TVSquad

The Price Is Right recently started its new season, and people who were worried that the show would go in a bad direction after the removal of longtime producer Roger Dobkowitz can rest easy: the show pretty much remains the same. Same host, same music, same games (with a new one added like they usually do every season), same big wheel (slightly spruced up), same Showcase, same people making really lousy decisions when it comes to bidding on prizes in Contestant's Row that make you want to kick in your TV.

There are a few changes, such as the set design changes they made during Drew Carey's first year. For God-knows-how-long, the walls and doors of the stage set have been stuck in the 1970s, and it has always been sort of quaint and comforting that they never changed it. But now they've gone even more retro, with 1950s/early 60s-ish square shapes (circles last year) and colors. As a big fan of mid-century design, I really like this change. Somehow fits in with the game show world a little better.

Those yellow flower shapes are still there, scattered about, but they don't overpower anymore (they're even gone from the Showcase podiums, replaced by a series of diamond shapes).

There is one other change: Carey is really settling into the role. He was a little nervous or stumbling his first season, but his jokes seem better placed this year and they're arranging the show to suit him better (without alienating old fans). Just now they had a little skit between Carey and announcer Rich Fields during the showcase that you didn't see happen with Bob Barker, so the show is starting to be Carey's.