Is it just me, or is this week's announcer, Daniel, really crappy? I know no one will ever equal Rod's amazing announcing, but c'mon, there's got to be someone better suited for TPIR than that guy.

What do you guys think?

I agree. Burton and the other guy are okay, but Daniel sucks.

Word.

In order of preference, I'm not thrilled with any of them, but I'll take Burton over Randy (though they sound more or less the same to me), and then that other guy can go to shit and the hogs can eat him for all I care.

I wish that the Game Show Network would consider replaying the old black and white episodes of "The Price Is Right".
The older version is a much better version that the current one.
You did not see the players scream like a banshee or make utter fools out of themselves.
The contestants today dress like they just got up out of bed and threw on the first thing they found, and they look like trailer trash. I am not saying that they have to dress like they are going to a formal event, but c'mon....people could dress a whole lot better than they are.

They have considered it -- in fact, they've shown those episodes in the past -- but the rerun rights to both versions of "The Price Is Right" are tied together, and either Fremantle (the company that now owns the Goodson-Todman game shows) wants more money than GSN is willing to spend, or they don't want to sell the reruns at all right now, probably because they don't want to "dilute" the current CBS episodes.

By the way, the original "Price Is Right" was actually one of NBC's first regular daily color shows...it's just that the color videotapes didn't survive, just black-and-white kinescopes, so that's all they could show now.

Wow, I never even knew that they had black and white versions of the Price is Right. I always thought the show existed only in its current form of color and with Bob Barker. I guess it is true when they say you learn something new everyday.

I just get tired of all of the variations of the "I LOVE BOB" t-shirts that get into contestants' row. But I do like the mix of at least semi-hot college guys that make it there.

It's official. Per CBS, the 6000th episode of TPIR is slated to air on March 1st (two weeks from today, where I'll completely forget about it). It's also scheduled to be taped on February 19th (this Thursday, where I'm slated to fail in my attempts to be at the taping).

In case you missed the 5000th show, rumor has it that it'll be another car show. Whatever happens, it'll definately be worth watching.

Gotta love Bob and his relationships with the Big Women Who Win Big. After hosting for so long, he has this sixth sense about them. There was one on today, Cheryl. Have to admire that she was able to keep it in check for the most part, though there were a couple of times when Bob had to step FAR away from her because she looked liked she was about to snap him in two like a twig!

Hated the Navy lieutenant...first he picks his nose (on national tv!) and "tries" to be funny and bid $1.50. Ass.

Does anybody else think it's time they updated the decor? That stage still looks like it's stuck in the 70s! I know some will say it's part of the show's "charm" but I still think it's high time they brought this show into the new millenium. And while they're at it, why don't they get better furniture providers. Grandma style sofas and dining rooms aren't really the big thing these days. :)

Maybe they're waiting until Bob retires....

They tried that in 1994 with The New Price is Right, and it failed miserably. The show is doing great in the ratings after 32 years, and the reason it's done so well is that there has been very little change throughout the years.

Well, I watched the 6000th show. It was okay, but nothing THAT spectacular.

No $$ given away on the big wheel...no golden road and no Plinko, super or otherwise. The girl that won the first prize (a sports car) on Lucky Seven, won the final showcase as well... but I have a quibble with her game...they gave her the first number for Lucky Seven! What a cheat. Okay, so the first number was a 4...but still, after that, all she had to do was guess "5" for every number to win (she didn't, but that's besides the point).

People in contestants' row were pretty brutal, almost all of the people that won were ones who bid $1 over the highest bid...

And the woman that won in the end, wound up being the highest winning daytime player in history ($92,000 +....including a loaded sportscar from the first game ($40,000+) and a cadillac for the final game.

They always give the first number for Lucky Seven. It started in the days of four-digit cars, but then they got to five digits, and they started giving the first digit to ensure equal odds.

I'm another person who hates PLINKO. I think the very fact that someone else mentioned -- that it is 100% luck -- is the reason I find it boring. I like other games that combine both thought and luck like Punchboard and Spelling Bee, as well as Clock Game. The game I would hate to have to play is ... "Golden Road". You come up with that game on stage, and you might as well just go straight to the wheel.

