Why “The Price is Right” is Doomed
I just got back from Los Angeles last night. I read about what happened on Tuesday’s episode of The Price is Right first, since my inbox was flooded with it. After that I watched the clip of the perfect bid in the Showcase. Honestly, this post isn’t about that moment, as Cory nailed that perfectly. All I will say is I can totally see where Drew’s reaction was coming from. I had the same reaction when I heard about it before I saw it. I think Drew could have faked it a bit more, but he’s not like that and CBS knew what they were getting into when they hired him. He’s a real person and acts like how most do. And I think that’s why The Price is Right is screwed and I could have told you this two years ago. Because we are finding out a few things about the format.
We’re finding thatThe Price is Right is not as strong of a format as people want to think it is. And mainly this is coming from the teenagers and 20 year olds who are misty eyed about the magical world of television and Price to find out it’s not perfect. In fact the format has lots of flaws. But the show has Bob Barker to ham it up and people forgot the flaws in the format were there. People were so in love for Bob that they barely watched for the show, they watched for Bob. It also falls partially on the old producer who was let go but it was starting to change last season with him.
We’re finding that the show was made for the 70’s and 80’s, not today’s current times. Inflation has been really rough on the show. Prices of prizes and cash have gone up and it’s putting a hurt on the budget. Falling ratings aren’t helping either but for the millionth time the ratings would have gone down even more if someone like todd Newton was the host, since people who aren’t big fans of the show have no or very little clue who he is and any incentive to turn it off.
Online forums and the internet age are hurting the show also. I’m going to be brutally honest, there is absolutely no reason any sane person should be memorizing prices to items for the small glimmer of hope that you can win a nice toaster. Issues like this cost the show $2,000,000 this summer. It’s costing the show more and more as the old obsessive fans of the show are coming back in hopes to get on again and win, or just help others. And from a production standpoint, it can’t happen.
It’s bad television if people keep winning. We saw this this summer. It was exciting for the first millionaire in the showcase, but the second one seemed like nothing special because we knew there’s someone out doing this for them. It’s like if the audience on Millionaire, during Ask the Audience, was allowed to tell the player his or her answer directly, and that person specifically lined up one person. It was the first time it’s happened, with the perfect bid, so it was still relatively interesting, but it’s going to get old fast if the obsessive Price fans keep doing this. It hurts the budget too, and production has to do something to stop it eventually. And it will happen sooner or later. So from a production standpoint, I’m really advising the fans on a certain Price is Right site to sit back for a while before anyone from there is either pushed to the far back of the audience, never picked to be a contestant, or banned from the studio.
And an issue like this does come from worsening economy and lower ratings. Back when everyone had a crush on Bob Barker they could afford a bit more. But now that ratings are getting back to what they would be for anyone beyond Barker, they’re having to work harder for the money. Which does include trying to get the better younger advertisers than the same old Depends over and over.
It’s not all on the online community and the people who need to take a step back. I know Drew’s a very realistic and down to earth person, but he could have faked it a tiny bit more. I had the same reaction Drew did, but I’m not the host. It’s the only moment on the show I really couldn’t defend him fully on. I understand where he’s coming from with his low key reaction and I was as pissed as he was, but he’s the host and he has to at least pretend to be a bit excited. You know Barker would have acted like it was the most important thing that ever happened, and after the show was over went backstage and talked crap on the “enthusiastic fan”.
It was this moment that made me realize I need to reiterate what I wrote when the host search was going on; it’s time for he Price is Right to take a break. Damage is done, it’s not going to go back to what people want. It can’t change because people are so in the past that any remote change makes them cry, and it can’t stay the same because the advertising dollars are just not coming in and the show looks incredibly dated. Inflation is hurting, the online community is hurting, and the flaws of the show are finally coming out. It’s been 37 year; time to take a break.
TPIR’s ratings are at a all-time low, granted, but I don’t expect CBS to swing the gautlet just yet. While it is low, it’s still beating The View and the much hated fourth hour of Today.
And (as explained in an earlier post) if CBS does decide to cancel TPIR it’ll be hard to replace it. They could replace it with a talk show (which there are too many of now), another game show, or give that hour to stations (which is hard for them to get back without compensation).
To Jonathan: As for GSN getting reruns of Price, pray for rain. GSN haven’t aired TPIR since CBS acquired the rerun rights (a’ la’ NBC with Concentration) in 2001. So the only way it’ll happen is Les Moonves gives them the rights to it (which, let’s be honest with ourselves, will never happen).
It’s a shame that Price might get the boot. Same as Deal. I really love those two shows, and really, really hope they get renewed up to 2012, just like Wheel and Jeopardy! I miss good ol’ Bob so much, but Drewy is getting better all the time. Besides, there’s also another primetime favorite of mine: Million Dollar Password. My mom once advised me to watch Password to learn new words. So, here’s to my mom!
-Guy
So, does that mean that CBS will actually get rid of the Price Is Right?
Why is The Price Is Right in trouble? It’s a combination of 3 things. A host who doesn’t have a clue of what is going on around him; same prizes on the show over and over again; and Fremantle/North America who has a reputation of ruining shows. The last time I watched the show, I was bored out of my mind, Drew acted like he didn’t want to be there and the showcase clip with the perfect bid really showed it. If they don’t get new prizes on there, you will see more perfect bids, period. Can’t CBS step in and do something before things get even worse?
DENo1MatchGameFan said…
“CBS was pretty damn lucky that the show didn’t get canceled long ago due to Barker’s antics (as well as his ‘yes man’ Roger.) It takes more than one man to run a show, but it almost took one man to DESTROY that same show at that same time. The remark Barker made last year that the original models were ‘disgusting’ still rings clear in my mind, and that is why I will never respect the man.”
