FULL RECAP - TPiR 10/16/2008

[Pushover72]

Usually, the items in Let 'em Roll are really really easy.  And, I think, the reason is that the game is all about the rolls and NOT about pricing the items.  You need the rolls because that's the game.  Why the new producers picked such hard items and risked losing rolls is beyond me.

I dont' think the show has made a "el cheapo" in Money Game a wrong choice for years.  It has always been, and we knew it here, the right choice when it showed up.

The second showcase was a Drew Carey Production.  It must of been.  It made no sense because there was no explanatory set-up.  I don't think the average viewer (not us!) realized that the models seldom spoke (they did a little last season).  It was badly written and executed.

I just realized why I hate the showcase recaps...they emphasize how puny the showcases are sometimes.  The first showcase, as I am watching it unfold, was mildly exciting.  But when they recapped it, I suddenly realize that there were only three prizes and the big prize was a hot tub---SOOOOOOO...I wish they stop recapping the showcases...it so much more fun without the recap.

[Richie]

Half Off: Half the chatroom was split between 8 and 11.  I was one of the unlucky ones that picked 11.  Samantha was a good contestant and I had to laugh at her "they're all pink" comment.

One Right Price: Total Tossup....although I was on the same wavelength as Melissa.

Let Em Roll: I think this is the first time that someone wiped out on the GPs.  To Andrea's defense though, I think us loyal friends and true would get this setup, but average viewers---it's a different story.

Coming or Going: We were all screaming GOING in the chatroom.

Money Game: Thanks a lot, Kathy!  That was one KILLER setup!  Ronald got owned, I got owned, the entire chatroom got shot down by Kathy.  The chatroom screamed El Cheapo, but El Cheapo wasn't right this time!  I was bewildered that the 37 was right once again---that was the number that was least likely to get picked.  I think the floor mat addition to the Honda Accord really made the price screwy (just like adding paint and fabric protection to any other brand of cars to screw us over---just my honest opinion)

2 for the Price of 1: I didn't like Louie's pick.  Not that I didn't do better---I had $835.

[BRB_TheFireball]

Opening:  I don't think that Army is gonna be too thrilled with Ronald wearing that Rex Grossman jersey.

Halfy:  Well, I think that fake dollar that fell out of box 8 after Shane picked it up pretty much gave it away that Samantha had won the $10,000.

1RP:  I'm surprised that nobody outside of chat has questioned about this, but this is the first time since November 10, 2004, that 1RP was played in Slot 2.  I knew Scottsdale was gonna be expensive, but I didn't think that it would be over $5,000.  I thought $4,324 went on Scottsdale and Seattle was around $3,000.

Roll:  HISTORIC MOMENT®!  First time in LER's 9 years that a contestant missed both grocery products.  Truly an epic fail.  But a $2,500 consolation is not bad for an epic fail.

Coggy:  Easy.

Money:  Wow... I cannot believe that the back half of the car was actually behind 37 and not El Cheapo.

SC #2:  WHOO!  The models speak!  Just too bad that all the said was... how they were surprised that they could talk.  Good showcase concept on paper, but the execution fell flat.  Now, if the models had delivered the prize descriptions, that would've been interesting.  Of course, it also helps if the showcase HAS A FREAKIN' THEME!  (insert Sam Kinison scream)

My showcase bids:
Room/spa--$16,807
Boat--$32,007

[Mallory16]

I don't think the average viewer (not us!) realized that the models seldom spoke (they did a little last season).

They notice.  Or a lot of them do, anyway.  It's not something that seems to bother them much, but a good many of them have indeed noticed that they rarely talk.

[SteveGavazzi]

My reaction to the second showcase:  "Yay!  Rachel's talking...and now Rich is describing a bracelet.  What the HECK?"  Seriously, that made no sense.  I'd love to see the girls participating more actively in the Showcase, but that's not what we saw today.  What we saw today was a half-assed attempt to do something exciting that fell flat on its face.  There's got to be an actual point to these things -- having the girls say random crap whose absence would cause the showcase to flow better is just frustrating.

I'd like to know who set up Let 'em Roll.  Making the pricing portion so difficult seemed very un-Rogerish and sort of missed the point of the game.

Speaking of Roger...boy, he was really going apes*** with 2 for the Price of 1.  Three playings in six weeks!  Too bad he got fired -- I'd have loved to see if he'd have kept that up.