I have a tape of one episode of TPiR I taped from GameShow Network about five years ago which had in my opinion the weirdest game ever. It was from around 1975 and the game was called "Professor Price". It featured an animotronic puppet that would keep track of how many questions the contestant got right and wrong on its two hands and I swear the thing looks like its giving Bob the finger at one point. Perhaps that was the reason it only appeared three or four times before being retired.

I think the easiest game to win has to be the range finder game. As long as you hit the stop button with the middle of the range finder directly opposite the stop button you win every time. I have never seen this fail

Hm...I could have sworn I saw some recent shows featuring Lucky 7 and they didn't give the first number away. Also, all of the contestants lost. But in this case (the 6,000th show), literally all she had to do was guess 5 for each door and she would have won (she won anyway).

ITA about the range finder game. And of course unless you're a complete idiot, you should be able to get the clock game by now.

This site has been given a few times in the past, but I think it bears repeating...A Great TPIR Site. It has bunches of stuff, including the aformentioned Professor Price game demo.

Thanks for the link to that cool website, Fandomonia. I finally got a chance to see that Professor Price game. No wonder that game was cancelled. Not only did it look like the professor was flipping Bob the bird due to the way his hands were organized, but it also didn't allow the contestant to have any help from the audience, and half of the questions that Bob asked the contestant were fairly random and didn't have anything to do with the prize. It was kind of surreal to see a four thousand dollar car, though.

I hate the Cliff Hanger game. Maybe if there were no annoying yodeling, I wouldn't feel so strongly about it.

The show seems like it rarely gives away GOOD cars anymore...sticking mostly to the cheapest compact cars in most of the games (and sometimes even showcases) - Ford Focus, Dodge Neon, etc. Just me?

The dice game is one of my favorites, and the shell game is pretty good too.

I love the cliffhanger game. I rarely get to see it and when I do the person always wins so I never get to hear the poor fool climber crashing. The crashing is the best part.

Long live Holly!!!!!!

A few days ago I saw all three contestants get 1.00 on the wheel so they did a triple bonus spin/spinoff, and one of them got the 5 grand spot. Wonder how many times that's happened.

I'm sure it hasn't happened that often. I'm surprised Bob didn't say something along the lines of "That hasn't happened since 19xx!"

On the other hand, winning $5,000 in the spin off is rather sweet and sour. Sweet because you just won $6,000 in the space of a few minutes (esp. if you lost your previous game)... But sour because it's VERY easy to beat 5 or 15 cents in a spin off!

Rant alert!

Ok, it may just be me who is getting more grumpy as time goes by, but it seems to me the contestants on TPIR are getting more annoying, and dumber. For example:

-The contestants do not seem to be able to make ANY decisions on their own anymore. Somehow thinking the audience magically knows everything. I know it's always been this way more or less, but it's getting worse, and Bob seems to have gotten quite impatient over it. Which is actually funny to see, especially when it takes forever for the person to turn around and make their one dollar bid. :O)

-The one dollar bid, and a dollar over the highest bid bid. Ok, it can be a good strategy, but to most contestants it has become the only way to get on stage, wether it makes sense or not. In other words, actually bidding on the prize itself is too hard.

-College kids. Yeah I said it. Clones upon clones of the same over-excited, baseball cap wearing, hollering at their buddies, "one dollar bidding" student who now seem to pack the audience every show. And there always seems to be a couple of jokers who think it's funny to get up when somebody else's name is called just to get the camera on their face. Yeah, it was funny the first five-hundreth time, give it up.

So, is it just me? Has it always been this bad, or have I officially become a grouch? Nevertheless, sometimes I wish Bob would just smack some of them contestants upon the head with his mic and tell 'em to smarten up. Hehe.

Rant over.

No, it's not just you, and I'll add one to the list:

-College students who think it's funny to bid $420 or something ending in 69. It wasn't even funny the first time, yet there are still people who do this then turn around to their buddies with a big grin on their face like they're so damn funny and original. I'm a college student myself, and I just want to tell those idiots to grow up.

*SNORT!*

To be honest with you, I never noticed them doing it. I'm sure it's happened over and over though (shows you how much I pay attention).