You can’t believe everything negative you read or hear through mass communications about people you only know from broadcasting. Everything has a deeper meaning or explanation, such as the quotation from USA Today you referred to. He may have not called the show’s original models disgusting people, but his feelings about them.
Think more about what you hear or read in these news reports. Not everything can be accepted as absolute truth.
This is for Mario500…
The facts about Barker are true when three people that I know from the show who were wronged by the man state that these antics of his are true, and therefore, the statement in USA Today is truthful as well, as Barker can’t handle the mess that he started with Dian all of those years ago. Also, his behavior is finally starting to bite back at him, and he doesn’t like it, and when he loses cases (like the one Holly brought against him), he lashes out at them through the media, and doesn’t mince words.
Price is fine.
To Josh: CBS is not about to get rid of TPIR (at least not for the foreseeable future). We’re just forecasting what might happen if changes doesn’t happen.
To Mario500: Apparently, you haven’t watch E! True Hollywood Story when they did The Price Is Right back in ‘03. Everything that DeNo1MatchGameFan is saying actually happened. Everyone, from brings the prizes from backstage to the studio even said that he was hard to work with.
I saw this “E! True Hollywood Story” and I was expecting a history of the show, but instead I heard negative reports and allegations from a station I cannot trust, even if the program had some of the subjects interviewed. You cannot trust everything the interview subjects say without hearing opposing views. It was a very one-sided program.
Mario500 -
Go to YouTube – there is a clip from 2005 featuring Holly Hallstrom on the “Today” show talking about her victory against Barker in her lawsuit against him for slander – it is just as believable as what she said on E!, just in a different forum. Also remember Barker made that famous “as God is my witness” statement when he was first implicated by Dian with their affair, and it wasn’t broadcast on E!
Mario500- I think you can trust what the people who actually worked for Bob Barker had to say about him…
“Bob Barker is the Boss From Hell.”ť
Claudia Jordan
“If I’d have been a dog Bob Barker would have treated me better.”ť
Sherrill Paris
“After I testified, Bob never spoke to me again.”ť
Janice Pennington
“There’s no one to tell him not to be mean.”ť
Barbara Hunter
“Bob didn’t like all the attention I was getting.”
Nikki Ziering
“America saw a performance. They never saw the real Bob Barker.”ť
Debbie Curling
“The TV audience has never even seen the real Bob Barker. In real life he is a mean, vicious old man, a ruthless mad dictator. But the audience never sees that, they think he’s Santa Claus.”ť
Holly Hallstrom
“He would turn it on for the camera, and then turn it off.”ť
Heather Kozar
“It’s a sad testimony to Bob Barker’s out-of-control ego, the fact that at the end of his life he has no friends, no family, no one who cares about him that isn’t dependent on him for their income. The only people who like him are the people who don’t know him, the audience.”ť
Linda Riegert
“Bob Barker is a lonely soul.”ť
Kathleen Bradley
I think what will happen eventually is that CBS S&P will force the staff to ban audience help for all games from the One-Bid to the pricing games to the Showcases. The audience help gives the show a lively atmosphere, and if CBS demands no more audience help, it could ruin the lively atmosphere and end up making TPIR “uncool” in the eyes of the college crowd.
If anything causes the cancellation of the show, it will probably be the banning of audience help.
Darth Chaos -
Just remember that when “TPIR” first started, there was no audience participation whatsoever, both in pricing games, and in the showcases themselves. Even during the first week of the show, the studio audience was quiet when announcer Johnny O told the lucky four contestants to ’stand up’ instead of to “Come On Down!”, which he made famous to this day.
For those who keep spewing that TPiR’s ratings are at an all-time low, if you don’t have concrete proof to back up your claim, ZIP YOUR LIPS! For those who don’t like Drew Carey hosting the show, STOP WATCHING AND TURN THE CHANNEL! As for that program in which the contestant hit the price of his showcase on the nose, that’s a rarity- the man said on the radio he did his homework, and at the same time, how in the world would he know he would hit the exact price on the nose from the offset? Think about that- the show was NOT fixed. As far as Drew’s reaction when that contestant hit the price of his showcase exactly, has it ever occured to anyone that maybe Drew at that moment was at a loss for words because of a very rare occurance? He didn’t immediately know that the contestant would hit the price exactly. Case and point, people, CUT THE CONSPIRACY THEORIES- there are none! As for the author of this ridiculous blog, find something worthwhile to write about instead of boring us with your ridiculous rants about anything you think you can write conspiracy theories about.
DENo1MatchGameFan, you’re correct.
It’s possible that the ratings for TPIR were quite dismal in 1972 and 1973 and that CBS told the producers “do something to bring in the ratings, or we’re gonna cancel the show”, and maybe they decided to encourage audience participation. That may be why the audience started shouting out bids around 1974.
TPIR is one of the cheapest shows on TV to produce…saying inflation has hit it hard it a very unenlightened comment. I was one of Bob’s biggest fans but Drew won me over on Who’s Line Is It re-runs so I gave him another chance and guess what? He’s doing very well on TPIR, the ratings are up 12% and no way this show won’t go on for many many more years. Who knows…maybe 35 with Drew.
I do not see why the ratings would be at an all-time low for Price Is Right.I prefer it over The View even with Drew “Pipehead”Carey as the host Carey is funnier than Barker ever was.They need to play some of the games that Barker played more (Golden Road,3 Strikes,Hole in One and a few others that were on Barkers version. But Carey is learning.I do not think CBS would cancel this show like they did the 2 soaps (As the World Turns and Guiding Light),it makes too MUCH money for them.