It seems so wrong to go through a whole playing of Money Game with 05 on the board without one mention of El Cheapo.

For anyone who's been looking at CBS.com's airdate schedule, tomorrow's show is not 4485K -- that's the Halloween episode, and running it on October 17 would be kind of silly.  The listing in the model schedule of 4495K is correct.

Incidentally, if I'm not mistaken, 4495K is the very last Roger lineup.  (Not the last one we'll see, of course, since shows are airing out of order...but the last one he did before he was fired.)

I really wish Drew would stop sounding so annoyed when explaining how the One Bids work at the top of the show,

I agree.  That never, ever sounded tedious when Bob said it, and it only sounds tedious now because Drew acts like he needs to make it not seem tedious.  If he's just say the damn line and move on, it'd be fine.

But the season number is very Roger-esque, too. It's happened at least once a season since they started putting it on the board.

"At least once a season" in one of the most frequently played games in the rotation isn't all that often.  That was about the most un-Roger-like that the game could have been set up.

I just realized why I hate the showcase recaps...they emphasize how puny the showcases are sometimes.  The first showcase, as I am watching it unfold, was mildly exciting.  But when they recapped it, I suddenly realize that there were only three prizes and the big prize was a hot tub---SOOOOOOO...I wish they stop recapping the showcases...it so much more fun without the recap.

It's depressing how we can backseat-produce this show better than the people who are getting paid to produce it.

[whewfan]

I don't think it's fair to say that Drew doesn't bring out "enough" in a contestant. Could he interact with the contestants more? Yes, but that's not so easy when you have 22 minutes of commercial time and 38 minutes of show, perhaps 1/4 of that time taken up with Rich's product descriptions! Bob also had to "pick and choose". Some contestants were more worth the on camera time than others. Today, these contestants brought forth a LOT for Drew to work with, and he was rightfully concerned about watching the clock and having to speed up the rest of the show. I think he handled today's show quite well, and in fact, I think he actually did MORE interaction with the players than usual.

Bob has said in interviews that his job was to "mine for gold". Drew does do well with this department, but I do agree that he could be more consistent.

I think this was one reason why Fremantle wanted to toy with the format, reducing the number of pricing games, or taking out SOMETHING to allow Drew more time with the contestants. One day that WILL have to happen.

[SteveGavazzi]

I don't think it's fair to say that Drew doesn't bring out "enough" in a contestant. Could he interact with the contestants more? Yes, but that's not so easy when you have 22 minutes of commercial time and 38 minutes of show, perhaps 1/4 of that time taken up with Rich's product descriptions! ...

And yet I can hardly remember anything about today's contestants.  I'm not sure there was a single day I could have said that back when Bob was hosting.

[TPIRSteven]

Half Off:  Great win here, and an excellent way to start off the show!

One Right Price:  I thought this was tough!  Of course, I usually find it difficult to pinpoint the price of random trips within the USA.  I would have never guessed that Scottsdale was more than Seattle.  Great job there by Melissa.

Let 'Em Roll:  Ouch.  I must admit that to the average contestant, the grocery items were actually quite tough.  I, along with just about everybody else at this site, had them nailed, but there are still way too many people in the general public that don't realize that the Gold Bond lotion is $9.12.  Also, Drew needs to brush up on his rules a bit!

Coming or Going:  This one was too easy.  It would have been a crime not to win this.

Money Game:  Just like everybody else that's posted here, I was screaming "El Cheapo!"  And just like everybody else, I was dead wrong.  I would have never expected to see the dreaded "37" trick pulled off here, not to mention the ol' Front 'n' Back Trick.

2 For the Price of 1:  I thought this was easy.  The 9 just didn't make sense because it meant that the pool table would have to end in 1.  Too bad Louie decided to go the "cheap route."  He should have listened to the crowd.

Showcases:  I have to agree that the second showcase was another excellent idea that didn't work so well in execution.  At first, I thought the models were going to fill in for Rich for a day, and in retrospect, I think that would have worked much better than what we ended up with.  I was left thinking, "Okay, great!  The models can talk!  Now are you actually going to say anything meaningful?"  I have to agree with Nick, Joe, and Fireball on this one.