Rant:
-Contestants so stupid as to bid $1-10 UNDER a previous bidder. What crack are THESE people smoking? I can't count the number of times one person will bid something like $800 and the next person will bid $799. I just want to reach through the screen and shake them like a rag doll!

Today totally shocked me. For the first time in I don't know how long I was completely wrong about the price of the final showcases!

First up: A digital camera and photo printer, A trip to Venice and an African Safari trip (think there might have been another prize, but those are the main ones). Contestant bid $14,800. I thought that was a decent bid, but I would have gone $18,000

Second up: Game room (Pinball game, Pool table, Video game), a Sauna, and two Kawasaki motorcycles. Contestant bid $27,000. Again, I thought it was a decent bid, but would have gone about $32,000 myself.

The reveal?

First contestant ARP - $35,000+!!!!

Second contestant ARP - $18,000!!!!

I swear I thought Bob had accidentally switched cards on the contestants. I was thoroghly shocked. I guess motorcycles aren't that expensive after all?

I have another addition to my previous rant, so much for it being over. Hee.

- Contestants who bid one dollar over the previous bidder, while there are still one or two bidders remaining. That is just plain dumb if you ask me. :O)

Vgmastr, I think those kids bidding $469 or whatever think they're so good that they can hit it right on the nose for the $500 bonus. You're not, unless you have recently purchased the item in question.

And add me to the 'audience stole my brain' hating train. Just once I'd like to see Bob ram earplugs into some particularly dipshitty poller's head. That or ask "Who are you asking?", then after he/she replies, send the contestant back to his/her seat and bring up whoever it is he/she's asking. I guarantee you it would end after Bob made an example out of just one player.

mtvcdm, I really don't think that would work.

Yes, it's getting annoying, I agree. I too think it has gotten particularly bad as of late. However, people have been going to the audience for years. I really think it would hurt the image of the show if they forbade it now.

Just wondering why Bob has never upgraded to a cordless microphone? He is always having to flip that cord and get it out from under the contestants feet. Is it part of the 60's decor like the rest of the set?

No it's not just you. They also give away the most basic models of the cars too, some still with crank-up windows!

I also think it's funny that they only give away American cars, not German or Japanese. Does anybody know why?

I guess it's part of the everlasting charm of the show and the era it was born in. I often wonder why Bob sticks with that skinny, long microphone when he could just as easily have a mic on his jacket.

To be pro-American, although it's kind of meaningless in these days when Nissans, Toyotas, et al. are built in the U.S., and Mercedes-Benzes are made by the same company that makes the Chryslers, Dodges, and Jeeps they give away.

jcpdiesel21: Even if Bob had a lapel mike, he'd still have to use a hand-held mike for the contestants (since they can't be miked in advance). I've also read that he doesn't use a wireless mike because there are sometimes "dead spots" in the studio where the mike doesn't get picked up, and with all the moving around they do on "The Price Is Right," they don't want to hit one of those.

Maybe he's hoping for the day he can use the long cord to trip an annoying contestant who continually needs the rules explained to him/her.

Hi. Newbie here. I heard Bob say in an interview that they had thought about updating the look of the show once but that the audience told them not to. (I don't know how, if it was a poll or how they did it) He said that the viewers and people in the audience like the older look and don't want it to be changed. In fact, the little cosmetic changes with the more colorful backgrounds is the biggest change I've seen to the set in decades and I've watched TPiR since 1973-74.



I heard something like that once. He said that the old-style mics with the cord are much more dependable than cordless and I'd wager that as long as he's been doing television, he's probably just used to one like that. I personally like that he hasn't gone along with the flow and done like everybody else and got either wireless mics or lapel mics. I think that it gives a certain charm and old-school mentality to the show and the attitude of "this is how we do it and who cares what anyone else does."




I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do also perhaps with Bob's animal activism. I know that there are certain products that Bob won't let on the show because they either donate to or support projects that use animal experimentation. I believe the Porsche is one of those companies that Bob protests. There hasn't been a fur on since about 1980 or so, I think. I don't know for sure and can't say that these foreign car companies are supporting animal experimentation in their way, but knowing Bob's track record with his animal activism, I wouldn't be surprised if this had something to do with it.

