I usually don't even respond to these boards. I read them everyday and I watch the same show as you do. We need to all give Drew, Rich, Fingers, etal a break. ...
* approaches soapbox...*
Here here.
Man, I've been Price's biggest fan since as far back as i can remember breathing (late 70's -80's)
Plus, I have a personal monitor on things. My mother, once a Los Angeles resident, has, over the years, drowned me in stories of visiting Television City back in the 70's and 80's and viewing live what we've always agreed is the greatest show on Earth. Probably a little less "die-hard" than us, but I look at her as a great barometer of the average fan who has been a viewer of the show and, like the rest of the nation, heavily associates the show with the Barker era.
Last season she, like most all of us, balked as she watched Drew's first coupla weeks. I'd talk to her on the phone and she'd be like: " Ugh...I don't know why they gave HIM that job...etc, etc.". Well my mother has been visiting me since last week, and morning after morning I have been showered by her giggles and guffaws at Drew's one liners with contestants and, especially on Friday and today, ....the SHOWCASES.
She frickin loves it. And she's a 70 year old. Ya know, the church lady type.
I say all of that to make this point: Green screens, little explanatory intros to prize descriptions, showcase recaps or the entire frickin Michael Karp package ain't gonna stop the FUNDAMENTAL goodness of TPIR. America still tunes in, and if Im in an office or resturant or somewhere, I see more people tuning in, even following and playing along more than in recent past. They giggle and guffaw too, just like my own mother. I know our Beloved Mr. Dobkowitz and Sir Barker kept an "if it ain't broke don't fix it" motif (God, how many times have you heard Barker say THAT!), and that will be forever commended. But, the key ingredients of that type of thinking are now gone from the show...so,.. technically,...that means that it's "broke" now, huh? They had to bring in some different ideas to fix it. The end product is not HALF as bad as a majority of us make it seem. Plus, GRECO ain't new to this. I don't know why everybody thinks she's gonna wreck the plane.
The make up of the program is still there, and face it...you gotta admit we've had a "few" terribly scripted, badly concepted, cringe inducing, who-can-relate-to-this type of showcases just within the last 10 years or so. I'm that kinda viewer that usually skips out right after the 6th game or at the latest the 2nd SCSD. For the first time in the 21st century, for the past few days at least, I can watch thru the Showcases and not have to endure the mild embarassment of...well... that corny humor. At least this new humor in writing is....well...not
that corny.
Is it impossible to think that TPIR can have an air of unpredictability and a decidedly less stiff/rigid format than has been the order of the day for 3 1/2 decades? DECADES?! Please note that *nothing on TV nowadays* reflects the class and spirit that most of us associate with Price's Golden Era, and thus, could not probably survive umongst the muck. Light hearted pie fights and mentions of "French toast/ French kissing/ Trip to France" are still a lightyear away from the cackles spouted over on
The View or the lowlifes on
Maury or whatever plays in your market opposite TPIR. I think we'll be fine.
In conclusion, here's Millionaire81 with the moral to today's tale:
To all of you who hated the Rich showcase...(we dont need the insults)...Have fun and lighten-up.
*steps off soap box...*
Now let's all talk about the
REAL problem with TPIR nowadays...WTF is up with the SP games? Can a brotha get some Secret "X" or
something sooner or later PUHLEEEASE!!!!
