News of Bob Barker's departure from The Price is Right at the end of this season may have come as a surprise to you because A) you weren't aware that he was still alive and B) you haven't watched The Price is Right since the late 70s when Barker's Beauties still included the redhead Holly.I knew Barker was still alive and kicking, and his Dick Clark-like ability to age more slowly than the rest of us mortals didn't surprise me. But none of that meant that hearing news of his departure didn't send me on crazy trip down memory lane.
So in tribute to Barker, here are five nostalgic bits of Price is Right goodness that I'll miss:
5. Barker's Beauties. They won't be "Barker's" anything any more, will they? Just lowly spokesmodels, aiming for Vanna's solo gig. I still haven't gotten over the replacement of Janice, Diane and Holly in the early 90s.
4. Bob's comedic fear of Samoan Ladies. For some unknown reason, there was a strange running gag in the late 70s and early 80s that whenever an exceptionally large person of Samoan descent would win something, Bob would receive this ecstatic bear hug in which he'd get raised three feet off the ground. Seemed a little offensive even then, but hey, that's Bob -- the timid recipient of our consumer love.
3. His animal-friendly sign-off. How will any of us remember to get our pets spayed and neutered?
2. The good games. I haven't watched The Price is Right in years, but I can only imagine that Bob's departure will bring significant change to the show. What is to become of Plinko? Punch-Out? The one where the little yodeler slides down the mountain whenever you can't guess the price of Rice-A-Roni within fifty cents? Heck, for all I know, what has become of them? Remember the good old days, Bob?
1. The hundred dollar pocket. I always found the hundred dollar pocket mildly perverted. Even as a child I found there to be something slightly sinister about a man who asked young women to reach into his pocket for a special treat. Turns out that if you guessed a product's price right on the nose and got selected as a contestant, you could take your place next to Bob, reach inside and find out that he was, in fact, happy to see you.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-01-2006 @ 12:51PM
M-D said...
I'm surprised the $100 pocket makes the list, but not Bob's infamous Hole in One "inspiration putts".
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11-01-2006 @ 12:57PM
elf said...
Ah Diane... I'd always wished they would give away a boat on every show, since every time they featured a boat it would also mean that Diane would change into a bathing suit to "present" it. The same thing would happen freuqnetly with trips to Hawaii, Tahiti and other tropical destinations. Holly was cute but she couldn't fill a bathing suit like Diane could.
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11-01-2006 @ 1:36PM
erroneous_nick said...
I guess I misunderstood about the future of TPIR when I first read a blurb about Barker's retirement, but it seemed to insinuate that the show would also retire. I haven't watched in years and years, so it matters not to me.
BTW, it's "spayed" not "spaded".
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11-02-2006 @ 4:33PM
Joe W. said...
It's "spayed". If you spaded your pet, the ASPCA would pick you up for hitting your poor animal with a small shovel.
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11-01-2006 @ 2:29PM
Jen said...
Spaded? Seriously?
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11-01-2006 @ 3:04PM
Julia Ward said...
Correction made. Thanks. If you catch anything else, feel free to use the "corrections" form on the right.
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11-01-2006 @ 10:46PM
erroneous_nick said...
Heh, didn't even know there was a "corrections" link on the right. There's so much crap over there taking up real estate that could be used for articles that I just block most of it out. I bet most others do, too.
You guys ever consider a serious re-design?
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11-30-2006 @ 2:49PM
Adam said...
Uh, Bob hasn't done the $100 pocket thing in about 15 years. He just hands the winner the money.
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5-16-2007 @ 1:38PM
CJ said...
The best thing about the show is the display, games, cards, sign are so simple and low-tech. This is the way a game show oughta look!
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6-06-2007 @ 2:09AM
Orion said...
I'd heard that one of the Samoans cracked his ribs picking him up and hugging him like that. I saw the show where Samoan Lady #3 swore she wouldn't hug him then went ahead and did it anyway after winning a car.
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6-06-2007 @ 4:42AM
uagent said...
@#1: Ah, the inspiration putt. I remember he used to put people to shame from the back line, one-handed, while speaking into the microphone, then they'd miss it from the front line. Unfortunately, this was also the signal to me of Bob's decline, as in recent years he's been missing the putt. Breaks my heart, I mean, how is someone supposed to make the putt without the inspiration of the host?
June 15th (the airdate of the final show) will be a tearful day indeed for myself. I'm 22, and I grew up watching TPIR with my grandmother. We always dreamed of going on the show and winning $50k @ Plinko. Alas, it was never to be.
Call me closed-minded, but I don't *want* the show to continue on without Bob. Bob Barker *IS* The Price is Right, and I don't care how good the new host is, they're never going to fill Bob's shoes. It was kinda like when they replaced Rod Roddy in 2003, just never quite the same. :(
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