Just now, they did a showcase saluting North Dakota. It quickly became clear that they have no idea what's in North Dakota either. It's cold up there, you can drive around it in a new car (at least they were able to discover paved roads up there), and they gave away (well, tried to; the contestant lost) a TV to go with the Fargo DVD, seeing as fargo is the capital of North Dakota.

The capital of North Dakota is actually Bismarck.

new announcer :

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/...7396|1|,00.html

Okay, I'm evil... But I just LOOOVE it when karma acts like a total bitch and a contestant who has been bidding $1 over someone consistantly finally gets up on stage and loses. And loses big. Like what happened today. Some little girl was doing that and finally got up on stage to play Plinko. She got 4 chips and managed to get $0! It was soooo lovely. She could do no right. Justice prevails is my opinion.

I saw an interview with Bob a while back, and he said that he was very superstitious. He doesn't want to change anything on the show (the old, skinny microphone, the old wheel, the 60's decor) because he's afraid it will jinx the show, and when those things change, the show will be cancelled. IMO, things can still be upgraded into the new millenium a little!

ETA, I LOVE PLINKO! In college, my friends and I made a "Drinko board"! It was a huge piece of plywood with nails sticking up. We then covered it with plexiglass. Plastic coasters were used to drop down the board like the Plinko chips. Instead of money amounts at the bottom, we put drinks in the slots!

Anyone see the show today? TPIR history was made.

2nd pricing game, a girl went up and won a car.

They come back from commercial... apparently there was a screwup, and some hefty guy down in contestants row should have won that last pricing game. Well, HE got a car too and advanced to spin the big wheel. The girl went back into contestants row and won the next pricing game. She blew a 50/50 game that would have given her two trips as well. First time in TPIR history that a contestant has played 2 games on a single show.

Yes, I saw it. That was incredible!!! That indeed has never, ever, ever, EVER happened before, and something tells me that the producers will take some steps to try to insure that it won't happen ever again. But that was really cool seeing that happen. Too bad the poor guy overbid in his showcase bid.

Consider this a tangent, but an on-topic tangent none-the-less.

"The Price Is Right: Live" is now playing at one of the casinos in Kansas City... it's a stage adaptation of the show (audience members bid on an item, and the four fastest fingers get to go to contestants row, bid on another item, and the winner plays a TPiR game).

A friend of mine and I went last night... I was able to make it to Contestant's Row, but not on-stage. That stupid watch was worth more than I thought it was.

Games are exactly the same ones as on the air: in last night's show, they played "Hole In One (Or Two)", "Cliff Hangers", "It's In The Bag", "Race Game", and of course, the Big Wheel and The Showcase.

Host is Todd Newton, of "Whammy!", "Instant Millionaire", and E! fame. A very nice guy -- I got to say hi after the show.

He also told me that he's taking the next month off, and that Marc Summers will be filling in for the interim.

I'm not sure how much it's going to be touring, but catch it if you're able.

I saw Bob Barker this morning on The Wayne Brady Show. The tables were turned on him and he had to try to guess the prices of two items in The Clock Game, and Wayne played Bob's usual role. Bob did a pretty good job, finishing with a few second left over.

There are going to be some new Million Dollar Prime-Time specials on tap for "The Price is Right. The first one is next week featuring Teachers.

Saw some of the Million Dollar Spectacular. Boy some of those teachers are S-T-U-P-I-D! The one woman playing the grocery game and buying 25 cans of yams? The poor beauty had a difficulty...the cash register doesn't go up that high! Needless to say she lost big time...and quickly.

I can't get used to seeing the Beauties in slutty evening wear. It's just out of character...

I'm so bitter - they preempted the spectacular where I am for a baseball game. I'm watching right now and they just announced that there will be another one this Saturday at 8. And because I have no life and love this show, I will be watching.

Gotta add my voice to the ranting in regards to the contestants in recent years. In the producers' zeal to bring in that college crowd, they've turned the show into chaos. My grandmother used to watch the show and stopped, saying they were (my words, not hers exactly) "pandering to the frat boys". She also pointed out that because contestants are getting consistently stupider, the games of skill are being phased out in favor of games of chance. She was absolutely right.

