's even paying attention as the wheel spins anymore unless you get to the second spin, spinoff or bonus spin scenario.

The problem with the TW/RU format is that it was often impossible for the third onstage contestant to make it to the Showcase, even if they won their pricing game. This was especially true in the first two years or so, when the third slot was almost exclusively reserved for quickies (which usually offered a much cheaper prize/prize package than the car and fee games). I understand rewarding big winners, but it seemed totally unfair to the third onstage contestant, especially if it was someone who was called sixth (therefore never having any chance of winning their way up to play game 1 or 2).

There are four stats I would be interested in seeing in relation to that:
1. In the half hour shows, how many of the third-slot games did offer the cheapest prize package of the day?
2. How many of the third on stage contestants in the half hour format did make it to the Showcase?
3. Of those contestants, how many made it because one of the first two games were lost?
4. How may of the third on stage contestants were not the last contestant called of the day (and thus had other opportunities to advance to the stage)?

Not that we have these stats, but if we did, it would be what could prove if the third on stage contestants really were disadvantaged in getting into the Showcase.

Even then, while it is possible, in time, that the lineups could have been modified to address this bias, I don't expect that would have happened ever because this continued under the hourlong format with the fourth game almost always being a quickie for a smaller prize package, so even then, it's not as if the hourlong format eliminated this bias entirely, and consequently, the fourth on stage contestant was thus biased towards being the first spinner in the Showcase Showdown, which is supposed to be the least-advantageous position.

[C8]

My biggest beef with the Showcase Showdown is that it is not pricing based but was an element entirely designed to capitalize on the growing popularity of Wheel of Fortune (though credit to Price for being the successful victor on that one, as far as an hourlong expansion and daytime audience are concerned).

How rapidly did Wheel take off? It premiered 1/75 and the trial hour shows were 9/75.

[SuperSweeper]

There are four stats I would be interested in seeing in relation to that:
1. In the half hour shows, how many of the third-slot games did offer the cheapest prize package of the day?
2. How many of the third on stage contestants in the half hour format did make it to the Showcase?
3. Of those contestants, how many made it because one of the first two games were lost?
4. How may of the third on stage contestants were not the last contestant called of the day (and thus had other opportunities to advance to the stage)?

Not that we have these stats, but if we did, it would be what could prove if the third on stage contestants really were disadvantaged in getting into the Showcase.

Even then, while it is possible, in time, that the lineups could have been modified to address this bias, I don't expect that would have happened ever because this continued under the hourlong format with the fourth game almost always being a quickie for a smaller prize package, so even then, it's not as if the hourlong format eliminated this bias entirely, and consequently, the fourth on stage contestant was thus biased towards being the first spinner in the Showcase Showdown, which is supposed to be the least-advantageous position.

Not a full answer to your question(s), but a quick review found the following:

The earliest episode on which the third onstage contestant could've made it to the Showcases on a perfect show (without any ambiguity) was 0033D, which (not surprisingly) was the first episode (and the only for a long time) where a quickie was played first or second (Clock/Any/Bonus).

Note that our definition of this could vary; for example, would one count the SPs in Bonus/Tags as counting towards this? They could be lost without making the game lost, but when won, could often provide a huge boost to a contestant's total (especially since the SP hauls in those games could easily top $300).

You'd have to go all the way to 0063D for the next opportunity; unsurprisingly, this episode had Clock Game (as opposed to Double Prices), and the Clock Game contestant could've won more than the second contestant's total haul (with Grocery Game). I think you'd have a very hard time finding any episode in the first year or so where Double Prices was played *and* it didn't offer the cheapest prize package of the day.

[SuperSweeper]

Another tidbit: 14 of the first 25 contestants to play PG3 made it to the Showcase (not including the tossed 0003D).

[tpirfan28]

So. Much. Brown.

I've always wondered if the set was colored the way it was to look better on black and white televisions.

[Trevor Tuominen]

That orange shag carpet at Home Base could only come from the 1970s as well.

[thatvhstapeguy]

So. Much. Brown.

I've always wondered if the set was colored the way it was to look better on black and white televisions.

This was a consideration for most shows into at least 1975 (Showoffs printed the team names on the players' shirts for the convenience of those who were watching in black & white), however, the color palette of the early 1970s was a direct reaction to the psychedelic colors (and by extension, the turmoil) of the 1960s.

[pannoni1]

I've already seen dozens of first season episodes over the years, but except for the first five, I've never binged through them. You can clearly tell that there wasn't much support from Price Authority (as the "old' Cullen era described it) compared to later on, from the same avocado green refrigerator/freezer, wood grain TV, and of course with the Chevy Vega appearing just about every show for the first year. Even the grocery products weren't as varied with the Creamettes and Rice A Roni appearing multiple times in Grocery Game. If anything, the Cullen version started with a bigger bang than TNPiR did with a bigger variety of prizes and a more energetic host off the bat. Bob sort of grew into the show just like early Drew did, and even Drew's version had a lot of repetition (by 2007 standards) of the same pricing games in the same show being played. That said, even in these early stages, you still had some variety of pricing games in addition to the One Bids, which the Cullen version only provided on a few bonus segments, including a lot of general knowledge-type games. Of course, a lot of the cues were revolutionary for their time when many soap operas still used organ music, and this will only get better as the later packages get introduced, starting with the "Narz Concentration" package sometime around the start of the second season.

Bob had yet to start his opening monologue or little chit-chats with the contestants which added a new dimension to knowing the real stars of the show, and that sort of makes the show feel stale when Bill Cullen had been chatting for years on the original version. Overall, the first season just feels like a big work in progress that would have to compete with a dying Concentration, daytime movie, or other syndicated fare. That said, with school in session, most of the viewing audience, like the Cullen daytime version, were housewives and retired people, so the prizes and contestants generally reflect their tastes who tend to be more sedate. But I didn't pick up GSN until the fall of 1997 around the start of their "Dark Period", which was when the channel dropped their half-hour Barker episodes, so seeing these in original broadcast quality is still a nice gift to all of us. In the future, I'd love to see a pattern of having a new set of '80s episodes followed by a new set of '70s episodes just to mix things up, and perhaps make weekends the new home of '70s Price on Pluto. A lot more changed in the show's first decade than it did in the second (and every decade since, with the possible exception of the fourth decade).