I'm kind of split on how to rate this one.  We had a decent pricing game lineup, but there was really nothing spectacular that made it stand out.  I would have liked to see a multi-prize game that hasn't appeared yet this season (e.g. Magic #, Buy or Sell, or Take Two) to take the place of One Right Price or 2 For the Price of 1.  There were some good wins, but those were balanced out by some poor losses and an evil Money Game setup.  So I guess I'll say this was an average show, or slightly above.

[heelsrule1988]

I wonder if Samantha could see the loose dollar bill next to box #8 in 1/2 Off. She's my height, so I wouldn't doubt it.

Yay for another showcase with the models talking! We've all heard Lanisha's voice on Deal, but I don't think I've ever heard Rachel and Shane's voice before.

BEST CONTESTANT OF THE DAY: Andrea
SHOW GRADE: 3

I don't understand why no one liked Andrea

I don't either... she was adorable. You couldn't not root for her to win.

[edmojautis]

1/2 Off: Count me in as those pat of the "11" bunch.    Samantha pulled this win off so wonderfully. 

1RP: It was pretty much 50/50 here. I had a hunch that the Scottsdale trip would be less than $4K, Boy, was I wrong.  Good win.

Roll: While the setup on the first half din't look that hard, Poor Andrea (as well as the peanut gallery) fell victim to that bloody Gold Bond Lotion. Why she thought the Ester-C was less, I was in stun.

CoG: So Obvious.

Money: 37 was the last two digits?  Who would've known?

2 for 1: Too bad.

Showcases: Hearing Rachel, Shane, and Lanisha speak in Showcase #2 was a treat. The execution however was just incredibly insipid. We all know they can speak, but making it look like they are for the first time in their lives??!!!  COME ON!!!!

A 2.50-star show.

[temptation1979ga]

Bob has said in interviews that his job was to "mine for gold". Drew does do well with this department,

Really? I don't think he even scratches the surface with most of the contestants. I know I've said it before, but I'd like to see less of Drew jumping up and down with the contestants (essentially stealing at least some of the spotlight) and other things of that nature and more of Drew thinking "Hmmm, now what I can do or say to elicit even more from this interesting contestant?"

[saturn93]

All I could say is...Thank you CBS.com.  I had pixilation problems with Directv, so after game 2, I had to switch from what I recorded earlier in the day to watching it on the website. 

Let me go backwards a little...showcase #2.  Good, the models talking put a smile on my face  , but it was weird from the start.  Yes, I have heard Lanisha on DOND, but it was probably as much of a sentence.  I have heard Shane on "Project: Detention" on...I'm sure it might have started on FSN, but ended up on Fuel (or some other action sports station...that's where I saw it a couple of years ago).  At least we finally heard Rachel and the cute Louisiana accent she has.  Anyway, the showcase was like the Bears squib kick at the end of last week's game.  The idea on paper was good, but the execution was less than satisfactory...i.e.  (stands for cheesy). I wish I had seen it on TV instead of the web, just to see how they captioned it (the Phire/Gabrielle/Brandi talker last year had their names prior to the dialogue instead of >>). One final note, is there anyone left from the "core" group that hasn't said anything yet and needs to be heard? 

As for the rest...it was business as usual, which I probably would have skimmed over if not on CBS.com.  And a note to Drew, leave the different poses while the doors open to Gene Rayburn.  It was cute the first few times, but it is starting to get a little distracting.

[ProfPrice]

With regard to the second showcase, I think maybe everyone's being a bit too harsh or maybe I'm being a bit too kind (I could go on a longer rant about the tone this board has taken in general lately, but I don't feel like starting something).  Anyway, I felt that the showcase was intended to be ironic.  The models are finally given the ability to speak, yet all they can do is marvel at the fact that they're being given the chance to speak and they waste their golden opportunity.  Then it's up to Rich to actually give us the prize description.   

[Mallory16]

Prof, that would have been really cool if that were the case.  A showcase with a bit of a more sophisticated wit than even back in the past few seasons.  I wish I could believe that were the case, but I can't.  If they were trying for that, it was too subtle... not that hitting us over the head with it would've been good, but I wish there were just some little indication of that.  It just felt like a random attempt at silliness that didn't work.

[jzion12345]

I normally don't comment...since I normally don't watch because of my work schedule, but the second showcase was HORRIBLE!!! "OMG! I can speak! WOW!" That's it? No trying to tie anything together or lead into the prizes or anything...just "OMG! I CAN TALK!!! WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" If any of the showcases are as poorly written and executed as this one, then Drew should NOT be writing the showcases.

All I need to say.