From my own observations, the games that require some poise or skill like Clock Game or even Switcheroo only make this new generation of players look even stupider. So they hand them that Yahtzee-inspired game "Let It Roll" or something like that, The Dice Game, and of course the idiot-proof Plinko.

I guess in my semi-old age, I'm just missing Bob getting attacked by the Samoan women.

"What is it about me that the Samoans can't resist picking me up?!?" - Bob Barker.

I think that Bob would probably have a coronary if he saw a Samoan coming on down and probably drop dead if she won her way up on stage. At his age, Bob doesn't need to be abused like he used to be. I too, thought it was funny in the past, (I remember as a child when that huge black lady chased Bob all over the stage after being the first one to ever win $10,000 on the Grand Game), but it really irritates me nowadays because Bob is eighty years old and those people have NO business whatsoever abusing Bob like he was still half his current age.

Well, I was only half-joking, of course. No, I'm not yearning to see him crack a hip from being carried off stage by some large woman who just won a fridge!

What I meant was that the show used to have such a different tempo and personality to it. Purple-rinsed ladies in Contestants' Row, telling Bob they saw him on Truth or Consequences X years ago. Holly, Janice, and Dian donning costumes to do funny showcase skits (and actually SPEAK and interact with Bob on stage). Average age of contestants being around 35-40, wearing normal clothes rather than "pick me--I'm pregnant!" homemade T-shirts. Contestants smiling through their disappointment at the big reveal of a player piano rather than openly complaining that they "wanted to win a car". Attempts (even bad ones) made at bidding on prizes rather than just doing the $1 thing (or the $1 more thing). That sort of stuff.

Gosh, I sound like an old fuddy-duddy! Still, if the ratings stay good, why would they want to throw a net over the college invaders?

Yeah, something tells me if someone really injured Bob on set, there'd be hell to pay, not just from CBS, but from everybody else in the audience and the people waiting to get in for the next taping that would try to kick that person's butt six ways from Sunday. Also, if the leg-break or hip-break or whatever happened to Bob resulted in him having to retire and therefore possibly the end of the show, then that person wouldn't be safe anywhere likely.



I see what you're saying. I wish Game Show network would try to get those old episodes of TPiR back on or that CBS would consider maybe start doing a big DVD set. That would rake in the bucks for them. I remember that stuff, people saying they saw Bob on "Truth or Consequences" and him being so impressed. It still happens nowadays, albeit not as often. Nowadays it's just people having seen "Price" all their lives. I can't complain much about that, I'm one of them. I'm 31 1/2 yrs. old now, and my granddad said I started watching "Bob Barker" (I put his name in quotes because my folks never used the name "Price is Right." It was always: "are you gonna watch Bob Barker today?" :)) when I was old enough to sit up in front of a television screen. That big lady chasing Bob all over the stage after winning the "Grand Game" is my earliest memory of TPiR that I can think of.

I remember Bob talking to Janice, Holly and Dian after a game occassionally. I think he used to do it about once a week or so. He'd ask them over, ask them each a question or just have them say hi or something like that. I remember he asked them what they wanted for Christmas and one of them said "world peace" and another, I think it was Holly, wanted a sports car and I can't remember the other one. There may be a clip of it here I can't recall but it's got some great vintage TPiR moments on video and audio. Nowadays the models are nothing but eye candy. I don't know if there's an official reason that Bob doesn't talk to the models onstage anymore. I wonder if, since Dian and Holly ended up suing him over one B.S. reason or another, that he's afraid to do something like that again.



The show back then had more of a formal "game show" feel and nowadays, it's more of a party-like atmosphere. Bob's even referred to the show as "the party" on occassion.



Younger people are basically spoiled brats nowadays.



Younger people are lazier nowadays.



Don't feel bad, I feel like an old fuddy-duddy. LOL



Oh they won't. I suspect that it's just that these college people are the ones who come to the show most often and so the show profiles them a lot more often. Everybody probably pitches in on travel, hotel and food costs. At least that's how I'd do it if I were organizing a group to go to TPiR.

Part of this is because there's more commercial time in the broadcast than there used to be.

Yes, I know the whole show is technically one big commercial, what with all the prize plugs, but I mean the commercial breaks have gotten longer over the years.